Thurs.’s Devo - The Last Kings

Read: 2 Kings 17:1-18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 18:6-7 The end of the kings was the end of God’s patience with the people who refused to honor him. Hoshea of Elah became king of Israel. His name and where he came from means “to save by a goddess” which just about summed up his worship. He did evil in the Lord’s eyes though not as bad as the kings before him. He was attacked by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and forced to pay high taxes. He got tired of paying them and hired King So of Egypt to help him shake free of Assyria’s power. The king of Assyria found out his plan and put him in jail. Then he invaded the land of Israel and took Samaira and settled the people in colonies in Halah. (Sounds like today’s FEMA camps.) Halah means “painful: fresh anguish”. All this happened to Israel because they had chosen to worship other gods than God Almighty. God sent prophets and teacher but they killed them and listened to false prophets instead. They rejected all the commands of the Lord and followed Satan’s worship. God swept them away and the people were replaced by Assyrians who didn’t know how to worship God in his land. God sent lions to kill and terrorize them. When they complained to the king, he sent priests from exile to teach them how to worship the Lord. They added the worship of God to their own pagan worship. Meanwhile in Judah, Hezekiah became the king after Ahaz. He was a good king who rid the land of pagan shrines, Asherah poles and the bronze serpent. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord and was faithful to the Lord like David was. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute and he conquered the Philistines. He was in his fourth year of reigning in Judah when Israel was attacked by King Shalmaneser of Assyria and Samaria fell. In Acts, Paul began a journey back to Jerusalem. While in Troas, he was preaching late into the night when a young man fell from the third story. He was dead until Paul embraced him. He came back to life and had no injuries. This was an omen of Paul’s future. He was on his last neck of his life but he would die and be resurrected and that was his joy. Paul’s goal was to reach Jerusalem in time to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. His traveling days were over and he reflected back over his journey. He had preached the truth, suffered for the truth and finished his course. He knew that suffering and death lay in before him yet he was not afraid. He knew that great infiltration and hard times were ahead for the Body of Christ. His hope was to prepare them and strengthen them for the tests they had coming. God is preparing us for these last days where there will be many trials yet great outpourings of his Spirit. Our best days are ahead of us. Lord, we face the future with anticipation and joy.

Weds.’s Devo - The Unrest of the Kingdoms

Read: 2 Kings 15:1-16:20; Acts 19:13-41; Psalm 147:1-20; Proverbs 18:4-5 Uzziah became the king of Judah. He was a good king except he didn’t take down the places of pagan worship, so he was struck with leprosy. His son, Jotham had to rule while he was quarantined for his leprosy. Meanwhile in Israel, Zechariah became king during Uzziah’s 39th year. Zechariah was an evil king and worshipped other gods. Shallum conspired against him and assassinated him in public to become the next king. Zachariah had been the fourth king from Jehu’s descendants fulfilling the prophecy. Shallum only reigned a month when he was assassinated by Menahem who became Israel’s next king. Menahem was ruthless and evil. When he was attacked by the Assyrians he extorted money from the rich of Israel to pay the king off. When Menahem died, his son Pekahiah became king of Israel. He reigned for the last two years of Uzziah’s reign in Judah. Pekahiah was evil and his army commander conspired against him and assassinated him to became king. His name was Pekah. He reigned for 20 years and was evil. He lost five towns to Assyria when he reigned. He was assassinated by Hosea who became king. In Judah, after Uzziah died, his son Jotham ruled. He did what was pleasing to the Lord but didn’t destroy the pagan worship. He rebuilt the gate of the Temple. God began to send Aram to attack Judah because they refused to give up their idols. Jotham died and his son Ahaz became king. He was an evil king who sacrificed to idols and even offered his own son to Molech to burn. He increased pagan worship throughout Judah. The king of Aram and Israel came against Judah to attack Jerusalem and besiege it but they could not conquer Ahaz. Ahaz sent from help from the Assyrians. He took silver and gold from the Temple of the Lord to pay the Assyrian king. The king of Assyria attacked the Aramean capital of Damascus and carried many away captive and killed their king. Ahaz met with the king in Damascus and saw his magnificent altar he had. He sent a diagram of the altar home to Jerusalem and had them make a copy of it. When he got back to Jerusalem, he replaced the bronze altar with this new pagan altar. He told the priest to use it instead of the bronze altar and he would use the bronze altar for himself. He turned God’s Temple into a pagan worship site to look like the one in Damascus. When Ahaz died, his son, Hezekiah became king of Judah. All of the pagan gods that the kings allowed into Israel were the same gods and demons that Paul had to face and bring down. The seven sons of Sceva learned that casting out demons was dangerous if you did not have the spirit of God in you. When the demons attacked them, the fear of the Lord fell on the people. The people of Ephesus encountered the spiritual warfare from the silversmiths who made idols for Artemis. Their business was being attacked since Paul preached that their gods were powerless. They met to discuss this but the meeting turned into a riot with people shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians”. They turned the whole town into confusion and dragged Paul’s traveling companions into the amphitheater. The people were uncontrollable until the mayor finally calmed them down and speak. He brought out that Paul and his men had not stolen anything or committed a crime. They couldn’t tell them what to believe. If the silversmiths had a complaint against Paul and his men, they could settle it in court. He told them that they needed to go home peaceably or the Roman government might get involved and then they would all pay a price. Lord, may we honor your name in all we do. May your name be exalted in our nation.

Tues.’s Devo - Baptisms

Read: 2 Kings 13:1-14:29; Acts 18:23-19:12; Psalm 146:1-10; Proverbs 18:2-3 Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz became the king of Israel for 17 years. He did evil in God’s eyes and worshiped the golden calves that Jeroboam set up. God allowed King Hazael of Aram and his son Benhadad to defeat them over and over. King Jehoahaz prayed for the Lord to help him and God rescued them from the Arameans, so they experienced some peace for a while. But, the people of Israel continued in the worship of false idols so God reduced their army and the king of Aram oppressed them again. Jehoahaz died and his son Jehoash became king for 16 years. He also worshipped the golden calves. He went to war with Ahaziah of Judah during his reign and when he died, his son Jeroboam II became king. Before Jehoash died, he went to visit the ailing Elisha. Elisha told him to shoot an arrow out his window and he did. Elisha told the king that that arrow was the arrow of victory over Aram. Then Elisha told him to strike the rest of the arrows on the ground. He struck them three times and Elisha was upset. He told the king that if he had struck them five or six times, he would have had total victory over Aram. Now, he would only win three battles. Elisha died and was buried. A group of Moabites raided Israel. Some Israelites were burying a friend when they saw the raiding party ascending on them. The Israelites threw the body in Elisha’s tomb so they could escape and when the dead man’s body touched Elisha’s tomb, the man sprang to life. God had told Elisha that he would have a double portion of Elijah’s spirit and he still needed to raise one more person from the dead to double Elijah’s resurrections. He did it even in death. This says to me that our destiny’s continue after we die. If we don’t finish what we are called to do, someone in our family will continue it or something like what happened to the man thrown into the grave will happen. Our destiny’s are spiritual and eternal. God’s Word will be done in life or in death. Just like Elisha told Jehoash, he defeated the Arameans three times and recovered Israelite towns that had been taken. Amaziah became king of Judah when his father, Joash died. Amaziah did what was right in the Lord’s eyes like his father but he also didn’t remove the high places where people sacrificed to idols. He conquered the Edomites, then wanted to conquer Israel also. He sent messengers to Israel inviting them to battle. Jehoash was king of Israel. He tried to dissuade Amaziah from fighting with them but was unsuccessful. Jehoash’s army defeated Amaziah’s and Amaziah was captured. Six hundred feet of Jerusalem’s wall was demolished and many of the treasures from the Temple and the palace were taken to Samaria. Amaziah was assassinated in Lachish and buried in Jerusalem. Amaziah’s 16 year old son, Uzziah was crowned the king of Judah. In Israel, Jeroboam II was king and he followed in the sins of the first Jeroboam. God used Jeroboam II to preserve Israel, even though they lived in sin. When he died, his son Zechariah became king. In Acts, we read about three different baptisms. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and prepared the people for Jesus’ baptism which was salvation. Then the third baptism was the Holy Spirit baptism that gave the people power to speak in tongues and to be witnesses and do the miracles that Jesus did. An example of the Spirit’s baptism were the miracles that Paul did. He would touch handkerchiefs or aprons and place them on the sick people and they would be healed of their diseases and evil spirits would have to leave. Lord, may we be baptized with the Holy Spirit and do the miracles that you did and greater. May your destiny continue through us.

Mon.’s Devo - God’s Kingdom is Advancing

Read: 2 Kings 10:32-12:21; Acts 18:1-22; Psalm 145:1-21; Provers 18:1 At the end of Jehu’s reign, God began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory. King Hazael of Aram conquered the land of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh east of the Jordan. Jehu had reigned over Israel for 28 years. When King Ahaziah of Judah was killed by Jehu, his mother, Athaliah became the queen and ruled Judah. She tried to kill the rest of the royal family but Jehosheba, Ahaziah’s sister hid Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash. He spend his first 7 years hiding in the Temple with the priests. Jehoida, the priest raised Joash and when he was 7, he organized a coup to take over the throne from Athaliah and give it to Joash. He summoned the commanders, the mercenaries, and palace guards and made them swear allegiance to the Temple and to God. Then he divided them into three groups and put them at the three gates of the Temple. Jehoiada brought out Joash and placed the crown on his head. He presented him with a copy of God’s laws and anointed him and proclaimed him king. Everyone shouted, “Long live the king.” Athalia heard the noise and ran to the Temple to see what was going on. When she realized what was happening the tore her clothes and shouted, “Treason!” Jehoiada had Athalia taken away from the Temple to the palace where she would be killed. If anyone tried to help her, they were to be killed also. All his life, Joash did what was pleasing to the Lord because he obeyed Jehoiada, the priest. He did not destroy the pagan shrines and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there. King Joash did a campaign to repair the Temple. It got off to a rocky start but finally, the money allocated to repairing the Temple did go to repairing it. Joash was assassinated by his own trusted advisors. His son Amaziah became king. In Acts, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. He met a couple who were Jewish exiles from Italy named Aquilla and Priscilla. Each Sabbath, Paul went to the Temple to teach the people about Christ. Many opposed what he was saying and finally Paul told them he was going to the Gentiles. He went to a Gentile named Titius Justus who was a Gentile who lived next door to the synagogue in Corinth. There were many believers in Corinth. Paul had a dream and an angel told him not to be afraid to preach the truth because many in this city were His people. Paul stayed there for a year and a half teaching them the word of God. When a new governor came to power, some of the Jewish opposers of Paul brought him to court. They accused him of persuading the people to worship God in ways that were contrary to their law. The new governor, Gallio, refused to listen to their case and threw them out of his courtroom. The dissenters in the crowd grabbed the leader of the synagogue and beat him right there in the courtroom. Gallio ignored them. Paul stayed in Corinth for a while longer, then left to go to Cenchrea. He took Priscilla and Aquilla with him. He preached along the way to Jerusalem then came back to Antioch. When Satan sees he is losing he becomes very stirred up. He stirs up his followers to do crazy things. We are seeing that in our day. The spiritual warfare is so strong because we are taking Satan’s territory and he is not going down without a fight. We just need to remember that we are not fighting flesh and blood but powers and principalities and wickedness in high places. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Lord, may we be dressed in your armor and wield the Sword of the Spirit to win your battles for Your name sake.

