The Advice Of The Young men

The Advice Of The Young Men 

I Kings 12:10-11 NKJV

[10] Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you should speak to this people who have spoken to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us’—thus you shall say to them: ‘My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s waist! [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!’ ”

This vignette complements the one of yesterday. It demonstrates the difference between the thought processes of the young and the old. Isabella Sobejano in 2018 expressed this opinion: " Young and old people are two separate groups of people in society that differ in their behavior, their likes, dislikes and their nature. There are several different ways in which they differ, but together they complement one another". That difference may be noticed more in their thinking patterns. " The primary distinction between the two is that youth typically dwells in the future, while old people may live in the past. When talking to an older person, they may reflect on the past or on memories when they were younger".  Joel prophesied about this. " And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."( Joel 2:28 ). So the young tend to live more in the visionary future than the older generation. The problem with that thinking is that it has not been tested. The king was young, so he  took the advice from his contemporaries.  Whose advice do you follow? The weight of every advice is known by the consequence of its actions. We will deal with the consequence in a later post. For today, let's  consider the quality of our decisions as it affects eternity and what God is doing with us today. Good morning.

The Loyalty Of Heart

Loyalty Of Heart 

‭I Kings 11:4 NKJV‬

[4] 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. 

In the late '90s, Dag Heward Mills rolled out series of teachings on Loyalty and Disloyalty. It took ministries in West Africa Ike storm. Suddenly most church ministries became aware that commitment has a corollary. That was loyalty. Richard Krejcir describes this loyalty as " ...remaining committed to those whom God has brought into our lives and has called us to serve, even in times of difficulty. It is developing allegiance and respect in one another, and not seeking to manipulate the other person". In our read today, it is a reference to King Solomon's heart being no longer committed and loyal to God. Have you ever read about a character in scripture that is about to err, and you feel Ike saying:"Don't do it"? That's how I felt reading today's verse. Why do some people tend to turn to other things at the heights of their success? Here is Krejcir again, " Being loyal exhibits our commitment to Christ by our commitment--with discernment--to people and righteous causes at all times (Proverbs 17:17; Ecclesiastes 8:2-4; John 15:13; Romans 13:1-5; Titus 3:1)". When we allow our corrupt nature to taint our desires, we can roll from the top to the bottom as it happened to Solomon. He has moved from building Gods temple to building shrines for other dieties.  ‭I Kings 11:5-6 " For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ‭ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David". Disloyalty meant God could not trust Solomon any longer. Have you seen people like this? Have you seen people who have derailed in their loyalty to God? Don't do it. God will abandon disloyal people. Our commitment to God must be rooted in the loyalty of Christ. Be like the Master. Good morning.

The Paradox Of Solomons Wisdom

The Paradox Of Solomon's Wisdom 

‭I Kings 11:1-2 NKJV‬

[1] But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— [2] from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 

Thomas Oppong says that "... most people know what to do in different situations — whether at work or in their personal lives — but don’t do those things often enough". This he describes as Action Paradox. A paradox is an aparently contradictory statement that maybe found to be true. It's a paradox of life that the wisest king is about to become the most foolish of all. The foolishness of Solomon is buried in the act that he loved many foreign women. In  most Old Testament, Israelites were not permitted to marry foregn women. The Talmud forbade it entirely, but Solomon married many. This is v.6 " Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David". That evil was marrying many foreign women.  His heart derailed from God.  He married seven hundred women and had another three hundred concubines, many from the nations God had prohibited the Israelites from marrying. He had a meteroric rise. Someone in Ligonier Ministries say, " Sadly, these meteoric rises and falls are not limited to the secular world. We have seen too many pastors and other Christian leaders build thriving, impactful ministries only to see adultery or another scandal take them out". Yet Solomon was wise. Its a paradox that we may know and not do. Will you let God lead you today? Good morning

Internal Relations with Sheba

International Relations With Sheba

‭I Kings 10:1, 3 NKJV‬

[1] Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 

[3] So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 

Lawrence Goodman in 2021 wrote these words about the Queen of Sheba. " The Queen of Sheba is only mentioned twice in the Bible, in 1 Kings 10:1-12 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-13. What do we learn about her?

