August 08–22, 2014
Wow! Where do I begin? You can't make this stuff up. Why am I still so amazed by God's timing and abilities? Maybe that is a good thing. I don't ever want to lose the awe of who God is.
The more we get a glimpse of who HE is, the more we realize we don't have even the slightest understanding or a beginning knowledge of His amazing Awesomeness.
The Lost/Last Chapters could not have been more relevant or pertinent in content. And, just wait until you hear about the very last verse of the very last chapter recorded on the very last blank page of my last journal. But first, here is the summary of what stood out in the chapters God set aside—
for such a time as this.
II Chronicles 11:18 – 15:19 - The danger of PRIDE and becoming self sufficient. It isn't about "I" and what "I" have done, it is that "I can do all things
through Christ." Pride → Punishment. There comes a time when God has had enough and He takes His guiding hand out of your life and you are left to fight your own battles by your own devices. God
never abandons or leaves us first. When God leaves us to our own devices, it is
always in response to
our actions of pride, defiance, and our refusal to surrender to Him as Lord of our lives. When you try to do things your own way
you are arguing against God a
nd that is an argument you will never win. Stop! Stop what you are doing. Accountability and consequences for our choices WILL happen. You cannot try to circumvent God's will and have success at the same time. It won't work. It
can't work. The flip side is when you have surrendered your will and are obedient to the Lord—you can't lose.
The size of the army doesn't matter because the battle belongs to the Lord. It is ALL about Him. He is the One who leads the obedient. Victory comes when you
obey and
depend on the LORD.
You can't do it, but God can. Don't give up. God is in control. Your reward will come.
II Chronicles 16:1 – 19:3 - Be careful.
The most dangerous time isn't when you are facing a great crisis. The most dangerous time is when the crisis is over and the victory is won. Success can breed pride, and pride (self-sufficiency) has ruined many people. It becomes easy to forget WHO provided the victory and to instead start believing in your
own abilities, strengths, wisdom, skills, etc.
It takes intentional desire and effort to follow God; surrendering your will to the LORD's will does not happen automatically or accidentally. You have to
want to obey. Where there is obedience there is also the desire to tell others about Him. The Lord protects and blesses those who are obedient to Him. But, be careful. Don't purposely align yourself with unbelievers or there will be danger ahead. There is a fine line between loving the sinner and hating the sin. It can become blurred very quickly and we find ourselves compromised in our relationship with God. God calls us to be separate. If we are aligned with those who are pursuing their own agenda instead of God's agenda, we may be in the line of fire when accountability happens. And, accountability WILL happen. Man can make the best laid plans, but God is still in control. What appears to be "by chance" is actually the Hand of God.
God protects those who call on Him; He holds accountable those who have turned their backs on Him. We control whether we submit ourselves to the authority of God and obey His teachings. God controls the rest.
II Chronicles 19:4 – 21:3 - Attacks (unexpected storms) from others can come unprovoked. Cry out to the LORD for HIS help. Search HIS Word. Surrender your will to HIS. Believe HIS promises. Follow HIS specific instructions. Keep doing what is right. When you have done all He has asked you to do, you can have complete confidence in His promises.
"The battle is not your battle, it is God's."
"You won't need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places, and you will see the LORD save you..." Don't be afraid or discouraged. Stand strong. Praise HIS name first and foremost,
before,
during, and
after the battle. It is the LORD who will take over the battle and HE is the One who will secure the victory. (Psalm 140)
II Chronicles 21:4 – 24:27 - If you find yourself linked with others (business associates, friends, etc.) who are not following God, you
must break free and separate
yourself. You cannot expect to remain faithful to the LORD while compromising God's authority by not following His commands. God sent prophets to warn His people to turn back to Him, but they were stubborn and refused to listen—and accountability happened.
God's promises are true and nothing can destroy or prevent God from fulfilling His promises. We are the ones who mess things up.
