King Ahaz took the throne when he was twenty years old. He not only walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, he made his sons pass through fire! The Lord spared his son Hezekiah. He became king when he was twenty-five. His mother must have been the one to train up Hezekiah in the ways of the Lord. Her father was an evil king, and so was her husband.

2 Kings 18:5 says, “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.” That is quite a commendation. Hezekiah removed the high places, broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that the children had turned into an idol.

The king of Assyria threatened to seize Jerusalem. Watch what Hezekiah did. 2 Kings 19:14 says, “And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.” Then he prayed. He implored the Lord to save them from his hand. God sent the prophet Isaiah. Verse 20 says, “…Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.”

The Lord always hears. David declared that in Psalm 17:6. It says, “I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.” Here is how God handled the Assyrian king. 2 Kings 19:35 says, “And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses–all dead.” 185,000!

Nothing is impossible for God. No plan can thwart His purpose in your life. God is the Sovereign Ruler over all. Our responsibility is to trust Him and to explicitly obey His commandments. That is where the children of Israel failed. They heard His commandments very clearly, yet they disobeyed. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

After Solomon and the 12 tribes split, there was a common thread. Jeroboam built an altar that caused Israel to sin. Thereafter. it was said of the succeeding kings: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam…who made Israel sin.

We need to strategically plan to not carry on the sins of the generations before us. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 12:14. It says, “…For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”

The context was his spiritual children in the church at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 4:15 says, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Jesus had 12 disciples. They multiplied themselves. Acts 1:15 says that there were about 120 disciples. Acts 2:41 says that about three thousand souls were added in one day.

What are you leaving your physical and spiritual children? I noticed as I read about the two prophets, Elijah and Elisha, they were called ‘my father.’ Discipleship is a one on one ministry. 1 Thessalonians 2:7 says, “But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.”

Discipleship requires parenting skills. Paul used both parental characteristics of a father and mother. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The children of Israel turned to other gods which kept them ensnared.

Every believer has a responsibility to the gospel. We are called to make disciples. That means that we have to invest into another’s heart. When we fail to fulfill this responsibility, we will turn to emotional fillers which cannot profit.

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” Thoughts. Everything in our lives revolves around our thoughts. I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to show you who He wants you to disciple.

Today, Thursday, and Friday this ebook is FREE on Amazon. Here is the back page

This book contains ninety days of insights that I gleaned from the Holy Spirit during my
quiet time. As I read through my Bible, the Holy Spirit directs me from one book to another. These ninety days took place before, during, and after the United States 2020 presidential election. I was amazed at how relevant Scripture was in relationship to what was happening at the time I was reading.

God’s word is timeless, and His timing is impeccable. The principles He laid out aptly apply to any time in history, any circumstance, and any trial we might be in presently. God’s word is active. When we believe it in faith we are strengthened in our inmost being. Our spirit thrives on revelational insight. May you be encouraged as you open and begin to read this book.

I love Jeremiah 1:5 which says that God knew us before He formed us in the womb. Our seed of conception was wrapped in His completeness. Let this sink in: all of who you are is part of His purposed-pathway. We may be like Jonah with deviations through our disobedience. Yet, God will bring us through every designed trial. What He has begun He will complete.

There is a story in 2 Kings 4 about the Shunammite woman. You can read the whole story. In verse 13 Elisha asked her what he could do for her. She and her husband were old, yet they had no son. Verse 15 says, “…About this time next year you shall embrace a son…”

She had the promised son, and he was growing. Then one day he died. The women did not despair. She spoke life words to everyone who asked. In verse 35 his life was restored. Now we go to chapter 8. In verse 1 Elisha told the woman to leave because there was a famine coming that would last seven years. She did.

Verse 3 says that she returned after seven years. In verse 4 the king was listening to Elisha’s servant retell the story. Verse 5 says, “…as he was telling the king…there was the woman…appealing for her house and land to be restored…”

I love verse 6 and have often used it in praying for others and myself. It says, “…So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, Restore…” Yesterday, as I read this, I saw for the first time how she was wrapped in God’s completeness. So are we!

