CAC LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR MARCH 9, 2024 : TOPIC – FINISHING STRONG
READ PREVIOUS CAC DEVOTIONALS HERE
CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH THE LIVING WATER (January-December, 2024)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 2024
TOPIC: FINISHING STRONG
MEMORISE : I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).
READ: 2 Kings 11: 20-12:21
2 Kings 11: 20-21
[20]. So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword in the king’s house.
[21]. Jehoash was seven years old when he became king.
2 Kings 12: 1-21
[1]. In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
[2]. Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
[3]. But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
[4]. And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s census money, each man’s assessment money—and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord,
[5]. let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”
[6]. Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.
[7]. So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”
[8]. And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.
[9]. Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord.
[10]. So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
[11]. Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord,
[12]. and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.
[13]. However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord.
[14]. But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.
[15]. Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.
[16]. The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.
[17]. Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
[18]. And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.
[19]. Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
[20]. And his servants arose and formed a conspiracy, and killed Joash in the house of the Millo, which goes down to Silla.
[21]. For Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
EXPOSITION
Every serious-minded athlete who desires the gold medal never takes the finishing with levity. No matter how vibrant the take-off is, without a strong finishing, the effort is in futility. No reward is given for starting the race very well, until you reach the end well. No wonder we are charged to stay strong and solid till the end in the Lord. King Joash actually started on a sound note, but why did he fail at the end?
One of the things worth mentioning is transparency in the financial dealings during his reign. Accountability and credibility were keys to his success. Not many of us are credible and accountable. It is worthy of note that the supervisors who distributed the money to the workers were completely honest. Leadership matters in all things. As far as he was with YAHWEH, Joash was credible.
But unfortunately, Joash’s long reign and fantastic leadership didn’t end well. It is on record that He only followed the LORD all the years that Jehoiada instructed him (2 Kgs. 12:2). He abandoned the LORD and His temple after the demise of Jehoiada, and later relapsed into idol worshipping. What an apostasy! He eventually ordered the murder of Zechariah, the son of his mentor who protected him from Athaliah’s onslaught (2 Chro. 24:17-22). Nemesis eventually caught up with him (2 Kgs. 12:20). What an inglorious end of an era! Please, ask God for the grace to run the race and finish well, just like Paul made bold to declare in our memory Scripture.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Oh Lord my God, thank You for making me to be part of this glorious race to the Kingdom of God.
2. I have started well, Lord Jesus, I refuse to finish my course in shambles!
3. Every power striving hard to make me fumble at the end, oh Lord, disappoint them, in Jesus’ name.
SUGGESTED HYMN FOR TODAY:
CAC GHB: 721
1. Onward! Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus,
Going on before,
Christ, the Royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See! his banners go
Chorus:
Onward! Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
2. At the sign of triumph Satan’s legions flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, On to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver, At the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise.
3. Like a mighty army moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading Where
the saints have trod
We are not divided, All one body we,
One in hope, in doctrine, One in charity.
4. Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus constant will remain;
Gates of hell can never ‘gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise,
And that cannot fail.
5. Onward, then, ye people! Join our happy throng;
Blend with ours your voices In the triumph song:
Glory, laud, and honour Unto
Christ the King!’
This, through countless ages, Men and angels sing
Amen.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
Joshua 5, 6