“For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this.” – 2 Kings 19:31

This verse addresses a critical theme and recurring pattern throughout Scripture. God always preserves the faithful remnant of His people. Over and over again, from Genesis to Revelation, we see that not everyone who identifies with God is actually a faithful believer. Those who claim the name of God without truly believing and living out that faith in obedience eventually suffer catastrophic judgment. It has happened repeatedly to Israel and to other nations. But God always preserves a remnant who are truly faithful.

It happened in the great Flood. It happened in the Wilderness. It happened in the Exile. It happened after the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. Jesus describes it in Matthew 25. Paul describes it in Romans chapters 9 through 11. Not all Israel is Israel. Not all Christians are Christian. Many today claim the name of Jesus. But is He truly their Lord and Savior? Have they submitted to Him, having been saved by God’s grace through life changing faith in Jesus as resurrected and ruling Lord? Jesus promised that everyone who believes in Him will be saved. However, He was emphatic that if we don’t live in obedience to Him we don’t really believe in Him.

Expect another great culling of the church in the coming years. Be prepared for hard times that will cause many who are only nominally Christian to leave because of the cost of obedience. However, God will always preserve the faithful remnant unto eternity. Take stock of your own faith and make sure you are in that faithful remnant. Is Jesus your Savior? Is He truly the Lord of your life? Have you submitted your life, your time, your talents, and your treasure to obeying and serving King Jesus? Is His Kingdom and character increasingly your Kingdom and character? Are you pursuing the agenda of Heaven or grasping at the things of the earth? #FollowJesus

“He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).” – 2 Kings 18:4

About 700 years before this verse, the people of Israel had grumbled against God in the desert and been punished by venomous snakes. To save them, God had instructed Moses to create a bronze snake on a pole. Once bitten, the people could look up at this snake and be healed. About 700 years after this verse, Jesus explained in John 3 that the whole episode illustrated the need for God’s people to look to Him and His work on the cross to be healed from the poisonous effects of sin in our lives.

However, almost exactly halfway between the creation of the statue and the fulfillment of everything it really illustrated, the people of God had twisted the statue’s purpose in an ungodly way. They were worshiping the statue instead of the Lord Who commanded its creation! They had taken something that was originally good and ordained by God and made it a holy object worthy of worship and sacrifice. For the spiritual health of God’s people, King Hezekiah had to smash this object of the people’s inappropriate devotion.

In Christian life, we can easily make the same mistake as the Israelites. We often elevate good traditions and practices that started with a godly purpose to an inappropriate level of devotion. We pour our emotional devotion into those rather than into God, thinking they are the same. That could be about the order of things in a worship service, the type of worship music we prefer, a much-loved event in church life, some aspect of the church building, the “proper” way to observe a special day, or simply “the way we’ve always done it”. Those things almost certainly began with a good and godly purpose, but when they take on an inappropriate level of emotional attachment in our hearts, we inadvertently move them into lordship in a way displeasing to God.

Sometimes, we simply need to break up our bronze serpents – the grand traditions that we love a little too much – so that our hearts are more fully attached to Jesus. Take some time to reflect… is there anything that’s become so important to you that God might want you to smash it to more fully #FollowJesus?

“If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” – Acts 25:11

Paul’s appeal to Caesar was a courageous move. He knew he’d committed no crime but had been unjustly imprisoned for two years. To get on with God’s mission, he made his appeal to Caesar, an appeal he knew could end in either freedom or death. It seems he could have safely stayed where he was but that wasn’t going to serve God well. Paul moved his trial away from people who were at least familiar with the faith to those who absolutely were not. In doing this, he entrusted his fate to God since Paul had no influence in Rome.

Would you have the same courage and resolve? Would you give up the safe, if confined, situation Paul was in for the opportunity to move forward with the Gospel? Every Christian should be. As we pray and grow in Christ, let us cultivate this kind of deep trust in God, His purpose, and His sovereignty. Should our time come, let us be prepared to take the risk necessary to be able to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Let us #FollowJesus wherever He leads!

“When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.” – Acts 24:27

Today, we celebrate that as Christians in America, we are free. Free to worship wherever we want to worship. Free to publicly gather for worship. Free to build churches and proclaim the Gospel. However, today’s Scripture reminds us that Christians are never guaranteed earthly freedom. So, remember to give thanks and rejoice if you enjoy freedom. Commit to pray and glorify God if you don’t.

Paul was unjustly imprisoned for two years for sharing the Gospel. Today, untold numbers of Christians are intimidated, persecuted, imprisoned, or killed for their faith. Paul’s imprisonment reminds us that the Gospel can still advance effectively without freedom. His bondage wasn’t wasted! Freedom isn’t necessary for God’s Kingdom to advance, as much as we enjoy having freedom. Indeed, sometimes the Gospel spreads faster in places where the followers of Jesus must suffer for their faith.

As you enjoy this Independence Day, give thanks for the earthly freedom you enjoy. It was bought with a price and can be easily lost, taken, or surrendered when we take it for granted. At the same time, remember that as a Christian, your true freedom is in Jesus Christ. In Him, you are free from sin, death, and the devil. Take time today to pray for those Christians around the world who don’t have the same freedom you do. Pray that God will strengthen, comfort, and encourage them in their oppression. #FollowJesus

“Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, ‘Jehu is king.'” – 2 Kings 9:13

Buried deep in the history of the kings of Israel we catch a little glimpse of how the people of Israel celebrated a newly appointed king. God told the prophet Elisha that Jehu was to become king of Israel. In Israel, kings were covered in oil at God’s direction rather than merely crowned with a crown. The Hebrew word for being anointed like this is “Messiah”. After Jehu had the anointing oil poured on his head the people acknowledged him as their king with a celebration that included laying their outer garments on the ground in front of him so his feet wouldn’t touch the dirt.

This helps us understand an event that happened hundreds of years later when Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem and a great crowd celebrated by waving palm branches and laying their outer garments on the ground ahead of him. What happened in Jerusalem on the Sunday before Jesus was killed on a cross was His earthly celebration as God’s anointed Messiah and Israel’s true king. The people celebrated His coronation as their ancestors had done for centuries.

What they didn’t understand was that the Kingdom of Jesus didn’t just include a small part of the world called Israel. Jesus is the righteous and eternal King of the entire world. His true coronation wasn’t performed by a crowd but by God the Father Who crowned Jesus King through His suffering, death, burial, and resurrection. All hail #KingJesus!