2 Chronicles 23:8 to 2 Chronicles 32:33

This passage struck a chord with me:  "About this same time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. He prayed, and the Lord gave him a sign that he would recover. But Hezekiah was so proud that he refused to thank the Lord for everything he had done for him. This made the Lord angry, and he punished Hezekiah and the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Hezekiah and the people later felt sorry and asked the Lord to forgive them. So the Lord did not punish them as long as Hezekiah was king." (2 Chronicles 32:24-26)

If you know nothing else about me, know that I am a fibromyalgia and CFS survivor. About ten years ago, I became very sick, and "was almost dead." During those hard years, I remember praying a lot to God, asking Him to heal me. And then, He did. And then, I stopped praying so much.

And so, starting right now, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank my Lord God for everything He has done for me. He's done absolutely incredible things for me, and I am ever grateful.

I am sorry, Lord, for sometimes forgetting all You've done for me, and for only turning to You when I need help. Thank You, God, for doing all these wonderful things... and thank you for BEING wonderful. I should praise You every day, all the time. You deserve no less.

2 Chronicles 25:8

2 Chronicles 23:1-7

2 Chronicles 23:1

2 Chronicles 10-22

Early this morning I sat in a little blue rocking chair in an empty children's Sunday School classroom (as I usually do on Sunday mornings) gazing out the window. Suddenly, I was overcome with the need to pray for a specific, new thing... something that I have never prayed before... You see, usually it's "Lord, please help me, or Lord, please give me something, or Lord, I want, or Lord, forgive me for something or protect me from something...", etc. etc.

You see, I tend to (like the Israelites in 2 Chronicles 15:3-4) forget about God in the good times and only fully turn to Him in the bad times.

But today, it was a new prayer. Something in me said that there would be a change in my life, and soon.

And for some reason, I sat there in that chair praying to God that no matter what future wealth or happiness or success or man might come into my life that I would not, in any circumstance, forget the One who made me, or forget to praise Him, or forget that everything comes from Him and that next to Him, money means absolutely NOTHING.

And so, imagine my surprise, when my reading for today included the following passages: "The people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, but even after he became very rich and respected, he remained completely faithful to the Lord..." (2 Chron. 17:5-6)

Amazing.

Love.

How can it be....

2 Chronicles 1-9

The description of Solomon's temple in these chapters is pretty amazing... and to be honest, I am so inspired to go create something that it is hard to continue reading!!! But persist, I must.  I especially love this verse: 2 Chronicles 4:13... "Fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with designs of winged creatures..."

Again I am remembering a verse from last week's reading, which reminds me that every good and beautiful thing in this entire world comes from God: every good and perfect and amazing and beautiful and inextricable thing, including the gold that Solomon used to make the temple. And since everything came from God in the beginning, we are wise to give a little of it back to Him, and thank Him for it, too.

All the art for today is spur-of-the-moment graphic design that I was inspired to create after reading these verses (Thanks, God!):

2 Chronicles 2:5

2 Chronicles 3:11

2 Chronicles 3:14

2 Chronicles 4:5

2 Chronicles 5:14