Back in November, when we did our Thanksgiving meal,
I was sitting during the service while others were sharing
about what they were thankful for that year.
And I was really thinking, and I should have said it then, but I didn't,
so I'm going to say it now.
Over the years, I've been thinking about how,
and I'm not sure when it exactly happened,
but at this point, I realize what a loving church family that I have here
and how you've become my family.
And I love you so much.
And my last church, many of you know parts of my story,
and some of you don't, but we went through a very difficult time,
went through some great conflict and division,
and it really left me scarred and left me hurt a little bit.
And I have healed over the years by being here,
by individuals loving me and my family.
And I just thank you for that.
And I just wanted you to know that because, you know,
I feel so close to you and you as my church family today.
If you have your Bibles, I'd like to ask you to look with me,
if you would, at 2 Kings.
We're going to be looking at a couple different verses in 2 Kings.
We're going to start there, what you see on the board, in chapter 18.
But we'll be looking at a couple verses in chapter 17,
and we'll be looking at some in chapter 19 as well.
I will have them on the board in just a moment,
but I always encourage you to look those up in your Bibles as well
and read along in the Scripture.
That gives you an opportunity to make sure that what we have there really is what's in the Word.
It also keeps you bringing your Bibles, carrying your Bibles, using your Bibles.
I hate to hear churches today that the people have basically quit carrying their Bibles with them
and quit studying it for themselves.
But never take anyone's Word.
Never take my Word.
Never take Fred's Word if it doesn't align with the Word of God
because that is ultimately superior and supreme.
But we're going to be looking in 2 Kings chapter 18, verses 17 through 25.
The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,
his chief officer and his field commander with a large army
from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the upper pool
on the road to the washerman's field.
They called for the king.
And Elikim, son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator,
Shebna, the secretary, and Joah, son of Asaph, the recorder, went out to them.
The field commander said to them,
Tell Hezekiah, this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says.
On what are you basing this confidence of yours?
You say you have strategy and military strength, but you speak only empty words.
On whom are you depending that you rebel against me?
Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff,
which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it.
Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who depend on him.
And if you say to me, we are depending on the Lord our God,
isn't he the one whose high places and altars has Akiah removed,
saying to Judah in Jerusalem,
You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem.
Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria.
I will give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them.
How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials,
even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?
The Lord Himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.
Let's call the Lord in prayer.
Father, we thank you for this day,
this opportunity to be together as the body of Christ.
And I pray that as we study your word today,
I pray that it is not my words that are heard,
but it's the Holy Spirit speaking through your word
to each and every heart here today.
And I pray that this is a message that will uplift,
that will encourage,
and give us faith and hope to enter into a new year,
holding tightly to your hand
and going forth with confidence that you will be with us as you have in the past.
And we praise you and we thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.
Amen.
This morning we're going to see that King Hezekiah,
that was the king of Judah,
found himself in a very difficult position.
You know, Judah had found themselves besieged,
I should say Jerusalem,
because the Assyrians had invaded the southern kingdom
and had already conquered all of the fortified cities of Judah,
say Jerusalem.
And now they've surrounded Jerusalem
and they've besieged it.
At this time, the Assyrian army
was the largest and most powerful army,
certainly of the world.
And they had already conquered the northern kingdom,
which the northern kingdom of Israel consisted of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel.
And therefore, the southern kingdom was much smaller,
consisting of only two of the 12 tribes of Israel.
And Assyria has already conquered the larger tribe,
or the kingdom.
And therefore, you can see the position,
or the predicament,
that King Hezekiah finds himself in
at this particular time,
where the Assyrians have surrounded Jerusalem
and have besieged them,
and basically have given them very little choice,
either surrender to the Assyrians,
or to be destroyed,
and certainly annihilated.
And so what would King Hezekiah do?
Would he trust in the Lord
to deliver Judah from the hands of the Assyrians?
Now when we think about that,
he's going to trust the Lord,
but the Lord raised up the Assyrians
to defeat and destroy the northern kingdom.
And so King Hezekiah, though,
was not like the other kings of Israel or Judah.
He had submitted himself to the Lord.
But would he trust God to deliver them?
