Fri.’s Devo - The Difference

Read: 1 Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25, Ps. 131:1-3, Pr. 17:4-5 When I think of the contrast of Solomon and Paul I wonder what made the difference. Both of these men had an encounter with God and heard his voice. One became more and more earthly and the other became more and more sold out to heavenly things. The difference is the Holy Spirit. Paul had the Holy Spirit inside him where Solomon only had him on the outside. Solomon grew bored and loved women more than God. The women he chose worshipped demonic gods and Solomon let theses wives turn his heart away from the one true God. Solomon participated in the worship of their gods which consisted of sexual perversion and orgies. God was not happy and it cost Solomon his kingdom. Solomon’s kingdom was ripped apart with Judah and Benjamin against all the other tribes. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son would reign over Judah and Benjamin and Jeroboam would rule over the other tribes of Israel. They would stay divided enemies for years. Acts is one of my favorite books. It is so exciting to see how God talks to his people specifically. Our lives should look like the lives in the book of Acts. God called Ananias in a vision and told him the street address, the man’s name of the owner of the house and who to ask for when he went to the door. Then God told him what to do once he found this man. When Ananias heard who he was to heal, he was astonished. He’d heard about Saul from man, but God had a different description. God called Saul a chosen vessel of His that would testify before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. God’s opinion was the only one that mattered to Ananias. He did just as God told him and Saul was healed and filled with the Holy Spirit. He spent a few days with the disciples and then Saul was on the streets preaching Christ crucified. What if Ananias had said ‘no’ to God? God would have found another way but Ananias would have missed out on a huge blessing. Lord, cause us to hear your voice. We chose to obey.