Praise be to God!

I live to wake up praising Him. I praise Him because He made me. I praise him because He lives. I praise Him because He gives life and He gives hope and He gives love and He gives...period!

This morning, I got to wake up and praise Him because I am in a new home, that has more and costs less than where I came from. I still need a few pieces of furniture, but I praise Him because I know He will provide. He always does.

Then I got to praise Him because right there, on my facebook feed was a picture of Haley Jane and her baby, Jackson. I praised Him because He heals. He gives life. He makes the dead come alive. He answers prayers.

I praise Him because I have the opportunity to do something great for Him. I have the opportunity to influence others for Him. I praise Him, again, because He provides.

I praise Him because I live. I live to praise Him. He made me so I can, and if I don't, I am not happy. He makes me happy.

I praise Him simply because He is my God, and I am His child!

I live to praise Him.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 19

Ahab went and told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, and how he had killed all of the prophets of Baal. This angered Jezebel, who swore to kill Elijah by the next day. So, Elijah ran to Beer-sheba and left his servant there, then he ran another day into the wilderness.

Tired and depressed, Elijah came to a juniper tree and sat down under it and began to pray that God would just go ahead and take him. He wanted to die. He fell asleep. Then, an Angel of the Lord woke him up and said, "Get up. Eat." When he looked, there was a cake baked for him on the campfire, and some water for him to drink in a flask.

So, he ate; and, he drank. Then, he fell asleep again.

The Angel woke him again, telling him, "Eat, drink. You have a long journey ahead of you. You need your strength."
After the second meal, Elijah had enough strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights to Mt. Horeb (the same mountain Moses saw the burning bush). He found a cave and set up camp there. God came to Elijah and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Elijah said, "I did all I did for you, and I am the only one left. Everyone wants to kill me."

God told him to go and stand on the mountain, so he did.

As he stood there, a great wind came. It was so strong it broke rocks. But, Elijah didn't see God in the wind. Then there was an earthquake. Elijah didn't see God in the earthquake. Then, there was fire. God wasn't in the fire, either. Then, it got quiet.

Elijah heard a small, still voice that said, "Why are you here, Elijah?"

Elijah repeated the same answer he gave before.

God told him, "Go back. On your way, stop in Damascus and annoint Hazael to be king of Syria. Then, annoint Jehu to be king of Israel. Then, annoint Elisha to take your place. There are still seven-thousand people in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal. The rest, Hazael will slay, and whoever he misses, Jehu will slay, and who he misses, Elisha will get."

Elijah, true to his nature, did as he was told. He found Elisha plowing with twelve oxen. He placed his mantle on Elisha and walked away. Elisha called after him, "Wait! Let me say goodbye to my family and I will come with you!"

Elijah waved him off with, "I haven't done anything for you to want to follow me."

Elisha cooked the oxen in a going away party with his family, then he caught up with Elijah and gave him support.

====================

God knows what you are going through. He already has plans in motion to make the world a better place for His children; but, sometimes, God wants to hear what His children are going through in their words, out of their hearts.

Notice that Elijah didn't get angry with God for putting him in this predicament. He simply stated the obvious: "I did this for you. Now, look where I am."

God had Elijah stand on the mountain and watch all these natural phenomenom take place. These were all out of Elijah's control. God wasn't in the wind -- just like He wasn't in Hurricane Katrina. He wasn't in the earthquake -- just like He wasn't in the earthquake that hit Haiti. He wasn't in the fire, either -- just like He isn't in the fires in Colorado, California, or West Texas.

Instead, God waited until it got quiet to say, "Hey, I'm right here. I haven't left. I wasn't in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, or anything else you may have witnessed before, because I was right here with you the whole time."

The storms of our lives sometimes seem overbearing. We run, we hide, we fight, we cry, and sometimes we laugh because that's all we can do. But, when it's quiet, and we are alone, with only God to talk to, we realize how blessed we are that throughout it all, we are still standing, shaky knees and all, because God is right here with us.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 18

After three years, God told Elijah to go back to Ahab, "And I will send rain." So, Elijah went.

