Fri.’s Devo - Resurrection Power

Read: 1 Kings 12:20-13:34; Acts 9:26-43; Psalm 132:1-18; Proverbs 17:6 The people of Israel learned that Jeroboam had returned from Egypt and they made him their king. Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem and mobilized his army of 18,000 men to restore the kingdom to himself. But God sent a prophet named Shemaiah to Rehoboam telling him not to fight against his own people, but to go home because this division was the Lord’s doing. Rehoboam had the know-it-all to return home. *** Jeroboam built up the city of Shechem which became his capital. He was afraid that his people would go to worship the Lord in Jerusalem and decide to stay and give their allegiance to Rehoboam and come back and kill him. So, he had two golden calves made and placed them in Dan and Bethel. He told the people that these were the gods who brought them out of Egypt. He also erected other pagan shrines and buildings and appointed common people to be the priests. He instituted a counterfeit festival to mimic the Feast of Tabernacles exactly one month after the real date. On that date, the fifteenth day of the 8th month he went to offer incense on a new altar he had built. *** At the festival, God sent his prophet from Judah to give a word to Jeroboam. As Jeroboam was walking up to the altar to burn his incense, the Prophet shouted about a future king named Josiah that would one day burn pagan priests and the bones of the evil priests who offered incense on this altar now. As a sign this would happen the altar would split and the ashes would be poured out on the ground. *** King Jeroboam heard the man and pointed at him shouting for his men to seize him. When he did, his arm froze and he couldn’t bring it down. The altar split at that moment and the ashes poured out on the ground. *** Jeroboam then cried out for the prophet to pray for him that he arm would be free. Shemaiah did and his arm was released. Jeroboam asked him to come home with him and he would feed him and give him a gift, but the prophet told him that God would not allow it. He was told to come and give the message then to leave a different way and not to eat until he was home. *** An old prophet heard of what had happened and pursued the prophet. When he caught up with him he deceived him by telling him he was a prophet and that an angel had appeared to him and told him to bring the prophet back to his house and feed him. He convinced the younger man to disobey the Lord and after they ate together, a lion attacked him and he was killed. The lying prophet went and and found his body. His donkey and the lion were still standing beside it because the lion had not eaten him. The prophet took his body and buried him in his own grave. He told his sons to bury him next to the prophet because he was a true prophet and what he had said would happen. *** Even after this great sign, Jeroboam didn’t turn from his evil ways to the Lord. He continued to let anyone become a priest of his pagan shrines. *** In Acts, Saul who was now Paul, went back to Jerusalem a changed man. He tried to meet with the church in Jerusalem but they were not convinced he wasn’t trying to trick them to persecute them. Barnabas brought Saul to the apostles and told them how he was saved in Damascus and how he had preached boldly about Jesus. The Greek-speaking Jews tried to murder him so the believers sent Paul toTarsus, his home town. With Saul, now a believer, the Christians grew stronger. *** Peter went to Lydda and healed a man who had been paralyzed for eight years. The whole population of Lydia and Sharon saw this and turned to the Lord. *** In Joppa, a much loved widow by the name of Tabitha died, they sent for Peter and took him up to where they had laid her body for burial. He told everyone to leave the room and laid his hand on her and told her to get up. She opened her eyes and sat up. Peter helped her up and presented her to her people alive. News spread fast and many believed on the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa and lived with Simon, the tanner. *** Lord, may we walk in the resurrection power of Christ. May we lay hands on the sick and they recover and on the dead and they raise back to life. May we walk in the works of Jesus and see people turn back to You.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Shifting of Kingdoms