Sun.’s Devo -Jehu’s Conspiracy -

Read: 2 Kings 9:14-10:31; Acts 17:1-34; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 17:27-28 Part of the code of the Bible is that the kings of Israel coincide with the Presidents of the United States. Jehu coincides with President Trump so it is interesting what happens. Joram was king of Israel at the time and had been fighting against King Hazael of Aram for Ramoth-gilead. Joram was wounded in the battle and was taken back to Jezreel in Israel to recover. King Ahaziah of Judah had come to visit him. Jehu was a warrior who wanted to get rid of the evil in his country. He saw his opportunity when Joram was weak. He rode like a madman into town. King Joram sent out two different messengers to find out if he was coming in peace and all of them joined him. King Joram and King Ahaziah went out to meet Jehu in their chariots. They met him at the plot of Naboth’s vineyard. When they asked Jehu if he was coming in peace he replied, “How can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother, Jezebel are all around us?” Joram cried “Treason” and tried to escape but Jehu shot an arrow which pierced his heart. He died on Naboth’s vineyard just as was prophesied. King Ahaziah fled but Jehu chased him and he died in Megiddo. Jehu then went to visit Jezebel. She was sitting in her window in all her pomp. She called down to him sarcastically and he called back up and asked if there was anyone on his side. Two eunuchs stuck their heads out and he told them to throw Jezebel down. She fell and her blood splattered against the wall and on the horses. Jehu trampled her body under his horses’ hooves. (Talk about putting Satan underneath your feet!) Jehu went to eat and then told his men to go and bury her body. All they could find were her feet, hands and head. She was eaten by dogs just as Elijah had prophesied. Jehu then had Ahab’s 70 sons killed and their heads piled up at the entrance of the city gate. Next he killed all of Ahaziah’s relatives. Jehu called a meeting of all the prophets of Baal and tricked them into thinking he was going to worship Baal. When he got them all in one place he gave orders to kill them all. Jehu drained the swamp of his day. He destroyed the Baal worship in the land but didn’t stop the worship of the golden calves in Dan and Bethel. In Acts, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and stayed with Jason and his family. They preached every Sabbath in the synagogue but some of the people violently disagreed with them and came to bring them before the city council. When they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, they took Jason and other believers. Jason and his friends were forced to post bond. Paul and Silas had to escape to Berea that night. In Berea, they were more receptive to hearing the gospel but some of the opposers from Thessalonica came to stir up trouble for Paul and Silas. The believers sent Paul to the coast while Silas and Timothy stayed. Athens was a Greek city full of statues and idol worship. Paul began teaching about Jesus and the Athenians wanted to hear more so they gave him time to speak at the city council. He stood before the people and gave the Good News of Christ. He explained that they had a tomb to an Unknown God and he knew who this unknown god was. Many did come to believe. Lord, help us to remember that we have the truth and we need never be afraid to speak about it. Only Christ is the way the truth and the life.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Perfect Timing and Plans

Read: 2 Kings 8:1-9:13; Acts 16:16-40; Psalm 143:1-12; Proverbs 17:26 Elisha told the woman who he stayed with in Shunem that a famine was coming so she needed to move to another country where she would have food. She moved to the land of the Philistines until the famine was over. When it was, she came home and went to the king to petition to have her land back. God is the great planner. He put it in the king’s heart to want to hear stories of Elisha so he called for Elisha’s assistant, Gehazi. Gehazi began telling him the stories and was at the part about the lady from Shunem and how Elisha raised her son back to life. Right then, she walked into the courtroom to ask for her land back. Gehazi pointed out that she was the lady in his story. The king gave her her land back and all the worth of what it had produced while she was gone. Talk about restoration with rewards! Elisha went to visit with the king of Aram, Benhadad who was sick. He took a gift and a message for him that he would recover from his disease. Benhadad had sent his army officer with 40 camels loaded down with gifts for Elisha. The officer, Hazael and Elisha met on the road and exchanged their gifts. Elisha told him that Benhadad would recover but he would also die. Sounds like a riddle. Then he stared at Hazael until he was uncomfortable. Elisha was getting a message from God about Hazael. He told him he would be the next king and he would be ruthless to the people of Israel. He would burn down their cities, kill their young men and children and rip open their pregnant women. Hazael returned to Benhadad and told him he would recover. He left out the rest but suffocated him in his bed the next morning and became the king of Aram. Jehoram became the king of Judah and he was an evil king who was as wicked as Israel’s king, Ahab because he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. Edom rebelled against Judah and crowned their own king so Jehoram attacked Edom’s town of Zair. They attacked at night, but Jehoram’s army deserted him and fled home. Edom gained their independence. When Jehoram died, his son, Ahaziah became the king. He only ruled for a year. He was evil because he was related to Ahab by marriage. He allied with Joram the son of Ahab against Hazael of Aram. Joram was wounded in battle and returned to Jezreel to recover. King Ahaziah came to visit him to see how he was doing. Elisha was told to do what Elijah had been told to do at the end of his life and that was to anoint Jehu king of Israel. He went to Remote-gilead to find him. When he did, he was meeting with other army officers. Elisha called him out secretly and anointed him with oil. He told him he was to destroy the family of Ahab to avenge Jezebel’s murdering of God’s prophets. Then Elisha ran out the door. When the other officers asked Jehu what he had said to him, he finally confessed that he had anointed him the next king. News spread and they blew the ram’s horn and announced that Jehu was king. In Acts, a woman who had the ability to tell the future was doing it by an evil spirit not God’s. What she said was the truth but the source was evil. Paul called the spirit out of her and she was no longer able to predict the future. This really upset her handlers who made much money off her. They grabbed Paul and Silas and drug them before the authorities and accused them of teaching customs that were illegal for Romans to practice. (How politically correct they sounded!) The crowd was hostile, so they had Paul and Silas beat and thrown into maximum security. with their feet clamped into stocks. Silas and Paul sang praises to God all night while the other prisoners listened. Around midnight there was an earthquake. All the doors of the prison flew open and everyone’s chains fell off. The jailer woke up and saw what had happened and assumed that all the prisoners had escaped. He knew he would be tortured and killed for letting it happen. He was about to kill himself when Paul called out that they were all here so he didn’t need to worry. The jailer called for lights to see for himself. All were there so he fell down before Paul and Silas and asked them how he could be saved. They walked him through salvation and he and his whole household was saved. He cared for Paul and Silas and fed them. The next day, the city officers sent the police to tell the jailer to let them go, so he didn’t get in trouble and Paul and Silas were free to leave. Paul was not buying it because they had been unfairly treated. He knew his rights and he was a Roman citizen. He should have never been beaten or thrown in jail. The officers were afraid and apologized. They begged them to leave the city. Now, Paul was ready to leave. I love the audacity and boldness of Paul. He was a humble servant of the Lord but he didn’t put up with the antics of Satan or man. He stood his ground on who he was in God’s kingdom. Lord, may we be bold like Paul and not cower from the enemy but stand in Christ proclaiming our god-given rights.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Leadings

Read: 2 Kings 6:1-7:20; Acts 15:36-16:15; Psalm 142:1-7; Proverbs 17:24-25 Elisha’s miracles were so diverse. Today we read where he makes a borrowed ax head float by throwing a stick into the water. Next he’s telling the king the enemies’ secrets. When the Aramean found out he sent his officers to seize Elisha. Elisha’s servant walked outside the next morning to see their camp surrounded by Aramean soldiers and chariots. When he told Elisha, Elisha just prayed that his eyes would be opened and sent him back to look again. This time the servant saw the Lord’s army that had surrounded the Arameans. Elisha prayed that the army would be blinded and they were. He led them straight into the capital city of Samaria and prayed that their eyes would be opened. He had Israel’s king feed them and sent them home. Later, they came back and besieged Samaria and tried to starve them out. It was working. A woman came to the king and told him the story of having to eat her own son. The king had to do something, so he blamed the whole problem of the kingdom on Elisha. He sent men to kill him but instead Elisha told the messenger that tomorrow 6 quarts of flour would cost only one piece of silver and 12 quarts of barley would sell for only one piece of silver. The man commented that even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven, he didn’t believe it would happen. Elisha told that man that he would see it with his eyes but not eat any of it. There were 4 lepers who were starving so they decided to go to the Aramean camp and surrender in hopes that they would give them something to eat. When the got there, no one was there. God had caused them to hear the sound of speeding chariots and a great army approaching so they all ran in fear, leaving all of their food and supplies behind. The four men went from tent to tent and realized there was so much they needed to share it with the people of Samaria. They went and told the gatekeepers what they had found. The king sent men to investigate and found out it was true. When the people found out, they stormed the gates and just like Elisha had predicted, flour and barley sold for one piece of silver. The messenger who didn’t believed was trampled in the gate so he saw, but never tasted. God cares about a borrowed ax head and he cares about a starving nation. God cares about every detail of our lives and also of our nations fate. We can trust in Him to come through for us. In Acts, Paul told Barnabas that he wanted them to go back to the churches they had started and see how they were doing. Barnabas agreed and wanted to take John Mark with them. Paul disagreed since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia on the first trip. Their disagreement was so strong that they separated and Barnabas took John Mark and sailed for Cypress and Paul took Silas and traveled toward Syria and Cilicia. Paul went first to Derbe and then Lystra where he met a young disciple named Timothy. Paul wanted to take Timothy with them. Since Timothy’s mother was a Jew, Paul suggested that he get circumcised which I don’t understand. They went from town to town encouraging the saints. The Holy Spirit kept them from going to Asia at that time. Paul had a dream which led them to Philippi in Macedonia.There they met a wealthy business woman named Lydia. She listened to their preaching and her whole family was baptized. She put Paul and Silas up in her home. I wonder how Barnabas and John Mark’s mission went. We have no written account of it but I’m sure they were led like Paul and Silas to just the right cities. Lord, thank you that your work goes on in spite of us and our humanness. Thank you for provision in famine, and salvation in the midst of persecution and opposition.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Miracles of Elisha