Obadiah was the governor of Ahab's household. He had much respect for God--so much so, that when Jezebel cut off all the prophets, and was having them put to death, he hid a hundred of God's prophets in caves, feeding them.

Ahab sent Obadiah to search the land for grass to feed the animals. While Obadiah was searching, he met Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he fell on his face and said, "Elijah!...is that you?"

Elijah said, "Yes. Go tell Ahab I want to see him."

"There is no way I am going to tell Ahab you are here! After you last seen him, he sent everyone in search of you. We had to swear by the kingdom that we hadn't seen you when we couldn't find you. If we said we saw you and you weren't there when he got here, he will kill me."

Elijah promised he would see Ahab that day, so Obadiah went to tell Ahab, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, "Are you the one causing all this trouble in Israel?"
to which Elijah replied, "I have caused no trouble. You are the one causing all the trouble by not following God. Now, I want a meeting with all of Israel at Mt. Carmel. Make sure you bring all 450 prophets of Baal, including the prophets of the grove.

So Ahab did as Elijah wanted. When they got there, Elijah stood before them and said, "How long will you ride the fence? If the Lord is your God then serve Him and only Him; but if Baal is your god, then serve him." No one spoke a word. So Elijah continued, "I am the only prophet of God left. There are 450 of Baal's prophets here. Let's see which God is the true God. Go get a young bull. Build an altar. Put wood on it, then let the true god light the fire to burn the sacrifice. I will pray to my God. You pray to yours. I will let Baal's prophets go first."

The people agreed.

Baal's prophets prayed, chanted, danced, yelled, leaped and made a big thing of it, but there god never brought fire for the altar. They kept trying. Finally, around noon, Elijah began making fun of them:

"Yell louder!" he said. "After all, he IS a god, is he not? Maybe he's busy talking to someone else. Maybe he's chasing someone. Maybe he can't hear you because he is on a trip somewhere? Hey! Maybe...maybe he's ASLEEP and you need to yell louder to wake him up!"

They kept trying until time for the evening sacrifice. Then it was Elijah's turn.

He called all the people to come near him. Then, he repaired the altar that was broken by Baal's prophets in their frenzy to get their god to answer. Then, he dug a trench around the altar and told the people to pour water all over the altar, the wood, the sacrifice and fill the trench so that it was all soaked wet.

Then Elijah prayed: "Dear Lord, let these people know that you are the only true God and that what I have said is truth!"

Fire came down and devoured the sacrifice, the altar, the wood and all the water around it.

The people of Israel bowed down, saying, "The Lord is God, the ONLY God!"

They took all the prophets of Baal and killed them. Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Eat, drink; rain is going to come now!"

Elijah went to the top of Mt. Carmel and sat with his head between his knees and told his servant, "Go, look toward the sea for rain." The servant went, and came back, saying, "I don't see anything." Elijah told him to go and come back seven times. On the seventh time, the servant came back and said, "I see a cloud!"

Elijah said, "Hurry, go tell Ahab to get his chariot and run to safety! It's going to storm!" Ahab ran to Jezreel with Elijah leading the way.

=================

There is only one God. When He makes Himself known, He leaves no doubt as to who He is or what He is about. When He gives, He gives abundantly. When He provides, He provides enough--but He refuses to bless those who do not serve His purpose. He does not let His children down, but He does not claim those who do not follow Him as His own.

What gods are you following? Who do you serve. I take Joshua's lead: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 17

Elijah the Tishbite of Gilead told Ahab, "As the Lord God lives, there shall not be any rain for years. There will not be any dew, either." Then, God told Elijah, "Go and hide by the brook Cherith.

He did, and the ravens brought him meat morning and night, and he drank from the brook until the brook dried up because of the drought.