And if God did not do that,
if God failed to deliver them,
then they risk being annihilated.
They risked being destroyed
and even exiled like other nations.
Or could King Hezekiah
decide to simply surrender to the Assyrians?
They would be exported to other lands,
but at least they would live,
and they wouldn't be destroyed.
In that day and time,
when a conquering nation or military
conquered a people,
they would export them.
They would take the leading people
of that society or civilization,
they'd take the skilled,
they'd take the educated,
they would take the important,
maybe royal families,
and important individuals,
and they would move them
and settle them into another land,
maybe where they had already conquered.
And eventually,
those people groups would mix.
And people say the northern kingdom
would lose their identity altogether.
And that's what has happened
to the northern kingdom.
The Assyrians came in,
conquered them,
put fish hooks in their mouths,
and led them out,
and settled them in lands
that they had already conquered.
But the northern kingdom
has lost its identity.
To us,
the northern kingdom
doesn't exist anymore.
And from this point forward,
all references to Israel,
even today,
is really a reference
to the two tribes
that made up the southern kingdom,
or Judah.
But verse 7 tells us
that the Lord allowed that to happen.
Why?
Because of the sin
of the northern kingdom.
They had allowed themselves
to abandon their faith in the Lord,
and had gotten far away
from keeping the covenant
that God had made with Abraham.
And they were worshiping other gods.
And so,
God raised up the Assyrians
to come in
and to conquer them
and to lead them away.
So,
what would King Hezekiah do
in this situation?
Would he trust in the Lord,
or would he surrender
to the Assyrians
and allow his people
to be deported
and maybe completely lose
their identity?
Often,
the struggles
that we face
in life today,
maybe they're not
to the magnitude
of what King Hezekiah
found himself facing,
but often,
the struggles
that we face
in our lives today
often seem
bigger than ourselves.
They seem greater
than our abilities
maybe to handle.
You know,
what are some of the struggles
that you may have been facing?
Maybe health issues,
financial issues,
marital issues,
maybe struggling
with a wayward child,
maybe job issues.
We face many different challenges
and struggles
in our lives today,
and many of those
seem to be greater
than our own abilities
to be able to handle.
However,
what I want us to see today
as we study
this situation
that Hezekiah finds himself in,
that if we will focus
upon the Lord
and His ability,
then we will have faith
and confidence
that He will see us
through these times,
that the Lord
will be with us
in those moments.
My secretary
at my last church
had a little cartoon
beside her desk
that I always enjoyed seeing.
It said,
instead of focusing
upon how big
the storm is,
tell the storm
how big your God is,
and it's focusing
on the Lord
and God's ability
to see us
through those storms
of life,
see us through
those difficulties
and those hardships.
And I think that
if we will go
into the new year,
2018,
and whatever challenges
we face,
whatever difficulties
we encounter,
whatever struggles
stand before us,
keep our faith
in the Lord,
that He will deliver us
through those times.
He will deliver us
through those circumstances
and He will use
those circumstances
to bring glory
and honor to Him.
Sometimes God uses
those circumstances
in our lives
to help us
to grow in our faith
or to bring us
in a nearer
relationship with Him.
Do you remember Paul
in the New Testament?
And he had a thorn
in the flesh.
What was the purpose
of that?
Why did God
allow that
into his life?
It was because
he was getting
puffed up with pride.
He had experienced
things that no one
else had experienced
in his relationship
with God.
And God was using him
in mighty
and miraculous ways
and he was in danger
of being puffed up
with pride
and arrogance
and so God
brought a thorn
into his flesh
that we're not sure
what exactly
what it was
but we do know
that he used it
to humble Paul
bringing back
to his knees
and back into
that relationship
with him.
Sometimes God
allows those things
to happen in our lives.
You know after we
receive Jesus Christ
as our Lord
and our Savior
sometimes we think
that's the end
and we just sit back
and we wait now
for God to come
and take us to heaven
right?
But what is God's
purpose for our lives
once we've received
Jesus as our Lord
and Savior?
The one thing
that he desires
to do in every one
of our lives
is to mold us
and shape us
into the image
of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit
comes to live
within us
and he begins
working
and molding
and shaping us
to become
in the image
of Christ.