Read: 2 Kings 4:18-5:27; Acts 15:1-35; Psalm 141:1-10; Proverbs 17:23 One day, the son of the Shunemite woman got a headache and died. The mother laid him in Elisha’s bed and went to find him. When Elisha heard he had died, he sent Gehazi ahead of him to put his staff on the child. He did not come back to life. Elisha reached him and closed himself up in the room to pray. He laid on top of the child and transferred life to him. The boy sneezed 7 times then awoke. Elisha presented the boy to his mother. Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in the land. A group of prophets were making stew. One of them put some wild gourds into the pot that were poisonous. When they went to eat it they had to spit it out. Elisha put flour into the pot and then they could eat it. While the famine was going on, a man arrived from Baal-shalishah who brought a sack of grain and twenty loaves of bread from his first fruits. Elisha told his men to give it to the people. There was no way it would feed a hundred people, but God multiplied it so that there was plenty and even left overs. The king of Aram had a much loved army officer by the name of Naaman who had leprosy. He had a captive servant from Israel who served his wife. One day the servant told her master’s wife that she wished he could go to the prophet in Israel because he could heal him of his leprosy. When Naaman heard this, he told the king what she had said. The king sent him with letters to the king of Israel to heal his leprosy. He also sent gold, silver and royal clothes. The king thought he was trying to pick a fight. He couldn’t heal leprosy. The king tore his robes in anguish. Elisha heard and sent the king a message to send the man to him. The king sent Naaman to Elisha’s house. Elisha sent Gehazi out to tell him to dip in the Jordan 7 times. Naaman was offended that the prophet didn’t tell him himself and that he sent him to the dirty Jordan when there were many cleaner rivers around. He started to leave angry but his officers begged him to reason. To dip in a river is an easy thing to do, why doesn’t he just try it. Naaman humbled himself and dipped and the seventh time he came out with skin of a baby. Elisha refused to take a reward from Naaman but Gehazi couldn’t let it go. He went after Naaman and made up a reason to get some of the silver and two changes of clothes. He took it and hid it from Elisha. Elisha confronted him about it and said that the leprosy that left Naaman would always be on him and his family. Gehazi was instantly covered with leprosy. Gehazi had bough his leprosy for 75 pounds of silver. In Acts, there was great confusion over whether the new converts should be circumcised. Paul and Barnabas believed they didn’t but some who were believers and Pharisees thought they should. After much debate and prayer they came up with a solution. The new believers should have no other burden but to abstain from eating food offered to idols, and not drink blood or eat the meat of strangled animals. They should also abstain from sexual immorality. The people were greatly encouraged when they heard the decision. Lord, thank you that we are free in you to obey your word because we desire to, not because we have to. Help us to guard our hearts from greed and fear.

Wed.’s Devo - God’s Miraculous Help

Read: 2 Kings 3:1-4:17; Acts 14:8-28; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 17:22 Ahab’s son Jehoram or Joram reigned in Israel for 12 years and did evil like his father. He did take down the Baal pillar that Ahab had set up but continued worshipping the golden calves Jeroboam set up. King Mesha of Moab had paid Ahab tribute in lambs and wool but when Ahab died, Mesha rebelled and didn’t want to pay anymore. Jehoram enlisted the help of Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Edom. The three armies marched toward Moab but ran out of water. Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of the Lord they could ask. One of the officers told them of Elisha who was nearby. They sent for him and his answer makes me laugh. He told them to go ask one of their pagan gods. Joram spoke up and told him that God had brought them there. Did God want the Moab army to defeat them? Elisha called for someone who could play the harp so he could move into the spirit and ask God. The Lord spoke and said that the dry valley before them would be miraculously filled with water but not by wind or rain. They would be victorious over the army of Moab and conquer all the best of their towns. They were to cut down all their good trees, and stop up all their springs and ruins all the good land with stones. God was bringing judgement against their land. The next day water mysteriously appeared and there was water enough for everyone and their animals. The Moabite army saw the water and it looked red so they thought it was the blood of their enemies. They ran to collect the plunder and were ambushed by the three armies. They were completely destroyed. They did everything to the land they were told to and the king of Moab sacrificed his own son in hopes of saving his nation. One day, one of the prophet’s widow came to Elisha and said that creditors were coming to take her two sons if she couldn’t pay him. Elisha asked her what she had and she had a flask of oil. He told her to borrow containers from her friends and take them into her house and shut the door. Then start pouring her oil into them. She did and it filled every container. Elisha told her to sell the oil and pay her debts and live off the rest. Elisha often visited the town of Shunem and stayed with a wealthy woman and her husband. The woman had a room added on to her house for Elisha to stay in when he passed through. Elisha wanted to do something for her in return but she didn’t need anything. Elisha asked his servant Gehazi what she might want and said that she had no son and her husband was old. Elisha called her in and told her that next year she would be holding a son. It happened. Elijah spoke to kings and queens for the Lord. Elisha spoke to kings too, but he also cared for the least of the least - the individual. God is concerned and in control of the nations and the kings of this world but he is also concerned about the individual and the ones who feel the least of his concern. He loves us corporately and individually. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra. They saw a man who had been crippled from birth. Paul preached and perceived that his crippled man had faith to be healed so he called him out and said, “Stand up”. The man stood and was healed. The crowd thought Paul and Barnabas were the Greek gods, Zeus and Hermes. They brought bulls for them to sacrifice in their temple to Zeus. Paul and Barnabas tried to convince them they were just ordinary men. Some of the men from Antioch and Iconium who had opposed Paul and Barnabas told the crowd slanderous things about them. They won the crowd over and now the crowd wanted to kill Paul and Barnabas. They stand Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. The believers took care of him and he and Barnabas left the next morning. They went to Derbe and preached the good news and then came back through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. They were not afraid of their opposition. They then returned to Antioch in Syria and told the believers all the good stories of the Gentiles accepting the gospel. Lord, may we walk in boldness and confidence that You see us and hear our cries for help.

Tues.’s Devo - From Elijah to Elisha

Read: 2 Kings 1:1-2:25; Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21 After Ahab died, his son Ahaziah became king. He seriously injured himself when he fell through the latticework of an upper room in the palace. He sent messengers to Ekron where the temple of Baal-zebub was to ask if he would recover. Ekron was a Philistine town which was the last town the Ark had been when it was stolen. Baal-zebub means “lord of the fly”. God sent Elijah to meet the messengers and ask them why the king was going to Ekron to ask if he was going to recover. Was there no god in Israel? Then he told them that because Ahaziah did this, he would not live. When they relayed the message to Ahaziah and described the prophet, Ahaziah knew exactly who he was. He sent an army captain and 50 men to bring Elijah back to the palace. The number 50 is mentioned 9 times in today’s reading. Fifty is the number of Jubilee and the number or redemption. Elijah called down fire to consume them and the next 50. When the third 50 arrived, this captain fell on his face and begged for mercy. God told him to go with him. When Elijah met Ahaziah, he told them the same thing he had told his first messenger and it happened. He died. Ahaziah had no son so his brother Joram became the next king. It was time for Elijah to be taken to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah was not going to die and go to Sheol, he was going straight to heaven. There he would be preserved. His spirit would return in Elisha, John the Baptist and in a man in the last days before the second return of Christ. Elijah and Elisha were going from Gilgal to Bethel. Elisha knew Elijah was leaving that day and vowed not to leave him. They met prophets who confirmed that. Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay there while he went to Jericho but Elisha followed. More prophets confirmed Elijah’s leaving that day. Next Elijah went to the Jordan River, struck it with his cloak and they walked across on dry ground. Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted from him and he told him he wanted a double portion of his spirit. Elijah told him that if he sees him leaving then he will have his request. Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drown by horses of fire. It drove between them and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it. Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak and returned to the Jordan River. He struck it with Elijah’s cloak and it divided and he walked across. The other prophets saw this and came and gave him their allegiance. They knew that Elijah had put his spirit on him. They begged Elijah to let them go and look for his body. They urged him till he finally let them send 50 men to look for him. (There is that 50 again.) The first assignment Elisha was given was to make the bitter water sweet. That was Moses’ first assignment when he came out of Egypt. He threw salt into it and it remained pure. It no longer caused death or infertility. Elijah was a picture of judgment on the sins of Israel. Elisha was the reborn Elijah who brought cleansing and rebirth to the nation. Elisha retraced Elijah’s steps. He used the boys who disrespected the prophet and they were killed by two bears. Elisha revisited Mt. Carmel where Elijah had killed the false prophets. Then Elisha went to Samaria, capital of Israel. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas taught the next week also in the synagogue and it was filled with people who wanted to hear their preaching. Some of the Jews were jealous of the crowds and opposed their teaching. Paul and Barnabas told them that since they rejected their teaching they would take it to the Gentiles who would accept it. The Gentiles were glad but the Jews stirred up the elite of the city and incited a mob who ran Paul and Barnabas out of town. They shook the dust from their feet and went to Iconium. The same thing happened there. The Gentiles accepted the word but the Jews ran them out of their town also. They fled to Lycaonia to the towns of Lystra and Derbe. Every town they visited, they left behind believers full of the Holy Spirit who could continue what they started. Paul and Barnabas were igniters of fires. They carried their light to others and let God take care of the rest. Lord, may we be strong like Paul and Barnabas who lived for the kingdom, not their own lives or reputations. May we be bold like Elijah and Elisha who were not afraid to speak God’s words.