Then God told Elijah to go to Zaraphath in Zidon, "I have commanded a widow woman there to care for you." So he went.

When he got there, the widow was gathering sticks, so he called to her, "Could you get me a drink of water?" When she went after the water he called after her, "I'd like something to eat, too!"

She turned around and said, "I barely have enough for one more meal. That is what I was fixing to do, gather sticks and cook one more meal for me and my son and then we were going to die."

Elijah said, "Don't be afraid. Go and cook your meal, but cook mine first. God has said you will not run out until it rains." She did as she was told and they all ate well until the drought was over.

Then the woman's son got sick and died. She took him to Elijah and demanded, "Why did you come here? Did you come to call my sins into rememberance so God would slay my son?" So he took the boy to his room and stretched over him three times, praying, "Why did you slay this woman's son? She has been nothing but good to me! Please bring life back into him!" And God heard him and He did.

Elijah took the boy to his mother and said, "He is alive." She then said, "I believe you truly are from the Lord, now."

**************

Elijah did everything the Lord asked him to do; so, when Elijah prayed, God listened. This is probably why God wanted Elijah to go and hide after delivering His message to Ahab. Ahab knew that Elijah had the Lord's ear. If he had kept Elijah there, Ahab may have forced Elijah to pray for rain, and God would have heard and done as He was asked. God didn't want that to happen.

In Genesis, Chapter 18, the Angel of the Lord came to Abraham and told him what He would do to Sodom and Gomorrah. He also told Abraham that if there was just one righteous man there, he would spare the cities. So, Lot had to leave. This time it was Elijah leaving.

The woman's son became ill because, after all the woman had seen, she still did not believe. Elijah bringing him back was God's way of saying, "Yes, Virginia, I do exist."

Sometimes God uses tragedy to prove His presence, because that is the only way He can get our attention. He wants us all to know, "Hey, I'm right here!"

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Bad Luck

by Shonda Ponder

It seems like ever since I got this laptop computer, I've had nothing but bad luck. First, my power cord goes out a week after I get it. A great guy I haven't seen in years, but was a facebook friend, was kind enough to bring me another one.

Then, I run out of juice on my internet connection and have to buy another $90.00 worth of power. sigh. Then, my router breaks. There goes $90 down the drain. Then we move so I can get connection, and the guy at Liberty Motel decides to cut me off because he heard untrue rumors. So, I buy another router, but then my BF finally talks to the man and convinces him that all I do is work and play on the internet. Without internet, I am not happy. Without work, I am miserable. That is all I do (besides smoke cigarettes, drink tea, and go to church when I can). So he cuts it back on...after I buy the router.

Then, my screen gets busted. I spent the last four days up in arms about my new computer. I cried. I was upset. But, I got up this morning and went, determined to do something about it. My laptop is now a desktop with an old dell monitor for the screen; but, at least it's working...and it only cost me $6.99, and cab and bus fare to get it.

I am so afraid of what is about to happen next.

However, when I was walking to the Salvation Army store from Best Buy, after finding out I would be better off buying another laptop than fixing my screen, I stepped wrong on the curb as I was walking onto the Salvation Army store parking lot. I fell, twisting my foot as I went down. Once on the ground, I lay there for a moment, mentally checking myself out and a Salvation Army employee came out to help me up.

"Are you okay?" he said.

"Yes," I answered. "I think so. I think I just need to gather the courage to get back up." I laughed a little. He helped me up. I took a few steps. Nothing was broken. I smiled and I thanked him and walked away.

I guess that's all I need. Just the courage to keep going.

August Prayer Requests

Please pray for Judy Long. She tripped on a rock and busted her elbow and will probably need surgery.

Remember me in prayer I am in the I.C.U. at Audubon. Hospital. -- Mike Scoggins

Please pray for Terrye Woods who has pneumonia from a cold and pray for her parents who also got her cold.

