November 9, 2012 Ready to Quit?

Ready to Quit? 1 Kings 19:1-4 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” 3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” ELIJAH has been living under the complete care of God. For 3 ½ years God had demonstrated his power to Elijah in many ways. Why now is Elijah so fearful of Jezebel, so depressed and ready to die? Depression can do that to you—make you feel useless and worthless. You get depressed when you’re too tired, too discouraged, too weak to go on by yourself. You get depressed when you go off to be by yourself and focus too much on life’s hard obstacles instead of God’s great grace. Elijah had gone to the desert to escape Jezebel. But he came face-to-face with his own limitations as a man. He needed God to come to him to restore his strength and vitality. That’s exactly what God did. Elijah would rise up again to be an instrument for God in the power of God. It’s True! Psalms 40:17 Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.

November 8, 2012 Decide

Decide 1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. “HOW long will you waver between two opinions?” Elijah asks. That’s the question that has sounded through the ages. That was the problem in the Garden of Eden. That was the problem between Cain and Abel. That was the problem that caused the Great Flood. That was the problem that caused God to exile his people to Babylon. God called his creation to choose him, but mankind has not made up its collective mind to choose its creator. Hearing God’s commands, his love and his call to dwell in his blessing, humanity has listened for a time, but then we have looked for something “better”. But it’s never better is it? The devil led Eve to sin. Cain decided to kill his brother. Noah was the only righteous person on earth. Daniel, Jeremiah and a few others stayed loyal to God amid the exile. Some did make up their minds. They chose God’s ways, and God used them for extraordinary kingdom work we talk of today. Who do you choose? Joshua said (Joshua 24:15) But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” From Eden to today, God has given mankind a choice. Elijah called God’s people to the right choice. Some said, “No.” and they died. Some said, “Yes.” and they lived. What is your choice—death or life? It’s True! There is only one choice to life.

November 7, 2012 Powerful Prophet

Prophet Power 1 Kings 17: 1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” ELIJAH is one of scripture’s most remarkable prophets. His life would make a compelling movie, and reality TV would have a popular show displaying the 3 years of Elijah’s’ life described in 1 Kings 17 – 18. In today’s passage, Elijah speaks to Ahab of a severe drought to come on Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Ahab and his wife Jezebel are evil people, murderous of anyone of God, living only in the grasp of evil. They have controlled Israel with evil hearts, so God uses Elijah to bring their lives to an end. He begins with a drought. Notice no rain, no dew and no moisture of any kind on the land for the “next few years”. Elijah speaks God’s severe judgment. And notice Elijah says the drought will not end “except at my word”. Remarkably, God has given to Elijah the prerogative to call upon God for rain when he feels it is the right time to do so. (Read 1 Kings 18, and you’ll see how that happens.) Immediately Elijah becomes an enemy of the state. Ahab is enraged at Elijah’s’ curse on the land, and Elijah becomes a fugitive. The remainder of chapter 17 records how God cares for Elijah with birds and nature’s elements. Then he sends Elijah to a widow’s home to miraculously provide a constantly filled flask of flour. God uses Elijah in remarkable ways, including the resurrection of the widow’s son. In the end, Elijah will resurrect the worship of God in Israel because he faithfully, powerfully followed God. It’s True! Elijah’s story tells you God is in control.

November 6, 2012 Be An Asa

Be An Asa 1 Kings 15:9-11 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother's name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. YOU might get confused. Israel, once the name of the country where all 12 tribes of Israel lived is now the northern kingdom consisting of 10 of the 12 tribes of the people known as Israel. Judah is made of 2 tribes, Benjamin and Judah, the tribe of David, the tribe from which Jesus is born. The capital of Judah is Jerusalem. Jerusalem no longer is in Israel. The list of Judah’s and Israel’s kings in 1 & 2 Kings tells you that most of Judah’s and Israel’s leaders turned from God. There were often wars between the two nations, and God’s once unified nation became like all the pagan nations around them. It is difficult in these conflicts to see God at work to continue his plan of salvation to the world. Unfortunately this could describe Jesus’ church today. We fight among ourselves over issues of music, preaching style, purpose, ministries, theology, building, tithing, evangelism and so much more. We get complacent about our faith. We act as the world acts, unforgiving, jealous and self-centered. We show to the unchurched we look just like them. It’s difficult sometimes to see Jesus’ hand on his church. Let’s consider being as Asa. He stands out in the litany of apostasy to be a man who faithfully followed God. He stood against the norm and did what was right in God’s sight. That’s the only way a church should be. It’s True! Jesus’ church must focus on Jesus.