Read: 1 Kings 11:1-12:19; Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5 King Solomon strayed away from the Lord because he married foreign women who worshiped foreign gods. They enticed him to do so also. He made temples for their gods like Molech, Chemesh, and Astoreth. These required him to offer human sacrifices and do all sorts of sexual impure acts. *** God, who had appeared to Solomon two times to warn him not to worship other gods, became very angry at Solomon. He sent word to Solomon that because he had turned away from him and broken their covenant, he would take the kingdom from him. But for David’s sake, he would not do it while he was alive. It would happen during the life of his son. His son’s name was Reoboam. *** God raised up three men to be Solomon’s adversaries: Haddad of Edom, Rezon of Eliada and Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. *** Joab had killed most of the Edomites, but Haddad had escaped to Egypt where the Pharaoh took him in and gave him his daughter in marriage. Hadad asked to return to his own country and the Pharaoh finally agreed to let him go. *** Rezon had fled from Hadadezer when David conquered it. He had become a leader of a band of rebels who ended up in Damascus where he became king. He made trouble for Solomon and hated Israel greatly. *** Jeroboam had come from very humble beginnings and worked in David’s labor force. When David saw how talented he was, he promoted him to be head of his labor force over the men from the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. *** One day, when Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah met him and tore his robe into 12 pieces. He gave 10 of them to Jeroboam and told him that God was rending the kingdom from Solomon because he refused to worship him alone. He would keep Solomon the ruler the rest of his life, but then he would give the 10 tribes to him. God promised to be with Jeroboam all the days of his life if he worshipped him alone. *** Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam but he fled to Egypt and King Shishak protected him. until Solomon’s death. Then he returned to Israel. *** Solomon died after ruling Israel for 40 years. He was buried in the City of David and his son, Rehoboam was to be the next king. Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king. The people of Israel came to hear what kind of king he would be. They petitioned him to be kind to them and lessen the load of labor and taxes that Solomon had put on them. He told then to come back in three days and he would give then his answer. *** He went to Solomon’s advisors and asked them what he should do. They told him to listen to the people and lighten their load and they would love him and follow him forever. Then he went to his friends and asked them what he should do. They told him not to give in to the people but to tell then that he would be even stronger and harder than his father. *** Solomon met with the people and took the advise of his friends. When he told then he would be harsher than his father they cursed the dynasty of David and when back home. Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah and sent Adoniram who was in charge of forced laborite restore order but the people of Israel stoned him to death. When Rehoboam found out what they had done to him, he fled for his own life and went back to Jerusalem. *** In Acts, Saul was spreading persecution as fast as the gospel was spreading. He followed the apostles with his heavy hand and would bring the Christians back to Jerusalem in chains. He was on his way to Damascus, when a bright light blinded him and he fell to the ground. He hear a voice asking him why he was persecuting him. When Saul asked the voice who he was, it said, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” *** The men with Saul heard the voice but saw no one. Saul was blind so they had to lead him by the hand to Damascus. He stayed there for three days and didn’t eat or drink. *** Meanwhile, there was a believer in Damascus by the name of Ananias. God spoke to him and told him to go to Straight Street to the house of Judas and ask for a man named Saul from Tarsus. He was praying right them and God would tell him he was coming. *** Ananias had heard of Saul and resisted going to meet him but God told him that he had chosen Saul to take his message to the Gentiles and to kings as well as to the people of Israel. He would suffer much for God’s kingdom. *** Ananias obeyed and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and healed his eyes. He baptized him and then Saul broke his fast. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus a few days then began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah. The people who heard him were amazed he had so changed his mind. His preaching became so strong, some of the Jews of the city plotted to kill him when he left town but Saul was warned. They put him in a basket and lowered it through an opening in the wall and he escaped. *** Lord, may your kingdom come in power!