My son Daren is Graduating today from Army Training Boot Camp. I'm so very PROUD of him. Tomorrow he will leave Ft.Jackson SC. To start his AIT Combat Medic training in Texas at Ft. Sam. Please keep him and all the other Private's in your prayers as they go on their journey's to different place's.. -- Susan Coker

Allan Mears' sister, Linda Richnow, died. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Please be in prayer for my cousins Phillip and Sarah Alexander in Bloomburg, Texas. They lost their son in an accident today. -- Bobby W. Mauldin

Please pray for Tyler Lee. He is searching for direction in his life and needs all the encouragement he can get.

Please continue to remember Jordan Smith in your prayers. Jordan is 11 years old and is on my daughter Hannah's softball team. Jordan is in ICU at Children's Hospital. From what I've been told she got a staph infection and it went into her bloodstream. She is on a ventilator and they have put a feeding tube in. Please pray for this sweet girl and her family! --Lisa Marie Hodge

Prayer Requests

September, 2012
August 2012
July 2012

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 16

God told Jehu to tell Baasha that his house would meet the same fate as Jeroboam’s, for the same reason.

When Baasha died, his son, Elah reigned in his place. Asa had been king over Judah for 26 years when Elah began to reign in Israel.

Zimri, and half of Elah’s chariot drivers began to conspire against him. He killed Elah, and began reigning over Israel in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah. Zimri left none of Elah’s house alive. He killed them all.

Zimri reigned for one week when word got out that he had killed the king and his household. So Israel made Omri king, and Omri went after Zimri. So Zimri burned down the king’s house with himself inside, committing suicide.

Then there was a civil war. Some of Israel liked Tibni as king, and some wanted to keep Omri. So they fought, and Tibni died and Omri reigned.

Omri bought a hill for two talents of gold and named it Samaria. Omri did worse in the eyes of the Lord than any of his predecessors. Then he died, and Ahab, his son, ruled in his place.

Ahab was even more evil than Omri. He married a woman named Jezebel, and he went and worshipped Baal. He did more to provoke God's anger than anyone.

In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho.

==========================

A wise man once said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. You can tell a non-believer what God is going to do, and when He does it, the non-believer will still not believe it. In Matthew 13:15 it says:


For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

It is simply out of spite that most people refuse to come to God, humble themselves before Him, and repent and ask for forgiveness. Only spite could turn away such blessings, such love.

Chick-Fil-A

Yesterday was a lesson that must be heeded. When you try to shut up what God says should be shouted from the mountaintops, God will move the mountain to make it heard.

Praise God that Freedom of Speech is taken seriously. Voltaire said it best when he said, "I may not like what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." When they attacked what Dan Cathy had to say, we stood up for his right to say it. God took care of the rest.

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 15

Jeroboam had been ruling for eighteen years when Abijam took the throne in Judah. Abijam and Jeroboam warred. Then, Abijam died after only being on the throne for two years, and his son Asa took his place.

Asa followed God. He cleansed the land of the sodomites (homosexuals) and took down all the idols of the land that his father put up. He even removed his mother Maachah from being queen because she built an idol in the grove. He tore down her idol and burnt it. He didn't remove the altars, but God found no fault in Asa all his life. Asa and Baasha, king of Israel, warred throughout his reign.

Baasha developed the city of Ramah and would not let Asa (or any from Judah) go out or come into the city. Asa sent all of the treasures of the House of God to Benhadad, the grandson of the King of Syria, who lived in Damascus, and said, "There has always been good relationship with me and you, and my father and yours, and I need you to break your treaty with the King of Israel so he will leave me alone." Benhadad did, and he attacked some of the cities in Israel. When Baasha found out why, he quit his work in Ramah and went to live in Tirzah. So Asa took all the materials Baasha was using to build in Ramah and used it to build Geba and Mizpah.

When Asa was old, he was diseased in his feet. (Maybe he had gout?) When he died, Jehoshophat ruled in his place.

