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.

Fri.’s Devo - Jesus’ Baptism

Read: 2 Samuel 20:14-21:22; Acts 1:1-26; Psalm 121:1-8; Proverbs 16:18 Sheba led a revolt against King David and fled to gain the support of the Israelite tribes. Joab caught up with him at the town of Abel-beth-maacah which means “mourning of the house of oppression.” Joab and his men started building a seize ramp to tear down the wall. One of the woman in the town called Joab over to her and asked why they were attacking their own people. When Joab told her that all they wanted was Sheba, she told him she would throw his head over the wall to him. She went to the leaders of the town and told them how to save their town and lives. They killed Sheba and threw his head over the wall. Joab took his men back to Jerusalem. There was a famine in Israel so David asked the Lord why. He told him it was because of how Saul had killed the Gibeonites with whom Israel had a covenant of peace. David went to their leader and asked how he could make things right. They asked for seven of Saul’s sons. David spared the crippled Mephibosheth but gave them seven others. They killed them and left their bodies unburied. Two of the sons were from the same mother who guarded the bodies of her sons so that animals could not eat them. When David found out he made sure their bodies and the bones of Saul and Jonathan were buried. When they had tied up all their loose ends, God ended the famine. We are given the accounts of four giants that were killed by David’s warriors. Acts was written by Luke to Theophilus. Luke refers to his first book, Luke, in which he told about the life of Jesus and the forty days after Jesus’ death. During that time Jesus had came back to talk to the disciples about the Kingdom of God. Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem till they had this gift to give them. John had baptized them with water but they would be baptized by him with the Holy Spirit. They kept asking Jesus when he was going to free Israel and restore their earthly kingdom and Jesus kept telling them that they were about to receive power to be his witnesses. Then they would go all over Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth telling people about him. They wanted an earthly kingdom, Jesus wanted a spiritual kingdom. He was taken up to heaven in a cloud as his followers all watched. Then two angels told them that he would return the same way. They returned to Jerusalem where they were staying in an upper room. There about 120 of them met and prayed together. Peter stood and gave the news of what happened to Judas Iscariot. He had bought a field with the money he received from betraying Jesus. He had thrown himself over a wall where his head hit a stone and he died. They needed to chose someone to take his place. Two men were nominated but after prayer and lots, Matthias was selected to be the twelfth apostle. Matthais means “a gift”. Lord, you really care about the details as you showed us in today’s reading. Help us to examine our lives and be sure we have obeyed every detail you have told us to do. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. May we be baptized in him daily.