Wed.’s Devo - The Coming Kingdom

Read: 1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3 Solomon had completed his building projects and the Lord appeared to him again at Gibeon. He told Solomon that he had heard his prayer and He had set the Temple apart as holy to honor his name. He promised to be with Solomon if he followed him as David had. He would establish his throne over Israel forever. But if he or his descendants abandoned the Lord and disobeyed his commands and served other gods, He would uproot Israel from the land and reject the Temple. He would make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule and people who visited Jerusalem would be amazed at what had happened to their Temple. *** It had taken Solomon 20 years to complete his building projects and then he gave 20 towns to Hiram who had provided all the cypress timber and gold that Solomon had bought. When Hiram came to see the towns he had been given, he called them worthless - Cabul. But, he did pay Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold for them so he must not have thought they weren’t too worthless. *** Solomon married the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. As a wedding gift the Pharaoh gave him back the town of Gezer that he had captured and burned down during David’s reign. Solomon had it rebuilt along with Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, and Tamar. He used non-Israelites to do his hard labor but gave Israelites the honor of being soldiers, officers, captains, and supervisors over his building projects. *** Solomon built a palace for his wife, the Pharoah’s daughter and moved her from the city of David to Jerusalem. *** Solomon’s fame reached Sheba and the queen came to visit to see if all she had heard was true. She brought caravans of spices, gold and precious jewels. She asked Solomon many questions and saw all he had built and how he ran his kingdom. When she left, Solomon sent her away loaded with gifts. *** Solomon received about 25 tons os gold from other nations. He traded with people from all over the world. He had 200 large shields of hammered gold made and hung in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. *** Solomon had a huge throne made overlaid with gold and decorated with ivory. The throne had six steps. The seat had a rounded back and armrests on both sides. The figure of a lion stood on each sides of the throne. Twelve other lions stood on either side of the six steps. *** Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. Peopler from every nation came to console with him and hear his wisdom. He build up a huge force of chariots and horses and stationed them all around Jerusalem. *** In Acts, the apostles heard what was happening in Samaria and sent Peter and John to join Philip there. They laid hands on the new believers and prayed for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When Simon, the one who had been the magician saw this transfer of power, he tried to offer them money to buy this power. He was rebuked for wanting power for his own name’s sake. He repented and asked for Peter to pray for him. *** Peter and John fulfilled their mission in Samaria and began their journey back home to Jerusalem. They stopped and preached in many Samaritan villages along the way. An angel told Philip to go south to Gaza so he did. He met a man from Ethiopia who was the treasurer to Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. He had been to Jerusalem to worship. He was in his carriage reading aloud from the book of the Isaiah. The Holy Spirit told Philip to walk over and listen to what he was reading. *** When he heard it he asked him if he understood what he was reading. He was reading from Isaiah 53 where it gave the description of Jesus as the suffering servant. He asked Philip to come up on his carriage and explain it to him. Philip explained that it was foretelling the coming of Jesus the Messiah who came and died for them. Philip believed and wanted to be baptized. They passed some water and Philip baptized him. When the man came out of the water, God transported Philip and he woke up in the town of Azotos north of there. He preached there until he came to Caesarea. *** Solomon’s kingdom is a picture of what is to come in the natural and what was going on in the New Testament with the apostles is a picture of what is coming in the spiritual. It is all so exciting. *** Lord, may we have our hearts right to handle the power and the wealth you want to give us to help others. May we keep in mind that it is all for your glory.

Tue.’s Devo - The Presence of the Lord

Read: 1 Kings 8:1-66; Acts 7:51-8:13; Psalm 129:1-8; Proverbs 17:1 The Ark of the Covenant was brought to the Temple at the Festival of Shelters or Tabernacles in the month of Tishri or Ethanim. All the furniture that had been in the Tabernacle in Zion was brought and put in the Temple of Solomon. *** Solomon and the people offered so many sacrifices it was impossible to keep count. The Ark was carried by the priests on poles and placed under the mercy seat with the cherubim. When the priests came out of the Holy Place a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord and the priests could not continue their service because of the presence of the Lord. *** Solomon stood and addressed the people. He told them how this had always been the dream of his father, David, to build a Temple for the Lord. Solomon was honored to carry out his request. Solomon praised the Lord with all his heart. He knew that this Temple couldn’t contain God but he prayed that He would watch over the Temple and hear the prayers of his people when they prayed toward this place. He asked God to be their judge and forgive them when they had sinned. *** If they sinned against him and brought righteous judgement against themselves then they could repent and pray from this place and be heard. God’s judgments for turning from him were: defeat by their enemies, famine, draught, and plague. All of these could be forgiven and then God would act on their behalf if they repented and prayed toward this place. Foreigners would hear of their God and his power, and come to learn of him and accept him as their God. *** If Israel was ever taken captive to another nation and they repented and petitioned heaven for their cause, God would forgive them and make their captors show mercy to them. *** Last of all, Solomon prayed that God’s presence would never leave them or abandon him. He asked God to give them the desire to do his will in everything they did and that they would always obey all his laws. And, may he give them justice every day. He prayed that the people would be faithful to do his will. *** Then they offered more sacrifices and peace offerings and they dedicated the Temple of the Lord. This celebration went on for 14 days - seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven for the Feast of Tabernacles. Then the people went home blessing the king and full of joy. *** In Acts, Stephen had gotten to the end of his speech where he began preaching to the leaders. He called them a stubborn people, heathens, and deaf to the truth. He asked them if they were always going to resist the Holy Spirit like their ancestors who had persecuted every prophet God sent to them. *** The Jewish leaders didn’t take to this well. They shook their fists at him in anger. But Stephen gazed into the heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand. He told them what he was looking at and they put their hands over their ears. They dragged him out of the city and began stoning him. They took their coats off to throw their stones and laid their coats at the feet of Saul. 
 *** As Stephen was dying, he asked the Lord to receive his spirt but not to charge them for the sin of killing him. Then he died. *** Saul approved of the death of Stephen and began persecuting Christians everywhere to destroy the church. Saul went from house to house dragging Christians out of their homes and throwing the into prison. But the Christians continued to spread the Good News of Jesus the Messiah. Philip went to Samaria and preached to them and saw many miracles happen as he prayed. *** A man called Simon who had been a sorcerer for many years had claimed to be the Great One - the Power of God, because of his magic. When Philip came to his town and began baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ, many believed what he said. Simon was one of them. He was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip did. *** Lord, may you grant us a heart to want to do your will and follow you in all we do. Thank you for your presence that goes with us everywhere. May we be the ones to follow after you.