Mon.’s Devo - Fulfillment of Prophesy

Read: 1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:16-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 It has been at least three years since Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and Ahab has accumulated 400 more prophets. Israel hasn’t been to war with Aram for three years, so he instigates a war with them over Ramoth-gilead and asks King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him. Before they go to war, King Jehoshaphat thinks they should ask the Lord what he thinks and if they will win. Ahab calls his false prophets and they all say the same thing. They tell him to go and the Lord will prosper them. Jehoshaphat has watched these prophets and know that they aren’t God’s prophets so he asks if Israel has a prophet of God they can ask. Ahab tells him about Micaiah, but warns him, he always prophesies evil against him. Jehoshaphat still wants to hear what he has to say so Ahab sends for him. When he comes, he sarcastically answers just like his false prophets. Ahab gets mad and tells him to say the truth. Micaiah then tells him what God said. God wants Ahab to go to war because he will die in the battle. He is using the false prophets to convince him to go. Ahab is furious and orders Micaiah sent back to Amon and put in prison. He is to be fed nothing but bread and water until he returns. So, the two kings go to war disregarding what the prophet of God said. Ahab thinks he can outsmart God by disguising himself. The soldiers of Aram are ordered to go for Ahab. They see Jehoshaphat dressed like a king but when he calls out, they know he is not Ahab so they quit chasing him. One soldier randomly shoots an arrow towards Israel’s troops and it hits Ahab between the joints of his armor. Ahab’s officers prop him up in his chariot and he bleeds out all day while his men fight. At the end of the day, he died and his troops run for their lives. They took his chariot and washed it out by the pool of Samaria where the prophet said his blood would be spilled. Ahab had been an evil king. His son, Ahaziah became king after him. He only reigned for two years. He was evil and served Baal like his father Ahab. Jehoshaphat had been a good king of Judah. He had failed to remove all the pagan shrines where the people offered sacrifices and burned incense to false gods. His son, Jehoram became king after him. In Acts, Paul stood to give the people in Antioch of Pisidia a word of encouragement. He addressed the crowd as “Men of Israel and you God-fearing Gentiles.” He began with Moses and took them through their journey as a nation to where they were right then. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Then they were led by judges. Then they wanted a king. God gave them a “wilderness king” - Saul for 40 years. Then he gave them David, a man after God’s heart. Everything in history had pointed to Jesus. John the Baptist was like Samuel of the Old Testament. Samuel tried to prepare the people for a king and John the Baptist tried to prepare them for Jesus. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy about the Messiah and yet he was rejected by his own. God raised him from the dead and he appeared to them in person. It is this Christ that they were witnesses of and now preach. Through Jesus, there is forgiveness of sin and justification. The law could never give that. He warned them not to be the ones the scripture says, they heard and didn’t believe. Lord, may we not miss that you are doing something in our day that will require us to have faith. We believe and put our trust in your plan.

Sun.’s Devo - God Has the Final Word

Read: 1 Kings 20:1-21:29; Acts 12:24-13:15; Psalm 137:1-9; Proverbs 17:16 Benhadad, king of Aram came against Israel with 32 other allied kings. Benhadad sent Ahab a message that he wanted his silver, gold, wives and the best of his children and then he would leave them alone. Ahab agreed to this but then Benhadad added to his demands. He was going to send his officers into his palace and the homes of his officers and they would take everything of value. Ahab met with the elders and they drew the line when it came to them personally. They said that Ahab shouldn’t give into that demand. Benhadad sent Ahab a snarky remark and he responded with one and the war was on. Benhadad told his men to prepare to attack but he and the other kings went into their tent and got drunk. God sent a prophet to Ahab to tell him that God was going to hand them all over to him. Ahab asked how. The Lord told him the provincial commanders would do it and that they should attack first. The attack began and the Aramean army panicked and fled. The prophet came back to Ahab and told him to prepare because they would return in the spring. Just like God said, they returned and tried attacking Israel in the plains since the last battle was in the hills. The Israelites killed 100,000 in battle and another 27,000 when a wall fell on them. Benhadad had fled to the city with the fallen wall and when they brought him out, he came humbly asking for mercy. Ahab gave him mercy but God was not pleased. He sent a prophet to tell him that since he let Benhadad live, it would cost him his life and his people would died instead of Benhadad’s. Later, Ahab envied Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth had a family vineyard right next to his palace and he wanted to turn it into a vegetable garden. Think of the trouble of uprooting up all those age-old vines and planting vegetables. Vineyards take years to develop. Ahab offered to buy it but Naboth said he could never sell it since it had been in their family for years and was their inheritance. Ahab went home pouting. When Jezebel saw that Ahab wouldn’t eat, she asked him about it. She told him not to worry, she would get him his vineyard. She devised a plan and told the leader of the city to proclaim a fast and honor Naboth with a place of honor. Then place two liars before him who would accuse Naboth of cursing God and the King. Have him stoned and then Ahab could take possession of it. She did all that just as planned and when it was don she told Ahab to go and get his prize. On his way, he met God’s prophet. Since he killed and stole from Naboth, he would die on that property and so would Jezebel. His whole family would be eaten by dogs or vultures. When Ahab heard this, he put on burlap and fasted. God saw his humility and sent the prophet back to tell Ahab since he repented, he would not see the destruction of his dynasty, it would happen after he died. In Acts, we have so many people mentioned. Paul and Barnabas finished their mission in Jerusalem and returned to Antioch. They brought John Mark with them. Their church was full of some interesting people. Their teachers and prophets included a black man named, Simeon, a Cyrene named Lucius and the childhood friend of King Herod Antipas named Manaen. (Herod Antipas was the one who took his half-brother’s wife Herodius as his own, had John the Baptist beheaded and sent Jesus to Pilate to be crucified.) Who knows what Herod was like as a kid, but the power of God can save anyone. Saul and Barnabas were sent by the Holy Spirit and the church to Selucia to preach the Bible and they took John Mark with them to help. When they reached Paphos they were invited to meet with the governor, Sergius Paulus who wanted to hear what they had to say. A sorcerer named Bar-Jesus or Elymas had attached himself to the governor and tried to dissuade Sergius from believing anything Saul said. Saul had finally had enough and looked the sorcerer in the eye and told him to stop perverting the true ways of the Lord. He told them that he would be struck blind for a time. Instantly he could not see and had to be led by someone else. (Reminds me of what happened to Saul so he could “see”.) When the governor saw all this, he became a believer. When they had finished their work there, they moved on to Pamphylia and landed in Perga, its capital. On the Sabbath, they were asked to speak. Tomorrow we will learn what happened. I thank you, that you are a God of justice and you follow through on every promise you ever make.

Sat.’s Devo - Finishing Our Course

Read: 1 Kings 19:1-21; Acts 12:1-23; Psalm 136:1-26; Proverbs 17:14-15 Ahab returned home to Jezebel and told her the events on Mt. Carmel. If he was thinking she was going to be happy about all her prophets being killed, he was wrong. She sent word to Elijah that he would be dead by tomorrow. Elijah had outran Ahab to Jezrel. Maybe he was expecting to be made the king’s prophet until he heard Jezebel’s response. Then he ran for his life. He had stood up to the 850 false prophets and killed them and seen God answer with fire, yet he ran from the threat of a single woman. Elijah fled to the wilderness and sat under a broom tree ready to end his life. He finally went to sleep and was awaken twice by an angel who told him to eat and drink the food he had prepared for him because he would need its strength to finish his course. He traveled forty days and forty nights on that nourishment. He finally came to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the law of the Lord. He spent the night in a cave. God asked Elijah what he was doing there. God told him to go out of the cave and stand on the mountain. Elijah saw the Lord pass by. He was followed by a mighty windstorm, an earthquake and a fire but God did not speak through any of them. After the fire, there was the sound of a gentle breeze. God spoke and asked Elijah again what he was doing there. Each time, Elijah’s response was that he had served the Lord while the people of Israel continually broke their covenant with Him. He was the only living prophet and they were trying to kill him. God told him to retrace his steps - like undoing what he had done. God gave him three assignments and then he would be free to die. The first was to anoint Hazael king of Aram. The second was to anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel. And the third was to anoint Elisha from Abel-meholah to replace him as his prophet. And for his information, God had preserved 7,000 other prophets who had not bowed to Baal. Interestingly, he did number three first which was not the closest one to where he was. He went and found Elisha plowing a field with 12 team of oxen. Elijah threw his cloak over his shoulders and walked away. Elisha ran after him, leaving his oxen and told him that he needed to kiss his father and mother good-bye and then he would follow him. Elijah told Elisha for him to consider seriously what being a prophet like him would cost him. Elisha returned and killed his oxen and took the wood of the plow and made a fire where he offered all he had on the altar. He had counted the cost. He gave the meat of his oxen to the people of the town and left with Elijah. In Acts, King Herod took over Saul’s persecution campaign and began persecuting believers. They arrested Peter during the Passover celebration. Jesus paid Peter’s debt on Passover years before and now Peter was going to demonstrate freedom from sin. Angels came and unlocked Peter’s prison cell and led him out of the city. Peter woke up to find it wasn’t a dream. The believers were at Mary’s house praying for Peter when he knocked on the door. What an answered prayer! Needless to say, there was a great commotion in the prison when they couldn’t find Peter who had been fastened with chains to two soldiers. The soldiers were interrogated and sentenced to die. Herod then went to Caesarea. Herod was unhappy with the people of Tyre and Sidon so they sent men with a peace treaty to him. Tyre and Sidon was dependent upon Herod for food. The men from Sidon won the favor of Herod’s personal assistant so Herod agreed to meet with them to hear the conditions of their peace treaty. When they did, Herod put on his royal robe and say on his throne. He gave a speech and the crowd hailed him as a god. He received their praises and God instantly struck him with sickness and he died consumed with worms. Lord, help us to number our days and realize that this is not our home. We are here on assignment. May we complete our assignment and enjoy your presence during the process.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Provision and His Victory

