THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

June 17, 2020

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

I recently introduced Jon to Paul Harvey. He had heard of him, but had never listened to him, so I found some of his recordings on YouTube to play for Jon. For over 30 years, Paul Harvey was a conservative talk radio personality. He was a storyteller and would share stories from history as well as current events. His famous segment was called, "The Rest of the Story." Paul Harvey would share the backstory of people, events and things, some famous and some not. He would end by saying, "And that is.... the rest of the story."

Today I would like to share a biblical rest of the story.

In 2 Kings chapter 21 we read about Manasseh. He was the son of Hezekiah, who was a righteous king. Manasseh became king when we was only 12 years old. He reigned over Judah for 55 years. Perhaps he had spent his early years being groomed to one day become his father's heir to the throne, instead of being taught about God. Perhaps due to his young age when he became king, he chose advisors (or advisors were chosen for him) who were ungodly and influenced him to do evil in order to be more like the surrounding nations. Whatever the reasoning, Manasseh did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations.

Manasseh rebuilt pagan shrines that his father had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal. He set up an Asherah pole in the Temple of the Lord. Manasseh even sacrificed his own son by throwing him into the fire. He practiced sorcery and divinations, and he consulted with mediums and psychics.

Manasseh led the people to do even more evil than the pagan nations that God had destroyed when the people of Israel had entered the Promised Land. Through the prophets, God spoke and said, "King Manasseh of Judah has done many detestable things. He has caused the people of Judah to sin with his idols. So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle! I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes the dish and turns it upside down.'"

Manasseh murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with innocent blood. This was in addition to the sin which he caused the people of Judah to commit, leading them to do evil in the Lord's sight.

The the following verse says, "The rest of the events in Manasseh's reign and everything he did, including the sins he committed, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Then Manasseh died and was buried in the garden of his own palace."

If that was all you read, you would think, "End of story! What a horrible, evil man who spent his life doing wicked acts!" But if you will go to 2 Chronicles chapter 33, you will read "the rest of the story!"

The first twelve verses in 2 Chronicles recap King Manasseh's wickedness and horrible sins. It is pretty much a repeat of 2 Kings chapter 21. Same king, same story......

But then something happens that is not written in 2 Kings!

God sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took King Manasseh captive. They put a ring or hook through his nose and bound him with bronze shackles, then carried him away to Babylon.

Something miraculous happened while Manasseh was being imprisoned in Babylon. All of his power had been stripped away and he was in deep distress. I'm sure he had lots of quiet time to think. This powerful king who had chosen to abandon and forsake God, now was confronted with his own mortality. He had been on the throne since age 12, had been the son of a king, so royalty was all that he had ever known. Now he was no longer the powerful king sitting on a throne, ruling over Judah. He had no one at his continual beck and call. He was being held captive in a foreign nation, and wasn't being treated as a royal kingly guest.

We read that and think, "He was only getting what he deserved! In fact, he probably deserved even worse and should have been tortured and punishment after all the wickedness he had done throughout his life."

But God!!

Even in Manasseh's wickedness, which scriptures say made God angry, God still loved Manasseh and pursued him. God hated all of the evil which Manasseh had done and how he had led Israel to do so much evil; but God still loved Manasseh and pursued him with the intent of drawing Manasseh's heart back to Him.

That's exactly what happened! Apparently, Manasseh had an understanding and knowledge of the one true God. During his time being held captive in Babylon, Manasseh remembered God and cried out to Him.

"While in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God!"

Manasseh spent his latter years doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He removed the foreign gods and idols from the Lord's Temple, as well as all the altars he had built. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. He had truly humbled himself and repented!

And that is the rest of Manasseh's story!