Nadab, son of Jeroboam, ruled Israel two years after Asa took the throne. He did evil in the sight of God. Baasha had killed him, which is how he became king in Israel. He destroyed everyone that lived in the house of Jeroboam, as the prophet had predicted.

But Baasha also did as Jeroboam did and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

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God doesn't talk just to hear Himself speak. Asa's family inherited the throne because Asa walked in God's ways. But Jeroboam did not and was annhilated. Then Baasha turned around and did the same thing. Will Baasha be destroyed, too? We will have to read more to find out!

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August Thoughts for the Day

One Godly man in a group that is ungodly can be influential in how God blesses or curses an event. When God is on your side, you can't lose. So, when you feel like you are alone in your beliefs, and you wonder if prayer is the answer, take heart. God is still with you. God will bring you through any situation in any environment, surrounded by any type of people. Pray: for God IS listening.

What you do today affects your children tomorrow.

You can't truly praise the Lord until you've walked through the fire with Him.

Sometimes God uses tragedy to prove His presence, because that is the only way He can get our attention. He wants us all to know, "Hey, I'm right here!"

You can tell a non-believer what God is going to do, and when He does it, the non-believer will still not believe it.

If you follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God, God will take away the many blessings He has blessed you with over time, and you will have nothing to leave your children and people will not remember you.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 14

Jeroboam’s son got sick. So he got his wife up and said, “I want you to disguise yourself so others won’t know you are my wife, then I want you to go to Shiloh and look for Ahijah the prophet and find out what is going to happen to my son.” He sent some food with her for payment.

When she got there, Ahijah could not see. So God told Ahijah who was coming and why. So, when she came to the door, he invited her in and told her, “I don’t have good news. Tell Jeroboam that God said because he sought after other gods and did not obey me and follow my statutes the way David did, I will take the kingdom, all I have given him, away. And, I will bring evil upon his house, and those that are left of his house will be carried away as trash and those that die will be eaten by animals and not get a proper burial. Go and tell him, and when you step foot back into your home, the child will die. He will get a proper burial because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam who has even attempted to follow my ways. And I will raise up another King to take Israel from Jeroboam, but because Jeroboam has sinned and has led all the people of Israel to sin, all of Israel shall be punished. I will take away their inheritance. I will scatter them abroad. “

When she arrived in Tirzah, where the child was, he died, as Ahijah foretold. He was buried and mourned by all of Israel.

In the meanwhile, Rehoboam ruled in Judah for fourteen years. During this time, he also raised up images of worship and led the children of Judah away from God. They had many sodomites in the land of the children of Judah, and they did all the things the people did that God had cast out before they took over the land.

In the fifth year of his reign, the King of Egypt came and took away all of the treasures of the king’s house, and all of the gold shields Solomon had made. So Rehoboam had brass shields made and gave them to the guard to keep.

Rehoboam and Jeroboam fought each other all the years of their reign, and Rehoboam died, then his son Abijam ruled in his place.

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If you follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God, God will take away the many blessings He has blessed you with over time, and you will have nothing to leave your children and people will not remember you.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 13

God called a prophet out of Judah to go to Bethel. Jeroboam was by the altar in Bethel, fixing to burn some incense.

The prophet said that a man would come out of the House of David, named Josiah, and he would offer up the priests as sacrifices on that altar and human bones would be burnt on it. He also said to prove that it would happen the alter would break apart and its ashes would be spilled.

Jeroboam put his hand toward the altar and demanded they grab the prophet. When he did, his hand was dried up and withed, and the altar broke and the ashes were spilled. Jeroboam was mortified. He begged the prophet to ask God to restore his hand, so the prophet did, and his hand was restored.

Jeroboam offered him dinner if he would come home with him. The prophet said, “I don’t care if you offered me half your house, I will not go with you. God ordered me not to eat or drink anything, and not to go out the same way I came in, so I won’t.” And he didn’t.

