Category: devotional

1 Kings 20:23, 28 – And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.”

And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’”
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King Ahab of the northern kingdom was at war with the king of Syria. God chose, for his own reasons, to rescue Israel from the Syrians, even though the Israelites were unfaithful to him. After the first victory that Israel won over Syria, the Syrian army returned home and made plans to return the next year.

It is very interesting to note why the Syrians thought they would be able to defeat Israel. As we read above, the Syrian army commanders believed that Israel served some sort of deity over the hill country. They believed that they could defeat Israel in a battle if they could simply lure them out into the plains. This view, which was a common belief of the nations surrounding Israel, basically stated that all gods are limited to specific areas. If the link between the god and the land was broken, the people of that land would be defeated. (By the way, this is very likely the false belief that Jonah had when he fled from God in Jonah 1).

The Lord, however, is not like the false gods of the nations. He is truly God, and God over all the heavens and earth, mountains and valleys, land and sea, heights and depths. He is by no means limited by any limitations that we can imagine. God is also jealous for the glory of his name. Thus, as we read in verse 28, God would not allow the Syrians to have a victory in the plains, because such a victory would allow them to believe that God was not God over the plains too. Consequently, as the chapter closes, God gives a great victory to Israel over the Syrian army in the plains, proving that the Lord truly is God over all.

While it is not common for us to believe that God is limited by national or geographic boundaries, we do often allow our minds to falsely separate things as God’s domain and not his domain. For example, many people live as though God is very important on Sunday morning at church, but then live as though he has no authority over them at their place of business. Many people are willing to trust God to save their souls from damnation, but are unwilling to trust him to provide for their needs in daily life. Many people are willing to say that God’s word is authoritative in matters of religion, but are unwilling to believe that God’s word is authoritative on issues of human sexuality, gender roles, counseling, parenting, or 21st century ethics. Many are willing to say that we should obey God in our lives, but not if that obedience might cost you a job, a raise, a potential future mate, or your life. All such views are very similar to the pagan notion that limits a nation’s god to its geography, and all such positions do not describe the true God.

It is time to be certain that you are not thinking about God like the Syrians of 1 Kings 20. Today, ask God to reveal to you any area in your life that you have not surrendered to his lordship. Ask him to show you where you have tried to put up a boundary that he is not allowed to cross. Ask him if there is ay place in which you are living as a practical atheist instead of as a disciple of Christ. Then, when you see such an area, be it personal or public, confess that sin to God, seek his forgiveness, and repent. Only when we live out our belief that God is God over all the world and over all our lives will we honor him rightly.

Dear Lord, I confess today that you are God over all things. You are Lord of every area of my life. Please make known to me any place in which I have not fully surrendered my will to yours. I do not want to live like an atheist in any part of my life. I surrender to you as Lord. Please help me to no longer live in any sort of rebellion or behind any false boundaries. You are God over all areas of my life, and my life is yours to command. Help me, I pray, to live for you in every area, so that I might better give honor and glory to your name in all things.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 – For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
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In what do you boast? Of what are you proud? This section of God’s word tells us something about who we are before God and what we bring to him. How strong are you? How wise are you? How skilled are you? In reality, none of us is likely to be the top of our class in any of these fields. Regardless of how smart you are, there is someone out there smarter. Regardless of how strong you are, there is someone out there stronger. Regardless of how skilled you are, there is always someone out there more skilled.

Is it not fascinating that, when God chose us, he chose people who are not the absolute cream of the crop? God did not look down through history and select the strongest and brightest to be his children. No, he chose, as Paul says, the weak and the despised of the world to be his. In that choice, God brings shame on the supposedly wise and strong of our world. He takes little, weak, average people, and he uses them to accomplish his will. Why? He does this in order that none of us who are ever used of God may boast that we brought something to the table. Sure, we may have some natural talents or abilities, but who gave us those? We have nothing good that God did not give us. Thus, all the glory for all good things that God accomplishes through us is his and his alone.

What about the way that you are made troubles you? Where do you feel deficient? Are you too slow, too weak, too poor, too sickly? Do you have a disability? Do you wish you were smarter, more attractive, or simply better with people? Know that God can and will still use you. If you are his child in Christ, God takes you, the weakest of the weak, and then brings honor to his name in how he chooses to use you. He takes your weakness, and he uses it as a way in which his glory is magnified, showed to be as big as it really is. God accomplishes his will through the weak and the imperfect, not through the exclusively beautiful and strong. When his will is accomplished by someone who lacks in some area of what the world values, he is shown to be the one who accomplished the feat, and his name is glorified.

