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Under God

Daily Reading

2Kings 1-3

Daily Thought

Elijah, the classic prophet of God, was nearing the end of his mission. “Do you know,” Elijah said to Elisha, “that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” (2Kings 2:3). Elisha would be his successor.

Three times Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay put,” to test him, and three times Elisha did not stay put, but followed. Elisha had set his mind, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (2Kings 2:2, 4, 6). At the very end, fifty sons of the prophets watched Elijah part the Jordan River, then walk across on dry land with Elisha. Some time later, the fifty watched Elisha, like Elijah, part the Jordan River and return alone. The mantle of the prophet had passed to the next generation. 

Two miracles followed. The first was simple and basic. The water of Jericho was bad, literally “evil.” Spend time in a third-world country and you know what evil water can do to you. It could not be drunk and it would not nourish crops. Symbolically, Elisha threw salt in the water, but what healed the evil was “the word that Elisha spoke” (2Kings 2:22). Elisha wore the mantle of Elijah.

The second miracle was of an odd sort. Elisha came out of Bethel, and “some small boys jeered at him, saying, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!'” (2Kings 2:23). Small boys may be better translated young men, and there was at least 42 of the them. “Go up, you baldhead!” would be an insult today, and it was meant to be then. “Go up” means “Keep on going,” and so this gang of youth was telling Elisha he was not welcome in Bethel. “Get out of town, Baldy!” They wanted nothing to do with a prophet. They wanted nothing to do with the word of the Lord.

“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God?” ~Thomas Jefferson, 1782

“God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?” ~Benjamin Franklin, Constitutional Convention of 1787

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor.” ~George Washington, October 3, 1789

“In God We Trust” ~still the National Motto of the United States of America. But must be more than a motto.

Elisha cursed them and two female bears tore into the boys. His name is Elisha, heir of the prophet Elijah, and he speaks the word of God. Listen to him.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Creator, I believe fully in You, loving You with all of my being. I will stand for You and confess You before men. You are King of kings and Lord of lords. I pray, God, that I will be a bright light, that my faith will not be hidden, but will shine in the darkness. That by all my actions people will know that You are God.

May I live the way all should live, under God, knowing and proclaiming that you are the source of all of life and all that is good. God, I pray that the land in which I live will acknowledge You and trust in You. I pray that we will be a good people under a great God.

Amen

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Ties and Lies

Daily Reading

1Kings 21-22

Daily Thought

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Ahab, king of Israel, went to war together against the Syrians. Before the battle, however, Jehoshaphat insisted on hearing from God. Ahab called his 400 prophets who always told him what he wanted to hear, and they did as they always do, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king” (1Kings 22:6).

I coached my son’s T-ball team. The parents in charge decided not to keep score in this league. Every game would end in a tie. It will make the kids happy, they said. We played a game and we tied (they said). On the way home in the car, my son frowned, “We lost 8-3.” He knew the score. Every kid knew the score. Of every game. (So did the parents.) “So, why did they tell us we tied?” You know what made him sad? The lie, not the score.

Jehoshaphat knew the score. He knew the king’s prophets wanted the king happy. “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” “Micaiah,” Ahab admitted, “but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” (1Kings 22:7-8). He was correct, “The Lord has declared disaster for you,” declared Micaiah (1Kings 22:23). When you hear the truth and it is not to your liking, you have two choices: change the truth or change your plans. Ahab preferred to change the truth, but he knew the score, so he decided, “I will disguise myself and go into battle” (1Kings 22:30). Ahab believed the word of the Lord enough to disguise himself, but not enough to change his plans. At evening he died (1Kings 22:35).

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior, the Truth is I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I need You. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The world does not like the truth, preferring darkness over light, preferring to hear what they want to hear. We would rather hear that I’m okay and you’re okay. That everything will work out in the end. But it won’t. Telling the Truth is dangerous. You told it anyway, and You were crucified.

But death cannot stop the Truth. You rose again, and offered salvation to all who follow You. The Truth sets me free from the power of sin and death. May I love Your Truth, stand for the Truth, desire Truth and share Truth.  I know the score. I am a sinner and I deserve death. I need a Savior. That is the Truth.

