PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( 1 Kings 14:9 ): I know I have not behaved as poorly as Jeroboam and Your people in this scripture, Father, but I do still feel convicted in my heart for my sin related to this verse. You say that he provoked You by making for himself other gods, casting images, and essentially putting you behind his back. Although I may not have gone to the extreme that Jeroboam had gone, all sin is still sin in Your eyes. I too have put other people and things before You, even recently. I have put my time with my family, my time on a game, my pride, and even various pleasures of this world ahead of You. Please forgive me for this, Father. Please show mercy on me throughout my life, as You already have, so that I may still prosper from Your blessings. Please continue to nudge me to Your righteous path when You see me wavering. Please continue to help me to embrace Your life for me and not my own, the world’s, or the enemy’s.
PROMISE ( 1 Kings 14:12-16 ): You made a few promises to Jeroboam’s household in these verses. The first was that their sick son will die the second the mother entered back into the city, but his son would be honored by being buried in the family tomb of David’s household, because You found good only in him. You also promised that Jeroboam’s household and all of Israel would be uprooted and scattered across the land due to Jeroboam’s sins along with Your people choosing to follow his lead instead of Yours. These are very major promises that would frighten me terribly if I were in the same situation. Please show mercy on me, Father, but not making such promises on my household due to my own sin and the sins of those who preceded me.
ATTITUDE ( 1 Kings 14:2 ): Although Jeroboam was worshipping other gods and idols over You, I can see in this verse that he truly knew You were the one true God over all of them. Although his sin was great and he was punished deeply for them, he at least had an inkling of faith in You throughout his lifetime that I can see in this verse as he trusted a prophet of Yours to speak truth to them more so than any of the false prophets that were likely living closer to him than Shiloh. My request of You today, Father, is to help me to keep an attitude of faith to drive my choices and decisions in this life. Unlike Jeroboam only leaning on You in the painful moments, help me to remember to lean on You in all moments of my life, Father. Help me to not lose focus on You as Jeroboam did in his lifetime. Help me to keep You in my vision instead of behind my back as Jeroboam had You in his own life, Father.
COMMAND ( 1 Kings 14:8-9 ): These two verses give a very clear understanding of Your commands. Although David was not perfect and did in fact sin, he never put another god or idol in front of You. He never flung You behind his back as You say Jeroboam did in this scripture. Your command is to always keep You in our sights and in front of us, not behind us. If and when I do sin, Your command is to fall forward towards You instead of putting You behind us and still falling forward away from You. Help me to be better at following through with Your command, Father, so that I may always fall forward towards the cross in my life instead of falling forward towards the world, the enemy, or my flesh.
EXAMPLE ( 1 Kings 14:4-6 ): I love the example You give through the prophet, Ahijah. He was blind from old age and could not see, yet his faith in You gave him vision to know that the wife of Jeroboam had entered his home. His faith gave him the words to speak to her and the courage to do so as the message You wanted him to give was a rather painful one for her to hear, I’m sure Help me to be like this prophet, Father. Help me to truly see the things in this life, but also to truly speak Your truth in this life no matter how painful or joyous or anywhere in between.
*DAILY NOTE: The book of Kings has definitely been an interesting one so far. There’s so much turmoil going on that is vastly driven by the flesh of the people being focused on. They give into their flesh more and more frequently as I read through these chapters, causing more and more pain/heartache on themselves. Why do they not see the lives of their predecessors being more blessed by following Your commands? Why do they not see that the more they worship these false gods and false idols, the worse their lives become? I had blinders on for a long time in my life as well, Father. Thank You for consistently removing these blinders so I can truly see Your greatness in my life, Father. Thank You for never giving up on me even when I did have those blinders on. Although I’m not truly where I feel You want me to be, yet, I know that the more I lean on You in my life the closer I get to the man You expect me to be. Thank You, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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