Read: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13 The famine was into its third year and God told Elijah to meet with King Ahab and tell him that He was going to soon send the rain. Ahab and Obadiah, the man in charge of his palace were out personally looking for enough grass to keep a few of his horses and donkeys alive. The famine was so severe that he couldn’t trust anyone to find it for him. Obadiah feared and worshipped the Lord and had hidden 100 of God’s prophets from Jezebel’s wrath. Obadiah and Ahab divided the land and went separate ways looking for grass. Obadiah met Elijah on his road and fell to the ground with respect. Elijah told him to tell Ahab he wanted to meet with him. When Ahab came, he accused Elijah of bringing the famine on Israel. Elijah made it clear that Ahab and his family and their sins were the reason for the famine. Ahab was to summon all of Jezebel’s 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah to Mt. Carmel. When they arrived, Elijah told the prophets to make a decision whether they were going to worship God or Baal. No one spoke. Elijah had them bring two bulls to him. They were to pick their bull and Elijah would take the other. They would each pray and the god who answered in fire would be the true God. Elijah told the false prophets to go first. They did all sorts of incantations, dances, and cried out to their god from morning till noon. When they were exhausted, it was Elijah’s turn. Elijah first dug a trench around his altar large enough to hold three gallons of water. He placed the wood in first then cut his bull into pieces and laid them on the wood. He then asked for water, which in the famine, water was like gold. He had them pour four large jars with water over the sacrifice till it filled his trench. He had them do it three times, then prayed. His prayer was that God would prove himself to his people and bring them back to Him. God answered in fire that flashed down from heaven and burned up everything in the trench. The people fell on their faces and acknowledged that God was the true God. Then Elijah commanded that every prophet of Baal be taken down to the Kishon Valley and killed there. He told Ahab to eat and drink because he heard a mighty rainstorm coming. Elijah climbed to the top of Mt. Carmel to pray for the rain. Elijah sent his servant seven times to see if there was any rain coming. The last time he went he saw a small cloud in the sky. Elijah sent his servant to tell Elijah to hurry home or he would be caught in the storm. Soon the sky was dark with clouds and Ahab tucked his robe and outran Ahab’s chariot all the way to Jezreel. In Acts, Peter returned to Jerusalem where news had reached them of Peter’s preaching to the Gentiles. He had to explain the whole event so they could see how God had led him to them. The people’s objections turned to praise. Other Christians who had been scattered to other nations also were seeing a great spread in the Gospel. There was a great move of God in Antioch which was in Syria. Barnabas was sent to teach the Syrians the truth. When Barnabas arrived he realized he needed help and went to get Saul to help him. They stayed there a whole year teaching them the truth of God’s Word. Prophets were sent from Jerusalem to Syria and Agabus was one of them. He prophesied a famine was coming. The believers were able to prepare for themselves and send supplies to other believers in Judea. They sent aid also to the believers in Jerusalem. Both of our stories include a famine and in both, God took care of his people. God supplied a widow with oil and flour until she could get her own and in the New, God warned them so they could store up and bless others. Lord, help us to prepare our hearts to be ready for your next move upon the earth.

Thurs.’s Devo - The First Seven Kings of Israel

Read: 1 Kings 15:25-17:24; Acts 10:24-48; Psalm 134:1-3; Proverbs 17:9-11 Today we have a quick run-down of the first 7 kings of Israel. They start with Jeroboam who led Israel into idolatry. He was succeeded by his son, Nadab who only reigned 2 years. He was killed by Baasha who was not of his family. He killed all of Jeroboams descendants thus taking the dynasty of Jeroboam away just like was prophesied. Baasha ruled Israel for 24 years. God sent his prophet, Jehu to tell him that God was going to destroy him and his family also because of his idolatry and because he murdered all of Jeroboam’s family. He died and his son, Elah became king for two years. He was murdered by Zimri who killed all the descendants of Elah’s family. His reign only lasted 7 days before he was killed. When the army learned that Zimri had killed the king, the army commander, Omri attacked the city that Zimri was in and when he saw the city had been taken, Zimri went into the palace and burned it down with himself in it. Half of Israel wanted to make Tibni the king but the other half wanted to make Omri the king. Omri’s supporters killed Tibne and Omri became the king. He reigned for 12 years and his son, Ahab became Israel’s seventh king. All of these kings were evil in the Lord’s sight and worshipped idols, but none more than Ahab who married Jezebel. Jezebel led Israel into the worship of Baal and Asherah. God raised up prophets all through Israel’s history who tried to call Israel back into righteousness. One of God’s leading prophets was Elijah. God sent him to tell Ahab that He was closing up the heavens so that it would not rain until Elijah spoke the word. Then God told Elijah to hide so Ahab couldn’t find him. Elijah went to the Kerith Brook where God sent ravens to bring him bread and meat every morning and evening. When the brook dried up, the Lord sent him to the village of Zarephath where a widow was to feed him. He met her by the city gate where she was picking up sticks to prepare her last meal, then she was going to die. Elijah told her to give him her last meal and she would have enough to last till the famine was over. She obeyed and his word came true. She fed Elijah and her family till the famine ended. One day, her son became deathly ill. she took him to Elijah and blamed him for her son’s illness. (How much like us to blame God for every bad thing that happens to us.) Elijah took the boy and carried him up to his room and laid him on his own bed. Then Elijah prayed. He stretched his body over the son’s body three times. God heard Elijah’s prayer and gave the boy back his life. When he presented the son to his mother, she knew for certain that Elijah was a man of God who spoke his words. Just as Elijah laid on this son three times, God’s son laid in the grave for three days then they both resurrected to new life. In Acts, Peter and Cornelius finally have their divine appointment. Cornelius had invited his family members and good friends to hear what Peter had to say. Peter told them the good news about Jesus and the Holy Spirit came and fell on them. They praised God and spoke in tongues. Peter was amazed that the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles. He ordered for them to be baptized in Jesus name and then stayed with them for several days. Lord, may we remember the good things you have done for us and not blame you for things we can not understand.

Wed.’s Devo - Spiritual Eyes

Read: 1 Kings 14:1-15:24; Acts 10:1-23; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 17:7-8 Jeroboam, king of Israel had a young son, named Abijah, who became very sick. Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself and go ask the prophet, Ahijah if he would live. The comical thing was that the prophet was blind but God gave him spiritual eyes to see through her disguise. God told him that she was coming and would be disguised. Ahijah told her that her son would die when she entered back into her city. He also told her that God was so disgusted with Jeroboam that he would raise up someone else to take his place. All of their male descendants would be destroyed and eaten by the dogs or the vultures. That means they would rot in hell. Jeroboam had led Israel into idolatry and paganism. Rehoboam in Judah didn’t do so well either. He built pagan shrines and worshipped Asherah. God sent King Shishak of Egypt to attack Jerusalem. He took the treasures and stole the gold shields Solomon had made. King Rehoboam had them replaced with bronze ones. His guards used them to protect him when he went into the Temple. I don’t know if he was afraid of the people or God. There was constant war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. When Rehoboam died, his son, Abidjan became king. His mother was Maacah whose name means “pressure”. She was known as the queen mother and was very evil. She was the granddaughter of Absalom. There was constant war between Jeroboam and Abijam. Judah’s next king was Abejam’s son, Asa. Asa was one of Judah’s good kings. He displaced his grandmother as the queen mother and took down the Asherah pole Maacha had erected and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Asa got rid of the male and female prostitutes and all the idols. He brought silver and gold into the temple. Baasha was now king in Israel and Asa had constant war with him. King Baasha fortified Ramah which was the city people had to go through to get from Israel to Judah. King Baasha closed it so that no one could pass through. So the people of Israel could not come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. Asa hired the king of Aram to make a peace treaty with him instead of Israel. Ben-hadad of Aram agreed. They removed the stones that fortified Ramah and also gained more towns for Judah. They took the stones and fortified cities in their territory. When Asa died, his son, Jehoshaphat reigned. In Acts, God was breaking down the walls of racism. An Italian man who was also a Roman officer had a heart for God and served him. God wanted to introduce his son to him so he sent angel to Cornelius who told him to seek out a man called Peter and told him where he would find him. Meanwhile, God gave Peter a vision where he saw a sheet lowered from heaven with pictures of unclean animals on it. He was told to kill and eat them. Peter did not want to eat anything unclean. God told him not to call unclean what he called clean. When Peter woke from the vision, he was wondering about it when three men came to his door. The Holy Spirit told him to go downstairs and to go with them because He had sent them. They told him they were from Cornelius and asked him to come with them. Peter invited them to spend the night, then they went the next morning. These are the kind of things that are going to be happening in our lives very soon. Lord, we anticipate your great move on the earth. We see it beginning and are excited to be living in a day like today.

