Merciful Saviour

I am studying 1 Kings 3:1-4 today. Here we find Solomon making an alliance with Egypt and sealing it with marriage to a heathen princess. This princess, now the wife of Solomon, actually becomes fully converted. God did turn His mistake around for good but there were consequences for making a wrong choice in the very beginning that was not in line with God's will.

In Patriarchs and Prophets p 53,54 it says this:-
In seeking to strengthen his relations with the powerful kingdom lying to the southward of Israel, Solomon ventured upon forbidden ground. Satan knew the results that would attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon's reign--years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king--he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon's loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the enemy was successful in this effort, we know from the record: "Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the City of David." I Kings 3:I.

From a human point of view, this marriage, though contrary to the teachings of God's law, seemed to prove a blessing; for Solomon's heathen wife was converted and united with him in the worship of the true God. Furthermore, Pharaoh rendered signal service to Israel by taking Gezer, slaying "the Canaanites that dwelt in the city," and giving it "for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife." I Kings 9:16. This city Solomon rebuilt and thus apparently greatly strengthened his kingdom along the Mediterranean seacoast. But in forming an alliance with a heathen nation, and sealing the compact by marriage with an idolatrous princess, Solomon rashly disregarded the wise provision that God had made for maintaining the purity of His people. The hope that his Egyptian wife might be converted was but a feeble excuse for the sin.

For a time God in His compassionate mercy overruled this terrible mistake; and the king, by a wise course, could have checked at least in a large measure the evil forces that his imprudence had set in operation. But Solomon had begun to lose sight of the Source of his power and glory. As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason, self-confidence increased, and he sought to carry out the Lord's purpose in his own way. He reasoned that political and commercial alliances with the surrounding nations would bring these nations to a knowledge of the true God; and he entered into unholy alliance with nation after nation. Often these alliances were sealed by marriages with heathen princesses. The commands of Jehovah were set aside for the customs of surrounding peoples.

Several things that really spoke to my heart in all of this are:-

1- Satan sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon's loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God.

2-From a human view point we can look upon a wrong choice and see positive results and then think of our choice as a blessing

3- As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason, self-confidence increased, and Solomon sought to carry out the Lord's purpose in his own way.

Through this I step back and look at my own life. I know I have an enemy seeking to separate me from God and he will use any means possible and it is only as I cling to God and ask for His wisdom can I ever see the deeply laid plots of separation that satan plans for me. What is satan using in my life today? Ps 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart"

I know God makes all thing beautiful and that He brings good out of bad but I must never mistake his mercy for His blessing. I must never look back and see my wrong choices as blessings because God turned a situation around. My wrong choices were that...wrong...but God in his great mercy brings good out of bad and makes all things beautiful in His time.

When I take one small step outside of God's will and view the mercy God brings into my life as His blessing on that step outside of His will I set myself up to be confident in carrying out God's purpose in my way and not in His way.

Luke 22:42 "...not my will, but yours, be done."

Oh Lord I so need to be fully surrendered at every moment in every way to every purpose of yours.

Fear Not

 

Five years ago our family bought this cute little dog  whom we called called Emma. We found an ad’ in the paper advertising a litter of puppies that were maltese x papillion. When we arrived at the house we fell in love with Emma immediately. I was so captivated by Emma I only took in a vague comprehension of the home she had come from...it was loud and rough. It wasn’t until she was a bit older I realized she had come from a home of much fear. If I pick up a broom to sweep...she runs away. If I turn on the vacuum cleaner she runs away. If I go to mop the floor she runs away. If I pick up any large garden tool she runs away. She has a look of fear in her eyes. I have never hit Emma or hurt her in any way but she still has that fear.

She is scared of loud noises. She starts quivering at the slightest sound of thunder. In fact I know when a storm is coming before I can hear it by her reaction. If she is on the bed with me she will be diving for the covers or snuggling as close as possible. When there is a storm she wants to be held and reassured.

Even though Emma has fears she has blessed our home with much love. She is very loyal and loving. She follows me all through the house and wants to sit on my lap whenever I sit on the lounge. Every evening Mike and I enjoy watching some Christian TV together and She likes to lie on our laps and as soon as I get up to head to bed to read she is off the lounge and running after me...the high light of her day is to be on my bed with me while I am reading. Mike plays a tenor horn and when he plays she likes to come over and join in by howling...a kind of dog way of singing. 

Yesterday I was eating breakfast and Emma had been slow to follow me to the kitchen. The hall doorway was only slightly open...by about 20 cm. However, Emma’s fears took over completely. She could see me eating breakfast. She wanted some food scraps tossed to her but she was too scared to go through the door way. Most animals including our cats would just put a paw up to open the door. She stood on the other side barking and looking at me sitting at the table...wanting me to help her. I decided to encourage her and I kept calling her and encouraging her to push the door open. Finally eventually she did and joyfully received some toast and vegemite.

How often we can be like Emma. The things of this world have hurt us and brought us heart ache. They develop fears within us. Fears of failure, fears of rejection, fears of being unloved, fears of being alone, fears of the future, fears of circumstances beyond our control and fears of being hurt again.  Just like Emma came to a new home and has experienced nothing but love from us so too when we come to God we experience nothing but love from Him but we bring all our fears with us into our relationship with God. God sees the bigger picture..He knows there is nothing to fear but we have uncertainties and doubts. We see the small piece in the puzzle and feel life’s past experiences. 

