You can’t handle the truth!

1 Kings 22:6-8  6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” 7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” 8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that,” Jehoshaphat replied. 

It’s one of the most remembered movie scenes of recent time.  It comes from “A Few Good Men” starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.  In this scene, Lt. Kaffee (Cruise) is interrogating Colonel Jessep (Nicholson).  He wants to know if Jessep was the one who gave the orders that resulted in the death of a soldier.  As Kaffee pushes, Jessep gets increasingly agitated and the courtroom is tense.  Kaffee continues to push, finally demanding: “I want the truth!”  Jessep’s response is now immortalized in movie history. “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!”

I find it interesting that people avoid the truth because they don’t think they can handle hearing it.  In 1 Kings 22, King Ahab called 400 prophets to prophesy about a certain battle.  King Jehoshaphat (of Judah) asked Ahab if there was any main prophet remaining.  Was there anyone the likes of Elijah still around?  There was; his name was Micaiah.  But King Ahab didn’t like to hear from Micaiah, because he always said bad things about him.  He never had anything good to say, so he avoided him.

Micaiah had good reasons why he always had bad things to say to King Ahab.  You see, Ahab was the most wicked Israelite king to have ever lived.  He made the sins of the kings before him look trivial.  So of course, God always had bad news to deliver to him.  If you are going to be a wicked person, you probably aren’t going to get the ‘ol two-thumbs-up from the man upstairs. 

Do you ever avoid God because you can’t handle the truth that you know He will bring?  If so, you are only hurting yourself.  God desires relationship with you, but that relationship is going to be on His terms.  He loves you enough to point out your sin so that you can do something about it.  Hebrews 12:6 says that the Lord disciplines those he loves.  He wants to weed the wickedness out of your heart so that you can be fully led by Him.  So don’t avoid the truth today; face it head on.  In the long run, you will be glad you did.

What a baby

1 Kings 21:4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. 

Big babies drive me crazy.  I’m not talking about large infants – they are generally pretty cute and mostly harmless (aside from the occasional shoulder vomiting).  When I say big babies, I am talking about adults who throw temper tantrums when they don’t get their way.  Treating others like garbage, sulking, crying, yelling, and stomping feet are just some of the symptoms.  Basically, they have the self-control of an infant.

Ahab was a big baby, too.  He wanted some land from Naboth and was told no.  So he went to his room, sulked, and refused to eat.  Really?  You have got to be kidding me.  This was the KING.  You are telling me the king had a 2-year old fit?  It’s okay though, because his wonderful wife Jezebel had Naboth killed for him.  What a great wife, that is, if they were auditioning for the Jerry Springer show.

What do you do when you don’t get your way?  Maybe you withdraw and pout.  Or maybe you make the people around you suffer, lashing out at the ones closest to you.  Maybe you shake your fist at God.  Listen… life is not about getting your way; it is about living for HIS ways.  If we will choose to grow in the Lord and strive to be mature, we won’t resemble big baby Ahab.  Ask the Lord for the self-control today to deal with the no’s of life.  Take your disappointments to Him and let Him take care of the rest.

Talking Smack

1 Kings 20:11  The king of Israel answered, “Tell him: ‘One who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.’ ” 

Here in 1 Kings 20, we’ve got some smack talking of Biblical proportions.  Imagine these two kings on the basketball court.  King Ben-Hadad tells Ahab that he is going down; he doesn’t stand a chance.  Have you ever had someone smack talk you like that?  They try to get into your head and convince you of your failure before the game even begins.  In our scripture today, there was more at stake than a basketball game; this was all out war.

King Ahab’s response to Ben-Hadad was brilliant.  He said, “one who puts on his armor should not boast like one who takes it off.”  Essentially meaning, don’t talk like you’ve won the battle while you are still getting ready for it.  I guess he could have said, “don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” but that would have been far less manly.  The point is, Ahab didn’t put up with this kind of smack talking from his enemy and neither should we.

Satan is a smack talker, too.  He tries to to get into your head and convince you of your failure before the battle even begins.  And we listen to him.  We give up on the dreams that God has put in our hearts because we are convinced we can’t do it.  We give into temptation because we believe we aren’t strong enough.  It’s time for God’s people to stop listening to the lies, engage in battle, and win.  Jesus has guaranteed our victory, so let’s not believe anything less than that!

Sheba Googles Solomon

1 Kings 10:4-9 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed. She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’S eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.” 

Sometimes, you just have to see it to believe it.  Just the other day, my wife and I spent some time driving around looking at possible hotels for an upcoming marriage retreat.  We looked online ahead of time at prices and pictures, so we knew where we wanted to go.  There was one hotel in particular that we were excited to look at.  It looked amazing online!  When we arrived, we had high expectations and were sure this was going to be the one.  However, it turned out they had a REALLY good photographer.  The place was terrible!   Boy, were we glad that we went and looked at it in person.