Tues.’s Devo - The Counterfeit and the Real

1 Kings 12:20-13:34; Acts 9:26-43; Psalm 132:1-18; Proverb 17:6 Reading today’s scriptures makes you wonder why God chose Jeroboam who was going to be so evil to be the king of Israel. God always gives a nation a leader that they deserve. Israel was bent on following false gods so God gave them Jeroboam who would give them a counterfeit of the real. Jeroboam set up his own capital in Shechem, erected golden calves at Bethel and Dan to worship so his people wouldn’t go to Jerusalem and want to stay. He ordained priests who were not Levites, instituted a counterfeit festival to the Feast of Tabernacles on the same day of a different month. He himself offered sacrifices to the calves he made. On the day set to celebrate their first counterfeit feast, Jeroboam headed to the altar at Bethel to offer sacrifices and begin the celebration. God sent a prophet from Judah to meet him. He told him that God was going to raise up a man by the name of Josiah and he would be a descendant of David. He would sacrifice the false priests who came to worship here on this altar. They would also burn human bones on this altar. As a sign that what he was saying was true, the altar would split in half. Jeroboam pointed his finger at the prophet and yelled, “Seize that man!” When he did, his arm was paralyzed in that position and he couldn’t move it. The altar split and its ashes poured out on the ground. That was what God had to say about their worship. Jeroboam now cried out to the prophet to please pray to God to heal his hand. The prophet did and the king’s hand was restored. Jeroboam asked the prophet to stay and eat but he said that God had told him not to eat or drink in this land but to go home another way from the one he had come. There was an old prophet that lived in Bethel. His sons had attended the celebration and witnessed what happened. They came home and told their father, the prophet. He set out to find the young prophet. When he found him he asked him to come home with him and eat. When he told him what God had told him about eating there, the old prophet lied and told him that an angel had appeared to him and told him to bring him home with him. The young prophet learned a fatal lesson. He listened to man rather than God and went home with him. After the meal, the old prophet prophesied over him and told him that because he didn’t do what God had told him to do, he would not be buried with his family. Sure enough, he left and was killed by a lion. When the old prophet heard what had happened he went to find his body. The lion was guarding his body and had not eaten it. A donkey was standing with the lion and the lion had not eaten it either. Jesus was guarding this man’s body. Jesus is both the donkey, the suffering servant and the lion from the tribe of Judah. The old prophet took his body and buried it in his own grave. He told his sons to bury him beside him when he died. This story is hard to understand but the young prophet was a perfect picture of Israel who started out following God but ended up listening to other voices and following them. When Josiah did come on the scene, to hundred years later, and burned the prophets on this altar, but he saved this man’s grave and didn’t desecrate it. God did honor this man and didn’t let his body get destroyed by the lion, but he had to honor his word also and killed the man. When we get to heaven we can hear the rest of the story. In Acts, the Jewish believers in Jerusalem were afraid of Saul and it took Barnabas’ testimony of being with Saul and his story of how he got saved to convince them Saul was a believer. When they understood this, they accepted him and he preached boldly there. He argued with some of the Greek-speaking Jews who tried to murder him. The believers found out their plot and sent Saul to Caesarea on to Tarsus, his hometown. The church was growing in numbers and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter healed a paralytic and many turned to the Lord. He healed Dorcas who was on her death bed. News spread quickly and many came to the Lord. When the church does the works of Jesus they won’t have to have gimmicks to get people to come to church, they will hear and flock to the churches. Jeroboam offered his nation the counterfeit but Jesus offered the real. Lord, may we walk in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.

Mon.’s Devo - The Dividing of the Kingdom

Read: 1 Kings 11:1-12:19; Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5 King Solomon did not continue to walk with the Lord, but went after the gods of his foreign wives. He married 700 wives from royal families of other nations. They brought their gods with them and Solomon participated in the gruesome and unholy worship of their gods. God was very angry with Solomon and told him that he would tear the kingdom from him but not entirely. He would leave one tribe for David’s sake. God raised up three adversaries against Solomon. The first was Hadad, a member of Edom’s royal family. Joab had killed most of his family and tribe yet he and a few of the royal officials had fled to Egypt. Hadad had only been a child at the time but he was raised by Pharaoh who treated him as his own. He gave him his wife’s sister in marriage. When Hadad learned that David and Joab had died, he asked to return to the land of Edom where he was a bitter enemy to Solomon. The second adversary was Rezon. He had been a slave to King Hadadezer of Zobah. He had fled with his gang of rebels and was made king of Damascus. Rezon hated Israel as much as Hadad did and made as much trouble as he could for Solomon. The third adversary was the one to get the throne and that was Jeroboam. He had been Solomon’s superintendent over his forced labor. One day as he was leaving Jerusalem he met a prophet by the name of Ahijah. Ahijah took his new cloak and tore it into twelve pieces. The told Jeroboam to take ten of them because they represented the twelve tribes of Israel. He was going to be given ten of them because Solomon had worshipped other gods. Solomon tried to have Jeroboam killed but he fled to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died. Solomon passed his kingdom to Rehoboam. Rehoboam came out to give his first speech and the people asked him if he was going to be as harsh as his father was. Solomon had put hard labor demands on his workers and taxed the people heavily. The people promised to serve him faithfully if he would be kind to them. Rehoboam told them he would have their answer in three days. Jereboam had been in the crowd. Rehoboam first asked his father’s elders what he should do and they told him to listen to the people and lighten their load. They would love him and serve him forever. Then Rehoboam asked his advisors who were his age. They told him to tell the lazy subjects that he would be tougher than his father. On the third day, Rehoboam met with the people and took the advise of his friends. The people cursed David’s dynasty and refused to be under his rule. Rehoboam sent Adoram, his superintendent over his forced labor to get control but they stoned him. King Rehoboam ran for his life back to Jerusalem. In Acts, another kingdom was divided - Satan’s kingdom. Saul was one of Satan’s leading men whose goal was to persecute and kill those who believed in Jesus. He went looking for Christians to bring back to Jerusalem where they would be tried for treason. One his way to Damascus a light from heaven blinded him. He heard God call his name and ask why he was persecuting him. Saul asked him who he was and he said, Jesus. He told Saul to go to the city and he would be told what he must do. The men with him heard the voice but saw nothing. Saul got up but realized he was blind. His men had to led him to a place to stay. He remained theer three days without eating or drinking. Ananias was a believer in Damascus. God told him to go over to Straight Street and straighten Saul out. He told him that Saul knew he was coming. This had to be bad news for Ananias since everyone had heard of the great persecuted, Saul. But God told Ananias that Saul was chosen by him to take the message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as the people of Israel. Ananias obeyed and spoke to Saul and laid his hands on him praying that he would see and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Instantly the scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see physically and spiritually. He was baptized and stayed learning about Jesus. Then he went and preached Jesus in the synagogues. He was so effective in his teaching that the Jews in Damascus wanted to kill him. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall. Lord, help us to have eyes to see what you are doing and not stand in your way. Your ways are higher than ours and your thoughts higher than our thoughts.

Sun.’s Devo - The Prosperity of Solomon

Read: 1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3 After Solomon had finished building the Temple and his palace, God appeared to him again. He told him that he had heard Solomon’s prayer and had set apart this Temple to be holy. God would watch over it for he loved it. If Solomon followed the Lord continually then his throne would be established forever with his descendants as its rulers. If they didn’t obey his commands and started worshipping other gods, then God would uproot Israel from the land, reject the Temple and Israel would be ridiculed among the nations. Solomon paid King Hiram with 20 towns in the land of Galilee to thank him for the cedar and gold he had sent him. When Hiram saw the towns he called them “Cabul” which means “nothing” and yet he paid him 9,000 pounds of gold for them. I you know anything about Middle Eastern people you would understand that this is classic salesmanship. The buyer would always say that about something he was about to buy hoping that the price would go down. It is the way they do things there. Solomon used foreigners for his forced labor to build his buildings but he gave the prestigious jobs to fellow Israelites. They served in the army, were the commanders and supervisors of his slaves. Solomon moved his Egyptian wife from the City of David to her new palace in Jerusalem. Solomon built ships which brought him 16 tons of gold. The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame and wisdom and came with gifts from her country and many questions to ask him. She spent time quizzing him and touring his great buildings. She learned his lifestyle as a king and was overwhelmed with wonder. She gave hims 9,000 pounds of gold. Solomon loaded her down with gifts to take back to her country. Every year, Solomon received 25 tons of gold in addition to the money he received from the merchants and traders that came. He made 300 shields out of hammered gold to place in the Place of the Forest of Lebanon. He had built a huge throne that was decorated with ivory and overlaid with gold. It had six steps leading up to throne and a lion sitting on either side of his seat. Twelve other lions sat on the six steps, two a step. Solomon’s utensils were made of gold. Apes and peacocks were imported and roamed his palaces. People came from miles around to listen to Solomon talk on things of the earth and tour his kingdom. He had 1,000 chariots and 12,000 horses. In Acts, Peter and John visited the new believers in Samaria and told them about he baptism in the Holy Spirit. They laid their hands on the people and they received it. When Simon, the once sorcerer observed this, he wanted that power so he offered Peter money to buy it. Peter rebuked him for thinking the things of God could be bought. Peter told Simon that his heart needed to repent of its bitter jealousy and envy. Simon did repent and asked for prayer. Peter and John preached in many Samaritan towns then returned to Jerusalem. An angel told Philip to go south to a road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. As he was going, he encountered a caravan from Ethiopia. It was carrying the treasurer of Ethiopia’s queen. He was returning from worshipping in Jerusalem. He was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. The Holy Spirit told Philip to go and listen to what he was saying. He was reading from Isaiah 53 about Jesus as our suffering savior. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man said, No, and invited Philip to come sit with him and tell him. Philip explained that it was referring to Jesus who fulfilled every word he was reading. The man believed and when he saw some water, he asked Philip to baptize him. When they were walking out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away to a town north of there. It was the town of Azotus where he preached the gospel. When the godly prosper, everyone rejoices. Lord, thank you for the blessing of prosperity. Solomon’s prosperity brought so many people to hear and see of your goodness. May our lives be an example for others to follow.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Presence Brings Joy

