Bible In One Year-Day 126 (Tuesday, May 06, 2014)

From the reading of 1Kings13-15, we could see that it has always been human beings who disappoints God; God never disappoints. Jeroboam was not worthy of the throne but God gave him an unusual promotion. A servant to Solomon, but was handpicked by His majesty to proof His supremacy to the world;

1 Kings 11:31 “And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”

If you consider the greatness of Solomon, then you will fear God for what He did for Jeroboam. If a man doesn’t know the value of what he has, he will abuse it. Jeroboam enjoyed both physical and spiritual security, 1Kings12:22-24. Unfortunately, he never realized God’s grace in his life, for the fear of losing the throne back to Solomon, he decided to scheme. He built an image to represent the God that brought them out of Egypt and gave priestly positions to those not of the lineage of Levi, 1Kings12:28-33. Before one of the altars, was where his hand withered in chapter13. Though he received mercy and got his hand restored, he never learnt his lessons. Rather he became a ‘Bishop’ and ordained political priests; 1 Kings 13:33-34 “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would (or wished), he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” By prophecy, Jeroboam was raised to be king over Ten tribes of Israel, by prophecy he was deposed and his entire family terminated from the surface of the earth; 1 Kings 15:29-30 “And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.”

Beloved, let us be very careful in the manner in which we manage God’s grace. Grace is the endowment and investment of heavenly nature by the Holy Spirit in us. We should manage it humbly. Carelessness in its management can ruin an entire generation. God’s promises are ye and amen; he never disappoints us. If we live in the fear of God, His is able to see us through. Grace should not be used to serve the flesh. Jeroboam, because of the dictates of the flesh, wanted to pervert justice; he wanted to change God’s rules. Grace isn’t a liberty to change God’s ordination, Romans 6:15 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” In any capacity we find ourselves, let us be careful and serve with the fear of God. The punishment a person receives if after enjoying grace, he falls back is greater. On the last day we shall give account of our servitude to authority and over subjects. The privilege given by God should not be for the comfort of the Mr. Flesh. To attain the position of greatness is not as difficult as retaining and maintaining it. It is easier to fall than to rise. When one writes, he makes mistakes that are difficult for him to pick, but the reader easily picks the mistakes. The devil reads us and picks mistakes to condemn us, but God reads us and picks mistakes to correct. Jeroboam was once corrected by the altar where his hand withered but never changed. Jeroboam was better as Solomon’s servant than when he fell, because the Bible says he was a mighty man of valor, 1Kings11:28, he was a labor Minister to King Solomon. A man is absolutely nothing and empty if God withdraws His grace. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, AMEN. Reading for today is 1Kings16-18. Happy New month and keep the fire burning and alive.

Hebrews 6:4-8 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh to cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

Bible In One Year-Day 125 (Monday, May 5, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings10-12. These chapters mark the peak and the fall of King Solomon’s reign. At his peak, 1Kings10, we could see the greatness of God in Solomon. He solved problems with ease, gained fame and respect beyond borders, Kings and Queens brought treasures to his door step, his wealth made silver worthless (verse21), the land was full of his wealth as much as the seas. Solomon had all anybody could desire in life. He was unrivaled in earthly (riches) and heavenly (wisdom) blessings; 1 Kings 10:23-25 “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.”

When God loads you with His treasures, others may occupy the same position as you, but yours will be different. There were other workers with Joseph under Pharaoh but because of God’s infilling, Joseph was unrivaled and unique. May you be relevant in your own generation in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will not struggle to bear good name and represent the position you occupy. King Solomon did not struggle to get fame; neither did he struggle to represent his position amongst kings and princes. He had what it takes to defend the position given to him. His life in the hand of God was a representation of what God said in Isaiah45:1-3; “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Many run helter-skelter searching for the treasures of darkness and hidden riches all over the places. Beloved these great things are not inside the earth, the sea or in any physical bank, but learning from Solomon, they were inside of him. However, we need to know that God gave them to him because he bargained rightly. For you to know how to bargain for this kind of grace, carefully and prayerfully study 1Kings3:5-13. However, one thing must be clear in your mind, Solomon asked for them in order to serve the people in righteousness, i.e. not for selfish reasons. God’s endowment is for service. There are people out there in need of these treasures and when such finds them in you they will bring their wealth to your doorpost as they did to Solomon. When Pharaoh found the treasure in Joseph, he didn’t know when he created a position that was never in existence for him and, even, removed his own garment and ring and put them on him. God’s treasure in you will arrest peoples’ hearts.

Solomon’s life in the hand of God was a clear interpretation of Jesus’ word in John 7:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” That is, a fountain that satisfies other lives’ thirst will be opened.

