Nicholas Hood III Ministries

The Bed of Exultation!

The Bed of Exultation

Psalm 149: ⁵ Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.

Saturday, I saw a commercial on television about a mattress sale a local furniture store was offering. The lowest sale price offered seemed ridiculously low and much lower than what I imagined the price of a mattress might be. I thought for a moment about the wisdom of a young man named Roland, who for a couple of years roomed with my son, Nathan in New York. Roland at the time was in merchanzing clothing at a big named department store. He told me that at the time, there were only a handful for producers of shirts and socks in the world, mainly in China, and that the major sellers of those products would contract with the producers to have the shirts and socks manufactured to their specifications. Roland encouraged me to look closely at what I intended to buy, and I would be able to notice how similar the product is.

That was Saturday. On Sunday, after church and the Sunday meal, I got in the car and found the mattress store. As I walked into the store, a young saleswoman greeted me, and I told her I was looking for a new mattress. She directed me to a mattress that was way above the price I was prepared to pay. After a little discussion, we settled on some mattresses that were more in my price range. After laying on several mattresses and trying to imagine if my wife would find one that pleased her, I chose one that was affordable and comfortable.

The young saleswoman directed me to her work space where she had a computer waiting. As she asked for my name and address, she asked how I intended to pay for my purchase. I told her I intended to pay with prayer. The salesman seated next to her looked up, and he told her he knew who I was and that I was the pastor of a major church in Detroit. Under my pandemic-driven mask, he did not recognize me. The young saleswoman snapped her head up toward me and informed me she was looking for a new church. I asked her where she attended church. She told me. I let her know I knew exactly where she went to church and I knew her pastor. I am not into stealing members from other churches, but she was the one who, “Opened the door.” As it turned out, I did not have my business card in my possession, so I wrote the name, address and website of my church on a piece of paper and gave it to her.

We finished the transaction, and the bed was delivered on Monday. It has been about 34 years since Denise and I got a new mattress. She had been complaining about the bed being lumpy and every now and then she was getting pricked with a spring. A few years ago, I purchased a beautiful bed frame, but being cheap, I did not change the old mattress at the time the new frame arrived, The new bed frame is the color of, “Sea-Blue.” I think it is a beautiful frame, so beautiful, I had the wall opposite the bed frame painted to match the bed.

Our bedroom with the bed frame and wall to match, absolutely relax me. I find the whole experience of going to bed, sleeping in the bed, and waking in the bed to be a royal exercise and a complete joy!

When Denise and I first were married, we lived in an apartment and slept with the bed and box spring on the floor without a frame. After the first eight years, we moved to a house, with a lot of rooms, three floors and a basement. The mattress and box spring were still on the floor. Once, the Men’s Club from the church met at our home. I asked the men to take their coats and throw them on the bed. When the meeting was over, and the meal was finished, I directed the men to go upstairs to our bed room to retrieve their coats. It seemed like it was taking the men, all who were older than I, a long time to come downstairs, so I went up there to see what was taking them so long. Several of the men were spread out on three sides of our bed and staring down at the coats and the mattress on a box-spring that was so low, right off the floor. Cliff Graham, one of the old guys looked up at me with a nasty grin and said, “Nick, your bed is really low.” I smiled at him and replied, “It’s not how low the bed is. I can get down into the bed, but I can also rise, and get out of it!” The men fell out laughing and we were straight ever since!

Denise became pregnant shortly after that, and she asked me in such a nice way, “Do you think we could afford a frame for the bed?” I felt like a stingy fool, and said, “Of course!” We have had a real bed frame ever since.

Thank you for bearing with me, and the story of how Denise and I got off the floor and began to sleep in a bed like adults. I enjoyed sleeping on the floor, but like the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13: “When I was a child, I thought like a child, acted like a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” We have been in a bed ever since!

Thank you for reading. Pray for Denise and me and our new mattresses! Blessings.