Now, in Bethel, there was another old prophet who had sons that saw everything that had just happened, and they saw the way the man left out of Bethel, so they went and told the old prophet everything. So he had his sons to saddle a jackass, and he rode to find the prophet that had left Jeroboam. He found him under an oak tree and asked him, “Are you the man that came from Judah?”

The first prophet said, “I am.”

The old man said, “Come back home with me and eat some bread.”

“I cannot. God told me not to,” the prophet said.

So the old man lied to him and said, “I, too, am a prophet. God told me to bring you back and feed you.”

So the prophet went back with the old man and ate. As they were eating, God came to the old man and sent a message to the prophet he brought back with him.

God said, “Because you did not obey, you will not return home. You will die.”

When the prophet left the old man, a lion killed him. Some men came back and told the old man, who went and got the dead body and buried him in his own tomb. He then told his sons, “When I die, I want you to bury me in the same tomb, beside him, because what he prophesied will surely happen.”

And Jeroboam was guilty in the eyes of God for the death of the prophet, as well as the sins he committed, and sought to destroy him.

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If someone tells you that God said something or is going to do something, it is best to listen and not test him, because if he dies you will be held responsible, and there will be a punishment to bear.

If he is not telling the truth, it will not happen, but your job is to wait on God, regardless.

God sometimes lets people know what He has planned, not so you can stop it or do anything to help make it happen, but so your faith will grow, and you will have a chance to repent.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 12

After Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam, went to Shechem, because all of Israel had gathered in Shechem to make him king. Jeroboam of Nedat, who had went to Egypt to get away from Solomon’s . attempts to kill him when the prophet foretold that Jeroboam would get to rule ten of the tribes of Israel and leave Solomon’s son only one, heard of the coronation. So he and his household came to Shechem and told Rehoboam, “Solomon gave us a hard time. If you will not give us a hard time, we will serve you.”

Rehoboam told him to leave for three days so he could think about what was said, and then come back, so Jeroboam and his house left.

First, Rehoboam went to the old men and asked them how they thought he should proceed. They told him, “Do as they asked you to and you won’t have any problems from them.”

But Rehoboam then went to his peers, his childhood friends and asked them, and they said, “Jeroboam is being a smarty-pants to you. Be a smarty-pants back and make him rue the day he ever came to you.”

Rehoboam listened to the young men instead of the old men, and all of Israel rebelled, so that the only place he was safe was in Jerusalem. Even the tax collector Rehoboam sent to collect the taxes was stoned to death.

When all of Israel heard that Jeroboam was there, they made him King instead of Rehoboam. Only the tribe of Judah stayed with Rehoboam. So Rehoboam gathered together his warriors to go to war to get Israel back from Jeroboam; but, Shamaiah the prophet told him not to go fight, that all this was part of God’s plan. Rehoboam listened, and did not go.

Because the House of God was in Jerusalem, Jeroboam was afraid that the people would go and make sacrifices there and worship God and turn back to Rehoboam instead of him. So he built two golden calves and put one in Bethel and one in Dan and told the people that that was the god that brought them out of Egypt, and they began to worship the calves. He coincided all of Israel’s feasts and holidays to honor the calves.

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Now if you go to the book of Proverbs, you will see the book that Solomon wrote to advise his son in the way he should go. Proverbs teaches that it is wise to seek the advice of the older generation. Rehoboam started out doing this, but rejected it’s counsel and took the younger generation’s counsel instead. As in all generations, the young are impatient, angry and rebellious.

When things started falling apart, he then decided to go ahead and follow his father’s advice, who also taught in the book of Proverbs that God is the beginning of all wisdom. When the prophet relayed to Rehoboam a message from God, he took it. Had Rehoboam followed the advice of the elders of Israel, he may have delayed the chaos that came because of God’s judgment.