As a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, your life must represent a prophecy in the scripture because the Spirit is in you to fulfill prophecies, i.e. the Holy Spirit residing in you works on you to pattern your life after the prophetic word.

It is quite unfortunate that in chapter11, his life was fulfilling another bad condition which God warned him of in 1Kings9:4-9. A great grace was upon Solomon but the fountain of ancestral evil flow (promiscuity) in his foundation, changed the GRACE to DISGRACE; 1 Kings 11:1 “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;” The same weapon the enemy used to defeat Samson was what the enemy used against Solomon which is evil influence. A man symbolizes STRENGTH while a woman symbolizes INFLUENCE, but the dominating one is influence. The heart of man is deep and dark, no one can know it. God hid his treasures and riches (not as the world defines it) in the darkness of Solomon’s heart. Unfortunately, the strange women got his heart and he started using God’s blessing to hurt God Himself. His end wasn’t a good story. He became a witch like Saul, seeking to kill God’s chosen, Jeroboam; 1 Kings 11:40 “Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.”

May the Lord give us the heart of His kingdom in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is 1Kings13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 124 (Sunday, May 4, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings7-9. You may wonder why the detail of the building of the temple is so emphasized in chapter7. The lesson in it is that the whole part of our body must be consecrated to the Lord; no part should be left out from the cross. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore no member of our body should be left out of holiness; Romans 6:13 “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Solomon did not use ordinary materials to build God’s temple, so we must not allow any defiling thing on our body. The appearance of that temple was pleasing to God and that was why He came down in His glory to fill it. Anyone who saw that temple knew that it was not built for anybody to reside in but for God Himself. Is your heart good enough for the Holy Spirit to reside or your appearance shows worldliness? Many say that it is the heart the Lord looks at. There is no dispute about that for as long as it is in the right context without any defense for the flesh. However, it is good for us to know that Solomon beautified the temple from the inner sanctuary to the Most Holy place, 1Kings8:6, before bringing in the Ark of the Covenant. The presence of God only filled it afterwards, 1 Kings 8:10 “And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,”

You must be holy from inside out. You are what the bundle of your thoughts reads; Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.”

If you see a nakedly dressed person on the street, such was naked in the heart before doing it in appearance. Godly appearance is simple, modest and full of humility, while worldly adornment is materialistic. Whether in the church or outside of the church; whichever, it starts from the heart. Your appearance is an expression of what your heart is saying. Once your dressing is drawing unnecessary lustful attention to you, it is going out of order; 1 Timothy 2:9 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

You must be known by your good works and not by worldly adornment. When SEDUCTION dresses up, LUST is attracted and a marriage that will never lasts is in place. As soon as the lust satisfies itself, the marriage becomes Ichabod, i.e. glory departed.

If you do good to others, God is glorified, but when the attention is on you by reason of jewelries and expensive and seductive clothing, God is despised. The beauty of the temple was inside; your beauty must be inside of you. God was so pleased with the temple that He visited Solomon the second time in chapter9 and consecrated the temple. Jesus did not die for the jewelries, gold and expensive clothes, He died for your SOUL which is inside of you. Precious natural materials such as gold, pearl, etc are concealed deep in the ground. Your body is precious and should not be exposed anyhow in the name of fashion. Spiritually speaking, beloved, demons are attracted also by seductive dressing. Don’t be surprised for the disgusting, nasty and oppressive dreams you have; it could be as a result of what you have attracted through your ungodly dressing. Consider what the scripture says about our Christian and modest dressing;

1 Peter 3:3-5 “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:”

Our reading for today is 1Kings10-12. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Bible In One Year-Day 123 (Saturday, May 3, 2014)

The wisdom of man is not the same as the wisdom of God. Solomon bargained for God’s wisdom and God granted him. The first manifestation was amazing and it gave him respect before his people and beyond borders;

1 Kings 3:28 “And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.”

Wisdom is one of the power gift of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 11:2 “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;”

1 Corinthians 12:8 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”

When you have wisdom you have God’s nature in you and you will hold the world because you will stand before men that matters just like Joseph and Daniel. People invariably love to enjoy peace and for peace to reign a right sense of judgment is needful which could only be given by God’s wisdom because that is the only thing that judges right. By it kings and princes are judged without fear or favor;

Psalms 82:1 “A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods (i.e. mighty men, kings).”

