<\/p>\n
1 Kings 13:1-14:18; 1 Kings 14:21-24; 2 Chronicles 12:13-14; 2 Chronicles 11:18-23; 2 Chronicles 12:1-12; 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chronicles 12:13-16; 1 Kings 14:29-15:5; 2 Chronicles 13:1-22; 1 Kings 15:6-8; 2 Chronicles 14:1-8; 1 Kings 15:9-15; 1 Kings 14:19-20; 1 Kings 15:25-34; 2 Chronicles 14:9-15<\/strong><\/span> Interesting story in 1 Kings today about the man of God from Judah prophesying against the altar at Bethel.\u00a0 The man of God delivers his prophecy and then shuns Jeroboam\u2019s invite to go to his palace for food and a gift.\u00a0 The man of God appears very strong.\u00a0 And then later\u2026 he lets down his guard.\u00a0 And he falls prey to the lie of the old prophet.\u00a0 Now why on earth the old prophet decided to pursue the man of God and tell this lie is beyond me.\u00a0 If anyone has insights on this, please post up in the Comments below.\u00a0 I think the lesson here for us today is this \u2013 we cannot let down our guard when it comes to spiritual matters.\u00a0 I think sometimes we think we can \u2013 but we simply cannot!\u00a0 If we do let down our guard, then we often stumble.\u00a0 And thanks to God\u2019s grace we can recover from that stumble.\u00a0 But, there is always the dangerous risk that our stumble could be very severe, as it certainly was for the man of God in today\u2019s readings\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Allright, in 1 Kings 14 we are now we are getting into the story of the Kings!\u00a0 I really like this portion of the Bible.\u00a0 I am fascinated by the back-and-forth stories and timelines of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judah.\u00a0 The one very unfortunate thing you will notice over and over are verses like 1 Kings 14 verse 22: \u201cDuring Rehoboam\u2019s reign, the people of Judah did what was evil in the LORD\u2019s sight, arousing his anger with their sin, for it was even worse than that of their ancestors.\u201d<\/em> Or verses like 1 Kings 15 verse 3: \u201cAbijam committed the same sins as his father before him, and his heart was not right with the LORD his God, as the heart of his ancestor David had been.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And we will read far too few verses like verse 11 as we read about the Kings of Judah and Israel: \u201cAsa did what was pleasing in the LORD\u2019s sight, as his ancestor David had done.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I think what is interesting to note in all of these verses \u2013 and in the verses to come about future Kings we will read about \u2013 is that it really didn\u2019t much matter what the Kings \u201cdid\u201d in their reigns.\u00a0 Their wars or their building of cities or whatever really didn\u2019t matter compared to did they sin against God or not?\u00a0 Did they lead Israel or Judah into sin or not?\u00a0 Did they love God or not?\u00a0 And I think this is the same for our lives today.\u00a0 God does not so much care what our careers are or what our social status is or how many friends\u00a0 or how much money we have.\u00a0 God cares whether we love Him with all of heart, mind, soul and strength.\u00a0 God cares whether we are sinning against Him or not.\u00a0 As Jesus tells us: \u201cseek first the kingdom of heaven, and all of these things will be yours as well.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 So, yes, God ultimately does care about our lives and careers and friends and such too \u2013 but he first wants us to seek a right relationship with Him \u2013 and then everything else will flow from our relationship with God.\u00a0 Someone should have let some of these Kings of Israel and Judah know this!<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, a good overview of the Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah at this point in our readings in First Kings is this image below:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Below is an image for 1 Kings 14 verses 25 & 26 \u2013 \u201cIn the fifth year of King Rehoboam\u2019s reign, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the Temple of the LORD and the royal palace and stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n 1 Kings 15 verse 26 stood out to me right away today: \u201cBut he did what was evil in the LORD\u2019s sight and followed the example of his father, continuing the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The key word that stood out to me in this verse is \u201cexample.\u201d\u00a0 I think sometimes we can forget that every action we take is an example to others.\u00a0 We are either exampling godly behavior or ungodly behavior.\u00a0 Obviously Jeroboam exampled ungodly behavior \u2013 and unfortunately, since he was king of Israel, his bad example had far reaching effects.\u00a0 Even though you or me aren\u2019t king of any land, I do believe that the examples we set have bigger impacts than we realize.\u00a0 Our kids, our parents, our siblings, our neighbors, our co-workers, the stranger on the street, the person at the coffee shop, are all watching what we do.\u00a0 How we behave.\u00a0 Who we are.\u00a0 Our very lives are examples to so many people each and every day.\u00a0 What type of example are you setting with your life?\u00a0 Do you realize that people are literally following your example each and every day?<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong> Today\u2019s readings remind me of the For King & Country song \u201cThe Proof of Your Love:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n
~ Click here to read today\u2019s Scripture on Bible Gateway ~<\/span><\/em>
~ Listen to today\u2019s Scripture with <\/em>The ESV Bible<\/em><\/span> ~<\/p>\n