Sun.’s Devo - If God Be With Us

Read: 2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22; Romans 8:26-39; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 19:27-29 When the kingdom divided, people were forced to take sides. Rehoboam mobilized his troops to go after Jeroboam and restore his kingdom. God sent his prophet Shemaiah to tell him to turn around and not to attack his own brothers. He obeyed and instead spent his resources fortifying his main towns in Judah and Benjamin. All the priests that lived in the different tribes of Israel came to Judah because they were not recognized in Jeroboam’s Israel. He appointed his own priests and there was no temple there. The priests who came back to Jerusalem worshipped the Lord the way David had set it up. Rehoboam remained faithful to the Lord for three years. He married his cousin Mahalath and had three sons. then he married another cousin, Maacah and had four sons. He ended up having 18 wives and 60 concubines who gave birth to 28 sons and 60 daughters. But, he loved Maacah the most and it was her son Abijah who he appointed to succeed him. When Rehoboam had established his kingdom he abandoned the Lord so He sent king Shishak of Egypt to attack Jerusalem. God sent Shemaiah, the prophet to let them know that God had abandoned them because they had abandoned him. The leaders of Judah repented so the Lord sent them relief and didn’t totally destroy them. Rehoboam died being known as an evil king because he did not seek the Lord with all his heart. During his reign he was in constant war with Jeroboam. When Rehoboam died his son Abijah became king. Jeroboam attacked Abijah and Judah. Rehoboam’s men surrounded Abijah’s but they stayed confident in the Lord. The proclaimed that the Lord was their God and they had not abandoned him. God fought for them and Jerobaom’s men ran in defeat. Jeroboam went home and was killed by the Lord. Abijah became more and more powerful and married 14 wives and had 22 sons and 16 daughters. Our reading in Romans is full of some of our favorite scriptures. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who prays through us according to what God wants when we don’t know ourselves. All things work together for our good if we love God and are called to his purposes. God has called us to be his children and will be with us in this life. God loves us so much he even gave us his Son so if He is for us, who can possibly be against us and stand. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Our trials and pain don’s mean that God doesn’t love us because even Jesus had to experience all these things. God’s love is revealed to us through Jesus who gave up his life for us. We are truly loved by our heavenly Father and our brother, Jesus, our Lord. Lord, thank you for your great love for us. We see evidence of your love every day. May we acknowledge it and be ever thankful.