Whoever has God’s wisdom stands as God to give judgment, because the Spirit of God works through such; 1 Corinthians 2:15 “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

To be spiritual is not to be religious but to be full of God’s Spirit. To be religious is to try to obey the law without the crucifixion of the flesh, i.e. under the law for guidance because such is spiritually dead. For anyone to fulfill the law in a manner pleasing to God, such must be spiritual, i.e. filled with the Spirit of God (what a grace). David cried to God to give him this Spirit in Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” God demonstrated this Spirit in Solomon. The enormity of the endowment is in chapter4. The wisdom of man only entices, motivates with philosophical words to build rootless faith, but the wisdom of God is absolutely different from that; 1 Corinthians 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:” Beloved, faith could be built in the wisdom of men and such cannot stand the test (temptations and trials ) of time; 1 Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The peak of wisdom is in Jesus. In essence the real definition of wisdom is JUSTICE, i.e. the truth as established in heaven; it is the mind of God. Wisdom is the right use of the word of God by His Spirit. Solomon built the Lord’s temple with this wisdom and the word of God came to him, 1Kings6:11-13. God’s word will only come into the heart, church, home or gathering filled with His Spirit. To those without the Holy Spirit, the word of God is foolishness because they are natural, 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” To understand what wisdom is, please take time to read Proverbs8. Whoever finds wisdom finds life. Wisdom can change a man’s status after the order of Joseph. May the Spirit of the living God fill you with His wisdom in the name of Jesus. The reading for today is 1Kings7-9. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Proverbs 12:23 “A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.”

Jeremiah 51:15 “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.”

Proverbs 29:14 “The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.”

Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

1 Corinthians 2:5 “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Bible In One Year-Day 122 (Friday, May 02, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings1-3. The book of second Samuel ended with David’s plead for God’s mercy concerning the plague in the nation. He made a sacrifice that cost him something. However, his life transcends into the book of Kings. The first chapter of 1Kings is about the politics surrounding the enthronement of David’s successor. The servants of David lived with him long enough to know what the weakness, strength and the hobby of their master was; they suggested a young and lovely lady be put with him. Adonijah, seeing that his father couldn’t do anything with the young lady, concluded that his father had no more strength and so it was time to take up the kingship responsibilities. Adonijah had three brothers as seniors; Amnon, Daniel and Absalom. The three of them were dead and Adonijah, being the fourth son, presumed he was the next to be the king. Unfortunately for him, he was unwise about it. He did not follow the traditional protocols of enthronement; he followed the path of bribery and sacrifice without the consent of the incumbent king. The plot against him was in line with tradition; king’s consent was sought for. Nathan, the trusted prophet of David received the mandate to pour oil on Solomon and Zadok was there to represent priestly backing. The plot was instigated by Nathan and I guess this was because Adonijah despised him, Solomon and Zadok. We need to know one thing. David loved Bathsheba and Nathan had a good relationship with her and Solomon because he knew God loved Solomon. David gave the name SOLOMON, but God gave him JEDIDIAH (2Samuel12:24-25), a name sent through Nathan. This was how the relationship began and this was displeasing to Adonijah. Nathan was not pleased either for the manner Adonijah despised him, therefore, he decided to call Bathsheba to go to the king with words words to say. In the first place, David did not say anything while Adonijah was doing all those things probably because he loved Solomon but Adonijah was the senior who, by tradition, should ascend the throne;

1 Kings 1:6 “And his father had not displeased (or rebuked) him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.”

But the plot of Nathan worked because David trusted Nathan as a prophet, therefore, he yielded to the words of Nathan. Without any doubt, God loved Solomon because the trait of godly wisdom was already in him. The first display of wisdom was the manner he handled Adonijah’s undeserved request for an oath from him, 1Kings1:52-53. His father acknowledged this trait in him in chapter2. In his admonition to Solomon, David told him the secret of his success as a king;

1 Kings 2:3 “And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:”

Joab, the commander of David’s army, did a lot for David, but his support for Adonijah at this crucial moment was a support in error. The inheritance David left for him is in 1 Kings 2:6 “Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head (i.e. gray hair) go down to the grave in peace.”

This is an evil inheritance, a verdict of untimely death. All those in Adonijah’s camp, including him went into serious error that terminated their lives one by one. The first bloodshed in Solomon’s reign was Adonijah’s blood. Chapter3 reveals what happens when one contacts God. Solomon contacted God in his dream and his bargain was the Spirit of wisdom, his greatness manifested immediately. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you for service, you become a solution to mankind. Greatness is in what God is able to do through you and not what you do for people. All the great people we read about so far in this Bible In One Year became remarkable, relevant and great after the Holy Spirit came upon them. That was why Jesus told His disciples, Luke 24:49 “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is no relevance in any man. Your preaching, good work, evangelism and whatever will only have impact if the Holy Spirit finds His place in you. How open are you to Him? The reading for today is 1Kings4-6. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the demon; for God was with him.”