Hezekiah Broke Off Old Relationships of the People.

II Kings 18:4: Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2: Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem.  His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

3: And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

4: He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

 

 

 

 

Human nature leans toward base living.  As much as we would like to compliment our humanity, it simply will decay into an animalisitic expression if left unchecked.  Values and character are built over time and circumstance.  Truth, honesty, courage, and compassion in a community do not come from standing on the corner and watching.  They come from purposeful and determined action of many individuals over time.

Hezekiah in his young heart, knew action had to be taken.  He sensed the urgency of the moment and moved off of the sidewalk of people watching.  Hezekiah seized the day throughout his life.  At this trend-setting  juncture, he established a position of "no retreat" by tearing out the places to which people could retreat.

Creating disequilibrium for those caught in a vacuum of disillusionment and distortion of vision can be a necessity.  When wanting to move forward into new territory, it is many times absolutely necessary to take away reminders of a destructive past.  Radical action causes us to look for new anchors.  Even a good thing in the brass serpent, which God meant for good when it was created, can become an evil reminder and a draw backwards instead of forward.

Hezekiah broke off old relationships that pointed the wrong direction in establishing and living in greatness before God with the people.

RESPOND WITH ACTION: What symbols of antiquity cause your vision to look backwards?  What about the people with whom you partner?  What ideas are anchored in the past but not the future?  What keeps character tied to a post?

PRAY WITH FAITH: These are challenging words, Lord of Life.  You have plans for me to succeed and prosper in all I do.  You have focus on my future.  There are many around me waiting on my action.  Deliver me from the death of apathy.  Deliver me from the shroud of inaction.  Cause me to come to Your fresh and living waters.  Cause me to see those obstacles that bind me and those around me to the past.  Birth Hezekiah-like greatness in me, Father.  I commit to see life in a new light.  Help me to purge the distractions that draw me backwards.

26 Things Hezekiah Did In Establishing and Living Greatness Before God

 

1.  Broke off old relationships of the people.

 

II Kings 18:4: Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2: Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem.  His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

3: And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

4: He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Human nature leans toward base living.  As much as we would like to compliment our humanity, it simply will decay into an animalisitic expression if left unchecked.  Values and character are built over time and circumstance.  Truth, honesty, courage, and compassion in a community do not come from standing on the corner and watching.  They come from purposeful and determined action of many individuals over time.

 

Hezekiah in his young heart, knew action had to be taken.  He sensed the urgency of the moment and moved off of the sidewalk of people watching.  Hezekiah seized the day throughout his life.  At this trend-setting  juncture, he established a position of "no retreat" by tearing out the places to which people could retreat.

 

Creating disequilibrium for those caught in a vacuum of disillusionment and distortion of vision can be a necessity.  When wanting to move forward into new territory, it is many times absolutely necessary to take away reminders of a destructive past.  Radical action causes us to look for new anchors.  Even a good thing in the brass serpent, which God meant for good when it was created, can become an evil reminder and a draw backwards instead of forward.

 

Hezekiah broke off old relationships that pointed the wrong direction in establishing and living in greatness before God with the people.

 

RESPOND WITH ACTION: What symbols of antiquity cause your vision to look backwards?  What about the people with whom you partner?  What ideas are anchored in the past but not the future?  What keeps character tied to a post?

 

PRAY WITH FAITH: These are challenging words, Lord of Life.  You have plans for me to succeed and prosper in all I do.  You have focus on my future.  There are many around me waiting on my action.  Deliver me from the death of apathy.  Deliver me from the shroud of inaction.  Cause me to come to Your fresh and living waters.  Cause me to see those obstacles that bind me and those around me to the past.  Birth Hezekiah-like greatness in me, Father.  I commit to see life in a new light.  Help me to purge the distractions that draw me backwards.

 

Please send me the daily doses on Hezekiah  phil@prayermetro.com

 

 

The Twenty Six Things Hezekiah Did In His Greatness of Following God:

A. II Kings 18:4 Broke off old relationships of the people.

B. II Kings 18:5 Trusted in God.

C. II Kings 18:6 Held fast to God (like none before or after him.).

D. II KIngs 19:2 Sent for God's man.

E. II Kings 20:2 Turned his face to the wall.

F. II Kings 20:3 Loyal heart

G. II Kings 20:20 Protected the investment.

H. II Chronicles 29:3  Opened God's house and repaired it.

I. II Chronicles 29:4 Restored worship.

J. II Chronicles 29:10 Followed his heart.

K. II Chronicles 29:20  Garnered support of the leaders.

L. II Chronicles 29:22  Gave offering.

M. II Chronicles 29:30-31  Praised with gladness according to the word.

N. II Chronicles 29:35  Set God's house in order.

O. II Chronicles 29:36  Moved quickly.

P. II Chronicles 30:6-9 Called out to all.

Q. II Chronicles 30:12 Encouraged a singleness of heart.

R. II Chronicles 30:15  Provoked repentance.

S. II Chronicles 30:18-20 Acted and prayed in mercy.

T. II Chronicles 30:22 Encouraged those who tried.

U. II Chronicles 31:1 Restored order.

V. II Chronicles 31:3  Gave of himself.

W. II Chronicles 31:4 Made provision for holy leadership.

X. II Chronicles 31:21 Did everything with all his heart.

Y. II Chronicles 32:8 Encouraged the people.

Z. II Chronicles 32:26.  Humbled himself.

BREAK IT OFF!   GET SMART!

Quotes on Greatness

Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown. ~ Charles de Gaulle

If you cannot do great things; do small things in a great way. ~ J.F. Clarke

Greatness is always improbably. Petty and dull--that is probable. ~ Tao Te Ching

Not a day passes over this earth but men and women of note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows. ~ Charles Reed

God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials. ~ John Baptiste Gressett

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. ~ Robert F. Kennedy

"To love one that is great is almost to be great one's self." ~ Susanne Curchod Necker

Doing great requires that we become great people, and all of us can become great people. ~ Les Brown, It's Not Over Until You Win

I’ve often said, the only thing standing between me and greatness is me. ~ Woody Allen

If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both. ~ Horace Mann

It is not only giants that do great things. ~ Jabo Proverb

What chance gathers she easily scatters. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together. ~ Johann Goethe

Greatness is not standing above our fellows and ordering them around it is standing with them and helping them to be all they can be. ~ G. Arthur Keough