Scripture: 1 Kings 11.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

1 Kings 11:32-35 (NLT)

32 But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 33 For Solomon has abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did. 34 “‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. 35 But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you….

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I know that my God is a just God and that He expresses love in ways that are way out of the realm of what I can fathom, but as I read this passage I was amazed of how much God really loves us when we not only say with our mouths that we believe, or express our acceptance of His Son as our Savior, but His love reaches to, what seems to be, new heights when He sees us so committed to Him that we obey His commands and follow His instructions. In other words, when we put our beliefs and commitment into action, and actually follow through with what we believe. God withheld total judgment on Solomon because of His deep love and regard for Solomon’s father, David. Wow, what a love God is expressing here for this man that followed His commands while he was alive. Now before you think that this was much easier for David than it is for us today, I want to remind you that David struggled with many of the same sins that we struggle with today, and he gave into many of the same desires and/or lusts that some of us give in to today. Yes, there was evidence of failures by David, but God’s Word also shows where David quickly reconciled with God and sought forgiveness and sincerely sought His help for strength to overcome and get back on a right footing with God. Friends, as we seek God’s heart and His will we will be more apt to seek His help to overcome the weaknesses and failures that may result. God knows better than us that there is only One who is perfect, and that’s His Son Jesus, but what He is looking for from us is to have a mind like His and a desire to bounce back and get back on track in following Him, and not to wallow in our sin and go on sinning. When we are reminded of sin in our lives, we don’t use the point of us being weak as a human, instead we lean on the power of the Almighty to show us how to overcome the human weakness and instead depend on God for His strength, His power, His direction and His ultimate love to excuse us and make us right with Him. How reassuring to know that He will bless for generations because of what we do and because of our obedience. Praise be to God that He sees such value in us!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, You are awesome and You constantly amaze me with Your love for me, just as You have shown me today about Your love for David, even long after he died. I need Your strength today to be more like You. I need Your strength, wisdom and direction to always return to the cross – at Your feet, and seek Your forgiveness and teaching on how I might be more like You and what I must do to follow Your commands with a perfect heart and will. Please be my constant guide today. Please give me quick reminders when I am tempted to stray or disobey Your commands. Your blessings for generations to come will be a side benefit, as my aim is to please You personally and to be more like You every day. Hearing You say “well done good and faithful servant” is my ultimate goal, but I clearly understand that I can only get there with total dependence on You. Thank You for expressing so much love to me. Please help me to express my love to You through daily obedience to You.

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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