1 Kings 16 Ambassadors of Truth

Here we read of a brave prophet, Jehu, who confronts the King Baasha concerning his wicked reign. He knew what the consequences could be for himself because he had watched as his own father was punished when he confronted a previous king. No matter what the personal cost would be to him, he was willing to pay the price to be obedient to God. He was God’s messenger of truth.

We may find ourselves reluctant to correct our children or approach a friend or our husband over a matter that God has asked us to address. Are we willing to take the backlash that could result in the rescue of that loved one? So often we instead choose to stay in our comfort zones and not make waves. Correcting our children or taking things away from them that we know is causing spiritual harm to them may make them very angry. Yet we are their protectors, we are the ones who are called by God to lead and guide them in His ways.

 I remember once having to gently tell our daughter that she really couldn’t wear a piece of clothing a close friend had bought for her. She responded with tears and much anger. I did not relent but gently reminded her that it wouldn’t be appropriate or modest to wear it and that we have never let her wear clothes like that. I felt sad about her anger and tears and went to lay on the couch. Just a few minutes later she came to me, knelt on the floor, lay her head on my chest and said, “It’s alright, Mom, I really knew that it wasn’t modest.” God has such a way of working things out if we are willing to stand strong.

Vs. 2 Jehu speaks this message to the king from God: “Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people……” We must also remind ourselves of where God has brought us from. We as His children, who have received Him as our Savior need to be remember that He has also “lifted us out of the dust” and made us to be His ambassadors of His truth.

1 Kings 15 The Dash

 

 

 

Vs. 3  “And he (Abijam, king of Judah who reigned three years) walked in all the sins of his father, which he had not done before him; his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God.”

Vs. 11 “Asa (king after Abijam, who reigned forty-one years) did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father David.”  He banished perverted people and removed idols and obscene images from the land. He even removed his grandmother from being queen mother because of her wickedness. 

Recorded in these short verses is the entire description of the lives of the kings.  One chose one path and the other the very opposite path.  What made the difference?  One had a heart for God.  I heard someone say that our lives will someday be listed as a mere dash, that little line between the years that we lived, “1950-2040.”  What will that dash represent in our lives?  How would our Epitaph read?  Would it be like Abijam’s or Asa’s?  Will ours read:  “She did what was right in the sight of the Lord” or instead would it read:  “She did what was right in her own eyes?”  Life is so priceless, so short and those coming after us are watching. God may reveal to us right now the things that need to be removed or banished from our lives. Will we be willing to take those steps no matter what the cost to us?  Just as it reads:  “as did his father David,” let us live in such a way that our children and grandchildren will also have a pattern to follow, a godly life so lived that it would be worthy of mirroring.  Let’s put all that God intended into that dash.

 

1 Kings 14 A High Price

King Jeroboam paid a high price in his own life and the whole northern kingdom of Israel because of the ungodly life that he lived. It hits him the hardest when he sees that his son is gravely ill and seeks the true prophet of God, not one of his own false prophets that were under him. The price he paid for his sin was the death of his son, the loss of any future hope of having any of his family reign after him; the moral and spiritual destruction of the people and his own death.

Many think that judgment will never come upon them because life seems to be good and they are “getting away” with their sin, but to the contrary, God is a just God and can not and will not let it go. His holiness requires Him to correct His children.

As we, His people live, as we train our children and grandchildren, let us fully examine the condition of our hearts and our homes. Let’s just not run to Him in time of desperation, as Jeroboam did in the case of his son. Let us find each day that wonderful refuge under the shadow of the Almighty, where we find peace, answers and direction for a fulfilled and blessed life. Let the prophets around us (our pastors, counselors and trusted friends) be those who daily and weekly give us encouragement and instruction in the ways of the one true and living God. Taking the wrong path of sin and experiencing that temporal joy will never be worth the price that we pay in our own lives, the lives of our children and others who are affected by our testimony.

1 Kings 13 Let the Peace of God Rule in Your Heart

 

 

This man of God was sent to give a message and warning to King Jeroboam who had instituted his own false religious practices in the land.  The man of God was not tempted to stay and eat with the king because God had specifically made it clear for his journey: not to eat or drink and to return home a different way.  But when a false prophet stopped him along the road, he lied to the man of God and told him that God had revealed to him that he was to come to his house and eat with him. Here was a clear contradiction and sadly the man of God took this man’s word over the word of the Lord which resulted in his death because of his disobedience.

 

In our journey through life we, too may have what appears to be, contradictions.  Yet, as we clearly are taught in 1 Cor. 14:33  “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,” we can trust God no matter what confusion we face.  Col. 3:15-16 “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts……Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom….” When we face those dilemmas in our paths, if we have made it a daily habit of filling our hearts and minds with His Word, He will give us that “ruling” peace (as stated in Colossians) to make the right decision.  No matter what the “world” may tell us or what appears to be true, if it contradicts what God has clearly shown us, we must not be led astray.  The results can be devastating.