There is nothing that has ever taken place in our lives that was not purposeful. Ephesians 1:11 says, “In Him, also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Do you hear the completeness in this verse?

1 Peter 1:4-5 says that our inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and will not fade away. It is being kept for us by the power of God, the same power He used to raise Jesus from the dead. Right after Peter wrote that promise, he went into the subject of trials.

Trials are God’s instrument to conform us to His righteousness. Think again of the potter. It takes consistent pressure to center the clay before it can be formed. The Lord uses our trials as pressures to reveal the hidden dross-flaws as He centers us on Him. Picture a sign over your life: Do Not Despair God Is At Work.

I finished reading 1 Kings Sunday night. The thing that stood out to me was how God used His people to fulfill His purpose. Time and again it says something like: that His word was fulfilled which He spoke through (His prophet).

God is sovereign, yet He depends on us. He uses us as His instrument to carry out His purposes on this earth. It is an astounding truth.

Isaiah 43:7 says that He created us for His glory. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The question I had to ask the Holy Spirit: am I walking in all that You have prepared for me to walk in? The provision is there. The assignment has been set up before time began.

John 15:5 is a daily reminder for me as to how essential my relationship with the Lord is. It says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Nothing.

We know what happened to Jonah when he tried to run from God. Baalam disobeyed the Lord and found himself closed in, with no way to turn to the right or the left. God stood as an adversary before him.

Indecision is from our flesh warring against our spirit. Instability. Double-minded. Jesus asked His disciples to pray. What did they do? They fell asleep on the job. Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Are you still praying for our nation: that the Lord will have His way, that the hidden will be revealed, and that He will be glorified through all that is taking place? Let us be diligent to quickly obey from the heart. Let us walk in the Spirit so that we do not fall back from what God has called us to do. Let us emulate the Lord and fulfill His purpose through our lives.

We make multiple decisions every day. Every decision is first a thought. Elijah challenged the children of Israel. Ahab, their king, worshipped Baal. 1 Kings 18:21 says, “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word.”

Both Moses and Joshua challenged the children of Israel at different times. Deuteronomy 7:6 says, “…the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” God’s choice was decisive in accord with His character. We are made in the image of God. We have the capacity within us to be decisive.

James helps us understand what happens when one is not decisive. James 1:6 says, “But let him ask in faith…” We have to go back to verse 5 which is in the context of our trials. It says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” Verse 6 goes on to say, “…with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”

Our character is forged on the anvil of our trials. The dross of doubt, fear, and unbelief may lie hidden. However, when the fiery trial comes, the dross is exposed and brought to the surface.

The children of Israel were double-minded. They faltered between two opinions. They had no courage of their convictions. They were ensnared by foreign gods. James 1:8 says, “He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Here is an acrostic for stability:

Steadfast

Truth

Always

Believing

Increasing

Love

Intentionally

Trusting

You

King Solomon, his son Rehoboam, and Solomon’s servant Jeroboam all deviated from God’s commandments. The 12 tribes were divided. Jeroboam had ten and Rehoboam had one. Judah and Benjamin were combined.

1 Kings 13 has always been a sad chapter for me. God sent a man to prophesy over the altar that Jeroboam had built that caused all of Israel to sin. Verse 2 says, “…Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.”

That prophecy was fulfilled in 2 Kings 23:16. Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He was Manasseh’s grandson. 2 Kings 22:2 says, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

That is exactly what Proverbs 4:27 is telling us, “Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.” 1 Samuel 12:21 says, “And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.”

The man that God had sent deviated from what he was commanded to do and lost his life. The fruit of disobedience yields devastating consequences. Let us be like Jesus and set our face to do as the Lord called us.

Anything that we do in our own understanding, our own strength, or seeking counsel from the ungodly is deviation. Psalm 5 was written by David. Verse 8 is one of my prayer verses. It says, “Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.”

Verse 12 reveals one of the fruits of obedience. It says, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.” To disobey or to obey is a heart choice.

