Category: Strength for Today

2 Kings 20:19
“Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?”

Hezekiah’s resumé is amazing. When he took the throne of Judah, the preaching of Isaiah had indeed made an impact on this young king. The Scriptures say about Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:3, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.” The Scriptures go on and describe Hezekiah as a man who “trusted” and “clave” to the LORD, and a man who “departed not from following” the commandments of the LORD. This all resulted in the LORD being with him. Anybody would want this on their resumé.

For most of Hezekiah’s life he did well, but at the end of his life something happened. Pride set into his heart, and when the Babylonian envoy came to bring him presents after he recovered from a deadly sickness, he showed them all of his house. Many people would look at this act and see nothing wrong with it, but God knew the heart of Hezekiah and how it was lifted up in his own ways. At the end of his life, he didn’t care what people thought about him because he felt he had nothing to prove. Sadly, instead of his resumé having a consistency from beginning to end, the end of it changed dramatically to a selfish man who cared less about his own children being taken away to Babylon as slaves because of his self-centered actions.

A valuable lesson can be learned by all from Hezekiah’s life. Just because you have filled your resumé with great works for most of your life doesn’t mean you are done writing it. What you do in your older years is still important to God. You are always writing your life’s resumé until you go to Heaven. You should be very careful that the end years of your life match the beginning years. You should never live in such a manner that your children will despise you because of how you live your senior years.

Moreover, it is important that you continue to write good with your life on your resumé because you are teaching the younger generation how to grow old. Age is no excuse to stop obeying the commandments of the LORD. Old age doesn’t give you a right to let up on soul winning, standards, faithfulness to church and living according to the Scriptures. Just because you have age doesn’t mean you can do what you want. You never earn the right to compromise or disobey God’s Word. If it was right to do when you were young, it is still right to do now that you are older. God’s Word doesn’t change just because you feel secure with your finances, and you feel that your life’s resumé has been written.

Friend, let me remind you that you are often remembered for your last works. It may seem unfair that most would forget what you have done in your younger years, but you are always proving to a younger generation that serving the LORD is the right thing to do. Let me encourage those who are approaching or are living in their senior years to continue living what you did when you were younger. Show a younger generation that serving the LORD is not for a period of life, but it is for life. Hezekiah brought reproach to the LORD’s name because of his decision to let up in his senior years. Whatever you do, don’t change your resumé. Keep writing on it the same works and stand for Christ that you had when you were younger.

2 Kings 17:18
“Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.”

One of the things that you will learn from being in the ministry as long as I have are the destructive patterns people take that lead to their demise. While reading the series of verses preceding the verse above, my mind began to think of so many people who followed the same pattern that Israel developed, which led to the destination of destruction. The pattern Israel followed that led the LORD to be angry with them and to remove them out of His sight should be a lesson to all to be sure that they are not walking the same path. There was a five step pattern they followed that resulted in the verse above.

First, they hardened their necks. They came to the point that nobody could tell them what to do. God sent prophets to warn them, but nobody could tell them what to do. When a person develops the mentality that nobody can tell them what to do, they have started down a pathway that will eventually lead to their demise. There has to be someone who can tell you what to do. You must never get to the point in your life when you reject everyone’s warning that you are wrong. A hardened neck is the first step of pride.

Second, they rejected God’s statutes He made with their fathers. Because nobody could tell them what to do, they also rejected the old paths their fathers walked because they wanted to make their own mark in history. When you come to a point when you despise the methods and teachings of the previous generation, you will most certainly choose a destructive path to follow. When you reject the old paths that the previous generation walked, you are rejecting the paths that God gave. Those paths were not created by previous generations, but they are paths they continued walking in like those before them.

Third, they followed vanity. Israel continued this destructive pattern by only being concerned with what made them look good. When Christianity becomes an outward show, and the concern becomes what others think of you, total compromise is sure to come. We are not to serve God to look good to man; we are to serve Him to please Him. You should only be concerned with how you look to God.

Fourth, Israel started conforming to society. Israel began copying the lifestyles of the heathen nations around them. You are spiritually bankrupt when culture and society dictate your morality and standards. It truly doesn’t matter what society thinks of how you live; morality should only be defined by God’s Word. God’s Word has defined morality, and that definition will never change for any generation.

Fifth, Israel completely changed what they believed. Israel’s form of worship became heathenistic. When society dictates your morality, the only other step to take is to change what you believe. Many people changed their whole belief system because that is where this pattern leads.

You can say you will always believe what you presently believe, but this pattern has never been more wrong. Anyone who finds themselves in any of these steps will eventually change what they believe. Don’t harden your neck to this devotional. Allow this warning to be the catalyst that causes you to go back to being and doing what God wants you to be and do.