The Queen of Sheba had a journey of exploration, too.  She had heard all about Solomon and his leadership.  She had been told about his wisdom, his riches, and his great kingdom.  If she could have, she probably would have looked up the pictures online, read stories on google, and watched videos on youtube.  Can’t you just see it?  “Sheba Googles Solomon.”  But regardless of what she had heard, she wanted to see this in person.  She had to know for herself if all the rumors were true.

What she found is that all she had heard didn’t come close to the greatness of Solomon’s kingship.  She found great wisdom in him and he personally touched her life as he answered life’s mysteries for her.  She was astounded and overwhelmed.  In short, he took her breath away.  But check this out: her response to his greatness was to praise his God!  

How do people respond to your successes?  Do they praise you or the Lord?  I find it phenomenal that Sheba sees Solomon’s greatness and gives praise to his God.  I want people to celebrate my successes that way, too.  I want them to see the Lord’s work evident in my life and recognize that all of my successes, blessings, and triumphs are from Him.

What are you doing here?

1 Kings 19:9  He entered a cave there and spent the night. Then the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

Have you ever found yourself someplace that you weren’t supposed to be?  It’s like being found in the hallway by the principal when you are supposed to be in class.  It’s like running into your pastor while he is doing prison ministry… except you are on the other side of the bars.  The question is: what are you doing here?  It’s a long story, we might say.  Or maybe we will just say, uh…ya…um…well…

Elijah found himself in this situation with the Lord, which is not a good place to find yourself.  He had just finished destroying the 450 prophets of Baal.  He called down fire from heaven.  He was bold, courageous, supernatural, and unstoppable.  But then he got a text message from Jezebel that read: “I M going 2 kill U.”  Of course nobody wants a text message like that.  It would freak me out, that’s for sure.  Actually, I had someone threaten my life once.  It was a crazy young kid that I had to fire.  Creepy.

Back to Elijah.  What gets me about this situation is that this bold prophet of the Lord ran and hid in a cave.  He believed that God could destroy 450 false prophets but wouldn’t protect him from Jezebel.  So he found himself in a place that he shouldn’t have been in.  Do you ever find yourself in those situations?  You are called to live according to the purpose of God in your life, but you are hiding out.  Maybe your cave is fear or maybe your cave is sin.  Whatever the case, the Lord would ask you: “what are you doing here?”  “Didn’t I call you to walk away from sin in your life?  Didn’t I ask you to trust me?”

What cave are you in today?  Can you hear the voice of the Lord speaking: “what are you doing here?”  If so, simply leave the cave and walk into His grace.

 

Mocking the functional gods

1 Kings 18:25-29  25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us! ” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up! ” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention. 

You are probably familiar with the story of how Elijah called down fire from heaven to light the altar of the Lord.  He poured buckets of water on in first just to prove a point. What a showboater!  But do you remember this part of the story?  I had forgotten how cruel Elijah was to the prophets of Baal.  He mocked them sarcastically and cruelly.  Their faces must have been turning red with embarrassment once the whole thing was over.  I love how he told them to keep shouting because maybe their god was thinking it over or taking a walk.  Bahahahahahaha!

“Maybe your god is taking a walk; maybe he is sleeping.”  Do you ever find that you have put something else in place of God in your life?  These are the things that become your functional savior.  It could be people, money, things, relationships, alcohol, shopping… just about anything you use to rescue you from yourself.  We turn to things other than God for our hope, our rescue, and our peace.  We turn to people for our self-esteem and worth, and they are all substitutes for the voice of God in our lives.  Jesus came to this earth to be our Savior, our only Savior.

Can you hear the prophet Elijah calling out to you as you fill the void with other things beside Christ?  “Why are you so discontent; is your god of money taking a walk.  Why are so depressed; is your approval from man taking a nap?”  This is the insanity of serving other gods.  It is for this reason (among others) that God said to worship Him and Him alone.  Tear down your altars, people.  There is one true God; He alone is your Savior.  All others will fail and all others will be mocked.

Running on Empty

1 Kings 17:13-16  13 Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, 14 for this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the surface of the land.” 15 So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. 16 The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the LORD He had spoken through Elijah. 

Do you ever feel like you are running on empty?  When you do, your energy is depleted, you can’t think straight, and you just want to take a good long nap.  Worry sets in, too.  The other day I got in the car to drive to my office and the fuel light was on.  Instantly there was this little anxiety that hit, “I wonder if I will run out of gas on my way?”  Running on empty is no fun.  No one likes to have the fuel light on, walk around with sleep deprivation, or open empty cupboards.  But the lady in our scripture today had some seriously empty cupboards.  She was running on empty.

For many of us, we run on empty spiritually too.  We go about our days, our weeks, and our lives trying to get by.  We feel like we’ve lost our passion for the Lord and that we have nothing to give.  We haven’t taken the time to get filled up by Him and so we live a depleted, powerless life.  That’s when anxiety, worry, and fear set in.  We aren’t connected to our Savior and everything seems insurmountable.  The only solution is to lean into His arms and His ways.

