Day 105 (Saturday) - 1 Kings 14-17

I can still remember sitting in a small Sunday School class room at the EV Free church of Fresno, now called The Bridge (still EV Free). This was the church that shaped my knowledge of the Scriptures and my understanding of what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Pastor Rick Yohn preached every Sunday and I have great memories of EV Free. In that small classroom, I remember 1 Kings 17 being taught. I could picture that jar of flower and oil as if I was really there. Years later, during a period of time when I had walked away from God, like all these kings did, I was in need. I remembered this story and it prompted me to search the Bible to find it, as I could not remember the reference.

I had a blast last Christmas when I got to teach on this passage in our Christmas series on 12/7/08. I hope you enjoyed this passage as much as I did those many years ago.

Day 104 (Friday) - 1 Kings 11:26-13:34

There are so many stories in the Bible that are unbelievably strange. This is unquestionably one of them. No names are given but we have two prophets. The old one, that we would assume is wiser, ends up being the one to deceive the other prophet with a lie. He claims God said something to him that God never said. The result is shocking…the old deceiving prophet lives and the other man, who seems less at fault, is killed by a lion. Wow!

I have been on the receiving end of spiritual manipulation. I can remember a man telling my wife that an illness she had was not being healed because God told him she had a lack of faith! He also told me I was not where God needed me to be…he ended up being dead wrong.

I am always leery when people tell me what God is telling them, especially when it goes against God’s word to me. I hear God through Scripture, not in dreams or burning bushes. If you have a message for me from God, it had better line up with his written word or else I won’t come eat at your home!

Day 103 (Thursday) - 1 Kings 9:10-11:25

How ridiculous is this! Solomon has a hard time staying away from the women because he loves them so much. He decides it’s a good idea to marry many (700) foreign wives. As a result, these women are not worshipers of God but of other gods. They pressure Solomon to build altars for these gods so they can continue their pagan worship. Not only does wise Solomon build them, but his heart is turned to worship them as well. Now I may not be as wise as Solomon. I may not have been able to figure out the “cut the baby in half” thing, but I am wise enough to know that Solomon is a dope for doing this. Oh how quickly we lose our devotion and commitment to God.

Day 102 (Wednesday) - 1 Kings 7:40-9:9

Have you ever been to camp as a kid? I remember those days fondly. I would go to camp and hear challenges to the way I was living, the things I was doing and the things I was saying. I would feel so close to God at those moments and I would rededicate my life to him. On the way home, I made many promises to God. I felt willing to change everything. I have come to know this as the “mountain top” experience.

Solomon and the people are having one of these moments. They have built the Temple in all its grandeur and are promising to obey God every step of the way, from this point forward.

Well, I have to admit that for the most part, my deep devotion to God was short lived. Within a week or two, I was back to my old ways. I wanted my faith to be sustained by emotion, but feelings are fleeting. I lacked the determined decision of choosing God and expected the easy feelings of devotion to carry me through. I wonder what will happen for Solomon and the people? Will they persevere through the emotion or will time erode their dedication?

Day 101 (Tuesday) - 1 Kings 4:20-7:39

Two building projects…one for the Lord and one for Solomon. For a wise man, it does not seem so wise to spend seven years constructing God’s house and double that by spending 13 years constructing your own house. Again, we have a silence from God regarding this Temple. No instructions were given, no blueprint and no dimensions. God has yet to decommission Moses’ Tabernacle, but David and Solomon have other plans.

Day 100 (Monday) 1 Kings 2:19-4:19

A good lesson in life is that wisdom, as great as it is, does not equal goodness. It is true that Solomon was wise but he used it for good and evil. The infamous story of baby slicing is a great example of wisdom being put to good use, but the death of Shimei and Joab were examples of how his creative thinking were examples of evil. Are you wise? We are going to see that Solomon’s wisdom might just hurt as much as it helps. The apple never falls too far from the tree!

Day 99 (Sunday) 2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Kings 1:1-2:18

I had no idea that virgins are warmer than other people. It seems that the more beautiful they are the warmer they are…go figure! I’d like to see this one confirmed or busted on Myth Busters!

So now you have read the story of David…King David. I am always amazed at the pedestal that he is put on. As I read the Scriptures, David is not a good example of living or leading a godly life. David finishes the race so-so at best. Even his final instructions to his son, Solomon, are peppered with wrong doing. My favorite is Shimei, the man that cursed David and then repented. David swore that he would not harm him, but now he tells Solomon to be creative in giving him a bloody death. Good bye David…let’s see how your son does!