- Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. 1 Kings 15:19 – Yesterday we looked at a story with King Jeroboam who was an evil king, yet when there was a dire issue with his son’s health, he turned to the Lord for help. Now we are seeing the opposite unfold, Asa was a good king, meaning he followed after God the way God commanded. During his time as king though the king of Israel and his armies began to wage war on Asa. As the enemy army came to his doorstep, here is where we see Asa pivot from his holy pursuit of the Lord. Instead of relying on the Lord for help, he turns to a neighboring land for war assistance. As the Lord was displeased with Jeroboam’s only coming to Him when life was bad, so was the Lord displeased with Asa not coming to Him when life was bad. We certainly see though God work in the lives of these two differently because of their life of faith (or lack thereof). The message then today is going to echo that of yesterday’s, God isn’t looking to be our God only in certain seasons of our life. He isn’t wanting to only be our safety net to rely on when everything else in life has failed us. He also though isn’t wanting to only be our God in the good times, yet when life gets hard, we turn to worldly things for our rescue. God desires to be our God in all times. He wants us turning to Him when in the ups, downs, and everything in between. However then today is for you, whether blessing or hardship, know the Lord longs for you to come to Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3059
- 1 Kings 15 Daily DEVO And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. 1 Kings 15:11-14 – The start of living wholly true to the Lord begins with the removal of all that isn’t. We see that in Asa’s story. Most all that the kings before him set up that wasn’t true to God he tore down and removed. What we have built up in our life that isn’t pleasing to God we too need to tear down and remove. Understand we can’t do that without God’s help, but God is offering that help. It’s not like we are waiting for Him to show up with the moving truck and that’s why we’re standing around doing nothing. He’s here, truck is ready, doors are open, we just got to get off the couch so we can move it. What then is the “couch” in your story that needs to be removed so your life can me more wholly true to the Lord? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1016
- Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. 1 Kings 15:22 – War was happening between Kings Baasha and Asa. Baasha was building up the city of Ramah with the purposes of weakening King Asa. What we see though is after King Baasha abandoned the building up of Ramah, King Asa did something smart. He ordered his people to go and collect all the building supplies the enemy king had been using to build Ramah and used them to build things of his own. He used what the enemy had meant for evil for his good. Know your enemy will seek to build up his forces against you, but victory is found through Jesus. In fact we can even be like Asa here and use what he meant for our destruction for our good. If the enemy attacks with shame, we turn that into an opportunity to deepen our habit of confession with others and community. If the enemy attacks with discouragement, we turn that into an opportunity to lean deeper into the hope of scripture. Yes the enemy is going to attack and build against us, but he has already lost. With the help of Jesus and the blessing Jesus gives us, we can turn those attacks into opportunities of growth. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2199
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