Much can be learned from the story of Manasseh. Don't give up on God when the world around us seems to be falling apart; or when wickedness seems to be greater than godliness. Don't give up on God pursuing those loved ones who are living sin-filled lives; for His desire is that none should perish but all come to repentance. Perhaps they will have to come to a place of deep desperation before realizing their need of God. Don't judge someone as being too far gone or too deep in their sin for God to reach; and don't judge them by their past. Keep praying and believing for God to intervene in whatever the situation may be where you need to see or experience a miracle.

Manasseh was the son of a righteous king, yet he chose to abuse his power and live a life of wickedness. Just because his father was godly didn't make him godly. He had to come to that place of humbling himself and making his own personal commitment to God. We too have to make our own choices to follow in the footsteps of our Father, the King. The relationship has to be personal and made individually.

Even though Manasseh encouraged the nation of Israel to serve the one true God, I'm sure not everyone was thrilled with the changes that he made. I'm sure there were those who spoke against Manasseh and rebelled against him. They wanted to worship their idols and didn't want the spiritual reformation that Manasseh was bringing about. Yet there would have been those who had prayed and longed for God to change the heart of their king, and they would have rejoiced and given thanks.

When someone humbles themselves and repents, not everyone in their life may be pleased. Old friends and family may feel uncomfortable with the changes that are made. There may be those who liked hanging around the sinner and doing activities together that were unpleasing to God, and they want that to continue. Yet there will be those who have prayed for and longed to see the repentant heart of their loved one and rejoice to see the changes that God brings to pass.

All of our stories are still being written. What we see today isn't the rest of the story and the outcome of what God can and will do, so don't lose hope. The rest of the story is still being written by our Father!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I've known many people who have given up on God. Some of them never really wanted Him in their lives. Some knew and loved God with all their hearts, then went through something that made them lose heart.

One such person I know well lost his earthly father. He couldn't be with his father in the last few months, and I'm sure he prayed constantly for his father's healing. But God had some other plan. I still don't know the plan. But I do know that "the rain will fall on the just and the unjust alike" (Matthew 5:45). And I know that each of the disciples died, eleven of them were full of faith when they did.

I've known others who simply lost faith when they didn't get the blessings they wanted. They missed the point of "seek first the kingdom of God", and sought the blessings instead.

I've also know people who gave up on God because they were blessed. Instead of giving thanks to God for their blessings, they took credit for their success themselves. They quit looking to God, and looked to themselves for all things good.

But I've never seen a case where God gave up on a person. There are cases in the Old Testament where God is said to give up on a city or even a nation. But even then, he gave a means of escape for any individuals who turn to Him.

That means that whatever situation you may be in, God is ready and waiting for you to turn to Him.

ON THE MENEWE:

Frito Salad

Mix all the ingredients together; adding the Fritos right before serving. Serve with dressing of your choice.

Note: You could exchange or add/subtract ingredients to your own liking. I personally don't do well with green peppers, so don't add those. But chopped avocados would be a good alternative. You could also add in diced chicken or seasoned hamburger, if you would want meat added.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Jon and I will celebrate our 15^th anniversary this week on June 18^th. During my years of being single, it felt as if I would always be alone and never have anyone special to share my life with. Since meeting Jon and the two of us sharing our life together, it's sometimes hard to remember a time when I didn't know him. I thank God for bringing us together and allowing us to be a family. I think Him for allowing me to marry and know what it is to love and to be loved by my spouse. All I can say is that 15 years flies by very, very quickly! Some days if doesn't seem that long ago since we met and began our life together; in other ways, our lives are so intertwined it's as if we've been together for much longer. God has blessed us and allowed us to share many experiences that we never dreamed of. It's not always been an easy road that we've traveled together, but with us always keeping God as the center of our marriage and our lives, we have always been determined to walk this journey side by side, so have overcome the hard times. We've grown and matured in our relationship with one another, as well as in our relationship with God. We look forward to however many years together as God chooses to bless us with! Life is good and we are blessed!!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

God often answers prayer in ways we never anticipated.

It can be hard to accept what we didn't expect. - Christine Caine

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org