Don't Get Hooked

[S] 2 Chronicles 33:11 --
11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
(NIV)  So the lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

[O] When Manasseh rejected God's message, he was humiliated by putting a hook in his nose and led away to Babylon.  He later repents and God restores him back to Jerusalem.

[A] If I can only learn without experiencing consequences (of my bad decisions) I would enjoy my life more and spend more of my time to do God's will.  In order to do that, I must gain God's messages for me so I may obey them each time I discern them.

[P] Dear Father, more so than the fact that I don't want to be humiliated by not following God's will for me, I really want to please You by obeying Your words for my life.  Please reveal them deep in my heart so that I will walk the path You desire for me.  I am praying right now about what that path is for me at this juncture.  Please give me the discernment through Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

How to Spend Strength Uselessly

[S] Leviticus 26:20 --
 ²⁰'Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.

[O] In verses 3-13, God describes how we'll be blessed when we follow His commandments.  All of our needs will be met by God Himself.  In this verse, however, explains the consequence of not following His commandments.  More so than receiving the wrath of God and falling dead, this is almost like a slow death where all the strength spent to succeed in life will be uselessly wasted.  Not only my own efforts, my environment will also be fruitless even they may appear to be fine for example.  I remember the times when I felt like pouring water into a bottomless container -- just keep on draining my energy and yet no fruitful results.  This may be due to my lack of obeying God's commands.

[A] When my strength is spent uselessly and brings forth no clear fruitfulness, it's time to examine my own heart about how obedient I am with God's commandments.  It may not have anything to do with my own abilities of carrying out the tasks.

[P] Dear Jesus, as all strength and power come from You I want to tap into the source with a strong and clean bond by my heart obeying God's commands to the fullest.  Please seal this commitment with Your Spirit and make my life in alignment with Your will.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.