Amen

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Limping Along

Daily Reading

1Kings 18-20

Daily Thought

The prophet Elijah chides the people of Israel, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1Kings 18:21). The people had no answer. Many secretly believed in the Lord, but there was public advantage in Baal worship. Sin always comes with benefits. Most, however, simply saw no difference. Why could not the Lord be God, and Baal, also. Two paths up the same mountain. 

Why must I choose? Because God is true, Baal is a lie, and King Ahab would have Israel follow a lie. Because the truth brings life, and a lie leads to destruction and death. The Lord warned Israel through Elijah, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word” (1Kings 17:1). The true God holds the rain, so he chides Israel, if you would follow Baal, ask him for water. Now, three dry years later, Elijah calls the question, “How long will you go limping?” This wishy-washy way of compromise and indecision must end.

One foggy night at sea the captain of a ship saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading toward him. He signaled the ship, “Change your course ten degrees to the south.” The reply, “No. You change your course ten degrees north.” “I am a captain in this navy,” he insisted, “so you change course ten degrees south.” Answered the light, “I am a seaman first class. Change your course north.” Infuriated, the captain blustered, “I am a battleship. Change your course immediately!” The final response came, “I am a lighthouse. Your call, captain.” It is important to know what you are up against.

It was time to decide, so Elijah clarified the choices. 450 prophets placed a bull on the altar and cried to Baal for fire. From morning until noon they pleaded, but they knew inside they were calling to nobody. For three minutes or three hours or three days they could beg, but nothing comes from nothing and there is no god in Baal. Elijah prepared his bull, adding dramatic touches, such as drenching the altar with water, for effect. He spoke to God, but only once, because his God was there. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench (1Kings 18:38).

Your call, Israel.

Daily Prayer

My God, I am glad to boast in You. Truth that You declare, I speak with confidence. When You say something will happen, I know it is as true as if it had already occurred. What you say will happen, happens. I trust in You and You alone.

Let the truth I know become the praise I declare. I stand by this, that I know the God of Creation, who exercises justice and kindness and righteousness on this earth. That I know Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord. That I know the Truth and the Truth has set me free to live a life of wonder and worship.

Amen

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A Clean Heart

Daily Reading

1Kings 15-17

Daily Thought

While Asa reigned forty-one years king of Judah, and did right in the eyes of the Lord, six kings ruled over Israel to the north: Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab. The reigns of the kings lasted from 7 days (Zimri) to 24 years (Baasha), but no matter, each life was summed up in a phrase, by their relation to God, and these kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (It doesn’t actually say Elah did evil. He was too drunk and too dead within two years to cause too much trouble.)

That each king of Israel did evil was shared by one other trait, they walked in the sinful way of Jeroboam. Jeroboam slipped off the path toward idolatry and each successive king strayed farther, until Omri did more evil than all who were before him (1Kings 16:25), and Ahab more evil still (v 30). Judah’s king Asa, on the other hand, did as David his father had done. “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1Kings 15:5).

Wait a minute! That is quite an exception. David had sex with Uriah’s wife, then murdered Uriah. This is no small sin, but God weighs not the act, but the afterward. David ends up right in God’s sight and Jeroboam wrong because when confronted, Jeroboam did not repent, David did. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (A Psalm of David 51:3-4). As towering as David’s sin, God’s grace soars above, and David is forgiven, renewed, and restored.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
~Psalm 51:10, 12

Daily Prayer

My God, blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Thank You, God, for Your grace.

Amen

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Force, Fear, or Faith

Daily Reading

1Kings 12-14

Daily Thought

There are three ways to rule.

By faith. Rehoboam sought advice from the wise old men who had counseled his father, Solomon, while he had been king, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever” (1Kings 12:6-7).

By force. “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him” (1Kings 12:8). Rehoboam preferred strength, and said to his people, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (1Kings 12:10-11). Little wonder many rebelled and turned to Jeroboam.

By fear. Anointed by God, Jeroboam nevertheless was afraid that “if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1Kings 12:27). The Temple was in the south at Jerusalem, so Jeroboam made religion convenient to the north. Rather than travel to the Temple, he brought God to the people in the likeness of two golden calves, placed close to home in Bethel and Dan. Pleasing the people, he set up altars throughout the land and chose priests from any tribe, not God’s chosen tribe of Levi. By convenience and accommodation, faith was made weak.

