God Stops the Cycle of Sin - 1 Kings 5-9

1 Kings 8:58-61 (ESV)

that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon has just built the Temple.  He has furnished it.  He has done what God instructed him to do.  The above is the last lines of his prayer of dedication.   He is praying to God to ask the nation will fully follow God.  They don’t!   That is the difficulty of knowing the end of the story.  We read in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel the lack of follow-through on Solomon’s prayer.  But it was not just the nation.   It was also Solomon who fell away.  Note:

1 Kings 11:1-3 (ESV)

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

We pray and we fail.  We pray again and we fail.   But in the end, God will establish us.  Like Israel, God eventually sends the a Messiah.  Christ is the answer to end this cycle.   We have His power and His grace and His mercy to help us stop this cycle.   

 

God Uses Mankind to Do Things for Him - Exodus 37-40

Exodus 38:22-23 (ESV)

Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

Key Items Created by Bezalel:

• The Ark of the Covenant: Made of acacia wood, covered in gold, featuring carved cherubim.
• The Table of Showbread: Made of acacia wood and gold.
• The Lampstand (Menorah): Crafted from pure gold.
• The Altar of Incense: Made of acacia wood.
• The Anointing Oil and Fragrant Incense: Specially blended.
• The Altar of Burnt Offering: Made of acacia wood and bronze.
• The Tabernacle Structure: Included the curtains, pillars, and tent. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

God uses us:

• God uses mankind to make things for Him.  
• God equips mankind to make things for Him.
• God DOES NOT need mankind to do this.  
• God chooses to use man.  

One In Christ - Galatians 1-3

Galatians 3:28-29 (ESV)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

In our country today we have, once again, started to define people by categories.  For being all grown up and modern we have fallen back to the days of Paul.   He, too, faced ethic, social and gender bias.   He addressed it with on bold statement:  You are all one in Christ Jesus.   With that statement he breaks down all classes of people.  With that statement he puts us at the same place with God.  Our spiritual riches in Christ are not tied to our experiences in this world.  In his day, Paul would have seen much class warfare.  In the Body of Christ we are one.  Jesus actually prayed that:

John 17:21 (ESV)

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

We ought not contribute to the separation and categorial shaping of the world.  In the Body of Christ we are all one in Christ.  

Jesus the Light Will Expose those in the Dark - Luke 7-8

Luke 8:16-18 (ESV)

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

In this section of Luke’s Gospel he is introducing his readers to some of the teaching of Jesus.   In the most recent Jesus was with a crowd, a tax collector, religious leaders and His disciples .   In the above passage He is directly talking to the disciples.  His comments to them are about what God expects for our walking for HIm and declaring Him to others.  Since He is the light, we are to treat Him like we would a light in a dark place ... let Him shine.   

He interesting, however, turns from a theme in others Gospels about us simply declaring His light to a subject about using the light to expose the sins in a dark world.   He is telling us that He is the light and He will use that light to expose those who have much but not in the right way.  There is no doubt He is exposing the religious leaders of the day.   He knows that they will be exposed as imposters.  The power, the privilege, the positions they hold will be removed from them in the Kingdom and given to those who walk in His light.  We are to use the light to expose the darkness and that exposes those who have put themselves up.  They will be brought low by His light.  

God Sees Pride and Deals with Pride - Jeremiah 47-52

Jeremiah 48:29-31 (ESV)

We have heard of the pride of Moab—

he is very proud—

of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,

and the haughtiness of his heart.

I know his insolence, declares the LORD;

his boasts are false,

his deeds are false.

Therefore I wail for Moab;

I cry out for all Moab;

for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn.

Make no mistake, God knows our pride.  He knows our insolence.   He knows our haughtiness.  He knows our boasts are false. Note what other authors have said of pride:

Solomon’s comment on it:

Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)

Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 11:2 (ESV)

When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with the humble is wisdom.

James’ comment on it:

James 4:6 (ESV)

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Peter’s comment on it:

1 Peter 5:5 (ESV)

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

David’s comment on it:

Psalms 138:6 (ESV)

For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

Jesus comment on it:

Matthew 23:12 (ESV)

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.]

Paul’s comment on it:

Romans 12:16 (ESV)

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Make no mistake.  God sees a prideful spirit and will bring it down.  

God Does Laugh at the Calamity of the World - Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1:26 (ESV)

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you,

When tragedy happens in the world today believers are often asking, "Where is God?" or "What does God think of this?"   Believers are, seemingly, looking for an answer to "explain" the tragedy in light of God's sovereignty.    We often come up with good statements and pass along our favorite verses to solace them or defend God.  Yet, it would be seldom, if ever, that we quote the above proverb.   When calamity comes upon us we don't tell the non-believer that God is "probably laughing!"   Yet, that is what "God says" He WILL be doing if people reject His Word and His Ways.   This proverb is in the middle of the passage that is telling us that "if" we walk away from God and "if" we refuse to hear His Word, "then" He will laugh.   We hate calamity and we are hurt deep in our hearts when it happens.  Yet, God says that if we are going to turn away from Him than He WILL laugh at us when we experience a calamity.  You can’t have God protect you and ignore Him at the same time.   Later in this same passage He says he will not answer those who reject Him when they call on Him when this calamity comes:

Proverbs 1:28 (ESV)

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

God is a kind and loving God.  But God is a just God, as well.  If you ignore Him, He has told us what He will do.  He will laugh at those who laughed at His offer to rule their lives.  

Search and Desire God - Psalms 63-65

Psalms 63:1 (ESV)

A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE WAS IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDAH.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

God is the most important pursuit known to man!    Have you ever made a statement as the following:  "I am so hungry!  I am starving for _______!! Or, have you ever searched through the web for something like a car you desire, a chair to fit that corner of the room, a shoe type that perfectly matches that dress, or any other item you have scanned the complete internet to find?   Have you ever lost something in your home and turned the entire house up-side-down to find it?  You huff and puff until you blow up every room to locate that one thing you were so desirous to find.   Look through these statements and what do you find as a theme?  They are about having an earnest desire for something temporal.  No man is exempt from the pursuit of the temporal.   Yet, in the above passage David tells us of his pursuit:  The Eternal, Immortal God of the universe.   David sought God as though he were in a desert place, dying of thirst and God was his only water.   When we get a new car we look at it through the window and admire our purchase.  When we get a new home we take pictures and show our friends.   When we get a new job we shout from the rooftops about it.   These are things that are important but are only temporary in our lives.   I have lived in 20 different homes or apartments in my sixty-plus years of life ... that's assuming I counted them all.   They are all temporary.  God has given us Himself, an eternal Being to rejoice and long for.   We ought to measure our spiritual depth by how much we pursue our relationship with Him and think of Him.  A newly wedded couple spends the days and nights before and right after their wedding longing for each other.   That longing is what David is talking about in the Psalm.  If we are not in the mode of longing and we have something else in the way of that desire, we have something wrong in our daily life with Him.   He is to be longed for as though we are to die of thirst without Him!!!