Nick

Questions for Reflection:

What do you think about the story of the purchase of the new mattress and box spring?
What is the significance of the bed and mattress in a marriage?
Where do you find reasons to praise God in your home?
Where do you find space to relax and give glory to God?
Other thoughts on this writing?

Prayer: God, I thank you for the intimate joy of marriage. I thank you for the bed of rest, the bed of peace, the bed of love. May every day be a day of joy and every night, a night of satisfaction, exhilaration and personal and mutual joy. In everything may we give glory to your name! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

New – Listen to readings from the Book of Psalms, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 1^st Samuel, 2 Samuel, Proverbs, the Gospel of John, Acts of the Apostles, Philippians, 1^st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1^st and 2^nd Timothy, Colossians, Titus, Revelation and more as well as Inspirational Prayers written by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Hood III at Nicholas Hood3, is now available on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nicholas-hood3/id1370371705.

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

January 27, 2021 0

“Lessons from One Night in Miami and the Power of Positive Attitude”

^{Philippians 4: will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. ^[1]}

Questions for Reflection:

Have you seen the movie, “One Night in Miami”?
What did you think of the movie?
Can you see a connection between the movie and the Book of Philippians?
What are your favorite Bible verses that encourage positive thought?

Prayer: Lord, make me positive. Lord, make me optimistic. Lord, make me loving, kind , full of hope and full of faith. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Php 4:7–9). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

January 24, 2021 0

Conversation for Men on the Vaccine

Good morning. I hope you can join me at 10am EST in a Zoom Conversation for Men on the Topic of the Vaccine featuring Dr. Eric Ayers
https://us02web.zoom.us/
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Pass Code
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Pastor Nick Hood3

January 23, 2021 0

Press On to the Mark of the High Calling in Jesus Christ!

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Philippians 3: ¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. ¹⁶Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

One of the great positive messages in the Bible is found in Philippians 3, where the Apostle Paul talks about staining towards the goal of the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus. Paul says he foregets what is behind, and strains forward to wht lies ahead. What lies ahead is the prize in Christ Jesus.

Jesus Christ offers you and me an opportunity to live positive lives with a positive hope. For Paul, he all of what he writes in the Book of Philippians is while he is under house arrest in Rome, waiting for his trial before Caesar. He knows that if the trial is unsuccessful, he will most certaintly be executed by means of beheading.

My question to you is this, “What do you strain toward? What is your hope? What is the prize you seek in life?”

Jesus Christ offers hope. Jesus Christ offers something to look forward to. Jesus Christ offers you and me a reason to live, a reason to dream, a reason to work toward something that is bigger than ourselves, a reason to be positive! Thank you for reading this. Blessings,

Nick

Questions for Reflection:

What are your thoughts regarding this passage of scripture?
Can you relate to the concept of, “Straining toward the prize of the high calling in Jesus Christ?’
What is the challenge you have with this verse of scripture?
Other thoughts on this passage?

Prayer: Lord, I am straining today towards the prize of the high calling you have set before me. Bless me now with energy, faith and hope as I climb the ladder of love in your name. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

^[2]

^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Php 3:12–16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

^[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Php 3:12–16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

