1 KINGS
MOMENT – (18APR19) Many of the kings that Israel and Judah had were very
wicked. Yet, Asa, king of Judah, did not follow in the ways of many of them,
but obeyed the Lord instead. He obeyed God just as David had with the exception
of his sin concerning Uriah. Asa expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the
land so that the land would be cleansed of their filth. He rid the land of all
the idols that the previous kings had made and even removed his own grandmother
from her position as the queen mother because of her idol worship. His heart
was truly committed to the Lord and he reigned for forty-one years.
Just as Asa
did, there will be times that we have to make a stand for Christ even when it
means going against family and friends. Asa did not allow his relationship with
family to interfere with his relationship with God, nor did he worry about the
opinion of others when it came to destroying the idols in the land. Asa
understood the concept of obedience to the Lord was better than the sacrifices
he would make regarding losing the approval of those around him. Asa was so
committed to God that even the men who were prostitutes were banished, so that
they would not be able to commit further acts with the people of the land and
lure them back into sin.
We are
living in a time where we must be decisive in our stand for Christ. We cannot
afford to be politically correct and must stand against sin in whatever shape,
form, or fashion that it presents itself. This does not mean that we do not do
so in love, but love tells the truth and try to keep others from the pit of
hell. Many Christians may feel as if they are not qualified to speak the truth,
but God has qualified anyone who follows Him completely to sound the alarm.
Christians must change their mindset as to being silent because someone has the
title of a bishop, pastor, evangelist, prophet, teacher, or some other title
that most have given to themselves instead of truly being called by God. There
are a lot of charlestons in today’s pulpits and they need to be called out for
the wolves that they are. If the body of Christ would demand better, they would
get better from their leaders, but we have become compromised in many ways and
will not stand up for Christ.
Asa did not
compromise with sin, but he got rid of it. We as the body of Christ must not
compromise with sin, but remove it and speak against it. This nation is going
to hell in a handbasket and it is because of the church’s comatose state. How
is it that we have Christians signing off on abortion, leadership promoting homosexuality,
members in the pews being swingers, Churches having beer for service, pastor
wives being abused and cheated on, pastors addicted to porn, bishops being
arrested for sex-trafficking and the list goes on and on. The church must rid
itself of SIN or when the judgments come down on this land, those who are
filthy will be part of the judgments. Yet, there is hope. Jesus requires that
we REPENT of our sins and turn away from them. He is faithful and will forgive
us of all our sins. There is nothing that is too horrible that we could have
done where Jesus will not forgive if we come to Him in all sincerity. Something
to ponder…
QUESTION OF
THE DAY – (18APR19) Israel had king after king who did evil in the Lord’s
sight. Why was this? When Israel first told the Prophet Samuel that they wanted
a king, God warned them of the things that would happen with having a king, but
despite the Lord’s warnings, they insisted on having a man to lead them over
God. Therefore, time and time again, like in the case of Jeroboam, Israel had
wicked kings and became wicked as a whole themselves. As their leaders did, so
did they. Have you ever pleaded with the Lord to give you something, but when
He did, you lived to regret it? We must be careful concerning the things that we
ask the Lord for, because we just might get it. It is not that He does not want
the best for us, but sometimes, our sinful perception of what’s best blinds us
to the Lord’s best that is within His perfect will. Unfortunately, we oftentimes
do not learn the lesson until He gives us what we want, and then, we have to suffer
by learning the hard way that God’s way is best. Something to ponder…
1 KINGS
MOMENT – (18APR19) Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel. He was more
wicked than any of the kings before him. He married a wicked woman called
Jezebel who was the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Archaeologists
have determined that the Sidonians were Canaanites who lived in Sidon. In
defiance of God, Ahab had a temple made to Baal and built an Asherah pole for
idol worship. Not only did he do this, but he had Jericho rebuilt which was
cursed by Joshua for anyone who would dare to rebuild it. This costs the lives
of the builder’s two sons. So, when Elijah the prophet told Ahab that there
would be no rain for several years, this must have angered, causing the Lord to
tell Elijah to leave and go to a brook where he would be provided for.
When the
brook dried up, God sent Elijah to a widow who would be there to provide for
him. The widow, however had to have faith in the word that Elijah gave to her.
Elijah told her to fix him some food first and then to fix some for herself and
her son. She did as Elijah told her to do. What if she did not have faith to believe in what the
man of God said to her? Would she have been blessed? Probably not, but God did
not allow her flour and oil to go dry until He sent rain because of her faith
just as Elijah had said.
Sometime later,
the woman’s son became ill and died. She immediately thought that God was
punishing her because of some past sin that she had done, but this was not the
case. God uses events in our lives to grow our faith. We may sometimes be quick
to think that we are being punished due to every trial that comes our way, but
God uses those trials to allow our relationship in Him to grow. If it weren’t
for the trials, how would we know to have faith? The Bible says that without
faith, it is impossible to please the Lord, so we do not know that we have it
until we need to rely on it. Elijah, however, went to the Lord and asked the
Lord to restore her son’s life back to him. Elijah, himself, had to use faith
by going to God and asking him to do what was humanly impossible. The Lord
answered Elijah’s prayer, and the boy was brought back to life.
God is
always waiting for a time to show Himself strong in our lives. He uses various
situations and challenges that we go through in order to do that. In life, God
helps us to grow our faith muscles by allowing the intensity of the weights to
pile on so that with every push, we get a little stronger and stronger.
Something to ponder…
No comments:
Post a Comment