There are consequences for our life choices. Our decisions bring God's promised results: Blessing—or—Curses. Our relationship with the LORD has to be personal. It isn't enough to start well. We must finish well!!!
II Chronicles 25:1 – 26:23 - When facing a battle, don't put your faith in your own strength or your trust in your ability to "buy" man's help.
God has the power to help you OR defeat you. Put your faith and trust in Him. It doesn't matter what you have already spent or lost, walk away from it. God can give you
much more!
Rely on HIM, and only Him. It is HIS battle. Don't be stubborn. Repent, and turn from your old ways. Let go (of your need to be in control—pride) and "let" God (surrender your will to His). God provides the opportunity. It is up to us how we are going to respond. It is not
our abilities,
our talents, or
our perseverance that brings us success. Our success comes from God's response to our obedience and servant-hood. The secret to success is simple—obey the LORD!
II Chronicles 27:1 – 28:27 - Obey God—and He supplies your needs and gives you success as you follow hard after Him. Disobey God—and He will eventually hand you over to disaster.
God does not tolerate continued disobedience. The longer you refuse to surrender your will to HIS will, the harder it becomes to repent.
II Chronicles 29:1 – 32:23 - Break the pattern! Don't follow the godless ways of the past. Don't be stubborn. There is punishment for disobedience. Change your hearts! Repent! Turn! Obey! Serve! Praise! The Lord is kind and merciful. He never turns away an honest seeker. But sadly, few are willing to listen and obey. When you willingly give back to God your tithe and offerings from what HE has blessed you with, HE in return honors your obedience and submission to Him and He blesses you abundantly. Being obedient, faithful, and loyal to HIS commands does not prevent you from being attacked, ridiculed, insulted, and the object of aggression from those who are following after their own desires and agendas. BUT, stand strong. Don't be afraid or worried, because "there is a greater power with us" than with them. Man
cannot circumvent God's will. The battle is not yours, it is HIS. HE will fight the battle, and HE will win. HE is the one who saves you, sustains you, and blesses you.
God will use for your good what others intended for your harm. Stand strong. Wait on the LORD.
There is a when! Be ready for it! The battle will end and the victory will be won. God's promises are true.
II Chronicles 32:24 – 33:25 - It is not about what "I" have done, it is ALL about what HE has done. There is much danger ahead when we forget that and become arrogant in our self pride. There is always forgiveness, but how much better to live a life in surrendered peace then to bear the consequences for disobedience.
Our actions determines God's response. When we are faithful—He provides protection. When we are unfaithful—His protection is removed. There is forgiveness and hope, but it requires action in each of our lives to accomplish it. God is ready, willing, and waiting. He speaks to us through his Holy Spirit, His Word, and others. He provides the way. We must humble ourselves → pray → seek → and turn. When we do that, HE does the rest.
Hope. There is always hope. But there comes a time when time runs out. Don't wait.
Change your heart, mind, and ways—TODAY!
II Chronicles 34:1–33 - God's Word is a like a detailed map for how we should live our lives. If you
refuse to acknowledge God as LORD of your life and refuse to follow the path He has laid out,
there will come a day when you realize that what you put your misguided
faith and trust in had no earthly or kingdom value. It was merely a waste of time and effort as you pursued what turned out to be worthless dust, a temporary god that offered no lasting satisfaction and no salvation.
God's Word is true—period. He will do what He says—period. Accountability for personal actions will happen. There
are blessings for those who humble themselves before the LORD; there are curses for those who refuse to surrender their will to His. There is NO excuse for ignorance. There is NO excuse for not taking the time to know what His Word says. There is NO excuse for not immediately obeying His teachings once you become aware of what His Word says. It is up to you/us to seek and search hard after Him. And when you do, He will respond to you and use His Word and His
Holy Spirit, to reach out to you, teach you, and
guide you on HIS path. He will even use prophets (and in our case a prophetess). Ordinary men and women who are called by God, whose words and actions are initiated by the Holy Spirit to be His messenger and His mouthpiece to His people. All for the purpose of either warning His people to repent, or as a message of hope, promise, encouragement, and guidance to those who are seeking hard after Him. It all comes down to this: two different kinds of people; two different choices; and two very different outcomes. It is the same message that resonates throughout all of scripture. We have a choice. Serve God—OR—Serve self. Follow hard after the LORD—OR—Refuse to obey God's teachings. Blessings—OR—Punishment. It really is that simple. Our choices bring God's promised results.