January 23, 2021 0

“One Night in Miami” and the Positive Perspective of the Apostle Paul

“One Night in Miami” and the power of Positive Attitude

Last week, while my wife, Denise was consumed with some meeting on Zoom, the pandemic has a way of doing that, I went over to my brother, Steve’s house, and we watched, “One Night in Miami”, a new Amazon Prime Movie. Every now and then I get together with Steve to watch a movie. Normally, we watch a “shoot em up” flick, but Steve wanted to be more cerebral, and suggested, “One Night in Miami.” As we watched the movie, by Regina King, which centers on a real meeting at the Hampton House Motel, in Miami, between Malcom X, Jim Brown, Muhamad Ali, and Sam Cooke, I got goosebumps, because in 2015 during my book [NHI1] signing tour in Miami, Enid Pickney, who is a member of our sister church in Miami, took me to the Hampton House Motel to see her efforts as a member of a non-profit corporation, to restore the hotel. I got goosebumps, because when she showed me the pool, I thought to myself, “this has to be the pool where Muhamad Ali took the iconic photo shadow boxing alone underwater!’ Enid Pickney is up in years, but full of energy and drive, and along with her non-profit is making a great effort to restore the hotel. The Hampton House Hotel, was one of many such establishments around the country that made itself available to house African Americans during segregation. In Detroit, where I live, the most famous of the black owned motels was the Gotham Hotel, on John R near Mack Ave. As a child, our parents would take us to the Gotham Hotel sometimes on Sundays after church. Even now, my mouth waters thinking about the homemade bisquits and white linen table cloths. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerld, and most of the famous black entertainers spent the night at that hotel. Although the Hampton House Hotel in Miami catered to a black clientele, the owners were white and lived in New England. Even in segregation, there have been some white folk who understood the power of the interracial dollar!

I commend Regina King for an excellent job in making the movie. The meeting between Muhammad Ali, Malcom X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke, did in fact happen in Miami on February 25, 1064. I do not want to spoil the movie, if you have not seen it, but I do want to make a comment regarding one aspect of the movie and I hope you will see it for yourself. Each of the men portrayed in the movie was an outstanding success in their own areas of endeavor. Jim Brown was an outstanding football player for the Cleveland Browns. Sam Cooke was a singer and music producer on a level by himself. Malcom X was a convert to the Muslim Faith and in the process of distancing himself from Elijah Muhammad and establishing his own denomination within the Muslim faith who converted Muhamad Ali to Islam. The four men were young, in their prime, full of life, energy, enthusiasm, and most of all, positive thought.

This Sunday, in my sermon, I am going to preach a message that centers on the movie, but gives focus to the importance of having a positive attitude, that you can accomplish anything you want to do. Each of the four men portrayed in the movie had great ambition, great ideas, great drive and great talent! Most of all, each of the four men were driven with a positive sense of optimism! The scripture I am using to frame my message on the power of positive perspective is based on the message of the Apostle Paul from Philippians 4: ⁸Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. ^{^[1]}

I hope you will join me this Sunday as a compare, contrast and center my message on the excellent movie, “One Night in Miami” with the positive message of the Apostle Paul. Thank you and Blessings…

Nick

Questions for Reflection:

Have you seen the movie, “One Night in Miami”?
What did you think of the movie?
Can you see the positive aspects of Sam Cooke, Muhammad Ali, Malcom X and Jim Brown?

What are your thoughts about the positive perspective of the Apostle Paul?

Prayer: Lord, help me to seek, grow and maintain a positive perspective on life. Even in my most difficult days, help me to look for the positive, the good and the uplifting! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Php 4:8–9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[NHI1]y

January 22, 2021 0

2 Kings Conclusion – Chapters 24 and 25

Today, we read the concluding two chapters of the Book of 2^nd Kings. Like the preceding chapters in 2^nd Kings, chapters 24 and 25 continue the path of violence, backsliding faithlessness, and ultimately capture, death, destruction and the separation of families through the Exile in Babylon. Thank you for joining me in reading the Book of 2^nd Kings.

2 Kings 24 In his days King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up; Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. ²The Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, bands of the Arameans, bands of the Moabites, and bands of the Ammonites; he sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, for all that he had committed, ⁴and also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to pardon. ⁵Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ⁶So Jehoiakim slept with his ancestors; then his son Jehoiachin succeeded him. ⁷The king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken over all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Wadi of Egypt to the River Euphrates.

Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin

(2 Chr 36:9–10)

⁸Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. ⁹He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father had done.

¹⁰At that time the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it; ¹²King Jehoiachin of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself, his mother, his servants, his officers, and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign.