Read: 1 Kings 8:1-66; Acts 7:51-8:13; Psalm 129:1-8; Provers 17:1 On the Festival of Shelters, the seventh feast which occurred in the fall, Solomon chose to bring the Ark of the Covenant from the city of David to the Temple. They placed it in the Holy of Holies. They also placed all the other furniture from the Tabernacle into the Temple. The people offered so many sacrifices they couldn’t count them. When the priests brought in the Ark and placed it in its room, a cloud filled the Temple which was so dense the priests could not continue because God’s presence was so strong. Solomon stood before the people and explained why he built this Temple. It had been his father’s desire to build God a Temple on the earth even though God could not be contained in a building. He asked God to remember his promise to David to always have one of David’s descendants to sit on the throne of Israel if they were faithful to him. Solomon prayed that this place would be the place where justice was done. The innocent would be proven innocent and the guilty would be punished. If the people found themselves being defeated by their enemies because they had sinned against him, they could turn their face toward the Temple and pray for forgiveness and be forgiven. If there was no rain or there was a famine, or a pandemic, or an attack of locusts because of their sins, they could turn and pray toward this Temple and repent. Solomon asked that God would hear their prayers and give them what their actions deserved. If they were in captivity and turned to the Lord with their whole heart and soul and prayed toward this land, then Solomon prayed that God would hear their prayers and uphold their cause. He prayed that God would forgive them and cause their captors to be merciful to them. Solomon prayed that the people would be punished with mercy for their sins so they would not forget what they had done and they would not want to do it again. If there is no consequence then there is no lesson learned. The celebration lasted for 14 days and there were so many offerings to the Lord, that Solomon had to consecrate the courtyard to be used for sacrifices to get it all done. When the festival was over, the people went home with joy and gladness because of the goodness of the Lord. The Feast of Tabernacles was a rehearsal for God’s return to the earth when he sets up his kingdom on earth. It will be a time of great offerings, joy and celebration. In Acts, Stephen completes his message to his accusers, the religious hierarchy. He ends up calling them stubbier and heathen at heart. He reminded them that they persecuted every messenger of God, even the ones who predicted the coming Messiah. This infuriated the leaders and they shook their fists at hi in rage. But the Holy Spirit rested on Stephen and he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing beside him. He told them what he saw and they put their hands over their ears then seized him and dragged him out of the city and stoned him. The stoners laid their coats at the feet of Saul who watched with approval. Stephen died praying for his accusers and begging for God to forgive them. Persecution was unloosed on the believers and they scattered all over the world taking the good news of the gospel with them. Philip went to Samaria and told them about Jesus. Through his hands, people were delivered from demons, people were healed and people came to salvation. Great joy came to the city of Samaria. There was a sorcerer named Simon who had been admired and sought after but he did his miracles through magic. Now, a power greater than magic had come to town. Simon believed and was baptized. He followed Philip and was amazed at the miracles he did. Lord, we turn to you with all our hearts praying for our nation and the nations of the world. thank you for filling our hearts with joy in the midst of persecution and turmoil. You are the one who brings salvation and deliverance and we trust in you to bring it now.

Fri.’s Devo - Solomon’s Buildings

Read: 1 Kings 7:1-51; Acts 7:30-50; Psalm 128:1-6; Proverbs 16:31-33 It took Solomon 7 years to build the Temple and 13 years to his own palace. He also built other building like the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon which was 11,250 square feet with 45 feet tall ceilings. Inside were three rows of cedar pillars to probably look like a forest of trees. He built the Hall of Pillars which was 3,375 square feet. The porch was held up by a row of pillars. He built a throne room which he called the Hall of Justice which was where the legal matters were carried out. His own living quarters was behind this hall. He also built a similar living quarters for Pharoah’s daughter, his wife. All of his buildings were made of polished stone. Their foundation was also stone. Some of the foundation stones were 15 feet long. Just imagine having to transport these stones from the quarry to the building site on a hill. Solomon hired a man named Huram from Tyre who was not the same as King Hiram. This man’s mother was a Jew from Nathtali and his father had been a bronze craftsman from Tyre. He was talented in bronze. He came and made the pillars with its capitals, the huge basin they called the Sea, ten water carts and the utensils needed in the Temple. The detail was amazingly intricate and beautiful. When Solomon had completed the Temple he brought all the gifts David had dedicated to the Lord and put them in the treasury rooms in the Temple. In Acts, Stephen continued his history lesson. God called Moses from the desert near Mount Sinai and called him back to Egypt to deliver his people. He sent Moses back to deliver the same people who had rejected him as their leader. He delivered them through signs and wonders. He led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and through the wilderness for forty years. Moses was the one who spoke of a Prophet that God would raise up. The people of Israel rejected Moses again and chose to worship the gods of the heavens and earth so God promised to send them into exile into Babylon. The children of Israel carried the Tabernacle with them through the desert and it stayed with them until they were given God’s king, David. David’s son, Solomon built the Temple for God even though he never asked for one. Heaven is God’s throne and earth is his footstool. Lord, may we learn from the mistakes of the people who have gone before us. May we not reject you for the gods of this world that have no power. You are the Lord of Lords and we worship you.

Thurs.’s Devo - Building the House

Read: 1 Kings 5:1-6:38; Acts 7:1-29; Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 16:28-30 King Hiram of Tyre had always been David’s friend so when he learned that Solomon had become king, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him. He wanted to be an ally not an enemy of Israel. Solomon wisely accepted his offer of peace and they traded cedar for food. Solomon needed cedar to build the Temple and Hiram had plenty. Hiram needed wheat and oil and Solomon had plenty of that. King Hiram made rafts of the cedars and sent them down the Mediterranean to Lebanon. Men who had been prisoners of war and slaves in Israel were the forced labor who worked on the building project. They worked one month on and two months off. Solomon began building the Temple 480 years to the day of when Israel left Egypt with Moses. It took him 7 years to build the Temple. The construction of the stone and wood was done at a quarry and carried to the sight so that no sound of hammer, ax, or any other iron tool was heard at the building site. This is amazing since some of these stone pillars were 30 feet long. The walls were full of wood carvings of gourds and flowers. The doors had carvings of cherubim. palm trees, and open flowers. They were then covered with gold. Even the floor was covered in gold. It was to look like the Garden of Eden on the inside filled with the Glory of God. The windows at the top allowed the sun to shine on the gold which lit up the whole room. God gave Solomon a promise that if kept all his decrees and regulations and obeyed all his commands, the would fulfill through him the promise he had given to David and continue to put one of their offspring on the throne. He would also live among them and never abandon them. In Acts, Stephen was given a chance to give his defense. He began with a history lesson starting back at Abraham, their father through Moses. They were in Egypt for 400 years being oppressed and from then till Solomon built the Temple it was another 480 years making it 880 in all. Eight is the number for new beginnings. Stephen will continue his lesson tomorrow. Our Psalm is so appropriate for today’s reading. “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.” We can remember that as we go about our day. Everything we do is either building or tearing down. Our words, our actions and decisions all play a part in our building. We are building a temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in which is in our hearts. Lord, may we be about building and only tear down what is not of You.

Wed.’s Devo - The Wisdom of the Godly

Read: 1 Kings 3:3-4:34; Acts 6:1-15; Psalm 126:1-6; Proverbs 16:26-27 Solomon loved the Lord and offered sacrifices and incense to the Lord like the priests. There were many places the people worshiped but the most important place was Gibeon. Solomon was there and had offered 1,000 burnt offerings. That night, God visited Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted. Solomon told God he desired wisdom and discernment to govern the people with justice. God was so pleased with Solomon’s request that he told him he would not only make him the wisest person ever born but he would also give him riches, honor, and a long life. Solomon proved his wisdom when two prostitutes brought him a live baby and both claimed it was their own. Solomon ordered to have the baby cut in half and half given to each mother. The lying mother agreed to kill the child. The real mother was ready to give up her child to have it live. Solomon gave the real mother the child. All Israel saw this and were amazed at his answer. Solomon divided his kingdom into 12 districts and put governors over each. Each governor was designated to give him a month’s supply to run the kingdom. The daily grocery list included 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal, 10 oxen, 20 cattle, 100 sheep or goats as well as deer, gazelles, roe dear and poultry. They also brought straw and barley for the royal horses. They faithfully brought their supplies on their month. God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding and his fame spread through the world. He composed over 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. He was gifted in knowledge of earth science. Many kings and dignitaries came to listen to his wisdom. In Acts, the Greek believers complained that their women widows were not treated like the Jewish widows. They weren’t given as much food for their families as the Jewish widows were given. So the 12 apostles met to discuss it. They selected 7 men to take care of the food distribution so they could put their energies into prayer and teaching the Word. The seven were chosen and prayed over by laying their hands on them. Stephen was one of the seven chosen. Stephen was full of God’s grace and performed many miracles. Some men from another sect came to challenge Stephen but they couldn’t stand against his wisdom. They decided to lie about Stephen and bring him before the Sanhedrin saying he had spoken blasphemies against Moses and God. When they brought their false charges against Stephen, his face became bright like an angel’s. Everything in this life is a test. Solomon was tested with wisdom and riches. The disciples were tested with persecution and enemies. Our tests may be other things. These tests prove our hearts. Wisdom and discernment and a heavenly perspective keeps us on the right path. This world is not our stopping place, it is our pilgrimage. Lord, help us to walk with our eyes on heaven and our feet grounded on your foundation. Grant us wisdom and discernment for the days in which we live.

Tues.’s Devo -Solomon Takes the Throne

Read: 1 Kings 2:1-3:2; Acts 5:1-42; Psalm 125:1-5; Proverbs 16:25 David gave his last instructions to Solomon before he died. Solomon was to be courageous and follow God and his laws. That would secure his success. If he does this, his descendants would always sit on the throne of Israel. Then David gave Solomon three loose ends he needed him to tie up. The first was Joab, his army commander. Joab had killed Abner and Amasa and called it an act of war when it was just plain murder. He was to be killed. The second was Barzillai who had been David’s trusted friend. Barzillai had met him with food and provisions when he left Israel fleeing Absalom. Solomon was to take care of him and feed him from his table. The third was Shimei from the clan of Saul. He had met David when he fled Absalom with cursing and rocks. He was to be judged accordingly. Solomon was wise and waited till the situations were perfect to fulfill his father’s last wishes. Adonijah’s mother came to Solomon’s mother and asked Bathsheba if she would ask her son for Abishag to be given as a wife for her son, Adonijah. Adonijah was David’s son who proclaimed himself king and almost won the kingdom from Solomon. When Bathsheba took the request to Solomon, he saw through the trick. Adonijah was still trying to take his kingdom. Solomon had him killed by the hand of Benaiah. When Joab heard that Adonijah was killed he knew he was next since he had conspired with Adonijah for the kingdom. He ran to the horns of the altar to beg for mercy. Solomon had him killed and did it through the hands of Benaiah. So number one was taken care of. Solomon sent for Shimei, number three, and told him that he had to build a house and live inside the city of Jerusalem where Solomon could keep an eye on him. If he left the city for any reason then he would be killed. Shimei did that and lived safely for three years inside Jerusalem. Then two of his slaves ran away. He went after them to Gath. Solomon heard that he had left Jerusalem and he was killed by Benaiah. Benaiah was made David’s commander over his army. Solomon made an alliance with Egypt and married one of his daughters. He built a palace in the City of David. The Temple and the wall had not been built yet. In Acts we get a lesson on the grace of God. A couple by the name of Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land but lied about its cost so they would look like they were giving it all to the Lord. Instead, they gave part of it to the Lord and kept back some for themselves. Ananias means “the grace of Jah”. When Ananias lied to Peter, Peter was given the gift of knowledge and knew he was lying. He asked him why he let Satan fill his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. Ananias immediately fell dead. Three hours later his wife came in and repeated the lie and fell dead also. So, maybe “grace” is not the ability to sin and then be forgiven but maybe grace is getting punished here on earth so you won’t have to be judged in heaven. If Ananias and Sapphira had lived in their lie, they would have continued down a path of deception and eventually lost their faith. They would have also brought others down with them. Maybe it was the grace of God for them to be taken before this could happened. It ended up putting the fear of God in the church instead of opening the door for greasy grace to grow. If sin is not dealt with, it will spread like a disease. Since it was dealt with, Gods’ spirit was free to move in signs and miracles. The apostles were unstoppable. Even the high priest and his officials couldn’t stop them. They tried to put them in jail to stop them, but angels released them to go back and preach. When the religious leaders found the apostles had returned to the streets to preach they brought them in to question them. Peter stood up in their midst and told them that they had to obey God’s authority which was higher than theirs. This made them even more furious and wanted to kill the disciples. An older Pharisee named Gamaliel, convinced the council to not act but let it their movement die on its own like so many before them. They agreed to wait and had to let the disciples go. The apostles left the council rejoicing and continued to preach every day in the Temple about the good news of Christ. Lord, give us the tenacity to stand against he wokeness of our day. May the fear of God fall on the church and on our land.

