July 21, 2026; 2 Kings 15

July 21, 2026; 2 Kings 15

Daily Dose of Hope July 21, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 15 Prayer: Holy God, You are so good. Forgive us for the many times we fall short. Forgive us when we are overcome with selfishness and pride, when we put worldly things and people before you. Help us to look to you and you alone for strength, wisdom, and guidance. Give us a repentant heart that wants to follow your ways. Jesus, we need you. It's in your name we pray, Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 15. Things aren't going so well in Israel, in the Northern Kingdom. King after king is evil. King after king, there is warfare, bloodshed, and idolatry. This is what happens when God's people turn from him. In a span of just a few decades, four consecutive kings (Zechariah, Shallum, Pekahiah, and Pekah) are violently assassinated by their successors. This is feeling like a really gruesome Hollywood movie, and it was real! It feels like we are getting very close to the end of the Northern Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom has a little more stability. King Azariah takes the throne at age 16. Just so you know, Azariah and Uzziah are the same person. This created some confusion for me. Uzziah is mainly the name used in Chronicles and Azariah is mainly the name used in Kings. I say mainly because Uzziah is used in today's chapter when introducing his son, Jotham. Probably the best explanation is that Azariah was his birth name and Uzziah was the name he took when becoming king. Regardless of what name we call him, he was a man who started well and ended poorly. 2 Kings says that Azariah is struck with leprosy but doesn't mention why. 2 Chronicles goes into more details. The king had a fair amount of military and political success and it's possible that it went to his head. He was yet another king who didn't think the rules were for him. He wanted more authority. So, he enters the Temple and burns incense in a place where only the priests were allowed to go. The priest who catches him (also named Azariah for lots of confusion) stands up to the king and ordered him out of the Temple. This was the king's chance to quickly leave and repent for his wrongdoing. Instead, Azariah/Uzziah becomes enraged that the priest dared to question him. As the king stood in the Temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. He was shut out of the Temple and spent the rest of his life in isolation, banned from public worship or even normal human socialization. His son, Jotham, handles the affairs of government. Jotham seemed to learn from his father's mistakes and does what is right in the Lord's eyes. Overall, he ended well, even though he didn't totally clean out the pagan idols in the high places. Not totally getting rid of the pagan temples and altars will not end well for Judah in the years to come. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 20, 2026; 2 Kings 14

Daily Dose of Hope July 20, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 14 Prayer: Lord, Forgive us for the many times in which we have put other things in front of you. Help us have laser focus on who we are. We belong to you. We are a chosen people and a royal priesthood. We are yours. More of you and less of me, Jesus. Amen Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 14. And the drama continues. Aram/Syria has been weakened considerably, which should have been quite a relief to both Israel and Judah. They could have used this time to get their act together, both spiritually and governmentally. But they don't. Instead, they begin to torment one another. The king of Judah challenges the king of Israel. Why in the world did he do this? Israel was larger and probably much stronger. Did Amaziah, the king of Judah, simply get the big head after the defeat of Edom? That is part of it, but we get a fuller picture when we look at 2 Chronicles 25. As we read, Amaziah was initially a fairly good king. He did what was right in the eyes of God. But after the defeat of Edom, 2 Chronicles details how Amaziah brings back Edomite idols and worships them. A prophet confronts him for this, but Amaziah arrogantly rejects God's warning. He seems to think himself untouchable. But the confrontation ends up being a disaster for Judah. Israel's army comes marching into Judah, tears down part of the wall surrounding Jerusalem, captures Ahaziah, takes some hostages, and plunders the silver and gold out of the temple. In 2 Chronicles 25, we read that God allowed this punishing defeat because of King Ahaziah's blatant idolatry. But this would have certainly been humiliating for the king. It's unclear, but the text (when we look at 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 25 together) suggests that King Ahaziah may have been held as a hostage for years. While he may have officially still been the king of Judah, Ahaziah lost his grip on leadership of the nation. God is serious about not worshiping other gods. I might venture to say that God holds his leaders even more accountable to living with integrity. Think about your life. My guess is that you don't bow down and worship other gods, such as in this Old Testament text. But there are certainly lots of false gods all around us. What have we allowed to enter our lives that could be seen as a false god? What have we put before the one true God, Yahweh? Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 17, 2026; 2 Kings 13