And if it takes
difficulties,
if it takes
hardships,
if it takes
struggles,
he will not
hesitate to put us
through those things
because his ultimate
goal is not
our happiness
but his ultimate
goal is us
being in the image
of Jesus Christ.
And sometimes
some of us
are hard-headed
and stubborn
and wayward
and sometimes
God has to use
those things
to humble us
and to bring us
to a point
where we're
depending on him,
leaning on him
and surrendering
to areas
in our lives
where he's
trying to mold
and shape us
into the image
of Christ.
But what struggles
are you facing
today?
What challenges
have you endured
recently
that you do not
believe God
can handle?
Is there anything
in your life
that's too big
for God?
you know,
Romans 8.28
tells us
that all things
work for the good
of those who
love the Lord.
It doesn't say
God caused
everything,
but it says
God is working
in every situation
and every circumstance
bringing about
the good
of those who
love the Lord.
Also,
Luke 1.37
says,
for nothing
is impossible
with God.
what challenges,
what struggles,
what hardships
then are you
facing or will
you face in your
life that is
greater than
God's ability
to handle?
I know of none.
I know at times
the Lord may bring
us to the edge
where we think
we cannot handle
another thing,
but we have to
look back at the
times in our lives
where God has
already brought us
through and be
reminded of the
things that God
has done in our
lives and look
back and see how
He has been
working in our
lives and bringing
us to where we
are even now and
trust and have
faith that despite
our understanding
that God is still
working in those
situations and
circumstances in our
lives, helping us
to grow in our
faith, grow in our
character, grow in
our endurance, even
preparing us maybe
for future works
that He would have
us to do and
ultimately He's
working to bring
glory and honor
among Himself.
You know, Israel
had been led into
the promised land
by Joshua back in
Deuteronomy and
God had clearly
instructed them in
Deuteronomy 28 that
if they were faithful
and they were
obedient to His
commands, He would
always bless them.
But that wasn't the
full message, was it?
What else did He go
on to tell them?
He said that if you
fail to be obedient,
if you fail to be
faithful, then what?
He said, I will curse
you.
Unfortunately, the
northern kingdom forgot
that second part of
that message.
Really, they forgot
the first part as
well.
And they had moved
far away from being
faithful and obedient
to the Lord.
They had abandoned
the faith of the
God of Abraham
and the God of
Moses who had led
them out of Egypt.
And they had begun
to worship other
gods and they had
become, you know,
trying to be more
like the nations
around them and
worshiping the gods
that the nations
around them had,
were worshiping.
And as a loving
God will, God didn't
just punish them
immediately.
What did He do?
He sent prophets.
He sent the prophets
to them with words
of warning and
message for them to
return to being
faithful to the God
of Abraham, the one
true and only God,
to return to being
faithful and obedient
to the covenant that
God had made with
them and He would
bless them once again.
But the Jews were
very hard-headed and
stubborn and they
refused to listen to
the prophets.
The northern kingdom
had gotten so wicked
and so vile that they
did something that we
can't even begin to
imagine today.
And that was they
were, they got into
child sacrifices.
They would take their
own children and burn
them on altars to
false gods.
And so God raised up
the Assyrian nation
and He led them to
conquer the northern
kingdom of Israel.
Look at chapter 17
verses 3 through 8.
Salmanazar, king of
Assyria, came up to
attack Hoswe who had
been Salmanazar's
vassal and had paid
him tribute.
But the king of Assyria
discovered that Hoswe was
a traitor for he had
sent envoys to
Saul, king of Egypt,
and he no longer paid
tribute to the king of
Assyria as he had done
year by year.
Therefore Salmanazar seized
him and put him in
prison.
The king of Assyria
invaded the entire land,
marched against Samaria
and laid siege to it for
three years.
In the ninth year of
Hoswe, the king of Assyria
captured Samaria and
deported the Israelites
to Assyria.
He settled them in
Halah, in Gozan, on the
harbor river, and in the
towns of the Medes.
All this took place
because the Israelites
had sinned against the
Lord their God who had
brought them up out of
Egypt from under the
power of Pharaoh, king
of Egypt.