November 5, 2012 Deadly Wealth

Deadly Wealth 1 Kings 14:25-26 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. THE FIRST half of 1 Kings is about God’s great blessings over Solomon in the form of a vast kingdom with great wealth. The second half of 1 Kings is how God takes the wealth away because first Solomon, then his son Rehoboam amid their vast wealth turns their hearts from God. It’s easy to get comfortable in your wealth, isn’t it? Oh, I’m not talking about a vast fortune. I’m talking about Middle Class, average American wealth. Enjoying the benefits of a nice home, a decent car, clothes to wear and food regularly on the table can cause you to get comfortable in your life. Yes, you likely have to work hard for what you have and what you want. But isn’t that too often the problem? You focus on those things. You forget that God has delivered these things of comfort to you. You start to spend too much time accumulating more things or working too hard to keep what you have. You don’t think about it, but slowly and steadily you begin to put those things above your God. Or perhaps God was never actually your greatest priority. Perhaps your main life’s goal has been to accumulate wealth, to gather in things you want because it’s these things the culture defines as marks of success. Who brings to you your wealth? Of course, it is the Lord God, who brings all things to you. Do you put your wealth above God? Do you let it turn your mind from God? That is a dangerous road that will lead to your soul’s destruction. It’s True! Wealth is too often an idol. Worship only the Lord God.

November 4, 2012 Obey God or Die

Obey God or Die 1 Kings 13:7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.” 8 But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9 For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel. I KNOW. The title of this meditation is dramatic, and it might cause you to say, “Really?” My answer is, “Yes, really.” Read 1 Kings 12 & 13. You will see how God judges two very different men turn from absolute obedience to God. The first is King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Although God raises him up to be king of Israel, Rehoboam chooses to leave God behind. Everything he does as king opposes God’s will for his people. As a result, God divides the Kingdom of Israel into Israel and Judah. A nation died because one man disobeyed God. In 1 Kings 13, you see a prophet, a Man of God, powerfully prophesy for the Lord. As in the scripture above, he is inclined to obey God. But then he believes a man’s word over God’s word. God judges him with death from a lion along a road. A man of God must never turn from his sovereign Lord. In God’s New Testament of grace under Jesus, it is difficult to understand God’s harsh judgment. But you must know that turning from God will destroy your life. You may not die in your disobedience, but you will lose the blessings God desires to offer you. If your disobedience persists, God will judge you eternally. After all, he is Lord. It’s True! God will not tolerate disobedience.

November 3, 2012 It's Not About You

It’s Not All About You 1 Kings 11:1-6 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter — Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. YOU read here one of the most tragic paragraphs in the Bible. 1 Kings is primarily the story of how God blesses this man with extraordinary wisdom that leads to incredible wealth for himself and his nation. Under Solomon’s reign, Israel experiences peace, bounty and respect among the earth’s nations. Solomon’s reign is a picture of the fullness of God’s promise to bless his people. But then you read this. Solomon’s wisdom left him when it came to women. He thought he could disobey God and still receive God’s blessings. He thought he could worship God while worshiping horrible idols. He thought he could have life both ways, the ways he wanted it. “Wise” Solomon thought wrong. As a result of Solomon’s sin, God would remove his blessing from Solomon’s family. Solomon’s sin raged through the generations. People suffered and died, and a Kingdom was divided because one man let go of God’s wisdom. It’s True! Your sin is never only about you.