1 Kings 12 Wise and Godly Counsel

 

 

After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam became the king.  The people came to him to plead for a change in the rigorous forced labor of the building projects that Solomon had place on them.  Rehoboam consulted the elders (older, chief government officials who had worked with Solomon) about the matter. Rehoboam was not pleased with the answer and proceeded to seek the advice of his peers whom he had placed as government officials.  The older men had said to him: (vs. 7), “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.”

His peers suggested that he say to the people:  (Vs. 11) “And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”   Of course, the people drastically rebelled.

This caused the nation to be divided into two kingdoms.  Rehoboam was king to the southern kingdom and Jeroboam (a faithful official under Solomon), king of the northern kingdom.

 

Two huge lessons vibrantly ring out in this passage:

1. Listen to godly elders and those placed over us.  They have years of experience and can perceive things in a different way than those with few years and wisdom to their credit. Many have come to ruin by following the advice of ungodly, inexperienced peers. 
2. We must care for our children, co-workers or those in our employment with dignity, respect and fairness.  Otherwise we will lose their loyalty, friendship and devotion.  We must be willing to listen with an open mind to their requests and then make decisions based on His Word and if necessary go to wise, godly, and experienced advisors or counselors when we feel that we don’t have an answer.  We must not answer too quickly or rashly.  Doing so and responding with unfairness and cruelty may result in a divided family, friendship, organization or business.  The advice of the elders of Rehoboam are exactly what we too need in working with others: “be a servant to them, serve them, answer them and speak good words to them.” 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

1 Kings 11 First Love

 

Vs. 1,2,4,6  “But King Solomon loved many foreign women….of whom the Lord had said, you shall not intermarry with them.  Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.  Solomon clung to these in love; For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.  He did not fully follow the Lord.”  He broke two clear commands of God: marrying foreign wives (Ex. 34:12-17) and violating the rule of marriage, monogamy. (Gen. 2:24-25)

 

“How the mighty have fallen.”  What an amazing lesson!!!! Here was a man who had it all; who stunned the hearts of others with his wisdom and the power of God on his life.  Yet with all this he eventually lost that greatness by succumbing to the thing that he began to love more than God.   No matter how close we may get to God, we must take heed to the entrapments of this world. 

 

What do we love more than anything?  If God is not the answer to that question, this is the day to jolt ourselves out of the place we are in before it is too late and our lives are ruined.  Solomon started out so magnificently, but ended his life tragically.  He gave up God’s glory to follow his heart, the love of many women. 

 

Our “god” may be food, money, worship of our children or husband, leisure, television, sports, shopping, etc.  Let this be the day that we return to the outstretched, loving arms of the Father in repentance and restoration.  Let us walk that new and glorious path with Him as our first love. 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

 

1 Kings 10 AWESTRUCK!!!!!!

The queen of Sheba (in Arabia and now called Yemen) “heard of the fame of Solomon and came to test him with hard questions.” (Vs. 1)  Vs. 2-3 “She spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her.”

 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” God so very much wants to also equip us to give answers to those around us of the hope that they see in us. Are we ready? Are we allowing God to instill in us His wisdom by becoming an avid student of Him and His Word? Or are we more prone to neglect His Word and make wrong choices in our time and selection of television programs, movies, newspaper, books and magazines and make them the priorities of our time and the molders of our hearts? They are powerful tools that can slowly desensitize us and we don’t even have a clue that it has. We just slowly become mesmerized by the philosophy of this world and our sensitivity to sin slowly seeps away. What should shock us no longer will. We can easily adopt the wisdom of the world as our very own. That is why others may never seek us out for godly wisdom or advice or be blown away by the power of God in our lives. They may see no difference in us than the lost around us. Our reactions, attitudes, dress, philosophy and a lack of meekness and love may look much like the world’s.

After the queen heard the words of Solomon, noticed the happiness of his men and servant and saw all that was his, “there was no more spirit in her.” Vs. 5 . It doesn’t say in these verses but perhaps the queen was converted to the one true God Oh that our daily lives would cause others to stand back in complete awe as they hear His wisdom from our lips, see a home that totally glorifies Him and watch our family, employees or those transformed by our testimony, as they too reflect His glory and joy.

Heavenly Father, give us the willingness to accept Your grace to be molded into one that would cause the hearts of others to be completely awestruck by your magnificent glory. Let them see You only. Take away our desire to be seen and heard and replace it with a longing to breathe in and out Your holiness. Let us be a reflection of You. Please Father, transform our hearts and minds by a renewing through Your Word. Help us to lay aside and put away all that distracts us from that course.

1 Kings 9 Take Heed

God appeared to Solomon a second time; the first was to ask Solomon what He should give him.  Now after all the years that have passed as Solomon has completed the Temple and his massive mansions, God sees the need to remind the king of the conditions of all of these blessings and also the consequences if they were broken.