The story is that she hears reports of King Solomon's fame and comes to visit him with gold and precious jewels and more spices than had ever been seen in Israel". The Sheba story is popular among the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. Her visit seems to have announced the birth of Solomon's international relations the rest of the world, and especially,Africa. The speciation is that she was Ethiopian. What is perhaps not written is the fact that there's a vestige of Jewish community in Ethiopia accredited to that visit. God will not just give you wisdom, He will link you with others of your kind. The fame of Solomon's wisdom spread even to Africa. God doesn't only give wisdom, God will give you international links and open doors. Solomon experienced it. You will not die uncelebrated. People will come for you. People will hear about what you have and they will look you. Doors are opened by God.  Today I pray for such open doors of opportunities across the land and oceans for you. Congratulations. Good morning.

When Leadership Sins

When Leadership Sins

‭I Kings 9:6-7 NKJV‬

[6] But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, [7] then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 

Excuse me, i read that more than one time. If the leaders sin, I thought it should read, "  I will cut off their children from ruling". That was my head. Consequences do not have to be fair. Marshall Segal of desireGod thinks on similar lines when he said, " The temptations for leaders are as real as they are for the rest of us, but the consequences are more severe. When a leader falls, all are punished". Then he expliains by using a Pastor example , " Not punished for the pastor’s sin, but by his sin. It’s fair, then, to say they are punished because of his sin". Pause and think about it. Someone else gives the reason, " Leaders are meant to be an example and, therefore, above reproach. They lead by example and show others how to live a life wholly submitted to Christ." Leaders can not afford to play the sin. A leaders sin is community sin. Don't do it. Good morning.

The David Model

The David Model 

‭I Kings 9:4-5 NKJV‬

[4] Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, [5] then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 

J. M. Beach of 21st Century Literacy describes a model as being almost, " ... always an oversimplified map consisting of a few, primary variables that will be tracked, measured, and perhaps controlled for experimentation. A model is used to create various hypotheses, which can be used to test in a laboratory study, or which can be used for explanatory purposes in a case study". That contains a lot. King David was God's model. What that means is that he was a picture of what a king should be. Now pause. Its not as if David was perfect. No one else may be, but David made Gods expectations . We are Gods creations, we may  have some flaws, bit Gods wants sincerity in our relationship with Him. David knew how to repent.  He knew how to prostrate before God. God calls it the intergrity of his heart. Mirriam Webster describes intergrity as " firm adherence to a code ". David had that towards Gods demands. In the words of Beach, David was an oversimplified map for anyone to read. It also means that our lives are being measured and tracked to be an example. So God promised Solomon what He promised David. Lets leave Solomon. Christ met the father's expectations. What about you? Would your life measure up to what God expects of us?  That's the deal today in understanding the Davids model.  May God depend on your model. Good morning.

God's Second Appearance To Solomon.

Gods Second Appearance To Solomon 

‭I Kings 9:1-2 NKJV‬

[1] And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, [2] that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 

The word of God consists of history of what has happened, commands, prophecies of what will happen, warnings, guidelines of how to live and the promises of God. The Lord's appearance today was to give Solomon warnings. They follow the verses hereunder. Warning is described in the dictionary as, " ... something said or written to tell people of a possible danger, problem, or other unpleasant thing that might happen".  Greg Morse, a witer in desiringGod has this to say on God's warnings. " God, from the beginning, has graciously warned his people of the hidden and inevitable consequences of their rebellion. Beginning in the garden, he spoke to the sinless man, “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). When he commands and warns us in the New Testament, do we listen?". Warnings are not only in the Old Testament estament, they are also in the New. In daily life, " Warning and danger signs are critical tools in both preventing injury and increasing awareness". God must have seen ahead to appear a second time to warn Solomon . How do you handle warnings? How do you react to it?  There are things you must be careful about under God. Receive it with joy because it will protect you. Good morning.