Day 240..."Uzziah 52 year reign...Inspiring Words...Putting the foot down on bad worship!"

Uzziah has a long reign of 52 years and ends with leprosy. He began "good in the sight" in the Lord but had a downfall of pride. II Chronicles makes this clear.."But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction." Jothan had a much shorter reign (16 years) but a better outcome..."So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God."

Isaiah 43... offers some of the most inspiring words of hope in the Bible. Can we imagine how hopeful these words were to a people in exile? Even today...the words offer new hope! Are there two more compelling passages of hope than these? "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,and the flame shall not consume you." and "“Remember not the former things,nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." God is with us in the trials and, if we can remain faithful... hope is just around the corner.

On the oppposite end of hope is the need to restore order...sometimes patience runs out. Jesus condemns the "fig tree" and "cleanses the temple." I hear a message of being productive and not "killing the grass under us" with the fig tree. Is there such a thing as an unproductive disciple? Obviously, the "cleansing of the temple" is about restoring the right motives in the "heart of worship." Jesus' anger is "holy anger" and not to be confused with "out of control" anger.