OUR DAILY BREAD : THE TRAGIC FLAW & FICKLE FOLLOWERS

[cimi]

May 30
Thursday


THE TRAGIC
FLAW

READ:
2 Chronicles 26:3-15
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His fame spread far
and wide, for he was
marvelously helped till
he became strong.
__2 Chronicles 26:15
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In literature, a tragic flaw is a character trait that causes the downfall of a story's hero. That was true of Uzziah, who was crowned king of Judah at age 16. For many years, he sought the Lord; and while he did, God gave him great success (2 Chron. 26:4-5). But things changed when "his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong. But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction" (vv.15-16).

Uzziah entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar (v.16), openly defying God's decree. Perhaps pride convinced him that God's rules applied to everyone except him. When Uzziah raged against the priests who told him this was not right, the Lord struck him with leprosy (vv.18-20).

In literature and in life, how often we see a person of good reputation fall from honor into disgrace and suffering. "King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house,...cut off from the house of the LORD" (v.21).

The only way we can prevent the nectar of praise from becoming the poison of pride is by following the Lord with a humble heart. __David McCasland

```````````````````Humility's a slippery prize``````````````````
```````````````````That seldom can be won;``````````````````
````````````````We're only humble in God's eyes````````````````
````````````When serving like His Son. __Gustafson`````````````
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The crucible for sliver and the furnace for gold, but man
is tested by the praise he receives. __Proverbs 27:21 NIV

*************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Chronicles 26:3-15******************

3 Uzziah was sixteen years
old when he became king,
and he reigned fifty-two
years in Jerusalem.... 4 And
he did what was right in the
sight of the LORD, according
to all that his father Amaziah
had done. 5 He sought God
in the days of zechariah,
who had understanding in
the visions of God; and as
long as he sought the LORD,
God made him prosper.

6 Now he went out and
made war against the
Philistines, and broke down
the wall of Gath, the wall of
Jabneh, and the wall of
Ashdod; and he built cities
around Ashdod and among
the Philistines...His fame
spread as far as the entrance
of Egypt, for he became
exceedingly strong.

9 And Uzziah built towers
in Jerusalem.... 10 Also he
built towers in the desert. He
dug many wells, for he had
much livestock...; he also
had farmers and vinedressers
in the mountains and in
Carmel, for he loved the
soil.

11 Moreover Uzziah had an
army of fighting men who
went out to war by
companies.... 12 The total
number of chief officers of
the mighty men of valor was
two thousand six hundred.

13 And under their authority
was an army of three
hundred and seven thousand
five hundred, that made war
with mighty power, to help
the king against the
enemy.... 15 So [Uzziah's]
fame spread far and wide,
for he was marvelously
helped till he became strong.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The prophet Zechariah taught king Uzziah the Word of God. The
hallmark of the monarch's long reign was military success. However,
this produced pride in the king's heart. King Uzziah presumed to
act as priest before the altar of God and was struck with leprosy as
punishment (2 Chron. 26:16-21).



May 31
Friday


Fickle
Followers

READ:
John 12:12-19;
19:14-16
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Behold, your King is
coming, sitting on a
donkey's colt.
__john 12:15
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How quickly public opinion can change! When Jesus entered Jerusalem for the Passover feast, He was welcomed by crowds cheering to have Him made king (John 12:13). But by the end of the week, the crowds were demanding that He be crucified (19:15).

I recognize myself in those fickle crowds. I love cheering for a team that's winning, but my interest wanes when they start losing. I love being part of a movement that is new and exciting, but when the energy moves to a new part of town, I'm ready to move on. I love following Jesus when He is doing the impossible, but I slink away when He expects me to do something difficult. It's exciting to follow Jesus when I can do it as part of the "in" crowd. It's easy to trust Him when He outsmarts the smart people and outmaneuvers the people in power (see Matt. 12:10; 22:15-46). But when He begins to talk about suffering and sacrifice and death, I hesitate.

I like to think that I would have followed Jesus all the way to the cross__but I have doubts. After all, if I don't speak up for Him in places where it's safe, what makes me think I would do so in a crowd of His opponents?

How thankful I am that Jesus died for fickle followers so that we can become devoted followers. __Julie Ackerman Link

`````````````````````````FOR FURTHER THOUGHT```````````````````````

`````````````Read these Bible verses and ponder Jesus' love for you`````````````````
`````````````(Rom. 5:8; Rom. 8:37-39; Heb. 13:5-6,8; I John 3:1).````````````````
``````````````````````Allow your devotion to Him to grow.`````````````````````
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Christ deserves full-time followers.

***********************Today's Bible Reading __ John 12:12-19; 19:14-16**********************

John 12
12 The next day a great
multitude that had come to
the feast, when they heard
that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, 13 took branches
of palm trees and went out
to meet Him, and cried out:
"Hosanna! 'Blessed is He
who comes in the name of
the Lord!' The King of
Israel!"

14 Then Jesus, when He
had found a young donkey,
sat on it; as it is written:

15 "Fear not, daughter of
zion; behold, your King is
coming, sitting on a
donkey's colt."

16 His disciples did not
understand these things at
first; but when Jesus was
glorified, then they
remembered that these
things were written about
Him and that they had done
these things to Him.

17 Therefore the people,
who were with Him when
He called Lazarus out of his
tomb and raised him from
the dead, bore witness.

18 For this reason the people
also met Him, because they
heard that He had done this
sign. 19 The Pharisees
therefore said among
themselves, "You see that
you are accomplishing
nothing. Look, the world
has gone after Him!"

John 19
14 Now it was the
Preparation Day of the
Passover, and about the
sixth hour. And he said to
the Jews, "Behold your
King!"

15 But they cried out,
"Away with Him, away with
Him! Crucify Him!"
Pilate said to them, "Shall
I crucify your King?"
The chief priests
answered, "We have no
king but Caesar!"

16 Then he delivered Him
to them to be crucified. So
they took Jesus and led Him
away.