A Story To Tell

KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Saturday, July 30, 2016
Chapters: Isaiah 36-38
Message: A Story To Tell

Hello My Friend,

There are often two sides to every story, but then there is what really happened. You will often see stories in the Bible that are repetitious, I say stories because each person tells their side of the story for the events that took place during a particular time. There are four people who tell the story of Jesus, and while they differ a little bit by adding another part they remember from their time with Jesus they still line up as being the same. The reason God had so many tell their side of the same story is to prove that these events were real and all line up as one, people like to tell their own story of God, but then there is the truth and it is in His Word. While God no longer writes every story down of every person He uses to tell His truths for all the world to know, He still uses witnesses to tell their story about how Jesus changed their lives. “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;” - Acts 26:16.

“for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,” There is something special about the day we saw Jesus and made the decision to live our lives with Him in it, no one in the world can understand that. After God spoke of the judgments coming to all nations, and what was about to happen to Jerusalem, Isiah tells his side of the story of the events that took place when Hezekiah was king in the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom had just been overtaken by Assyria. Now Sennacherib is coming after Judah and is trying every tactic he can to get the people to go against Hezekiah, he sends his servant Rabshakeh, who happened to speak in Hebrew.

“Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” - Isaiah 36:13-18.

“Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you,” Rabshakeh used the same tactics all the wicked make when trying to get us to turn away from God, he made a major mistake, he compared the living God to all the false man made gods. Those in the world will be the first to tell you that you are foolish for trusting in God, what they fail to understand is that we have the all powerful God on our side, and He alone will deliver us out of the hands of the biggest coward of all, the devil, who cannot do his dirty work himself, but pulls people in who cannot bare their circumstances in the first place. There is only one way to defeat evil and that is putting on the whole armor of God. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” - Ephesians 6:11,12.

Hezekiah did the only thing he could do to defeat Sennacherib, he went into the temple and prayed to God. A little later Isaiah came to him with an answer from God. “Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” - Isaiah 37:33-38.

“For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake,” Do you see that, God defends His people for His own sake? When we put our faith and trust in Christ, He delivers us from our enemy. Praise God! He does not really do it because we have been perfect and upright in everything we do, He does it because of the promise He made, we are witnesses that He is the living God who lives in us and is full of mercy and grace toward all who are faithful to Him. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” - Colossians 3:15-17.

We can never underestimate the power of the living God, He and He alone has the power to give life, death, and everything in between. Whether we see a person recover from a deathly disease via earth or heaven it all comes from the hand of the Almighty God and no one can alter His decision. After God promised to deliver Judah out of the hands of the Assyrians Hezekiah became deathly ill, once again he prays to God and was miraculously cured, here we learn of the praise Hezekiah gave God after his recovery.

“What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.” - Isaiah 38:15-20.

“but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption:” God loves us way to much to see us end up in hell, which is why He sent Jesus all to have the opportunity to be saved. You want to know why some of the most ungodliest nations have not been destroyed yet? It is because there are thousands of people still getting the Gospel out. It is the faithful few, who will not bow to the devil, who, in spite of their circumstances, get up and fight, fight, fight, to keep the truth told. We may not always be the strongest in our faith, but a little bit of faith is what keeps us holding on to our integrity, gives us hope in the darkest of circumstances, and gives us a story to tell. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” - 1 Peter 5:6-9.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.” - Isaiah 38:20.

Today's Prayer: God, I know that you are the only living God and that because I put my faith and trust in Your Son, I know You are my God. I admit that my faith goes up and down like a roller coaster, but all I need is the faith the size of a mustard seed for you to do amazing things in my life. You already produced one miralce by giving me eternal life, now, I am trusting in You to do more as you help me endure the circumstances in my life. Lead me and guide in me in Your will and Your way, Lord, and let me be a witness and a story for all to tell of my love for You. I love you and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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