Tues.’s Devo - Obeying the Holy Spirit

Read: 1 Kings 14:1-15:24; Acts 10:1-23; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 17:7-8 Jeroboam’s son became very sick. Jeroboam sent his wife to find the prophet who had told him he would become king. She was disguise herself and ask him about their son and what would happen to him. He sent him with a give to bread and honey. God told Ahijah that the king’s wife would come in disguise and what to tell her. When he heard her walking up he called to her to come in and called her the wife of Jeroboam. He asked her why she was pretending to be someone else. He told her that the son would die and so would every male descendant of Jeroboam’s. He was very upset with what Jeroboam had done by setting up shrines to foreign gods and the golden calves and the Ashterah poles. God was going to raise up a king of Israel that would destroy their family which would start that very day. When she got home, her son would die. Her son did die as she walked through the door of her home. In Judah, Rehoboam wasn’t following the Lord either. He had set up pagan shrines and Asherah poles. In his fifth year, the king o Egypt came and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the Lord’s Temple and took everything of worth. There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam’s kingdoms. When Rehoboam died, his son, Abijam became king. He only ruled three years and did the same sins of his father. When Abijam died, his son, Asa became king. He was a good king and reigned 41 years. In Israel, Jeroboam died and Baasha, his son became king. There was constant war between King Asa and King Baasha. King Baasha invaded Judah and fortified Ramah which was on the border of Israel and Judah. King Baasha kept people from crossing over to Israel from Judah. Asa took all the silver and gold they had left and sent it to Egypt to beg King Ben-haddad to break his alliance with Israel and make a treaty with them. The king agreed and sent commanders of his army to attack Israel. When Egypt did this, King Baasha left fortifying Raamah and withdrew too Tirzah. King Asa of Judah had all Judah help take the stones and timber that King Baasha had been using in Raamah and carry them to the town of Geba and Mizpah to fortify them. When Asa died, his son, Jehoshaphat became the king of Judah. In Acts, God wanted to share his gospel to the ones whose hearts loved Him. Cornelius was one of them. He was a Roman officer who loved God and gave generously to the poor. Peter was still staying in Simon’s house when God called him to go and share to the gospel with Cornelius. First he had to clear up his doctrine and show him that all men are clean when God calls them clean and his gospel was to save the world, not just the Jews. God taught him with three visions of the same thing. It was a large sheet with all the pictures of the unclean animals their law didn’t allow them to eat. A voice told him to kill them and eat them. This was so against everything Peter had learned but God was doing something new. Peter had to learn how to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey which was what he did. When men came for him, he invited them in and housed them for the night then left with them the next day. Lord, help us to be as pliable as Peter was and be willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirt even when we don’t understand.