Just like Emma stood at the partially closed door and I called and encouraged her to step forward God is calling to us to step through the doorways of fears in our lives and come and sit at his table and enjoy an abundance of spiritual blessings from Him, free of fears.

Isa 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Not My Will but Thine be Done

How truly surrendered am I to the Lord's will? I think about Jonathan and how he was next in line to the royal throne and how he gave it all up for God's will. God called David, Jonathan not only gave up his own desires for the throne but so entirely surrendered all his own feelings, princely plans, childhood training for the position and worldly honour that he was found in loyal support and deep friendship with David. His love for David was a total self sacrificing love.

Now here I am in 1 Kings 1 and 2. God has chosen Solomon to be the next king. However, he is not the oldest. Absalom has already made a claim to the throne and died as a result....the next two sons in line to the throne have deceased ...now David's 4th son, Adonijah, seeks the throne.

1 Kings finds him exalting himself...like Lucifer of old...I WILL...."Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him." Adonijah also secures the support of two of David's trusted men...Joab...the leader of the army and Abiathar the leader of the priests. The conspiracy is deep and the plot is thick. Adonijah holds a great feast and is ready to proclaim himself king. During the feast the plot is uncovered and David moves into prompt and swift action to have Solomon crowned King. Adonijah is fearful of his life yet Solomon spares him and offers mercy him. Adonjiah appears to be surrendered to the Lord's will.

Vs 53 So King Solomon sent them to bring him [Adonijah] down from the altar. And he came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Has Adonijah's heart been truly changed? Is my heart? Do I give outward acknowledgement of God's divine plan yet inwardly my heart still wants my way, my will. Am I partially surrendered and not fully?

in 1 Kings 2 Adonijah rises up again and under the guise of being an obedient subject he approaches Solomon's mother with a request for her to take to Solomon. The request is for the hand of marriage to a young lady called Abishag. She is last concubine of King David. Is it an innocent request or is it still a way to get what he wants while appearing to comply outwardly to God's will?

"Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been turned over, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from the Lord. Now I ask one petition of you; do not deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.” 1 Kings 2:15-17

His words give away where his heart really is. He is still not surrendered and he is only giving partial obedience and partially submitted to God's will. To marry Abishag, David's former concubine, would, in the eyes of the culture at the time ,elevate him to the postion of being regarded by the people as worthy of the throne. Solomon sees through the request and Adonijah is swiftly dealt with.

How often do I want my will and not God's and yet appear surrendered to him, either by word or by action but not fully in my heart? Do I try to bring about my will whilst still appearing to be in God's will?

May my prayer always be "I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”Ps 40:8

All Things Have Become New

Little children love mud...they love to play in it, touch it, sit in it and will go out of their way to walk in a mud puddle if they see one at a distance. Mud actually stains clothing. If a child gets mud on them it’s almost guaranteed Mum will have to scrub for ages to clean the clothes. It doesn’t matter how much the clothing gets scrubbed and put back on a child nice and clean the child will still head for a mud puddle the next time they see one.
We can be like that child. The things of this world that separate us from Jesus can seem as a attractive to us as a mud puddle is to a child. We are drawn to those things. We like them, we want to enjoy them. We can turn to Jesus and ask forgiveness and He will wash us all clean so that we are sparkling white but we will still want to head back to the mud puddles of life if we don’t allow God to do something more in our hearts.

The Bible even talks about this in 2 Peter 2:22...using the example of a pig..."A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud."
God wants to do something even bigger in our lives than forgiveness. He wants to change us on the inside and give us a new heart...new thoughts...new desires. No matter how much a child is told not to go into a mud puddle or how many times we wash them up their heart’s are still the same. They still desire the mud. Without a change of heart we too will still desire the things that will separate us from God.

Ps 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Ps 51:7 wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Eze 36:25,26 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Today let us seek God not just for forgiveness but for new hearts, new thoughts and new desires.

I am the Lord, I Change Not

Ohhhhhh as a Christian I so need to be consistent!!!

Matt 27:62-66
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard."

Sealing a tomb and getting soldiers together was a big thing. EGW tells us how that tomb was sealed.

" The priests gave directions for securing the sepulcher. A great stone had been placed before the opening. Across this stone they placed cords, securing the ends to the solid rock, and sealing them with the Roman seal. The stone could not be moved without breaking the seal. A guard of one hundred soldiers was then stationed around the sepulcher to prevent it from being tampered with. The priests did all they could to keep Christ's body where it had been laid. He was sealed as securely in His tomb as if He were to remain there through all time." D.A p78

What really stuck me as I am going over these verses is that all this took place on the Sabbath. When I go back a few verses Joseph Of Arimathaea placed Jesus in the tomb and HE rolled a stone in front of it. It was heavy enough but obviously a bloke could roll it away. Now the priests and rulers don't want it to be able to be rolled away at all.

