Author: David Short

1 Kings 22:5

Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Ask the Lord today.”

Personal Challenge

So, who is this Jehoshaphat and why is he important to me? At this time the people of God had been split into two separate and sometimes warring nations, Israel and Judah. Jehoshaphat was the king of Israel and Ahab was the king of Judah. Bottom line, Ahab was not a good guy. He was a really mean leader. At this point in time, the two kings have come together to join forces against common enemies. Jehoshaphat starts this relationship off by suggesting that Ahab should inquire of God on whether or not they should enter into the battle. Ahab has surrounded himself with a host of prophets that all say what he wants to hear. They would never give him advice that might displease and consequently anger him. These are the guys that he used to inquire of God. And of course, they agreed with Ahab’s desire to go to war. There was, however, one prophet whom Ahab hated who told them that they would lose the battle and to not go. He was immediately thrown into jail, they went into battle, and Ahab was eventually killed. It does us no good to only listen to those who would always affirm us, especially when we are making bad decisions. This is not asking the Lord! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

Personal Challenge

Go! Make! Baptize! Teach! These are not passive, couch-potato words. Our Lord finishes His time here on earth with a command to be actively pursuing those who do not know Him before He returns. Jesus came so that all might be saved, He gave up His life so that mankind would be able to live their lives fully as we were meant to. Now for those of us who have chosen to follow Him, He is giving us the charter on how to live our lives. We are to be actively going outside of the walls of our churches and homes, sometimes outside of our own countries, and strive to spread His gospel and make disciples of those who do not know Him. We are to lead them to the foot of the cross and baptize than when they come to their senses of who they are and why they need Him. And we are to teach them how to grow in the likeness of Christ and to do these same things. Jesus then promises to us that He will be there with us as we do His work. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have many on me, the sinner!

Psalms 36:7 (35:8 LXX)

How You multiply Your mercy, O God!
The sons of men shall hope under the shelter of Your wings.

Encouraging Words

I am so thankful that I have been freed from the doctrine that our God is an angry, vengeful, judgmental God. We still believe that scripture teaches that we will all stand before our God at the day of judgment and we will know of our sins that have separated us from our God. As a matter of fact, we also believe that this is already an ever present part of our everyday journey of theosis. As we learn more about God and grow more in the image of His son, the more we realise just how undeserving of we are of His mercy and grace, This all makes this verse read so much more alive as the psalmist proclaims how much God multiplies His mercy upon His children and how much His children can hope for and live under the wings of shelter of on Land. Glory be to God!

1 Kings 8:22-24 (3 Kingdoms 8:22-24 LXX)
You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth, and fulfilled it with Your hand, as today. Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, so long as your people guard and keep their ways to walk before Me, as you walked before Me.’ So now, O Lord God of Israel, let the word be confirmed You spoke to Your servant David my father.

Encouraging Words

Solomon, the son of David, had probably grown up with many stories from his father about all of the things that his God had done throughout his life. Now it is Solomon’s turn to begin engaging with his father’s God, and now, his God. Solomon starts by reminding his God of the promises that had been made to David, Isn’t this the same for all of us? I still teach high school students at my church and love it dearly. One of the things that I often tell them is that God does not have any grandchildren. Even though they may have spent their entire life coming to church on Sundays in tow behind their parents, their relationship with God does not come to fruition through someone else, even their parents. We all must come to the place like Solomon where we reach out to our God and build our relationship with Him. God always keeps His promises especially when we grow into them. Glory be to God!

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Personal Challenge

Intentions are always a great thing, but unless my intentions are followed up by actions they really mean nothing. Jesus points this out when He reminds His disciples that their spirit may be willing to follow Him, but that their flesh is weak. In His last moments of physical life here on earth, He is in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His father to lead Him through the final steps of His journey to the cross. It is obviously a difficult time and He knows that His own physical flesh is pulling at His spirit to turn away from the path that He is on. He is demonstrating to His disciple how to watch for and pray to His Father for the support that He needs. And what are the disciples doing? Falling asleep. They have spirits that desire to follow their Lord. They have demonstrated that for the past three years. But they are still being driven by their weak flesh. Aren’t we all? Here is where we can learn much from our Lord. The times that we need to keep the most watch out for our Lord and seek Him in pray are those times when we are the weakest. Praying without ceasing, even if it is only, “Jesus!’,’ helps us through these times. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 35:22-23 (34:22-23 LXX)

You saw this, O Lord; do not keep silence;
O Lord, do not be far from me.
Arise, O Lord, attend to my judgment,
My God and my Lord, to my cause.

Encouraging Words

Since our God is always present in our lives He knows everything that is going on, both good and bad, whether done by us or by others to us. Because of this, we can always call out to Him to walk through the outcome of these events as our friend and comforter. We may never see Him correct those who perpetrate a wrong against us, but just the truth of knowing that He is there with us gives us comfort, peace, and joy. And the more that I come to know Him, and grow in the image of His Son, the less that I want Him to correct those offenders because they have become objects of my prayers as we pray for those who love us as much as we do those who hate us. Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have Mercy!

1 Kings 18:17-18 (3 Kingdoms 18:17-18 LXX)

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is troubling Israel?” Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but rather you and the house of your father, in that you forsook the Lord your God and followed after the Baals.”

Personal Challenge

Ahab, a corrupt king in the early days of Israel had made some pretty bad choices leading the country into some difficult situations. Since the people had been led so far away from God’s path, Elijah was sent as a prophet to preach about their error and show them the right way. When king Ahab finally met up with Elijah, he, of course, blamed Elijah for his troubles. However, Elijah reminded Ahab that it was his choice and his leadership that was causing the issues. Isn’t this often the way that it goes with most, if not all, of us? We make choices in our lives. Often they are choices that neglect God and His teachings. Then when the consequences begin to settle in around us, we blame God or someone else for our challenges. The truth is that we should have made better choices, to begin with. For every choice, whether good or bad, there is always one or more consequence sometimes good and sometimes bad. And many times the consequences impact so many other people. Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy! Lord, have Mercy!

Matthew 25:34-40

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Personal Challenge

Honestly, our entry into the kingdom of heaven has little to do with how many books about God or our religion that we have read, or with how many different positions that we have held in the leadership of our church, or in how much we tithe, or how well we fast. Jesus makes it very clear that what is important to Him is how much we do for our brother, sister, or the stranger in need around us. He also points out that if we are doing these truly from our heart and not as acts seeking praise and affirmation, then we will not even recognize that we have been doing these things. We do not earn His favor by our works but we do His works because of the favor that He has bestowed on us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!