WARNING! LESSONS FROM JOSIAH
November 14, 2022 1:43 PM
MY HIDING PLACE
Audio version link, youtube.com/watch?v=dwZ9Pxx9NxY
Dear brothers and sisters,
On March 8/2022, during my devotion, the Holy Spirit led me to the story about King Josiah.
Please take the time to pause the video and read through 2 Kings 23:1-20.
This Word comes with a serious warning from Father that many have fallen into complacency and are in danger of going to hell.
Many read the Word leisurely and don’t bother to explore the deeper meanings behind each chapter and verse.
Many rely on others’ messages, preachings, prophecies and teachings to learn God’s ways. All of this is not enough. Each of us needs to study it on our own to show ourselves approved.
Our beloved Messiah is God’s Word made into flesh.
His Word is His love letter to us; His manual of instructions. It must be read with the help of His precious Holy Spirit so that it can bring conviction to our hearts and a real, tangible change DAILY as we mature and become more and more like Christ.
God’s Word gives us LIFE.
When we apply it to our everyday lives, it becomes a spring of water that wells up to eternal life.
It teaches us the difference between right and wrong. And when we are faced with God’s ancient path versus the Babylonian system, we must flee the latter. God’s Word MUST be taken seriously for our lives depend on it.
Deut. 30:15-16 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Therefore, ‘CHOOSE LIFE TODAY!’
Here’s a summary of the story of King Josiah.
King Josiah was not aware of the books Moses had written which outlined all the laws and commands from our Heavenly Father. Thus, Israel lived in much sin, idolatry, rebellion, disobedience and wickedness. But one day, while Hilkiah the priest was bringing out the money that had been taken to the temple (2Chron.34:14), he found the Book of the Law. He brought it to King Josiah. Here’s how Josiah handled himself after learning about the books of the law.
Josiah gathered all the people including all the priests, prophets and elders of Israel and he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant. Then he renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord, to follow His commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and soul. All the people in attendance also pledged to follow the covenant. Next he ordered Hilkiah and the doorkeepers to remove all the abominable articles from the temple of God -all the items that had been used for the worship of Baal, Asherah and the starry hosts. He didn’t just remove these items, but he went on to burn them. He did away with the priests who practiced paganism. He tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitute and he desecrated Topheth. He removed the horses and burned the chariots that were dedicated to the sun. He pulled down the altars. He went as far as digging up the bones that were in the graves to have them burned on the altar to defile it.
Here’s the message the Holy Spirit laid on my heart regarding the above Scriptures.
For starters, we must take the time to become fully acquainted with God’s Word and commands, so we can learn the things that grieve our Father’s heart- those things He considers evil and steer away from them. It is not enough to know about them – to be hearers only. We must be diligent in living a repentant life by daily examining ourselves. When we read God’s Word, it becomes a mirror for us to reflect ourselves into and through His Holy Spirit we receive conviction whenever we are faced with temptation or need to repent. We must be careful to remain sensitive to the prompting of God’s Spirit so that we are able to continually wash our garments from any impurity when we fall. If we fail to study God’s Law, how do we know all that Father considers a sin? Sin is not taken into account when there is no law (Rom.5:13). When we approach Father’s throne of grace and seek repentance, not only He forgives but also our prayers are not hindered (Isa.59:2). Let’s try to remember that the onus is on us to keep ourselves in check and to consciously live in a manner that is pleasing to Him.
Share His Word with your family. Teach your children the way they should go and lead by example. Hold each other accountable. Gently teach those who are perishing and going astray. Remember what 1 Tim. 3:16 says, ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness’.
Heb.4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
When Josiah learned about the Book of the Law, he didn’t just read it and toss it to the side. No! He must have been cut to the heart. Because he immediately begin ridding Israel of ALL the abominations he learned that displeased Father. He did not stop to wonder what others may have said about it, nor choose to become complacent, follow the crowd and sweep matters under the rug. For King Josiah, knowing God’s will through His Word was enough to be convinced to act.
Likewise, we are not called to do the things the world does, but rather to be set apart. We must hate the things Father hates and love the things He loves. The narrow path is indeed VERY narrow.
1 John2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
A couple of extra points to remember:
When the Bible talks about removing the log in our eye before we remove the speck in our brother’s eye (Matt.7:3-5), it refers to us confessing our sins first so that our spiritual lens is not obstructed, but rather clear. Otherwise, how can we tell our brother what he’s doing wrong if we do the same things?
Next, we MUST live out our salvation with fear and trembling of the Lord being doers of His Word.
Phil.2:12-13 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Jam.1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
May we seek to be good examples, stewards and ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may He grant us His wisdom to discern the things we need to do away with, those things that, according to His Word, displease Him. Finally, may we put an end to our conforming to the patterns of this world and instead allow ourselved to be completely transformed by the renewing of our minds.
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