II Chronicles 35:1 – 36:1 - Don't try to argue with God. That is one battle you will never win. Don't fool yourself into thinking God will not know or will not find out about the things you think or do. He knows our every thought and action. His promises are absolutely-with-out-a-doubt-true.
God never breaks His promises and He never goes back on His word. But receiving His promises is not a guaranteed conclusion or something that we have a right to receive IF we turn our backs on Him and are not following HIS ways.
His promises are what is available to us. Whether or not we receive His promise depends on the choices we make. IF—
we choose to no longer follow after His ways and
we choose to follow after other gods with anything or anyone taking the place in our hearts and lives that should be reserved
only for the LORD, THEN—
we have broken the agreement and God's available promise is null and void. Only we can break the agreement.
II Chronicles 36:2–23 - Some people just refuse to change and to surrender their will to God's. God provides opportunity after opportunity for change. He sends warnings. He disciplines. He patiently waits. He wants them to change their hearts and minds. But yet, even after all of that, some people still refuse to listen and become "stiff-necked." Instead of repenting, they ridicule and make fun of God's people and they despise God's messages. God is patient, kind, and full of grace. But there comes a time when enough is enough and His anger cannot be stopped. There is no remedy, and the consequences commence. It was
because of their disobedience, and
because of their refusal to listen to His messages, and
because they refused to repent, and
because they refused to change their hearts, that
God brought their enemies against them and
God handed them over to captivity. Sometimes innocent people become part of the collateral damage. People who
did obey, and
did listen to God's messages, and
did repent, and
did change their hearts, were taken captive as well. But God did not abandon them. He sent a message to His prophet for His people. God's message was this: He
promised to hear their prayers; He
promised to bring them back out of captivity; and He
promised them they would once again enjoy great peace and safety. As a result, all the people would praise HIS name.
What the LORD said would happen—happened. God fulfilled HIS promise to free HIS people. He used a most unlikely source. He used a pagan king to fulfill HIS promise. "Now may the LORD your God be with all of you who are his people. You are free to go..."
God fulfilled His promise to Jeremiah and He will fulfill His promise to free and restore us.
"You are free to go..."
The Lost/Last Chapters: A step-by-step description that explains why "
the storm" began, our thoughts and feelings while battling "the storm"; what we have learned along our journey; the assurance of God's protection; the guaranteed consequences for those who refuse to surrender their will to HIS; and the fulfillment of HIS written-in-stone "I will" promises of protection. When I originally read these chapters (during my hiatus from writing in 2010), I did not understand the significance of these chapters and how they related to our journey. I also didn't grasp the correlation between the last verse in II Chronicles and Jeremiah 33. God, in HIS Sovereignty, set aside these chapters
for such a time as this, so I would realize the importance of them and understand what He was showing me: HE is a promise-keeping God; "the storm" is HIS battle to win; HE is faithful; we need to remain faithful; and HE will free HIS people.
Remarkably, every single one of the God-given chapters Jane
(Her Name Was Jane) told us to read are represented in The Lost Chapters.
Psalm 150 -
Praise! It's all about Him.
Psalm 140 - A Prayer for
Protection
Isaiah 30 - Warnings (to those who are obstinate) and a promise to provide
Provision for His people (Isaiah writing about the exact time period recorded in The Lost Chapters.)
Psalm 1 - Two different
Paths and two different outcomes
Jeremiah 33 - The
Promise of freedom and restoration (Jeremiah writing about the exact time period recorded in these chapters).
Psalm 8 -
Purpose! It's all about Him.