Mon.’s Devo - The New Kingdom

Read: 1 Kings 1:1-53 First and Second Kings were written by the prophets highlighting the kings of Israel, where the Chronicles were written by priests highlighting the kings of Judah. The kingdom was not divided until after Solomon’s reign. David was getting old and hadn’t publicly named a successor. He had promised Bathsheba that her son would reign after him to make up for what he did to her by impregnating her, killing her husband and the loss of their firstborn. Adonijah was David’s son born after Absalom and was handsome also. He planned a coupe to make himself the king and enlisted Joab, David’s army commander and Abiathar, one of the priest to help him become king. Their plan was to invite all of David’s sons to the Stone of Zoheleth (Stone of the Serpent) and proclaim himself king. Nathan, the prophet, Zadok the priest and David’s personal bodyguards refused to support Adonijah. Nathan told Bathsheba what was happening and told her to quickly tell David so he could counter what Adonijah was doing. Nathan came in and confirmed Bathsheba’s claims. David sent his men and Solomon to the Gihon Springs. Solomon was to ride on the king’s mule, be anointed king and the ram’s horn blown telling all Israel that Solomon was king. When the men of Adonijah’s party heard what was happening in Gihon, they scattered in fear of losing their lives for treason. Adonijah ran and took hold of the horns of the altar, to beg for mercy. Solomon set him free to prove his loyalty to him. In Acts, news of the miracles Peter and John were doing reached the ears of the priests. Some of the religious leaders including the Sadducees were upset over their teaching of the resurrection of Jesus. The Sadducees were especially upset since they adamantly taught against the resurrection of the dead. The council of religious leaders and priests met in Jerusalem to discuss what to do about the disciples. They had thought their worries were over when the crucified Jesus, but he had resurrected in the lives of his disciples. Now their problems were multiplied. Peter stood up in the midst of them and asked the same questions Jesus asked. Why would they be upset over something good that they did. The leaders were amazed that their presence did not intimidate Peter and John. Peter and John boldly stood up to them just like Jesus had. They finally decided to tell them they could go as long as they stopped speaking about Jesus. Peter told them there was no way they would stop talking about the wonderful things Jesus had done for them. You can just feel the power and authority being drained from the leaders of religion. They were losing their grip and didn’t know what to do about it or how to get it back. Truth is powerful and it reigns over deception and lies. The religious leaders had no legal cause to hold the disciples so they set them free. Peter and John returned to the people and continued to teach about Jesus. The church, the new system of God’s kingdom, continued to grow as people were taught about Jesus and the Holy Spirit was baptizing them with power and boldness. The Kingdom of God was a kingdom of sharing and caring for one another like family. Lord, may we live in your kingdom instead of conforming to the world’s. May we not cower to the intimidation of the leaders of the nations but only submit to You and your authority. May truth prevail in our churches, in our nation and in our personal families.

Sun.’s Devo - Counting the People

Read: 2 Samuel 23:24-24:25; Acts 3:1-26; Psalm 123:1-4; Provers 16:2-23 All of the members of David’s elite Thirty were mentioned by name just like our names are written in heaven and our lives are remembered. It doesn’t tell us what Israel did to make God angry. It was probably that Israel had fallen into idolatry and forgot the Lord. Whatever it was, God wanted to punish them and he used David to do it. He put it in David’s heart to want to know how many people he had in his kingdom. The only ones he was interested in were the able men capable of being in his army. God had instructed in Leviticus how to number the people. They were to let each man pay a price for his soul when being numbered. To be numbered was to bring into account your life like we will face at the end of our lives. The price they paid was a redemption price to pay for their sins up until then so it wouldn’t be “judgement day” for them then. David didn’t require that tax so the people were being judged before their lives were over. Joab didn’t want to count the men but obeyed his orders. He found that there were 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah. When David got the number, he was immediately convicted of what he had done. The next morning, God’s messenger, Gad came with God’s word. David had three choices for his punishment. He could have 3 years of famine, 3 months of fleeing from his enemies, or 3 days of a plague. He prayed for the latter. He would fall into God’s hands and maybe he would have mercy. God sent his death angel which started in the north and came southward killing 70,000 people. It was stopped by God by the threshing floor of Araunah right before it got to Jerusalem. David saw the angel and repented. Gad was sent back to David to tell him to offer a sacrifice on the threshing floor. First, he bought the land from the owner Araunah. Araunah offered to give it to David but David said he would not offer anything to the Lord that didn’t cost him something. In Acts, Peter and John were on their way to the Temple for the 3 o’clock prayer time. They saw a lame man being carried in to sit by the gate and beg for money from the people who came to the Temple to pray. I’m sure they had passed him every Sabbath and not given him much thought, but now their eyes were opened to what God can do so they stopped and healed the man. This caused amazement in the people and a crowd gathered to witness this great miracle. Peter took the opportunity to address the people and teach them about Jesus and the gospel. He took them through scripture pointing out the different prophets who prophesied Jesus’ coming and death. He told the people to repent of their sins and come to Jesus. Lord, may we lay down our lives to you and daily die to ourselves. Thank you for resurrection life and hope. Thank you that you meet our needs daily and we have no cause for fear. You will never leave us or forsake us.

Sat.’s Devo - Pentecost

Read: 2 Samuel 22:1-23:23; Acts 2:1-47; Psalm 122:1-9; Proverbs 16:19-20 David sang this praise to the Lord on the day God rescued him from all the enemy nations and from Saul. This song is repeated in Psalm 18. David was a type of Jesus who was promised a kingdom that would last forever, but first he had to destroy Satan’s power. This song could be seen as the song describing Jesus’ victory at Calvary. It describes the earth quaking and the heavens shaking which is what happened on the cross. In verse 12 it says that God shrouded himself in darkness which veiled his approach. He came down and rescued Jesus and sent him to a place of safety in him. It was dark for three hours while Jesus hung on the cross. God rewarded him for his sinless life. God gave Jesus the shield of victory and strength over his enemies. Jesus destroyed them and they fell under his feet. There are many scriptures about Jesus putting everything under his feet. Hebrews 2 speaks of this, as well as Romans 16:20, to name two. Not only is everything under his feet but he has put everything under our feet as well. We are not to be overtaken or overwhelmed by the enemy but to rise above it and defeat it through Christ. David had three mighty warriors as well as other notable men in his elite forces. The first one, Jashobeam, killed 800 with his spear. His name means “the wise ones will return”. His life was a promise that one day those who follow God will return to Jerusalem. Looking even further into history it also means that those who follow Jesus will return to the earth. The second warrior was Eleazar whose names mean “God helps those he loves.” He stood with David and fought the Philistines when all the others had fled. The third warrior was Shammah whose names mean “I will increase the desolation of those who curse.” He also stood and fought the Philistines when his army had fled. These three men risked their lives to get David a drink of water from the well in Bethlehem. David refused to enjoy water which was as precious as the blood of those who risked their lives to bring it to him. Abishai was the leader of the thirty who once killed 300 enemy warriors with his spear. Benaiah, also a famous warrior, killed two giants and a lion. God does reward his brave warriors with honor and recognition. One day we will all stand before God and receive our rewards. In Acts, the believers in Jerusalem met together to worship the Lord and pray. On the Pentecost after Jesus death, they were meeting. The Holy Spirit came down and baptized them in the baptism Jesus had told them about. The gift had arrived. Fire settled on them in a visible manifestation. The Holy Spirit gave them words to speak in languages they didn’t know. Because it was Pentecost, all Jerusalem was filled with Jews from many nations. The disciples went out in the streets speaking their new language and the people understood them speaking their language. They were proclaiming all the things God had done. Many heard and were amazed. Others thought they were drunk. Peter stood up and began to preach about what was happening. He assured them they were not drunk as it was only 9 in the morning. This was what Joel had prophesied that would happen. In the last days, God would pour out his Spirit upon all people and it would manifest in prophesying, dreams and visions. There would also be signs in the heavens and on the earth. The moon would turn blood red before the day the Lord comes. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. God had sent his son Jesus to earth with signs and miracles but they killed him. Death could not hold him in its grip so he came back to life. David had spoken of rising from the dead but he didn’t so he must have been speaking about Jesus who did rise from the dead. God had promised that one of David’s descendants would sit on his throne. He was speaking of Jesus. Jesus rose to heaven but just as he promised, he sent his Holy Spirit. Peter begged them to repent of their sins, turn to God and be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. Many heard Peter and about 3,000 believed and were baptized. As they met and discipled these new followers, many others came to believe also. God poured out his gifts and they saw miracles and healings happen in their midst. Lord, thank you for salvation and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. May we have great boldness to speak your name and minister in your name.