Mon.’s Devo - Solomon’s Palaces

Read: 1 Kings 7:1-51; Acts 7:30-50; Psalm 128:1-6; Proverbs 16:31-33 It had taken Solomon 7 years to build the Temple and now 13 years to build his own palace. His palace included many buildings: the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars, and the Hall of Justice where his throne sat. The descriptions of the different buildings is amazing and all reflected God’s heavenly home. He also make the pieces of furniture for the Temple like the Sea which was a huge basin filled with water for the priests who did the sacrifices. It was placed on the base of twelve bronze oxen all facing out. Three faced north, three - south, three - east, and three - west. There were also 10 carts that held smaller basins for washing. Five of the carts were placed at the south side of the Temple and five on the north side. *** All the metal work was done by Huram from Tyre who was half Israelite because his mother was from the tribe of Naphtali. *** When it was all completed, Solomon brought all the gifts that David had dedicated to the Lord and put it in the treasury of the Temple. *** In Acts, Stephen continued his history lesson. He told of how God called to Moses out of the burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt and rescue the people who had rejected him in the past. Through many signs wonders and plagues, God led them out of Egypt into the wilderness for 40 years. *** Moses told them of a Prophet like him that would come from their own people. The people refused to listen to Moses and rejected him again. They wanted to return to Egypt. They had Aaron make a golden calf for them to worship. They turned away from God. God abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods. They carried their gods of Molech, Rohan and others with them all through the wilderness as well as the Tabernacle of the Lord. *** God drove out the enemies in the land he had promised them. They took the Tabernacle with them and stayed in the land until the time of King David. David had great favor with God and He allowed David’s son, Solomon to build him a Temple on earth. However, God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands. Heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool (Isa. 66:1-2).

Sun.’s Devo - Building God's Temple

Read: 1 Kings 5:1-6:38; Acts 7:1-29; Psalm 127:1-5; Provers 16:28-30 When King Hiram learned Solomon was now king, he sent his congratulations to Solomon. Hiram had been a loyal friend of David’s. Solomon told him of his desire to build a Temple to his God, the Lord which had been David’s desire. He asked him if he could buy cedar from him and use his men to carve the wood for his Temple. Hiram was very pleased and asked for grain and oil in return. They worked out an agreeable trade that blessed both nations. *** Solomon began building in the seventh month of Ziv and it took seven years to complete. It had been 480 years since God had rescued them from the land of Egypt. They had been in Egypt 430 years (Ex. 12:40). *** The Temple was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide and 45 feet tall. The back 30 feet was sectioned off as the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat was. The front 60 feet was the Holy Place and the entrance was an additional 15 feet in front of the Temple. *** On the outer wall of the Temple three stories of rooms were built. Each story was one and a half feet wider than the one below it. Winding stairs were used to get the second floor and another flight of stairs to the third. *** None of the construction was done at the Temple sight, but done in a quarry and carried there so that there was no sound of hammers or iron tools used around the Temple sight. *** God promised that if they kept all his decrees and regulations and obeyed all his commands, He would live among the Israelites and never abandon the people of Israel. *** The inside of the Temple was paneled in cedar wood with cypress wood on the floor. The walls of the Most Holy Place was paneled in cedar with carvings of gourds and open flowers. It was then overlaid with solid gold and gold chains protected the entrance to the Most Holy Place. The altar and the two cherubim were made of wood and covered with gold. *** The inner sanctuary was paneled with cedar that had palm trees, flowers and cherubim carved on them. They were covered in gold. It was all to represent the Garden of Eden. *** In Acts, Stephen had been accused of blaspheming the law of Moses and the Lord. Stephen was asked to give his side of the story. He began by teaching them about the history of the Israelite people beginning with God’s call to Abraham to leave and go to a land he had never been. He told of Jacob, Joseph and Moses. We will continue in tomorrow’s reading. *** Stephen was establishing his knowledge of their foundation and God’s overall purpose for their people in hopes that they would see it also. *** Lord, help us to see that you are building your temple inside us and we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Just like our Psalm says, “unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.” May we allow you to build in us a temple to honor your name.

