On a Saturday morning recently I decided to be still for once and sat on the couch with my morning cup of coffee. I opened the Bible and read wherever it opened. It opened to I Kings. To be honest, I thought this was going to be one of the boring parts where so and so begat so and so for history sake. Some of that was in this section…however contrary to my previous belief, it was rather interesting. I continued to read. King David the man after Gods own heart was getting old at the time and God was making his promises to Him and his heirs and the men that would be appointed kings. It continued on with all the lines of Kings for years and years and years. There were 3 constant factors I realized in this reading. 1. Because David was faithful to God, God promised his line of heirs to be blessed and for the kings who were not faithful to God He did not bless.
2. Most kings when they came to power became caught up in that role and failed to remain faithful in God; therefore, did not receive what they could have. They fell for the worldly fame and fortune. They stopped seeing the bigger picture.
The final Thing I realized through reading this history lesson was the more we obey God the more blessed beyond measure our lives become. Not that we selfishly obey God to receive blessings. That’s far from the truth. It doesn’t work like that. You can’t say “Well, I’m going to do good because God will bless me. That’s selfish. It’s quite the opposite. The more genuine, real, trustworthy, honest, giving, humble, running towards what’s right, self sacrificing we become the more blessings flow. It’s quite simple. The more we walk in Christ’s footsteps the more Godly blessings you’ll see beyond our human measure. Take it from David…a man after Gods own heart. He had the favor of God. Remember, he was not perfect. Only Christ is perfect. David made mistakes; we can learn from his mistakes but he repented always and continued to strive to walk as close to God as humanly possible. David became an excellent example of a leader that walked with THE King. I challenge you to read this section of the Bible with a new perspective.
I Kings 15:30-32
This happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.
31 As for the other events of Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 32 There was warbetween Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.