Friday, November 29, 2019

MEN WILL LIE TO YOU AND LEAD YOU AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD


PROCLAMATION
“I have been told by The Word of The Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return the way you came.’  The old prophet answered, ‘I too am a prophet, as you are.  And an angel said to me by The Word of The Lord: Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’  But he was lying to him.  So, the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.”  1 Kings 13:17-19 (NIV)

EXPLANATION
After King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. (1 Kings 11:42-43)  But Rehoboam consulted the elders of Israel and rejected their advice.  This eventually caused him to lose the support of the people (1 Kings 12:16-17) and led to the division of Israel with only the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin supporting him.  Jeroboam, Solomon’s son who had rebelled against him in his old age, became the king of the ten northern tribes, built shrines and two golden calves to be their gods and led them to worship idols. (1 Kings 12:28-33)  King Jeroboam was standing by the alter when a man of God came and cried out against the alter of the idols.  When the king stretched out his hand and told his men to seize the man of God, his hand shriveled up and he could not move it. (1 Kings 13:4)  The king then begged the man of God to pray for him, which he did, and his hand was restored. (1 Kings 13:6)  To reward him the king invited him to dine with him and offered him a gift, but the man of God refused per his instructions from The Word of God. (1 Kings 13:7-10)  The sons of a prophet in Bethel saw this and told him what had happened to the king, then he went after the man of God and invited him to dine with him.  The man of God declined, and the prophet lied to him saying that he had been sent to get him by an angel of The Lord.  The man of God listened to the lying prophet and disobeyed The Word of God.  When he left the prophet’s house he was attacked and killed by a lion. (1 Kings 13:23-25)  

APPLICATION
We can get all kinds of advice and requests from people who make false claims which will lead us away from The Word of God.  That is why we need to read and study The Word of God for ourselves.  Just because someone claims that The Bible says something does not mean that what they are saying is the truth.  We all will pay a price for our disobedience to God’s Holy Word.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

O GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD


PROCLAMATION
“O give thanks unto The Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people.”  Psalm 105:1 (KJV)

EXPLANATION
This psalm was written by King David and it begins with the same words that he used when he brought the tabernacle into Jerusalem. (Chronicles 16:8-22)  He goes on to recount the history of the children of Israel emphasizing what The Lord God has done for them, giving them the reasons that they should be thankful. 

APPLICATION
We are encouraged throughout the Bible to give thanks unto The Lord.  Psalms 105, 106, 107, 118, and 136 all begin with the phrase, "O give thanks unto The Lord ..." and then they each go on to provide reasons for doing so.  However, Psalm 105 goes on to say, "... call upon His name; make known His deeds ... Sing unto Him ... talk ye of all His wondrous works ... Glory in His holy name ... rejoice ... Seek The Lord ... Remember His marvelous works ..." (Psalm 105:1-5)  When we think of all of the blessings that we have received from God throughout our lives, we ought to say, 'Thank you Lord'.  We all have so much to be thankful for; every good and perfect gift (James 1:17) comes from The Lord.  Also, think of the things and people that He kept us from.  We have been blessed in more ways than we can count, and we should be thankful. (Psalms 100:4 and Colossians 3:15)  We have been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. (Proverbs 11:25)  Let us thank God for the blessings which we have received and let us share with those who are less fortunate.  Let us not worry about anything and pray about everything with thanksgiving to God. (Philippians 4:6)   O, give thanks unto The Lord. 

May you have a blessed Day of Giving Thanks.