Sat.’s Devo - The Wisdom of God

Read: 1 Kings 3:3-4:34; Acts 6:1-15; Psalm 126:1-6; Proverbs 16:26-27 Solomon loved the Lord, but he offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places of worship. One of these was at Gibeon. As he was there sacrificing 1,000 burnt offerings, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted. *** Solomon honored the Lord for giving his father, David the kingdom and then passing it to him. He asked for an understanding heart to govern the people with justice and discernment to know the difference between good and evil. *** God was very pleased with his request. He told him he would make him wiser than any one had ever been. He would also give him riches and fame and he would be greater than any other king that had existed till then. *** Solomon woke from his dream and returned to Jerusalem where he sacrificed more offerings before the Ark of the Lord. *** God confirmed his gift to Solomon and to the people soon after that. Two prostitutes came to Solomon to render judgment for their case. One of them had had a baby, then three days later the other had a baby. The second woman accidentally lay on her son and he died in the night. She exchanged her dead son for the living son. When the mother of the living son woke she realized the baby with her was dead. Then she saw that he wasn’t her son. They both claimed the living baby as theirs. *** Solomon judged that the baby should be divided in half and given a part to each woman. The real mother asked for mercy and offered to give him to the other woman but the woman who wasn’t the mother said the judgment was right. *** Solomon knew that the woman who would want her son to live no matter how, was the real mother and had the child given to her. This story was told all over Israel and they knew that Solomon was a wise and righteous judge. *** Solomon’s cabinet comprised of the off-spring of the leaders during David’s rule. There were also 12 district judges who were in charge of a month’s supply to the king every year. *** His kingdom was very populous and the people were prosperous and had plenty to eat. There was peace on all of their borders. Everyone lived in safety. *** God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding and knowledge. His fame went out throughout the surrounding nations. He wrote some 3,000 proverbs and 1,500 songs. Solomon had great wisdom in the area of plants, animals, birds, insects and fish. The kings from every nation sent ambassadors to listen to his wisdom. *** In Acts, instead of their movement dying out, it was growing and expanding. But, there were also problems. The Greek-speaking believers felt their widows were not being treated as well as the Hebrew-speaking widows in the distribution of food. The Twelve disciples called a meeting of all the believers and selected seven men who were well respected and full of the Spirit and wisdom. They gave them the responsibility of dispersing food to the widows so that they could spend their time in prayer and teaching the world. *** Everyone thought this was a good idea. Stephen, Philip, Procures, Nicanor, Timon, Parmesan and Nicolas were chosen. *** As the church grew, many of the Jewish priests were converted also. Stephen performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. A man from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves debated with Stephen but couldn’t win against the wisdom and the Spirit of God in Stephen. *** They persuaded some men to lie about Stephen’s teaching and say that he blasphemed Moses and God. The leaders of the law arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. *** The witness said that he had spoken against the law of Moses and said that Jesus would change the customs of Moses’ law. Everyone looked at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel’s. It was the glory of God. *** Lord, you are the great defender of your people. It is your justice that prevails. Bring your justice to our land and render righteousness in America and in the world. May your name be great!