They worshipped other
gods and followed the
practices of the nations
the Lord had driven out
before them as well as
the practices that the
kings of Israel had
introduced.
You know, the northern
kingdom had forgotten
the covenant that God
had made with them and
as a result, God punished
them and destroyed them.
And during this same
time frame, king Hezekiah,
king of Judah, the
southern kingdom.
You know, Hezekiah's
father was a very evil
king and he did many
wrong things in the eyes
of the Lord.
And yet Hezekiah was not
like his father.
The scriptures tell us
that there were no other
kings from the time of
David on that were like
Hezekiah.
He honored God and
actually tore down the
Asherah poles and the
places of false worship
throughout the land.
He did everything within
his power as king to lead
his nation back to
honoring, you know, the
one true God and to
being faithful to him.
And as a result, God
honored him and God
blessed him and he was
successful in all that
he did.
It was his faith in the
Lord that led him then
to quit paying, you know,
tribute to the king of
Assyria.
He trusted in the Lord and
he refused to pay that
price anymore.
However, when he failed to
pay the price the Assyrians
had set before him, then the
Assyrians invaded back in to
Judah, conquered all the
fortified cities and now
have besieged Jerusalem.
You know, this reminds us
that our faith at times cost
us something.
At times, our faith in the
Lord comes at a price.
And I mention that because so
often we take a stand for the
Lord and we think, well,
everything should be perfect,
well, and good, and yet we
run into even greater
difficulties.
We're at war.
We're in a spiritual battle.
I believe right now the
United States is in a
spiritual battle for the soul
of this nation.
And there will be times when
we take a stand for God that
we may suffer consequences of
that.
But we do it in justice to
ourselves as well as others
when we say that if I accept
Christ and I do what he tells
me to do, I'll never have any
problems in life.
It'll be a walk in the park and
everything will be well and
good.
And those of you that have been
Christians for any length of
time at all know that's not
true.
We will face challenges.
We will face difficulties.
We will face hardships.
But our faith in God is not
that if we follow him, he'll
handle everything and we'll
never have a struggle in our
life, is it?
So what is our faith supposed
to be in?
Our faith should be that when
we give our life to the Lord,
we put our life in his hands
and we trust him to take our
life and do with us what he
will to bring glory and honor
to his name, to bring about
his will and to advance the
kingdom.
And sometimes that may be
going through difficulties.
Sometimes that may be
hardships.
I personally think the world
needs to see that we're
willing to worship God, Jesus
Christ, if he doesn't do
anything for us.
We don't need to be like the
people of the New Testament who
follow Jesus around just because
he fed the hungry or raised, you
know, the dead or healed the
sick, many of them follow just
to see what he would do for
them.
We need to follow Christ because
of what he's already done for
us upon the cross and for that
and that alone.
If he never does another thing in
my life and I live a miserable,
wretched life due to hardships,
not due to sin, but due to just
struggles I face, then praise be to
the Lord Jesus Christ because of
what he's already done for me.
Oftentimes I hear people say we're
in the safest place when we're in
the center of God's will.
I want to share with you today
that's not true.
Ask Jesus.
Was Jesus in the center of God's
will when he went to the cross?
That wasn't the safe place.
Ask many of our missionaries who
serve in dangerous places today.
Ask many believers.
I was reading a story in Voice of
the Martyrs just the other day
where they wouldn't say somewhere
in Asia.
Believers have to have church in
their cars and they have to drive
around while they do a church
service, which you can see there's
only going to be two, three, four of
them in a car.
But that's the only place that they
can meet that they don't fear being
heard or, you know, people coming in
and killing them for their faith.
A few years back, my wife and my
daughter Ashley were looking at going
to Honduras.
And Ashley was only 12 at the time.
And they were set to leave at something
like 3 o'clock in the morning.
Well, at 9 o'clock that night, the team
leader calls me and he says, we need to
have a meeting at the church in an hour.
So I said, okay.
And I went up there with my wife and
daughter.
They said, Honduras has had a coup and
they've run the president out of the
country and there's rioting, you know,
and conflict and we don't know whether
we should go or not.
And I was thinking there were several
teenagers going on that trip and I
thought there's no way parents are
going to let their teenagers go on a
trip like that to a third world country
who is experiencing a coup and having
rioting and fighting going on.