Verse 15 says that “she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah.”  She had so little and yet she followed the instructions from the Lord.  She used the very little she had to walk according to his commands.  And do you know what happened?  He replenished her.  She gave all she had and He provided more.  You see, if we would just walk according to the word of the Lord in our lives we, too, would find that our jars will never be empty or dry.  As we lean into His Word, He will refill us, sustain us, and overflow us.  Make the choice today to walk according to His Word and you won’t have to run on empty any more.

That promotion didn’t last long

1 Kings 16:15  In the twenty-seventh year of Judah’s King Asa, Zimri became king for seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines. 

I am saddened by the recent events involving Josh Powell and his children.  This was a disturbed man who knew he was in trouble.  So he blew up his house with himself and his kids in it.  It’s crazy to imagine what would drive someone to do something like that, and my heart certainly goes out to the family left behind trying to deal with the aftermath.  There is a man in the Bible who committed a similar act, and his name was Zimri.  He took the kingship by force and when someone else took it back from him, he burned down his house while he was in it.

What is really interesting about this story is that the text tells us he was king for seven days.  Seven, whopping, days.  That is a short leadership stint if you ask me.  I was coordinating an event recently and was working with a contact from the venue in regards to our use of their facility.  A week went by when I learned she had been  fired.  So we started working with a new employee who was also fired a week later.  Now I am on employee number three and I hope she makes it!

Back to the point, Zimri was king… for only seven days.  That promotion certainly didn’t last long.  And do you know why it didn’t last long?  Because it was a SELF-promotion.  Self promotions don’t go far with God.  When we lift ourselves up, we get humbled.  But when we humble ourselves, He lifts us up.  Why?   Because the Lord is looking for a healthy heart posture.  He is looking for men and women who desire to serve Him and give Him the glory in their lives.  I say, “sign me up for that.”  The only kind of promotion I want is the kind that comes from the Lord.

Long-Term Planning

1 Kings 15:4,9-11   But because of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem to raise up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem.   In the twentieth year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Asa became king of Judah and reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.  Asa did what was right in the LORD’s eyes, as his ancestor David had done. 

For some people, long-term planning means that they have plans for tonight.  They live minute by minute, often living for themselves.  While it is good to live in the moment, it’s also good to look ahead.  Looking ahead demands that your consider the involvement of others.  It requires that you think beyond yourself and think about how your plans and actions affect other people.  Do you ever consider that your life today will affect someone tomorrow?

In 1 Kings, we read about evil kings.  We read about these guys who did not follow the Lord as their ancestor David did.  They ruled to their own pleasure and desires.  They turned to other gods and turned their back on the Lord.  Consequently, their reign was not blessed.  But there was this one guy who came along named Asa.  His parents and grandparents didn’t follow the Lord.  Everything modeled for him was wicked.  And even though he had a bad example set for him, he found the Lord.  He destroyed the despicable things his parents had done.  He turned his heart to God the way his ancestor David did.  

You see, David laid the groundwork for a generation that would come long after he died.  It says here in 1 Kings that it was because of David that God raised up Asa to be a man who did right in the eyes of the Lord.  That’s some serious long-term planning on David’s part!  We, too must realize that our lives are not just about us.  We think in terms of how our actions affect us.  We pursue wicked things in our heart thinking it won’t hurt anybody.  But there is something great at stake: our legacy.  We have the opportunity to live a life for the Lord that will be passed down to generation after generation.  Think bigger today and pave the way for your great-great-great grandchildren.

The Messenger

1 Kings 14:7-9  7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back.

Uh oh… someone’s in trouble.  Remember when you were a kid and your brother got into big trouble and you were the messenger?  Yikes!  Sometimes it was exciting to tell them they were in trouble, because they had just clocked you in the face with a plastic toy.  Other times, you were afraid for them as the wrath of mom and dad was about to come.  Imagine being Jeroboam’s wife in this situation; she had to be the messenger.  “Hey Bo, I’ve got some bad news for you.”

And what a message it was! “I raised you up,” God told him.  “I called you out among the people, chose you, and made you king.  I told you to follow all my commands and I would be with you.  I wanted to be your God, your one and only.  I was ready to bless you and your descendants.  But you couldn’t manage to set me alone in your heart.  You didn’t follow my commands, but followed the evil in your heart.  You turned your back on me and now I am angry.  You have experienced my blessing, but now you will experience my wrath.”

I don’t know about you, but I would be freaking out right about now.  Nobody wants to get news like that.  It’s news that cuts to the heart and makes you want to throw up.  It was too late for Jereboam to do anything about it, too.  He had already messed up so bad that God had made up His mind.  But today God has mind up His mind about something else.  He has made up his mind to forgive you and accept you regardless of how bad you’ve blown it.  He sent His Son to usher in forgiveness, grace, and reconciliation.  And each day you get to choose to serve Him.  He wants to be loved with all your heart; He wants to be your one and only.

He gave us the Holy Spirit to not only comfort us, but to correct us.  He warns us of our sin and gives us the power to cut off our allegiance to other gods.  He helps us in our weakness and gives us strength to remove our idols.  That’s our God!  So if the Holy Spirit is bringing you some bad news about the allegiance of your heart, do something about it today.  Fix your eyes only on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.  It’s not too late.