There are three ways to rule, by force, by fear, or by faith. Only one unites. By faith, Israel would be one nation under God, but Rehoboam ruled by force and Jeroboam  by fear, “and there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually” (1Kings 14:30).

Daily Prayer

God, may You always be first place in my life. May You be my first love, my full devotion. With all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, may my love never waver or cease. May I seek Your Word, Your ways, Your will.

Protect me from the weakness of fear, and guard me against finding strength in position or popularity or power. May I, instead, at all times seek Your pleasure.

Amen

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Devoted or Divided

Daily Reading

1Kings 10-11

Daily Thought

The Queen of Sheba visited the kingdom of Solomon. When the Queen of Sheba says something like, “Behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard” (1Kings 10:7), you know you have all you need and more. It was not just the wealth, but the women. Many foreign women. God said, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods” (1Kings 11:1). He did and they did. Having everything you want is not always best.

Remember the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall; Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the kings horses and all the kings men–”Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem (1Kings 10:26)–they couldn’t put Solomon together again. Solomon’s father, David, had been fully devoted. Solomon was fully divided. The kingdom would be divided as well.

If Satan cannot ruin you with failure, he will try to ruin you with success. He is not partial to either.

Daily Prayer

God of Love, I only know what love is because of You. My kind of love leans toward selfishness. What is in it for me? But You, the God of all creation, considered me, the one You created, better than Yourself. Even while I had my back turned to You, You died for me. Your love is sacrificial. It is good. It is life.

God, I have one first love and that is You. Above all else and all others. What is amazing is I am able to love others better because I love You fully. Thank You for loving me first.

Amen

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Built To Last

Daily Reading

1Kings 8-9

Daily Thought

An Episcopal church in Manhattan, The Church of the Holy Communion, opened its doors in 1844 as a place of worship and a help to the needy. It had a good run, but by mid-20th century, neglect began taking its toll. In 1983, The Church of the Holy Communion was converted into the Limelight Nightclub, the once reverent spot into a house of decadence. Yet, it would sink lower still. In the Spring of 2010, the Church turned Nightclub was reborn as the Limelight Marketplace, with 35 upscale boutiques and restaurants, complete with stained-glass windows. What had become of the house of worship?

God warned Solomon there could come a time when, “Everyone passing by the Temple will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them'” (1Kings 9:8-9).

The first Temple, 960-586BC, Solomon’s, was destroyed by the Babylonians. The second, 516BC-70AD, by the Romans. Why then exert the effort, take the time, pay the price to build a house for God? Not because God needs the Temple, but because the Temple and its people need God. These temples lasted a long time, but they did not last forever. No building of man can.

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1Corinthians 3:16). That “you” is plural, not singular. The Christian life is community. Do not go it alone. This is the Church, the people of God. You are that house. Built to last, because the Church is not a building of man, but the handiwork of God.

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are holy and righteous. I am not. You made me in Your image, so deep inside I have always known what I should be like. But, on my own, I wouldn’t do anything to change. Thank You for seeking me and inviting me to follow You. Thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus said, “Follow Me.” God, I commit to following You with all that I am. Help me keep that promise. Do not allow me to chase after empty religion, but may my religion be the kind of religion that You embrace, that I will keep myself pure, unpolluted by the world, and that I will look after and serve the poor, the marginalized, the orphans and widows. You are, and shall always be my first love. With all of my heart, with all of my mind, with all of my strength, I will love You, follow You, and serve You.

Amen

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You Are That Temple

Daily Reading

1Kings 6-7

Daily Thought

God is at work in creation. Day one, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and there is day and night. Day two, God separates the sky from the ocean surface, then parts the seas and brings forth dry land, day three. On day four, he places the sun, moon, and stars; on day five, he fills the oceans and skies with creatures that swim and fly; on day six, he creates the animals on earth, then he creates man; and each day was good. Then God rested. We know when he rested, he ceased working, but what had he built? Rest also means to reside, to take residence, and God had built His temple, a God-sized house, the heavens and the earth. From the prophet Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?'” (Isaiah 66:1).

