2 Chronicles 15 - Key

2 Chronicles 15

v7

Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

Seek the Lord with your whole heart, because it will not be in vain. He will give you rest.

2 Chronicles 14 - Key

v7

Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about [them] walls, and towers, gates, and bars, [while] the land [is] yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought [him], and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

We should take advantage of times of waiting on the Lord, to build up our lives and our relationships with Him, and to prepare for what He has for us to do in the future.

1 Chronicles 13 - Key

v12-14

And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God [home] to me?

So David brought not the ark [home] to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.

And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.

David's house and all that he had, missed out on three months of blessing, because he was afraid of God. We need to have a heart for spending time with the Lord; not dreading that it will be boring, but realizing that, without it, we would miss out on incredible blessing.

1 Chronicles 12 - Key

v33

Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: [they were] not of double heart.

When I hear that they were not of double heart, that makes me think that they did not go back and forth between having some love and desire for what is right, and some for the enemy. They had consistent thoughts and intentions toward what the Lord wanted. That is the way that we should be.

1 Chronicles 11 - Key

v19

And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

David's mighty men had risked their lives to bring him a drink of water, but he poured it out on the ground to the Lord. Like David, we should be sensitive to our conscience. Even if something was precious, desirable, and hard to obtain, we should be willing to give it up for the Lord, if it is not something that would please the Lord, for us to do, at the time.

Mark 16 - Key

v14

Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

It is possible for even the Lord's closest disciples to have a lack of belief.

v16,17

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues...

It seems like what He says about belief in the gospel, and what He says about the signs that would follow those who believe, was very much in the context of believing that He rose and again and is alive.

As "Believers," if we want to have the Lord's power for good in our lives, and eternal rewards with Him, then we need to be those who are believing in His resurrection from the dead.

Mark 15 - Key

v39

And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

In Mark 15, we can see all these sorrowful things that Jesus suffered when He died. That is what our sin causes.

That makes me wonder how I can keep doing those things. If we really love the Lord, we have to hate our sin.

Mark 14 - Key

v15

And he will shew you a large upper room furnished [and] prepared: there make ready for us.

With a room furnished and prepared, where the disciples were supposed to make ready, there was much preparation going on here. In the same way, we should be getting ready for the Lord to come again.

One way to get ready for the Lord, is to be in prayer.

Mark 5 - Key #2

v31

And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

The lady might have wanted to avoid Christ having to stop and take His time to deal with her. However, Jesus still took the time to stop and talk to her.

The Lord wants us to spend time with Him. If we are faithful to do that, then He has a way of working out the other important things to deal with, just fine.

Mark 5 - Key

v15

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

They saw him healed, and they were afraid? Sometimes, I think that people can get afraid of the wrong thing. At that time, the Lord had done something amazing and great, but they begged Him to leave. If we are receiving Christ's love for us, then we won't have anything to fear.

Mark 4 - Key

v20

And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive [it], and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

The seeds that were planted didn't just grow into a flat amount of fruit, like 30, 60, or 100 "fruits." They grew into thirtyfold, etc. which means, thirty times as much. When the Lord's Word is spread, it doesn't just accumulate; it multiplies.

It is encouraging to think that it is possible for us to grow in the Lord and "produce fruit", by 100 times as much (to 10,000%).

Mark 3 - Key

v29

But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

We should be careful about what we attribute supernatural occurrences to, if we are not sure.

Mark 2 - Key

v9

Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, [Thy] sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

Some people really emphasize miraculous physical healing today. The Lord can do that. However, the miracle that I would like better, and that I think is more important, is Christ's spiritual healing from sin, and His forgiveness.

Which would you rather do, completely eradicate the root cause of a problem, or merely temporarily relieve some of the symptoms?

1 Kings 5 - Key

v5

And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.

Solomon desired to oversee the construction of the physical building of the temple, for the glory of the name of the Lord. In the same way, we should commit the work that we do, to the Lord, for His glory.

Psalm 37:5

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass.

1 Kings 4 - Key

v20

Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which [is] by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

The prosperity at the time of Solomon also reminds me of this verse:

Proverbs 10:22

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

These verses can help us realize how abundantly the Lord will bless us, if we simply follow Him. That makes me, immediately, want to be more prayerful and more faithful to Him.

1 Kings 3 - Key

v15

And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

After the Lord appeared to him, Solomon came and sacrificed again. In the same way, when we have prayed for a situation, let's remember to come back and thank the Lord, afterward.

1 Kings 2 - Key

v2

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

Here's just a simple encouragement, to remind us to show strength and maturity, in the ways that we already know we should.

1 Kings 1 - Key

v52

And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.

Adonijah had certainly offended before, but now he was put on notice. If we sin, we need to repent; and, after we have sinned before, we really should change and show ourselves to be worthy people from now on.

2 Samuel 24 - Key

v24

And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

We shouldn't just serve the Lord when it is easy and "costs us nothing." We should be willing to sacrifice things to the Lord that cost us something.

For example, we should change our behavior when we know the Lord wants us to, even if it is hard.

2 Samuel 23 - Key

v3

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men [must be] just, ruling in the fear of God.

As we want to be an influence for righteousness in the lives of other people, we must make sure that we are conducting ourselves in the right way.