Daily Dose of Hope July 17, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 13 Prayer: Lord, We thank you that you are a God of miracles. For the people reading this devotional today, I'm sure that many of them need a miracle of some kind. Give them the courage to ask and the faith to believe that you can do anything. You are all-powerful and totally good. We need you, Lord, and we need your healing power in our lives. May it be so. In Your Name, Amen Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and today's reading was 2 Kings 13, smack dab in the middle of the book. In this chapter, we are back to the Northern Kingdom. There is a lot of king drama here. Over and over again, the kings do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Truly, it's amazing God didn't just strike them down right there. But he continued to show grace in so many ways. The kings and people would worship others gods and do deplorable things in the eyes of the Lord. But God had compassion on them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was because of the faithfulness of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that God did not destroy all the people. Because he certainly could have. So, I started thinking about this. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were far from perfect people. They were broken, just like us, but they also did their best to stay true to the Lord. They stayed faithful. Maybe this sounds strange, but this gave me a lot of encouragement. We are all sinful, we all mess up, but our desire to remain faithful to God does not go unnoticed. What difference will our faithfulness have on future generations? How will God have compassion on future generations because we tried, in our own flawed way, to stay true to Him? How will our spiritual legacy make a difference? It's worth spending some time thinking about. This chapter also discusses the death of Elisha. This is so fascinating – yes, he has physically died but not even death stops his ministry. His prophecy about Syria obviously plays out but he is still actually doing miracles. When a group of Israelites were burying a corpse, they are interrupted by a group of Moabite raiders. Hastily, they throw the corpse into Elisha's grave, presumably on top of his bones. The dead man is revived. Elisha has continued to give life to Israel, even after death. More king drama on Monday. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 16, 2026; 2 Kings 12

Daily Dose of Hope July 16, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 12 Prayer: Dear God, We come to you in repentance. We are sinful and broken people. We fall short over and over again. Lord, how we need you. Help us to grow closer to you. Help us seek holiness. Help us love others the way you love them. In these next few moments of silence, Lord, please help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you... In Your Name, Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We have been working our way through both 1 & 2 Kings this summer and now we are in the middle of 2 Kings. I just want to let you know that 2 Kings will carry us through August 4. On August 5, we begin a deep dive into the book of Genesis. So, I hope you all stick with us! Today's text is 2 Kings 12. This chapter details the reign of King Joash. He did the right thing in the eyes of God, as long as the priest Jehoiada was instructing him. But he never removed the high places, which were local shrines where the people generally worshiped false gods. He made some attempts to rebuild the temple and even created a new system to collect funds for temple repair. Overall, the author is mostly positive about Joash. Then, at the end of the chapter, we read about his demise. Just as he came to power in a coup, he is stripped of power with a coup. Some of his officials conspired against him and assassinated him. His son succeeds him as king. This was puzzling to me. Joash reigned for forty years. He was not perfect, but certainly far better than many of the kings who came before him. What happened? To get more details, we need to check out 2 Chronicles 24. Apparently, after the priest Jehoiada dies, Joash begins to allow idol worship again. He may have actually participated in it himself. To make everything a lot worse, Joash stones to death the priest (Jehoiada's son) who spoke out against the idol worship. His arrogance is atrocious. As a result, God allows him to be wounded in a battle with the Syrians and his officials finish him off. He is quite unpopular by the time he dies. Needless to say, Joash ends badly, tragically even. When he had Jehoiada telling him what to do, he did okay. But when forced to stand on his own, he fell hard. He allowed pride, arrogance, and greed to overwhelm him toward the end of his rule. His potential was unfulfilled, his purpose thwarted, and his legacy marred. Blessings, Pastor Vicki

July 15, 2026; 2 Kings 11

Daily Dose of Hope July 15, 2026 Scripture: 2 Kings 11 Prayer: Lord Jesus, We rejoice in you. We praise your name. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was, and is, and is to come. We cannot possibly express our gratitude in words. You have offered us mercy but you have also given us freedom. Thank you for that. Help us live like free people. Help us demonstrate your love and grace to others who cross our path. Help us see people through your eyes. We love you, Lord. Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. This summer, we have been working our way through 1 & 2 Kings. Today, we read 2 Kings 11. 2 Kings 11 shifts to the southern kingdom of Judah. King Ahaziah was killed earlier by Jehu's forces. Because the royal line in Judah was devastated, Ahaziah's mother, the ruthless Athaliah (the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel), seized the opportunity to take power. Athaliah murdered all the royal heirs of Judah to secure her reign. However, Ahaziah's sister, Jehosheba, managed to secretly rescue one of Ahaziah's infant sons, Joash (also known as Jehoash), and hide him in the Temple of the Lord for six years. In the seventh year, one of the high priests (Jehoiada) decides it's time to take the throne back. He forms a covenant with some of the commanders and arming them with King David's weapons which had been stored in the temple. That's when they bring out Joash and declare him the new king. That means he was all of seven years old. Athaliah was killed and Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord's people. Thus, the temple of Baal was destroyed. So this high priest cleaned up the land and ensured that one of King David's descendants remained on the throne. Once again, we see how God keeps his promises. For six years, it looked like David's line had been broken but through some faithful people and unusual circumstances, God protected little Joash and ensured that Judah would return to him, at least for a time. I also love this story because it shows that individual people, like you and me, have the ability to be faithful influences. The aunt of Joash who saved him and then the high priest Jehoiada both risked their lives to ensure God's purpose endured. One person, no matter their status, has the ability to change the course of history. Blessings, Pastor Vicki