So what I have learned here is that, even though we have to pay for the sins that are committed, the payment will be a lot easier to bear if we turn back to God. He may even shorten the punishment.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 11

King Solomon had a lot of foreign girlfriends.

When Israel first came out of Egypt and was first gaining the land of Israel, God had told them not to befriend the peoples of other nations because they might influence them to turn from His ways. God had given them a list of nations not to befriend, but some of Solomon’s girlfriends came from these nations.

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 live-in girlfriends, or concubines. They had influenced him to follow the ways of Ashtoreth (a Zidonian god) and Milcolm (an Ammonite god). He built alters for Chemosh (a Moabite god) and Molech (another Ammonite god). He did this out of respect for his wives, but God was not pleased at all.

So God told Solomon, “Since you have not followed my ways, I will take the kingdom from you. Out of respect for your father, I will let you stay on the throne, but your son will not.”

When David had slain all of the Edomites, one of the Edomites got away. It was young Hadad, the Edomite king’s son. He went to Egypt, and the Pharoah gave him sustenance, got to know him and gave him his own sister-in-law for a wife. He had a son, Genubeth, who was raised in the Pharoah’s household.

When Hadad heard that David was dead, he asked permission to return to Edom. The Pharoah didn’t like it, but he let him go. Rezon of Zobah also returned to his place, and they caused mischief with Solomon because they hated Israel.

Jeroboam was promised by God that he would rule 10 tribes of Israel, leaving one tribe to Solomon for his own. When Solomon heard about it from the prophet, he sought to kill Jeroboam.

Solomon ruled Israel for 40 years. When he died, his son, Rehoboam ruled in his place.

============

God doesn’t want any compromise. You either do it His way, or you will face the consequences. As children of God, we should be mindful of what inheritance we leave our children. If we stray, they may have to face the consequences for us, and while we are successful, they may lose all we have because of our disobedience.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 10

The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, so she came to test him to see if he was as smart as everyone said he was. She brought great gifts for the occasion.

When she was satisfied with what she found out, she told him, "You are even better in person than you sounded in the stories!" She blessed his servants and his God.

Hiram, King of Tyre, also gave him lots of gold. He was richer than any man alive, with more wisdom than any had ever seen.

He used the gold to make great shields and statues for the houses he had built.

People from all over the world would come to hear his judgments, and would pay him with silver, gold and precious stones.

============

When you have a talent and you use it in the right way, God uses people to reward you. Everyone wants to witness such talent, and they would give anything to do so.

God was good to Solomon, keeping His promises to him, and rewarding him greatly for his faith.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 9

God came to Solomon again, like He did in Gibeon, and He told Solomon, “I have heard your prayer and I am pleased with your words. If you will continue to walk in my statutes, and if your children continue to follow me and walk in my laws, I will be happy to place my heart in that house you have built for me. And I will continue to live among you and I will establish you and your posterity on the throne of Israel forever. But, if you at all turn from my laws and seek other gods, or other ways, I will take the land from them that I have given them, and Israel will be nothing more than a dead legend, a lesson for the world to look back on.”

To repay Hiram, the king of Tyre for all he had done to help him, Solomon gave him twenty cities in Galilee. When Hiram came to see the cities, he was not happy with the gift, and he called the cities Cabul.

When the Pharoah conquered Gezer, he gave it to his daughter as a present. So Solomon developed the cities there.

All of the people who were not Israelites that still lived under King Solomon’s rule had to pay a bondservant’s tribute (or tax). They had to work in the domestic affairs of the land, and only the Israelites served in the military affairs. Solomon even built a navy.

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Solomon did everything he could to protect Israel and give the Lord his respect. Because of this, he continued to prosper in everything he did. Israel became a powerful nation under God and Solomon.

If we follow the direction of Joshua 1:8, where God tells us to learn the law and obey it and in return He would make us successful and prosperous, we can be as Solomon was in our daily lives. But, we must remember that God doesn’t do things for us and not expect to be treated well for it. He wants your time, your trust, your obedience and your love.