Capture of Jerusalem

¹³He carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which King Solomon of Israel had made, all this as the Lord had foretold. ¹⁴He carried away all Jerusalem, all the officials, all the warriors, ten thousand captives, all the artisans and the smiths; no one remained, except the poorest people of the land. ¹⁵He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the elite of the land, he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. ¹⁶The king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, seven thousand, the artisans and the smiths, one thousand, all of them strong and fit for war. ¹⁷The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

Zedekiah Reigns over Judah

(2 Chr 36:11–14; Jer 52:1–3a)

¹⁸Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ¹⁹He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah so angered the Lord that he expelled them from his presence.

The Fall and Captivity of Judah

(2 Chr 36:15–21; Jer 52:3b—30)

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 25 ¹And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; they built siegeworks against it all around. ²So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. ³On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. ⁴Then a breach was made in the city wall; the king with all the soldiers fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. They went in the direction of the Arabah. ⁵But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; all his army was scattered, deserting him. ⁶Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on him. ⁷They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah; they bound him in fetters and took him to Babylon.

⁸In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ⁹He burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. ¹⁰All the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon—all the rest of the population. ¹²But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil.

¹³The bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, as well as the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁴They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the dishes for incense, and all the bronze vessels used in the temple service, ¹⁵as well as the firepans and the basins. What was made of gold the captain of the guard took away for the gold, and what was made of silver, for the silver. ¹⁶As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands, which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weighing. ¹⁷The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and on it was a bronze capital; the height of the capital was three cubits; latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were on the capital all around. The second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

¹⁸The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold; ¹⁹from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; the secretary who was the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. ²⁰Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²¹The king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile out of its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

(Jer 40:5–41:18)

²²He appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had left. ²³Now when all the captains of the forces and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite. ²⁴Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials; live in the land, serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” ²⁵But in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men; they struck down Gedaliah so that he died, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶Then all the people, high and low, and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin Released from Prison

(Jer 52:31–34)

²⁷In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison; ²⁸he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the other seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes. Every day of his life he dined regularly in the king’s presence. ³⁰For his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion every day, as long as he lived.

Questions for Reflection:

What observations did you glean from reading the concluding two chapters of 2 Kings?
Do you think there was anything the kings of Judah could have done to prevent the Babylonian Exile?
Why do you think the mother’s of the kings of Judah are named?
What image do you have of the last king in Judah, Jehoiachin eating dinner each day at the table of the King of Babylon?

Prayer: God, grant me the wisdom to benefit from the understanding of history. Grant me the faith to learn from your Word. Grant me the hope and love from those who have gone before me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

January 21, 2021 0

The God of Peace Will Keep Your Hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus!

Philippians 4 ⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ^{^[1]}

This passage from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi is one of my absolute favorite scritpures in the entire Bible. Written while under house arrest in Rome, waiting probable execution by beheading, Paul writes this letter to the members of the first church he founded in Asia Minor. This letter is in response to a personal inquiry regarding his well being. To deflect the concern of the church at Philippi, Paul tells the church to rejoice at all times and to be positive.

Paul tells the church not to worry, but with prayer and thanksgiving to make their requests known to God, and God will fill them with peace and keep their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

As we proceed through the pandemic, it is important that you and I remain positive, faithful and hopeful, and if we can do these things, the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Questions for Reflection:

What about this passage from Philippians 4 helps you with your faith?
What from this passage is most difficult for you?
Other thoughts from this passage of scripture?

Prayer: Draw me closer, Lord Jesus. Draw me closer to your faith, closer to your hope, and closer to your love. In Jesus Christ our Lord and savior I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Php 4:1–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

January 21, 2021 0

The Peace of God Will Guard Your Hearts in Christ Jesus!

Philippians 4 ¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Exhortations

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ^{^[1]}

Paul tells the church not to worry, but with prayer and thanksgiving to make their requests known to God, and God will fill them with peace and keep their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Questions for Reflection:

What about this passage from Philippians 4 helps you with your faith?
What from this passage is most difficult for you?
Other thoughts from this passage of scripture?