Thurs.’s Devo -David’s Return to Jerusalem

Read: 2 Samuel 19:11-20:13; John 21:1-25; Psalm 120:1-7; Provers 16:16-17 Israel wanted to bring David back as their king but Judah, his own tribe, was slow in responding. David sent the priests, Zadok and Abiathar to ask the elders of Judah why they hadn’t brought him back. Amasa, Joab’s cousin went around Judah drumming up support to bring David back. David promised to make Amasa commander of his army instead of Joab, because he did that for him. On his way back to Jerusalem he met the same men that he encountered when he left. Shimei, the one who had cursed David since he was from the household of Saul, was one of the thousand who came to meet him. He begged David’s forgiveness. Abishai wanted to kill him but David granted him mercy. Mephibosheth came and explained that what Ziba had said about him was untrue. His handicap had kept him from going with David when he left, but he had mourned for David the whole time he was gone. Ziba, the man that David had put in charge of Mephibosheth was there with his sons also. David divided the land of Mephibosheth between the two of them instead of giving it all to Ziba. Barzillai who had provided food for the king when he fled, came to bless the king. David wanted to take him to Jerusalem and take care of him but he told David he wast too old to travel. He gave him his son, Kimham to take back with him and bless. The leaders of Israel had an argument with the men of Judah over David. The men of Israel were upset that Judah treated David like he was theirs alone and not the king over all of them. They felt that Judah was being favored more than them since David was from their tribe and Jerusalem was near or in their land. Finally, Sheba from Benjamin blew a ram’s horn and yelled, “down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse.” He led a revolt and the men of Israel followed him. When David got back to his palace he secluded his concubines who had slept with Absalom and treated them like widows. He then sent his troops to stop Sheba’s rebellion. Abishai and Joab left with warriors to go after Sheba. They met Amasa. Joab killed Amasa so Amasa couldn’t take his place as the commander of the army. This rattled the army but they continued to follow Joab on his pursuit of Sheba. So many of the men we read about today were full of selfish ambition. They spent their efforts on jockeying for position on this earth. Instead of giving them the satisfaction of being important, it often led to their own death. Jesus taught to humble yourself and let God exalt you. In John, the disciples had gone back to what they did before they met Jesus which was fishing. Jesus showed up on the shore and called out to ask them if they had caught any fish. They hadn’t, so Jesus told them to put their nets on the right side of the boat. When they did, it was the same result as the first time they met Jesus. The nets were overfilled with fish. They remembered. John realized that it was Jesus on the shore and jumped into the water and headed to shore. Jesus had fish cooking and bread for them to eat. Jesus addressed Peter three times asking him if he loved him. Peter said yes all three times and Jesus responded each time for Peter to feed his sheep. Peter, in the natural, had a boat full of fish to feed people but God was telling Peter that within his own boat - his own self - he had the Spirit of God who could feed the people spiritually. He had been blessed with walking with Jesus and learning of him, now he was to share his knowledge with others. Lord, we have all been blessed with knowing you and having your Holy Spirit so may we be mindful to give out of our abundance to these in need.

Wed.’s Devo - Trust The Plan

Read: 2 Samuel 18:1-19:10; John 20:1-31; Psalm 119; 153-176; Proverbs 16:14-15 David divided his army into three companies and appointed Joab, Abishai and Ittai over one of them. They convinced David to stay back at the town and not go into battle. The battle began in the forest and the forest killed more than the fighting. Absalom was one of the ones who the forest got the most of. He got his famous hair caught in a low-lying tree and was left hanging. Joab was told and came and killed him with his sword. Then he blew the ram’s horn and the war was over. They threw Absalom’s body into a pit and threw stones over him. Absalom’s one accomplishment of his life was a statue he had built to himself in the King’s alley. He had no son to carry on his posterity. Joab sent a runner to tell David how the battle was going. Zadok’s son Ahimaaz begged to be a runner also. Finally Joab let him go after the another man. Ahimaaz beat the first runner because he wanted to soften the blow of Absalom’s death. He only told David that they had won the battle. He let the next man tell him of Absalom. David was so overcome with mourning and sadness over Absalom’s death that he didn’t congratulate or thank his troops. Joab went in and told him that if he didn’t go out and speak to his army, they would abandon him. David finally did. The men who had joined with Absalom talked of coming back to support David. May this be the same as those who have turned against President Trump. May they return to welcome him as our president. Mary and the disciples got the good news that they had won the battle just like Israel did. The disciples came to the tomb and saw that it was empty and went home wondering. Mary stayed and went in to the tomb. An angel appeared to her and asked her why she was crying. She explained that they had taken Jesus’ body away and she didn’t know where they had put it. When she turned around, she saw Jesus but didn’t recognize him till he called her name. Then she ran to hug him but he told her that she couldn’t hold him since he hadn’t ascended to his Father yet. He told her to go tell the disciples. She ran and found the disciples and told them what she had seen and heard. They were hiding from the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus appeared to them. He showed them his hands and his side. He breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Thomas had not been with them and when they told him he said he would not believe till he saw with his own eyes and placed his fingers in to the wounds. Eight days later Thomas got his opportunity. Jesus came back and offered his hands for Thomas to touch. Thomas did believe. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who believe without seeing me.” He was referring to all those who would come after him and believe. He was talking about us. Thank you Lord that you always have a plan of victory when all seems lost. We are trusting in your plan for us and our posterity.