 Vs. 6-9  But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me….. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passed by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, “Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this House?” Then they will answer, “Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore the Lord has brought all this calamity on them.”

Perhaps we need the same warning.  It is so easy to get complacent in our abundance, blessings and wonderful comfort zones.  We can slowly and almost unknowingly move further and further away from His will.  We must take heed when He reminds us like this in Scripture and examine our hearts and ask Him to show us our “blind spots.”  His abundant blessings should never let our hearts give way to pride, greed or stagnancy in our spiritual walk.

How sad to think that our entire life could someday be described as a proverb or byword of pity and shame; that others could also say of us, “What a shame, they were so blessed, but they walked away from God and began to love other things more than Him and their lives were ruined.”  

We can never, never stop needing Him and pursuing His wisdom. We have no choice but to remain humble and obedient before Him.  He is our only hope.  Let us leave behind us a heritage of the wonderful grace of God and a testimony of a life lived to the very end, for His glory.

1 Kings 8 The Glory of the Lord

Upon the completion of the Temple, the priests and Levites brought the Ark and furnishings from the tabernacle into the Temple.  Vs. 10-11  “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house…..for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”

That should be our goal every day, to present to Him a heart and life holy acceptable.  Romans 12:1-2  “That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  Let’s ask God for completion in our lives every day.  We may say, “Oh, but I can’t be perfect!”  No, but we can live in a state of “immediate surrender” each time He reveals to us an area that displeases Him, instead of clinging to our “vices” that seem to hold us back from being completely all that He intends us to be.  Can it be said of you, “I see His glory.”  Or sadly, would others walk away from you discouraged by your gossip, complaining, bitter, unforgiving, whining or depressed state?

Let’s search the nooks, crannies, corners and rooms of our hearts and homes, for the things that need to be removed and replacing them with the “Ark and furnishings” of His choosing.  As I write this, the Lord has nudged me to make a change in my own heart.  Yes, Father, I will obey.   Let it be said from our hearts, the words of Solomon:  Vs. 13  “I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever.”

Vs. 21 “And there I have a place for the ark…”   Where is the place that you meet with Him every day, that special “altar” of worship?  I think of the harp teacher my daughter had when she was growing up.  I will never forget the day I saw the prayer room in her home.  It looked to be specifically built for worship.  It was an enclosed small room with a kneeling altar in the center of the room.  It was then I knew why this young woman was such an incredibly godly person.  She knew the power, joy and importance of sitting at His feet.  To this day I still love this dear and precious friend of ours.  She made an incredible impact on Charity’s life that helped to mold her into the sweet person she is today.  This teacher was a constant reflection of His glory and that resonated to my daughter, making her feel treasured and special by this woman and God.  Still today this friend is touching my life.  Each time I see or hear from her I powerfully sense His glory, her love for Him and her love for me.

We may not have the space in our home for a special prayer room, but we can pick our favorite spot and make it a holy place where we too, can sit at God’s feet to be molded by Him every day of our lives.    

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Kings 7 The Real Treasures

 After first building the Temple, it took Solomon thirteen years to build his house (vs. 1).  He hired Huram from Tyre to be the craftsman. The details are unbelievable.  I wish I could have seen it.  It must have been beyond imagination.  I am sure Solomon put everything he had into it. 

 

I am reminded of my home and that everything about us should reflect His glory to the best of our abilities.  I’ll never be a “Huram” but I can do the best I can with the talents God has given me.  I want my home to be lovely.   Not long ago I took a look at some of the rooms and began to add touches here and there to make it more appealing to the eyes: silk flowers, a lovely doily, a new flower arrangement, new vase, rearranged the furniture and decluttered certain spots.  Of course all this was done with 75% off sales or “treasures” from yard sales. I have always been one to try to find a bargain and stay within our budget.  

 

 As I read through this chapter I realized that we can’t feast our eyes on the beautiful craftsmanship of Huram.  But what is eternal are the precious souls in our homes right now, the lives in our care and the ones we can help to prepare for eternity.  My children are gone but I can still help prepare them for eternity by praying diligently for them and being a Christ like example to them.  God also places in our paths many who can be influenced by the love from our hearts and homes: neighbors (even the little children), relatives, friends and other Christians that need to be encouraged.  This is eternal.  Far beyond the joy I get from my home, my real joy is seeing the wonderful treasure that my children are as I see them singing a solo in church, working with the youth, leading praise and worship, training our grandson in the ways of the Lord:  that is what stirs my heart and that is eternal.  Yes, Father, I am reminded of my dear great grandmother, who never gave up on her grandson, my father, who had strayed far from you as a teenager.  She prayed diligently and relentlessly for him until she saw him come to you and become a preacher.  The heritage of those prayers has reached all the way down to my little grandson.  Help us Father to recognize the real and eternal treasures.  Let those be our focus and joy.