Month: May 2019

157. having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his willH

1 Kings 17:8  Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Luke 4:25-26     But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,  and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Isaiah 55:8    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Romans 9:15     For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Ephesians 1:11    In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

God’s purpose, God’s plan, God’s will, will seldom make sense to us but can be trusted and relied upon.  How are we to understand unless God opens our mind to things we cannot comprehend.  If we were to give a lifetime to trying to discern God’s plans and purpose in just one event, we would not scratch the surface of it in our lifetime or a million other lifetimes.  God spoke creation into being and breathed life into it.  Who of us can fathom the awesome power and majesty in just the words from His lips?  There is so much that goes on in the world and throughout each day, there is tragedy happening to man.  God directed God allowed, and all His purpose.  When we think of some of these tragedies it is hard to apply “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”   But who are we to say God was unfair in His purpose and plan.  Who are we to say what appears to be bad and tragic are not going to be blessings for thousands.  That is just it, we don’t know.  However, we can cling to, rely on, and trust in God, for He will never leave us or forsake us and has plans and purpose to help us, not to harm us.  No matter what comes our way learn to say it is well with my soul, for I believe in Jesus Christ and I am just passing through this world into eternity with my Redeemer and Savior.

156. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.

1 Kings 17:1  Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

2 Kings 3:14    And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.

Jeremiah 15:19     Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.

Acts 27:23  For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,  and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’  So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

“The Creator lives”, “before whom I stand”, “to whom I belong”, “to whom I worship.”  These are words of faith and understanding.  They speak of the certainty of God and the action of worship.  These are words of people who live each day with God first in their life.  They choose to serve Him, they seek to serve and honor Him, they cling to Him and trust Him,  they rely on Him, and they find purpose in following and obeying His leading.  Each of these people lives in morally declining cultures with society blindly following practices that are not of God.  They chose God over conforming to the moral decline.    Every day they hungered and thirsted for God’s leading and found purpose in reliant obedience.

Our lives should have God’s word deep into our heart and mind so that we are a light in a dark and lost world.  Read His word each day with intentional purpose to gain understanding and wisdom and knowledge of God.  Read His word each day to grow in faith, trust, reliance, hope, joy, strength, power, and love.  Read His word each day to have fuel in our heart and mind that the Holy Spirit can speak into our lives and direct us on paths that bring honor and glory to God.

155. Did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him

1 Kings 16:25  Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.

1 Kings 16:29  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him

1 Kings 14:9    but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,

Micah 6:16     For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.

We can see the way sin creeps into a nation and affects the people.  There is a progression and it is not for the better.  Jeroboam started them down a watered down bath of lukewarm following after God by trying to serve both God and man-made idols.  Their hearts were divided.  And so the decline started and the snowball rolling down the path away from God gained speed.  We see Omri doing more harm than those before him and his son Ahab doing more harm than his father. Ahab married Jezebel and went further away from God.

When we take neutral stands on moral wrongs and even start embracing those things that are clearly not honoring or glorifying God, there are reasons these things occur in our lives.  Primarily it happens when we lose the desire to humbly serve and honor God.  It happens when we let the busyness of life overtake our heart and mind.  It happens when we no longer hunger and thirst for His word.  It happens when we neglect our time with Him and become complacent in our want to grow in understanding and knowledge of God and His love for us demonstrated through Jesus Christ.  It happens when we start comparing ourselves against others and thinking we are good enough and not spending time in His word.  It happens when we no longer seek His leading in our daily life.  It happens when we water down sin and try to make sense of why what we are doing is not that bad.  It happens when we get comfortable with our current state of following and obeying Him.  It happens when we no longer see a need for growth.  It happens when we close our ears and close our heart to what God is speaking.

No matter what we think, it is a conscious choice to step away from God’s word and neglect His leading.  It is a conscious choice to no longer seek Him, honor Him, serve Him, follow Him, obey Him, and trust Him.  These conscious choices are what waters down our walk with Him and are the very things we try to justify in our daily walk. There is not justification and there is no time this is right.  It is always wrong and will always lead to paths that take us further and further away from God.

154. Provoking me to anger with their sins

1 Kings 16:8  In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

1 Kings 16:1-4     And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,  “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins,  behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house

Do we take sin serious?  Do we see God as this generous, benevolent, free giving, ever wanting to do whatever it is we want, blessing us no matter what we endeavor to do, absent from judgment, and our personal good luck charm?  When we have a limited view and understanding of sin our knowledge and understanding of who God is will also be limited.  Scripture is full of history and works of God, promises of God, and the wisdom of God.  They speak of His unfailing love and jealous anger, His unlimited power, might, strength, His plan and purpose for mankind, His plan of redemption/salvation through Jesus Christ, His call to us for confession, repentance, and belief in His redemption plan through Christ alone, Heaven, hell  and eternity, Coming judgement.

We will do well to spend time in His word with intentional purpose to know Him, to serve Him, to honor Him, to follow Him, to obey Him, to trust Him.  When His anger is unleashed against those who choose to lead others astray and those who do not heed warnings blindly following with deaf ears and blind eyes. We see this time and time again in scripture.  We should learn from it and be different because of it.   What is the difference in your life compared to someone who gives little to no thought about God?  You see there ought to be a difference if God is first and Jesus is real in your life.

153. Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

1Kings 15:33  In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

And the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Isaiah 1:4     Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Isaiah 30:9    For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD;

Acts 7:51-52     “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you

Jeremiah 2:17    Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way?

Do you ever wonder what would be said about our country, our leaders, or our individual lives in comparison to what is said in these verses?  Are we a country that is led astray by our leaders?  Is our leadership leading us toward sinning against God?  Are we rebellious individuals and easily swayed by those who do not follow after God?  Are we able to discern what is acceptable and right in the eyes of God or are we confusing what is culturally accepted as being right?

Leaders who tiptoe through and around Christianity are way more damaging than one who blatantly disregards God.  Leaders who tiptoe seem to be able to smoothly talk through their lukewarm positions as though they are commandments from God.   They easily lead others to these same thoughts and soon a nation thinks it is not wrong to abort babies, or it is wrong to speak of God publicly.  Their moral compass is directed on paths that are culturally accepted.  Nations are made of people who may blindly follow leaders.  If these leaders are stiff-necked and always resisting God then soon the people will follow thinking this is normal and has to be right because everyone is doing it.

As Christians, we are not called to blindly follow leaders who try to water down Christianity.  We are told to follow God with our whole heart, mind, and soul with our eyes and ears wide open to the word of God and leading of the Holy Spirit.  This only happens when we are intentionally desiring and seeking to live in humble service and in and through God’s word we seek His leading in our lives so that we honor and glorify and follow and obey Him.  The problem is when people lose their daily desire and no longer hunger and thirst for His word and leading.  Their lives of obedience, reliance, and trust become a watered down soup of, at best, meaningless attempts at being good enough and at worst never even giving God a passing thought on most days.

Life is not to be lived in a void or daily vacuum apart from God.  Intentionally choose to live each day serving and honoring God.