Notice how Solomon married the Pharoah of Egypt's daughter. Just about a hundred and so years before, that would have been impossible. Israel was fleeing from Egypt. God has the power to turn everything around.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 8

Solomon had the Ark of the Covenant brought up from the City of David, Zion. They placed it in the holy place in the temple; but, nothing was in the Ark, except the two tables of stone that Moses had the laws of God inscribed on.

Then a thick cloud came into the room and the priests could not minister to the people because of it. Solomon shrugged and said, “The Lord did say that He would dwell in the thick darkness…”

Then Solomon praised God, and dedicated the the House of the Lord to Him publicly.

Solomon prayed for the people of Israel, and for the people in far off countries (foreignors) that hear about God and wish to trust in Him, too, that when they face the direction of the house and pray, their prayers would be answered.

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What a dedication day that must have been! But, I wonder what happened to the manna that was in the Ark of the Covenant?

It is comforting, knowing that Solomon was praying for other peoples with his dedication prayer. He gave the temple to God, and for God’s use, to be as a tool to bring everyone in the world under God’s rule – not just the Israelites. God was not just a God of Israel. My favorite part of the prayer was this:

30And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.

After all, Solomon even understood that:

46If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,)…

So when you dedicate something to God, understand that you are giving it to the world, so that God can use it to gain Glory for Himself.

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Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 7

After Solomon built the House of the Lord, he then built his own house, which took him thirteen years. Then he built a house in honor of the forest of Lebanon and the workers that got him timber to build his houses. He built a house for the pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken to be his wife, also.

Then King Solomon had Hiram, out of Tyre to do all his brass work for him. There was so much brass work done by Hiram that they didn’t even bother to weigh it all, so it is unknown how much went into all the building that Solomon had done, but it is safe to say it was a lot.

The stuff that David had dedicated for the building of the House of the Lord, Solomon put with the treasures in the temple.

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Solomon was on a mission. He wanted nice things and he honored all who helped him and all who inspired him. He truly had a grateful spirit.

When you work toward a goal with a grateful spirit, you can do great things, and God will be there with you to help you see it through.


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Aurora and the 2nd Amendment

by Shonda M. Ponder
(This one is dedicated to Holly)

Can't say I didn't see this one coming.

I was working tonight in the dining room of a local cafeteria, and the television was tuned in to CNN, as it is on most days. Every now and then I glance up to catch the latest news on Aurora. My blood started boiling when I saw the caption that read, "It is something we need to re-evaluate." The headline was indicating that the subject was about the 2nd Amendment.

I went back to the dish room with my tray of dishes, followed by a co-worker, and mumbling to myself loud enough for her to hear me, and getting louder as I entered the dish room:

"No. They don't need to re-evaluate anything, unless they want to make guns more accessible to law abiding citizens. If one of those guys in the theater had had a gun, fifty-eight people might not be injured and twelve might not be dead. Sure, one or two may have been unlucky, but I guarantee the gunman would either be dead or injured well enough not to be shooting anymore.

Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Even AD's can be prevented with the right training. Any idiot should be smart enough not to point it at themselves unless they wish to commit suicide. Why should I pay the price for some idiot that wants to shoot up a bunch of people in a theater?

I am tired of them using every shooting incident to take my 2nd Amendment rights away. Why don't we take computers away from people who might slander other people and ruin their lives? Why don't we take phones away from people who might gossip? Why don't we take cars away from people who might run red lights or keep people who might cook up some dope from taking chemistry in schools? While we are at it, let's take children away from parents who might abuse them.

Hey, here's an idea, why don't we take the Presidency and the House and the Senate away from someone who might trample on our Constitution?"

Don't get me on this soapbox. I might never come down.

One of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, said "The beauty of the 2nd Amendment is that it isn't needed until someone tries to take it." The 2nd Amendment is needed now more than ever. Let's hope they don't have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.

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