the Bible – God’s guide for life #7 Case example – King Josiah #2 Lessons from Josiah’s experience

lessons from Josiah’s experience

King Josiah on a 17th century painting by unknown artist in the choir of Sankta Maria kyrka in Åhus, Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

• God’s words are life changing, but if we do not read them and act on them as Josiah did, they may as well be hidden away from us. A neglected Bible is about as useful as a lost one.

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  Book of Genesis, Taichow (Taizhou) Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Josiah only had the ‘Book of the Law’, possibly Genesis to Deuteronomy or perhaps just the last of these books, and he brought about changes in his own life and the nations religious observance. We have the 66 books of the Bible – what difference could they make when you read them?

• It is not enough to read, nor even to believe, we must act on our faith too:

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a glass; for he observes himself, goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.                                                                                                  (James 1:22-25)

• Repenting of wrong doing as Josiah did can lead to change in character and behaviour:

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted: but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you have proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.       (2Cor 7:10&11)

    

• God wants us to repent of sin, delights in us when we follow him and wants us to celebrate his goodness and mercy.
• To deal with sin –
• it needs to be recognised
• it needs to be stopped
• it needs to be prevented by changing the situations and circumstances that allow temptations to arise
• it needs to be replaced by something more positive.
• A godly character is formed by –
• reading God’s word
• finding out what God is like
• obeying him by doing what he asks of us and preventing evil from forming
• seeking to demonstrate his attributes in our lives
• praying for guidance in all these things.

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Preceding articles

the Bible – God’s guide for life #1 Introduction

the Bible – God’s guide for life #2 Needs in life

the Bible – God’s guide for life #3 Fast food or staple diet

the Bible – God’s guide for life #4 Not to get the best from our diet– or from ourselves

the Bible – God’s guide for life #5 What is God like

the Bible – God’s guide for life #6 Case example – King Josiah #1

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Additional reading

1. People Seeking for God 6 Strategy
2. God’s forgotten Word 2 Lost Lawbook 1 Who has still interest
3. Deliverance and establishment of a theocracy
4. Running the battle
5. Faithful to the listening ear
6. God is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him
7. Vayikra after its opening word וַיִּקְרָא, which means and He called
8. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
9. Seven days of Passover
10. Observance of a day to Remember
11. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
12. High Holidays not only for Israel
13. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
14. A Passover for unity in God’s community

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Further reading

1. Sibbes: “The outward is easy…”
2. Great King, Bad King
3. The reign of King Jehoahaz (2 Chr 36:1-36:4)
4. The battle with King Neco of Egypt (2 Chr 35:20-35:22)
5. Righteous Rampage!
6. A Study in Contrasts
7. Sermon: Covenant
8. The new covenant (Neh 9:38-9:38)
9. 2 Chronicles, chapters 33-36
10. 2 Kings, chapters 19-22
11. June 16 @ Ezekiel 1-6
12. Haftarah for Bo–Jeremiah: The Ruler of All Armies
13. Zephaniah
14. Sermon 29 November 2015: “Our Advent observances & King Josiah”
15. Our Father Cares: Faith And God’s Promises 07/22
16. Huldah – 10 Points for Bible Study on November 7, 2015
17. “Bible Heroes: King Josiah” (Memory Verse Challenge: Psalm 86:5)
18. How to avoid dying before you’re supposed to (Part 2 of 3)
19. How to avoid dying before you’re supposed to (Part 3 of 3)
20. change.
21. The Problem with Church
22. The importance of this Passover (2 Chr 35:16-35:19)
23. The animals for the sacrifices of the Passover (2 Chr 35:7-35:9)
24. The effect of reading the book (2 Chr 34:19-34:21)
25. January 21 Genesis 44-45
26. January 21 Psalm 20
27. The grace of God in spreading the good news through persecution
28. 
29. 3 Life Changing Actions for Every Christian
30. Piper: Why I Abominate the Prosperity Gospel
31. The heavens declare the glory of God
32. Our Sovereign God Summons and Saves
33. A rare and precious faith
34. David had tried it, thousands have tried it, we have tried it, and it has never failed.
35. 20 Questions to Gauge Your Bible Reading
36. Bigger picture #Bibleverse 19th January
37. How is God’s Word ‘Alive’

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