So, how then do we respond to our weaknesses and flaws? Well, if they are weaknesses that we can overcome, we strive to overcome them. We do not remain uneducated if the opportunity to be educated comes our way. We do not remain unhealthy if we can exercise and get into shape. But, we do not allow our weaknesses to drag us down. Instead, we recognize that, though we may not be the perfect athlete, body-builder, super-model, rocket-scientist, poet, song writer, brain surgeon, or superhero, we still can be used by God. Our weaknesses do not hinder his accomplishing of his will. Instead, our weaknesses serve to magnify his glory for the times when he does marvelous things through us.

Dear Lord, I thank you that you have chosen the weak and lowly of the world to be yours, because otherwise, I would never have been allowed to be your child. I also thank you that you use those of us who are weak, flawed, and frail to accomplish your will. I have my own weaknesses, and they are sometimes a burden to me. But I know, Lord, that those weaknesses and struggles are ways in which you bring yourself honor when you do good things through me. I know that it glorifies you more to accomplish your will through me because of the fact that I have the weaknesses that I have. Therefore, I will glory in my weakness because of the fact that you are shown strong in it. No, I will not glory in my sin. I will never rejoice in my failures. But I will certainly embrace my physical or other limitations, because they serve as tools to bring glory to your name.

1 Kings 13:18 – And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
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This is one of the stranger accounts in Old Testament scripture. A man of God (who is never named) travels from the southern kingdom to the land of Israel to prophesy against King Jeroboam and the idolatry that he is practicing. That prophet predicts the coming of King Josiah, a few hundred years in the future, who will destroy and defile that pagan altar. But, on the way home, the man of God meets a man claiming to be a prophet himself. This prophet from the north convinces the man of God to disobey God’s command not to eat in the north, and the man of God dies under the judgment of God.

While much is interesting in this account, what strikes me for today is the way in which the false prophet speaks to the man of God. He claims to have a word from God. His deception convinces the man of God to disobey God’s genuine command, and the man of God dies for this disobedience.

One thing that we can learn from this passage is a glorious truth about the scriptures and divine revelation. In the Old Testament time period, people did receive “words from the Lord.” God was speaking in a special way to his prophets. But, lest we begin to wish we were around in those days, we can see from this passage that this was not the best system under which to live. People could claim to have revelation from God, but actually have none. Sadly, the man of God only had what he “heard” from god himself, and so was easily mislead by someone else who claimed to have “heard” from God. Today, however, we need not fall for this kind of trick. Today is better, because we have God’s revelation in written form. God spoke with absolute finality in his word, and until Christ returns, we need not worry about hearing conflicting “words” from God. Instead, we can turn to his inspired, inerrant, all-sufficient word of truth to learn his commands.

How do you make important decisions about life? Do you seek new revelation from God? Do you claim to hear God’s voice in such a way as to have your own form of inspiration? Do you beat yourself up because you are not spiritual enough to have such an experience were God “speaks” to you. If you do, it is wise for you to learn that God has spoken to you. He did so in his written word. His commands for you are in there. Read God’s word, in context and with proper rules of interpretation, and you will see what God commands of you. Be very careful about claiming that God has “told” you to do something that is not a direct command in the scriptures. Be very careful about claiming that God has “revealed” to you that something will come to pass. In the Old Testament, God commanded that people be put to death for claiming to have heard something from God that did not come to pass. Be wary of those who come to you telling you that they have a “word” from God for you that is not found in the scriptures. Return to the Bible, seek God there, and trust it far more than you trust spiritual feelings.

I thank God that I live in a day where the canon of scripture is closed, and I need not worry about someone showing up with new revelation from God. Yes, I still pray. Yes, I ask for God to reveal to me his will. But I do not trust in mystical experiences to define for me what that will of God is. I seek God’s will in his word. I yield my life to a passionate pursuit of God and his glory. I trust that he will align my heart with his decreed will for my life so long as I am living within the bounds of his holy word.

Dear Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you that I need not fear an experience like that of the “man of God” who had to be open to the idea of someone having a “new” word from you. I thank you that you have spoken with finality in your Son and through your written word. I most certainly long for you to lead my heart in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. I plead with you to lead me in the direction of your plan for me. I ask that you give to me your best for me, the best way that I can live to your glory. I especially ask for open eyes to see your truth as you have placed it in your holy word. Let me not be carried away by emotions or mysticism, but let me read your word, in its context, with proper interpretation. Grant me the wisdom to think along the lines of your revealed will, that I might best follow you.