A temple does not contain God. No temple can, not even the heaven and the earth. A temple is that place where God resides to meet us, and for Adam and Eve, that temple was all that God created. From Adam and Eve sprang many people, and God chose one, Israel, to call his own. “Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, ‘Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel’” (1Kings 6:11-13).

Solomon would build him a temple, “The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?” (2Chronicles 2:5-6). Solomon built a temple not to contain God, no temple can, but a place for God to reside so his people could meet him.

Now, God has chosen the church, those who trust and follow his son, Jesus Christ, and said, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1Corinthians 6:19-20). A temple does not contain God. No temple can. It is that place were God resides, so his people can meet him. You are that temple.

Daily Prayer

My God, I am home for Your Name, a place of Your residence. You created all things, You are God, the only God, the Maker of heaven and the earth, and You have made me Your temple, my heart Your home. That is hard to get my head around, the God of the universe knows my name. It is amazing and it is wonderful.

God, clean house, sweep out the sin and rearrange my priorities. Make Yourself first in my life and take all of me, heart, soul, mind, and strength. Leave no corner untouched. I will follow You, only You, the only God, and I will love You with all that I am. Live in me so fully that others will see You are home.

Amen

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Wishes

Daily Reading

1Kings 3-5

Daily Thought

My oldest was 4-years old when Disney’s Aladdin premiered in the theaters. I asked her what she’d ask for if a genie appeared offering her “three wishes, to be exact. And ixnay on the wishing for more wishes.” Not a problem for my 4-year old. Abby said, “I’d wish for three more genies.” Abby was clever.

God said to Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you” (1Kings 3:5). It is the same offer without conditions. What would you ask for? God anticipated a request for long life or wealth or for some tortuous death of a particularly awful enemy, but no; “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1Kings 3:9). Solomon asked for wisdom. Solomon was already wise.

Two women approached Solomon, each having given birth, but one child died, and whose the live child belonged to was in dispute. Solomon pulled a sword and threatened to divide the child, half to each mother. The false mother thought that fair, but the true gave her son away, if only to keep him whole. “And so the king knew the true mother, and all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice”

Do you think the wisdom of Solomon obvious? Who would dare take a sword to their child. It is common sense, but there are few things less common than common sense. The debt we take as a family or a nation, who pays the price? We take a sword to our children. What ought to be delightful words, “You are expecting,” threaten our independence and we take a sword to our children, literally. There is more, but you get the idea. The children suffer our sins and we need the wisdom of God to do justice.

Daily Prayer

Righteous God, You are just and good. You promise wisdom if I ask for it, but You warn me to ask with a pure and faithful heart. God, may I love You with all my heart, with all my strength, with all my mind. No division. May I seek You and You alone.

May I have the heart of Your Son, Jesus, who considered others better than Himself. Better than Himself! He is God. Your Son. Yet He washed the feet of His followers. Father, break into my heart. Teach me the humility of Christ. Let my love for You be displayed in my care and compassion for others. Give me wisdom to serve.

Amen

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The Throne

Daily Reading

1Kings 1-2

Daily Thought

The first words of the books of Kings, “Now King David was old and advanced in years” (1 Kings 1:1), remind us our time is temporary. The reign of David would pass on to another, to his son, Solomon, and David instructs his successor, “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn’ (1Kings 2:2-3). Kings come and go because the throne is never truly their own, but God’s. 

Pay attention, though, because God promised David that, although he could not keep the throne, he could keep the throne in his family, “if your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel” (1Kings 2:4). Some did, most did not. One of two oft repeated obituaries are recorded in Scripture at the passing of a king, “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord,” and less often, “he did what was right.” Rulers do well to remember they lead at the pleasure or displeasure of God, and will be judged accordingly. Eventually, the record goes silent and the throne is empty.

Until another is born, Jesus Christ, son of David” (Matthew 1:1), Son of God. His will be an obedience “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8), “and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33). The promise is fulfilled. 

Daily Prayer

God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, I know that You are good and You made this world good. When I follow You, I am blessed. Your discipline is good. It comes from Your love and Your desire to see me live a life of righteousness and peace.

Your correction is painful, at times, but I am glad for it.It puts me back on the right track.Do not let me become blind and deaf to the consequences of evil, but help me remember the joy of walking with You, so I will always long for it. It is good to be a citizen of the righteous and wonderful King of kings forever.

Amen