So here are priests and rulers who wouldn't enter the judgment hall of Pilate at Christ's trial for fear of being defiled for the Passover..they accused Christ of breaking the Sabbath when he healed others and yet here they are on the Sabbath discussing and organising the sealing of the tomb which is a huge job without even thinking about the fact they just committed murder. How totally inconsistent their religion is. Which brings me to me....if others were to watch me all day...day after day and hear my words how consistent am I? Does everything I do and say and who I am match up or are there discrepancies? Are there inconsistencies with how I view and keep the Sabbath? God is calling me to a place of greater consistency.

Mal 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not.."

Looking On From Afar

"And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons." Matt 27:55,56

If we add in Luke 8:2,3 we also find out who some of the women were and what they actually did "and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance."

Wouldn't it have been an amazing blessing to actually minister in person to Jesus himself????? However I needed to hear this today coz I have a hard morning ahead....Matt 25:40 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.’ 

My mind was on the women...they were looking from afar....in John 19:25 some women are right at the cross.

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene."

So the question for me today...am I going to behold Christ from afar off or will I be right close pressing into His presence at the cross?

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" 1 John 3:1

They Did Not Recall His Words

I am thinking about the two reactions to Christ's death....the disciples verses the priests and rulers. Here is the Disciples reaction:-

"With the death of Christ the hopes of His disciples perished. They looked upon His closed eyelids and drooping head, His hair matted with blood, His pierced hands and feet, and their anguish was indescribable. Until the last they had not believed that He would die; they could hardly believe that He was really dead. Overwhelmed with sorrow, they did not recall His words foretelling this very scene. Nothing that He had said now gave them comfort. They saw only the cross and its bleeding Victim. The future seemed dark with despair. Their faith in Jesus had perished; but never had they loved their Lord as now. Never before had they so felt His worth, and their need of His presence."DA 772

The Priests and Rulers reaction was this:-
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

EGW says the priests and rulers got permission for 100 soldiers to be stationed around the tomb.

I look at the two responses:-

The Disciples:-
Perished hope
Indescribable anguish
Overwhelmed with sorrow
faith perished
future -dark with despair
Did not recall his words

The priests and rulers however could recall His words and believed them and acted on them. ( not that it was a saving belief)

How about me...when hope seems to perish, and I have indescribable anguish, sorrow and things are dark with despair...does my faith perish? Do I forget His words? How different could have been that Sabbath that Christ was in the tomb had the disciples clung to His words and allowed faith to live. God calls me to recall His words in dark times and to choose to keep faith alive....and to then act on those words.

Thoughts of a friend:-The reactions of the disciples and pharisees is really something. Funny, how the pharisees remembered His words but they thought it to be a threat and the disciples just simply forgot and fell into discouragement. How we are like both sides. Sometimes, it's hard to swallow truth when we see something needs to be given up or changed, it feels like a threat to our comfort or safety. Like the rich young ruler. And oh, how I have been like the disciples forgetting God's word of comfort and promise of deliverance. I so love the walk to Emmaus, when Jesus was walking with two disciples and He was encouraging them, sparking their memory of His word. I love that when they realized they were with Jesus, they got so excited and left and told everyone they knew.

 Cling To The Hand of the Father

"When Jesus came into the world, Satan's power was turned against Him. From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, the usurper worked to bring about His destruction. In every possible way he sought to prevent Jesus from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice. But he was defeated. He could not lead Jesus into sin. He could not discourage Him, or drive Him from a work He had come on earth to do. From the desert to Calvary, the storm of Satan's wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the bloodstained path. All the efforts of Satan to oppress and overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character." DA p759

What hit me were the words.. " the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father" How often when the storms come and satan beats on me my emotional response disconnects me from my Father. Jesus clung the more tighter. I know He is calling me in His strength to hang on too!

I will Give You The Treasures of Darkness

I will give you the treasures of darkness 

As I ponder the cross I think about the darkness that surrounded Jesus during the time He hung there...“There was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” Matt 27:45 "There was no eclipse or other natural cause for this darkness, which was as deep as midnight without moon or stars. It was a miraculous testimony given by God that the faith of after generations might be confirmed.

He makes darkness His pavilion, and conceals His glory from human eyes. In that thick darkness God’s presence was hidden. God and His holy angels were beside the cross. The Father was with His Son. Yet His presence was not revealed.. "DA p753

Here is a glimpse into the faith of Jesus that I am called to have..."Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father’s acceptance heretofore given Him. He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of the loss of His Father’s favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor."DA 756

God is always there even in my darkest moments. He never leaves me. Christ felt forsaken on the cross but God was still there. Even if I feel forsaken I truly am not. He is closer to me then any other time for He is right there beside me in the darkness with me.

Ps 18:1 "He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies."

Isaiah 45:3 "I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, AM the God of Israel." 

There's so much I can learn in the darkness of life, when I think God is silent, He is actually working something out in my heart. Out of this darkness will come rich treasures from God. Out of this I will truly know God.

Psalm 139:12  "Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and light are both alike to You." 

God's essential light penetrates every dark place, and makes the deepest gloom as radiant as the brightest sunshine.

Lord, penetrate all my darkness and bring to me your radiance of light.