1 Kings 12:28 – So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
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After the kingdom of Israel split from the house of David and tribe of Judah, Jeroboam became king of the 10 breakaway tribes. Jeroboam knew that, if the people of Israel regularly returned to Jerusalem to the temple for worship, they would eventually return to the house of David because of the promises of God. So Jeroboam, to try to save his own skin, set up two idols, calling Israel to worship them.

What catches my attention about what Jeroboam said is the fact that he claimed to the people that those two golden calves that he just made were the gods who let Israel up out of Egypt. They did not! Idolatry, simply put, is to worship something or someone other than God. It is to give something or someone the glory that only God is due. In this instance, it is also to credit something or someone with something that God did. Such an action is a great sin before our God. God will not share his glory with another. He created us for himself, and for us to bow to something that we made is to ultimately dishonor him.

Now, the question that I want to ask us this morning is, how do we give glory and credit to people and things for the works of God? This is an area worth searching out and eradicating in your life. Is there something that you have taken credit for that, looking back, only God could have accomplished in you? Is there something that you have given people credit and glory for doing that should rightly belong to God? When things go right politically (a rarity, I grant), do you credit the party or the Lord who establishes all authority? When souls are saved, do you credit the evangelist, the seeker, or the sovereign God who changes the hearts of people dead in sin? When you hear an excellent singer or musician, do you glorify the talent or the God who gave the talent?

Anytime we honor people and things above the God who made them, we are very close to the sin of idolatry. Let us learn to be incredibly careful with our words. Let us not be so careless as to ever allow anyone to have the impression that we credit anyone other than God for the glorious things that happen in this world. Let us honor him as he deserves, and let us never fall pray to idolatry.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will protect me and my heart from idolatry. I acknowledge here and now that every good and perfect gift comes from you. I recognize that I have no wisdom, no skill, no talent, no ability that did not come from you. I thank you for all that you have given to me, and I pray that I will use it only for your glory. I also recognize that all good events in this world, all good decisions of governments, all good and beautiful things in creation are from your hand. Help me to always remember to give you the glory due your name.

1 Kings 11:4-6 – For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
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Reading from the end of 1 Kings 10 through the beginning of 1 Kings 11, we see that Solomon disobeyed the commands of God for kings of Israel found in Deuteronomy 17:14-17. In those verses, God commanded future Israelite kings not to acquire many horses for themselves, especially from Egypt, not to acquire many wives, and not to amass much silver and wealth. Solomon did all these things, and it led to his downfall. Specifically, his many wives from foreign nations led his heart to follow after false gods until he was carried away in false religion.

Solomon’s story is very sad, and it contains in itself a warning for us. What things threaten your heart? Are there things that you love, that you cling to, that could, if given proper time and influence, lead your heart away from God? These things could be as simple as the books that the intellectual reads to feed his mind and stroke his ego. They could include the entertainment that the person enjoys that slowly degrades his or her wholehearted devotion to purity and to the Lord’s glory. It could be friendships that the Christian makes with lost people, friendships not for the sake of sharing the love of Christ. It could be a fascination with another religion or the occult. It could be simply a low view of scripture that allows other philosophies or sciences to trump the Bible in the heart of the believer.

The fact is, there are many voices out there in the world that are very tempting. Many of these voices, if we are not careful, can capture our hearts as Solomon’s wives captured his. Then, if we are caught up by them, those voices will ever so slightly turn our hearts away from following hard after God. From that point on, it is only a matter of time until we, like Solomon, are bowing at the altars of our false gods, dishonoring the one true God, and suffering the consequences of idolatry.

The cure for this deadly problem in your faith is to follow hard after God. Specifically, follow God in accord with his revealed word. Do not let your feelings, emotions, supposedly spiritual leadings, or the voices of those outside you determine for you the will of God. Instead, be certain that God’s revealed will in his word, properly understood and interpreted, is your first and final authority for the will of God. Yes, the Bible is the answer! Follow the scriptures, and do not be led astray by emotions.

Had Solomon heeded the call to follow the scripture, he would not have allowed his emotions to get entangled with all those women. Once those women had his emotions, he began to do what he “felt” was good. In the end, his feelings, divorced from the scriptures, led him into idolatry. God said that Solomon did not follow him as did his father David, and this caused tragic results for the family of Solomon from then on. Do not be like Solomon here. Follow God’s word, and do not let your heart become entangled with what might lead it astray.