Prayer: Draw me closer, Lord Jesus. Draw me closer to your faith, closer to your hope, and closer to your love. In Jesus Christ our Lord and savior I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

Additional Prayers Photos and Meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at https://nicholashoodiiiministries.wordpress.com/

More about the ministry, mission, and meditations from Pastor Nick Hood3 at www.nicholashoodiiiministries.org and www.puccdetroit.org

New – You Tube Spiritual Videos at Rev Nicholas Hood and on Facebook

Or, at anchor.fm/nicholas-hood3.

Also, on Google Podcasts at Nicholas Hood3

Now on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1fQTqugJtGj6FCgHaGuG

Thank you,

Nick

^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Php 4:1–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

January 20, 2021 0

2 Kings 23 – Death of Josiah

Chapter 23 of 2^nd Kings leads the reader to the threshold of the conclusion of 2 Kings with the reformations of king Josiah of Judah, but also his death. This chapter outlines the breadth and depth of the extensive nature of the worship of the foreign gods and the alliance with Egypt that makes it impossible for Judah to survive.

Josiah’s Reformation

(2 Chr 34:29–33)

2 Kings 23 Then the king directed that all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem should be gathered to him. ²The king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him went all the people of Judah, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. ³The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, keeping his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people joined in the covenant.

⁴The king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, the priests of the second order, and the guardians of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵He deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who made offerings to Baal, to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and all the host of the heavens. ⁶He brought out the image of Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the Wadi Kidron, burned it at the Wadi Kidron, beat it to dust and threw the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. ⁷He broke down the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of the Lord, where the women did weaving for Asherah. ⁸He brought all the priests out of the towns of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on the left at the gate of the city. ⁹The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but ate unleavened bread among their kindred. ¹⁰He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, so that no one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech. ¹¹He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of the eunuch Nathan-melech, which was in the precincts; then he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²The altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down from there and broke in pieces, and threw the rubble into the Wadi Kidron. ¹³The king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ¹⁴He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the sacred poles, and covered the sites with human bones.

¹⁵Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin—he pulled down that altar along with the high place. He burned the high place, crushing it to dust; he also burned the sacred pole. ¹⁶As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount; and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and burned them on the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the festival; he turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God who had predicted these things. ¹⁷Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” The people of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” ¹⁸He said, “Let him rest; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. ¹⁹Moreover, Josiah removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the towns of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger; he did to them just as he had done at Bethel. ²⁰He slaughtered on the altars all the priests of the high places who were there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

The Passover Celebrated

(2 Chr 35:1–19)

²¹The king commanded all the people, “Keep the passover to the Lord your God as prescribed in this book of the covenant.” ²²No such passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, even during all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah; ²³but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴Moreover Josiah put away the mediums, wizards, teraphim, idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he established the words of the law that were written in the book that the priest Hilkiah had found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶Still the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel; and I will reject this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Josiah Dies in Battle

(2 Chr 35:20–36:1)

²⁸Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? ²⁹In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him; but when Pharaoh Neco met him at Megiddo, he killed him. ³⁰His servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in place of his father.

Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz

(2 Chr 36:1–4)

³¹Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ³²He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestors had done. ³³Pharaoh Neco confined him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, so that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and imposed tribute on the land of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. ³⁴Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away; he came to Egypt, and died there. ³⁵Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land in order to meet Pharaoh’s demand for money. He exacted the silver and the gold from the people of the land, from all according to their assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

Jehoiakim Reigns over Judah

(2 Chr 36:5–8)

³⁶Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. ³⁷He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as all his ancestors had done. ^{^[1]}

Questions for Reflection:

What does this chapter teach you about the reign of king Josiah?
What lessons does this chapter inform you about king Jehoiakim?
What does this chapter teach you about the presence of false gods in Judah?
What did you learn about the death of Josiah?
What did you learn from this chapter about Pharaoh Neco of Egypt?

Prayer: Lord, I ask that you continue to renew my faith, my hope and my love for thee. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Written by Pastor Nick Hood3

Photo by Pastor Nick Hood3

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Thank you,

Nick

^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (2 Ki 23:1–37). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

January 20, 2021 0

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