But when I got up there to my great
surprise, you know, all of them were
like, oh, let's go.
You can send my kids.
You're in the safest place when you're
in the center of God's will.
And I said, that is not true.
I said, it is not true at all.
And they're like, well, you're just
afraid to let your wife and daughter go.
I said, I'm letting them make that
decision and I will let them do what
they feel the Lord leads them to do.
But I also shared with them what you
have to do is if you feel God's leading
you to go, then go.
Put your life in God's hands and trust
that whatever happens, whether you live
or die, whether you're attacked, put in
jail or you suffer, you're in God's hands
and you're trusting that he's using those
circumstances to fulfill his will and to
bring glory and honor unto himself.
You know, mission teams, we need to
understand that.
When you go on a mission trip, there's
no guarantee that something bad won't
happen.
And I mention that because the first time
it does go wrong, I don't want to
stand in back going, well, we trusted
God.
Why did God allow that to happen?
Sometimes God uses circumstances and
situations like that to accomplish his
will.
We don't understand.
We may not even like it.
But when we go, whether it's on a
mission trip or across the street, we put
our life in God's hands and we trust
God.
We trust that he will use us to fulfill
his will and his purposes in our life.
We trust that he's using our lives and
the situations and the circumstances that
we find ourselves in to bring glory unto
himself and to advance the kingdom of
God.
Hezekiah sent a message to the king of
Assyria stating that he had sinned against
him.
And if they would withdraw, then Judah
would pay them the price that they had
asked.
This is the one little blemish on Hezekiah's
record here is that he stepped back and
instead of having complete faith and trust in
the Lord, he agreed to pay the price.
And so he went throughout the land.
He took all the silver and gold he could find,
including that which was in the temple, and he
gave it to the king of Assyria.
However, what happens?
The Assyrian king doesn't do what he said he
would do.
He did not withdraw, but rather he besieged
Jerusalem.
And so Hezekiah finds himself in a very awkward
crisis here with a fundamental question that is
still as true today as it was then.
That question is, what do you believe about God?
Not what you say, but what do you really believe down in your
heart about God?
Is God worthy to be trusted?
Can He really fulfill His promises that He has given us today in His
word?
Do we really believe that?
If Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and the Lord wasn't able to deliver
them, then Judah would have been conquered by the Assyrians and
destroyed.
But Hezekiah, being the man of God that he was, he went to Isaiah, the
prophet, to seek, you know, His word and His advice.
Look over in chapter 19, verses 5 through 7, and we will see the
message here.
When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them,
Tell your master this is what the Lord says.
Do not be afraid of what you have heard, those words with which the
underling of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Listen, I am going to put a spirit in him that when he hears a certain
report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down
with the sword.
You know, Isaiah told King Hezekiah not to fear the king of Assyria because
God would send him home and then would have him struck down with the sword.
But then Isaiah, he goes to the temple and he cries out unto the Lord on his own,
which is a really, really good example for us to follow.
When we're facing times when we're seeking wisdom, seeking, you know, direction,
facing challenges, it's a good thing to go to spiritual leaders or spiritually mature
individuals that we trust and go to them asking them for advice, even praying with them.
But then go directly to God ourselves.
Don't necessarily just take the word of others, but learn to go to God ourselves and seek God's
direction and seek God's wisdom in our own life.
Well, the Lord heard Hezekiah's prayer and he responded once again through Isaiah.
Flip over again, chapter 19, look down at verse 32 through 36.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria.
He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it was shield or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that He came, He will return.
He will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.
That night, the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian
camp.
When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies.
So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp and withdrew.
He returned to Nineveh and he stayed there.
You know, until recently, it wasn't believed by non-Christians that Nineveh even existed.
You know, there were archaeologists and others who doubted the stories of the Bible and that
Nineveh even existed.
But recently, and I think this is amazing, the more scientists and the more archaeologists
discover, the more they prove the Word of God to be true.
And it hasn't been long ago that they found evidence that Nineveh really did exist.