Dear Lord, I see how easy it is for the hearts of men to be captured by something simple, something that looks like it is not that bad. I’m sure that Solomon thought that the prohibitions in your word against multiple wives was passé, and so he fell into sin. Lord, I acknowledge here and now that your word is the first and final standard for righteous living. I desire to never ignore your word in order to satisfy my emotions. I pray that you will hold my heart fast to you and to your revealed will in the scripture. Let me not turn from it, regardless of what things compete for my heart’s attention. Let me turn away from everything in my life that would speak evil and falsehood to my soul. Let me only hear your voice in your word as my standard.

Mark 14:3-6 – And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.”
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This account of the woman anointing Jesus with the costly perfume is a beautiful reminder of what wholehearted devotion to Christ looks like. As has been taught in many places, women of those days would often keep an expensive jar of ointment or perfume as a sort of retirement plan. If something should happen to the woman whereby her means of support were cut off, she would sell her jar of perfume and have enough money not to be completely impoverished. But this woman took her entire retirement plan, and she poured it out over Jesus in a gesture of love.

What actually strikes me this morning is the response of the disciples to the woman’s action. They were all for devotion to Christ, but not the kind of devotion to Jesus that would make people take “wasteful” actions in their minds. The complainers, perhaps not all the disciples, were not in favor of commitment to Jesus or displays of love for Jesus that went to a certain level of cost.

Where are you in your devotion to Jesus? Are you ready to pour out your life savings just to make him smell good? Are you willing to speak of his glory, even when people around you may not willingly receive your words? Are you willing to risk your life to take the gospel to a people who do not know it and do not want it? Are you willing to turn down a social engagement because you already have scheduled time with your Savior? Are you willing to give up a potentially lucrative career in order to serve in the ministry?

I do not know what it is that God is calling you to do personally in order to show your love and devotion to your Savior. I do know that, whatever it is, it is in line with his revealed truth in his word and never contrary to that. But what I want you to think about is the idea of just how that calling of God on your life is something that you do, even if it does not make sense to the world around you. This does not mean that you ignore wise spiritual leaders who are speaking truth into your life, but it does mean that not everybody in your life may be able to or willing to understand why you do what you do.

Here are some potential examples:

• A college girls’ friends do not understand why she will not date a young man who is very nice, even though he is not a committed Christian like she is.

• A man’s supposedly Christian friends are embarrassed by his constant witnessing—sharing the gospel with people everywhere he goes.

• A Christian couple’s parents do not understand why they would consider going overseas to share the gospel when they have a perfectly good opportunity back in their home country.

• A Christian girl’s friends do not understand why she has to make everything so “spiritual” all the time.

• A Christian man’s friends do not understand why he will not listen to a particular band, watch a particular film, or join them at the local bar.

• A minister’s congregation does not understand why he gets so hung up on making sure that everything they do lines up perfectly with scripture.

• A worship team does not understand why the worship leader is rejecting a perfectly fun song just because one line isn’t biblical.

• A Christian girl’s friends do not understand why she worries so much about choosing clothing that is not too tight or too revealing.

• A Christian couple is ridiculed by the world for modeling headship and submission in their home.

The fact is, there are a thousand different examples of ways in which the Christian life and Christian devotion can bring the Christian ridicule. Sometimes that ridicule comes from others in the church who are unwilling to go “too far” with their faith. Other times that ridicule comes from a lost world that is blinded to the gospel. But, as we see from the woman, Christ is pleased with those who pour out their best for him, even when those around her do not understand.

Now, as I said before, whatever action that you feel you should take in order to express your love to Christ MUST be in line with God’s revealed will in his word. God is not revealing to us new things to do that are substantively different from or contrary to his word. We must always make the scriptures our standard for what God wants us to do, and we must never work in opposition to the Bible.

Dear Lord, I deeply desire to serve you faithfully. I want to pour out my life for your glory in much the same way that the woman poured out the ointment on your body before your death. I will submit myself to your revealed will in your word. I pray that you will protect me from the temptation to be led astray by my flesh or my own vain imaginings. Let me do what honors you in the way that you have shown to be your will in your word. I also pray that you will help me to be fully willing to honor you with my life, even when the world around me will not understand. I am yours, and my desire is to please you. I desire your approval, not the approval of man.