Erosion is gradual. It is not something that is readily noticed. Solomon was given much wisdom by the Lord, but he did not use it wisely. At the beginning of his reign, he made a political alliance with Egypt. What?

Let’s remember that the Egyptians held the children of Israel captive. They were slaves under cruel masters. Why would Solomon choose an Egyptian wife? That was the beginning of his silent spiritual erosion.

God appeared to Solomon the second time. He warned him. 1 Kings 9:6 says, “But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them.”

Verse 7 said that He would cut off all Israel from the land…” In verse 8 God said that the temple that was exalted, the people would hiss in astonishment. They would say, “…Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?”

The silent erosion continued. 1 Kings 11:1 says, “But King Solomon loved many foreign women…” Verse 3 says, “…and his wives turned away his heart.” The chapter continued to tell how Solomon worshiped their gods. Sad.

Hebrews 3:12 is a warning for us. It says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”

Note that spiritual erosion starts in the heart. From what I read, Solomon did not believe that God would do what He said He would do.

There is no fence straddling in God’s kingdom. We are either in or we are out. We are either walking in our flesh, or we are walking in the Spirit.

Hebrews 4:2 was talking about the gospel. We can apply it to our daily walk with the Lord. It says, “…the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”

What is the Lord speaking to you right now through this post? May you have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to grasp hold of what He has called you to do. Let us be diligent to guard our hearts from anything that would erode our relationship with the Lord. As Hebrews said: beware. Ask someone to hold you accountable. Heart integrity is a precious gift that we must guard.

King Solomon built the temple. It took seven years. His own house took 13 years. Hmm. All the temple stones were quarried away from the building site.

In Solomon’s ceremonial speech, He reiterated to the people how that it was in David’s heart to build the temple. 1 Kings 8:20 says, “So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David…”

In his prayer of dedication He first acknowledged the Lord. Verse 23 says, “…there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.”

Verse 24 says, “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 it is this day.”

What God has spoken, He will fulfill with His hand. That takes us to a Psalm that David wrote. Psalm 31:15 says, “My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.”

We are in God’s hands. Compare His hands to the hands of our enemies. There is no contest. John 10:28 says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

The atrocities in the dark, that have been continually exposed through His light, are not a surprise to the Lord. We must stand in His word. His Light will continue to expose and shake the dark deeds like a dog shakes a rag. Only what He knows will remain in this country will not be shaken out.

I love to quote Psalm 63:8 in the Amplified. Other translations say my soul. Capture these words for yourself. “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

What do you do when you feel like you are lacking something? Since every believer is complete in Christ, could the lack be emotional? If not, then why do we seek an emotional filler?

I know that years ago, when I would crave something, I would try a bite of many different foods to see if it would stop my craving. No, that wasn’t it. My searches always ended in futility. I would pick up a book I was reading and get lost in my story. I didn’t know then what I know now. Anything outside of the Lord is an empty emotional filler.

When we feel a lack, it is essential to first go to the Lord. We can ask Him what has unsettled us. Why do we feel restless and not content? He is our Completer. By asking Him, we are repurposing our feelings of lack. He will bring us into truth.

In 1 Kings 3:5 God appeared to king Solomon in a dream. He said, “…Ask! What shall I give you?” As I was thinking about this yesterday, I wondered what I would answer. If I was feeling a need for instant gratification, I might answer with something that was a temporary fix.

King Solomon asked for something life long. Verse 9 says, “Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil…” God granted his request. Then He added what He wanted for Solomon’s life. Let’s go back to verse 3. It says, “And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David…”

God exudes with abundance. John 10:10 says, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.”

Think now about every emotional filler that you have ever used. We use myriad ways. Set them up against God’s abundance. It is a paltry dot in the ocean of His provision for us through our relationship with Him.

He is ready to meet every need through Himself. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

The Lord manifested Himself to Solomon. He gave him his request and added far over and above what he had asked. The Lord reveals Himself to us through our intimate communion with Him. Hear His words to you now: Come and dine.