Now, I couldn't find it, but Jim Gilstrap told me when he was in seminary that his professors
shared with them that, you know, in the archaeological finds of Nineveh that they had recordings
of the Assyrian army losing 185,000 soldiers in one night.
How is that possible, certainly in that day and time, other than the Lord?
The Lord certainly delivered them in a manner that no one could have even imagined, that no
one else could have done it in the way God did it.
And God often does that in our lives.
Why?
He does it so that He receives the glory, doesn't He?
He receives the praise.
Not Judah.
You know, Judah didn't go out and fight a battle.
The battle was won without even one single arrow being shot in that day and time.
You know, no one has ever lived without having problems or crisis to arise in their life.
We see throughout scriptures men, good, faithful men like Hezekiah facing great challenges.
It can be hard for us to understand why God allows these things to take place in our lives.
It can be hard to understand, especially in the midst of them, why God allows them to happen.
But as we look back, especially once we've gotten through a struggle or a hardship or a difficulty,
and we look back, I hope we can see the hand of God that was always there, always in the midst of that struggle,
always in the midst of that difficulty, right there alongside of us.
You know, we may not always be protected from difficulties and hardships,
but God has said He will never leave us nor forsake us,
that He will be there with us in the midst of all of those.
As we stand here on the very last day of the year 2017,
and we look back,
you remember challenges or struggles that you faced throughout the year?
Can you look back now
and see how God's hand was in the midst of that all along?
You might not have been able to see it in the moment,
but maybe now that we've come through that,
we can see it.
You may be in a challenge or a struggle or a difficulty, hardship right now,
and you may not be able to see the hand of God.
But wait until we get out of it and look back.
We will be able to see it.
And so, if you're in the midst of that right now,
just hold on to God.
Have faith and trust in Him.
And accept His answer.
Accept how He's working in your life
to bring about His purposes,
to bring about His will,
to bring about the advance of the kingdom of God.
And I hope that as we look back on 2017,
and we can see the hand of God in our lives.
Maybe we didn't go through any struggles.
Maybe we had a great year,
and it was all happiness and bliss.
But I hope we see the hand of God in that as well.
And as we face a new year,
2018,
may it not strike fear in our hearts
to face a new year,
because we don't know what this new year will hold for us.
May we go into that new year
holding the hand of God,
allowing Him to hold us completely in His arms if necessary.
But go forward in faith.
Go forward in trust.
Go forward in belief
that God is going to be with us in those moments.
Those difficulties that are beyond our abilities.
He's going to go forward with us.
And that He's going to take our lives.
It may not all be perfect happiness and joy,
but we're going to trust
that God's going to take our lives.
Excuse me.
He's going to use us
to bring about His purpose, His will,
and to bring glory to His name.
Or He may be working in us,
preparing us for a work
that He still has for us to do.
He may be strengthening our faith,
strengthening our character,
and helping us to become more and more
like Jesus in our life.
King Hezekiah faced what the world
would say was a hopeless situation.
Some may have said he was crazy
to trust in the Lord,
but he went to God,
heard the word of the Lord,
trusted the Lord would see him through,
and was willing to accept the consequences
if he didn't,
but he trusted and believed that he would,
and God did.
God did exactly what He said He would do.
As we go into 2018,
not only do we trust that God will use us
and be there with us,
but we can trust His word.
We can know that He is faithful
and that He will be faithful to the word of God,
and so may we not only be a people of faith,
but may we also go into 2018
striving to walk closer to the Lord
this year than we've ever been.
Maybe we strive to know His word better
than we've ever known it before,
and to obey it,
and to apply it to our lives.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Father, we just thank You so much
for Your word.
We thank You for examples throughout Scripture
like King Hezekiah,
that He shows us an example of a man
trusting in You,
and You honoring that faith and that trust
and delivering him and Judah
from an army that was far superior to them.
And I pray that as we enter into 2018,
I pray that we can have faith and trust in You,
but that we will also be an honorable people
who obey Your word,
who study Your word,
and apply Your word to our lives,
and that You will use us
throughout our families,
throughout our community,
throughout our state and beyond,
to allow the light of Christ
to shine through us
and others to see You
and come to know You
as their Lord and Savior as well.
And it's in Your holy name we pray.
Amen.