2 Kings 4:2
“And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.”

A widowed woman encountered a debt problem when her husband died. As is always the case, whenever there is a problem, God always has a solution. The solution for this dear lady was the pot of oil in her house. To this lady, the pot of oil didn’t seem like much, but in the hand of God that pot of oil became the saving grace from the debtors taking her sons to be slaves. It was only a pot of oil, but that pot of oil had more power than she realized.

The church is filled with vessels like you who may not seem like much, but with the oil of the Holy Spirit indwelling them, that pot of oil becomes the answer to reaching a lost and dying world. You may feel, like this widowed woman, that you are only a pot of oil, but when you realize what that pot of oil is, you will realize that you are sufficient for God to use. Let me give you four thoughts concerning this pot of oil.

First, if God wanted more than your pot of oil, He would have provided it. Often people think that they are not good enough for God to use, but I always like to remind them that if God can preach a sermon through a donkey, He can certainly use them to do His work. You may struggle with confidence, but God doesn’t need your confidence as much as He needs your willingness and surrendered heart. Don’t sell God’s power short because of your lack of confidence.

Second, what you have is sufficient for where you are. We often think we need more right now, but if you needed more, God would have given you more. God has given you what you need for right now. Stop worrying about what you will need in the future and use whatever energies and talents you have for God now. Fretting about what you are going to do in the future is only wasting the resources that God has given you for now. You may only have a pot of oil for God to use, but that pot of oil is sufficient for what you need at the moment.

Third, what you will need will never be met without using what you already have. The widow woman had to use the oil she had before God gave her more. She had to pour out the oil she had, and once it was poured out, God gave her more. This has always been God’s method of using people. It is the giving and receiving principle of Luke 6:38. God has more to give you, but you will never realize it until you give what you have. Teach and preach the truths God has already given you and He will give you more when you need it. Give the effort and energy you presently have, and He will give you more strength when you need it. Stop holding back so that you have something for the future, and give what you have and God will give you more when it is needed.

Fourth, there will always be more oil from where you originally found it. The only reason the oil stayed was because the widowed lady stopped pouring. Friend, the only reason God’s power stopped working in your life is because you stopped going to God in prayer to continue His power upon you. The greatest shortage in Christianity is a prayer shortage. God still answers prayers, and His Holy Spirit still has the power to work through you if you continue to go back to where you originally found it; the prayer closet. Whatever you do, don’t stop using what you have, and don’t stop going to the prayer closet to get more.

1 Kings 15:3
“And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.”

Several years ago when my daughter was in elementary school, I was taking her to school as the sun was rising above the horizon. I reached above the sun visor to grab my sunglasses to put them on because the sun was shining in my eyes. As I brought them to my face, I noticed out of the corner of my eye my daughter raising her sunglasses to her face. I wondered if she was copying me, so instead of putting the glasses on my face, I lowered them to my lap. I watched my daughter lower her sunglasses to her lap just like daddy. Over the next couple of minutes, I watched her raise and lower her sunglasses like her daddy until I finally put them on my face. I was amused at how she was copying her daddy until the Holy Spirit asked me, “If she is copying how you put on your sunglasses, what else is she copying?” This was a very convicting thought because I realized that she was watching everything I did.

Apparently, Abijam copied his father’s ways, but the ways he copied were the sinful ways. The verse above says, “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him…” It is sad that Abijam didn’t walk in the right ways of his father, but in the “sins of his father.” This thought should bring pause to every parent and cause them to realize that their children are copying them. Several thoughts you should take from this story.

First, children rarely walk in the strengths of their parents. Your children will pick up on your weaknesses and will copy them. Think about your weaknesses and ask yourself, would you want your children to copy them? Whether or not you like it, your children will walk in your weaknesses more quickly than your strengths.

Second, your children are watching. Your children see what you think they don’t see. You may believe you have everyone fooled, but your children see what you are doing. Even if you have gotten away with hiding a sin from your children, eventually they will catch you doing it. What will you do then? You should always remember that your children are watching.

Third, admit your weaknesses and change your ways. Admitting you have done wrong is not a sign of weakness as long as you change what you are doing. There have been times in my life when I have admitted to my wife and daughter that something I did was wrong. After I admitted my sin, I did everything in my power to change it so that it would never happen again. Don’t take on the mentality that you should never admit you were wrong for that will drive your children away. When your children have seen you do wrong, admit it but be sure to change your ways so that it will never happen again. This teaches your children that it’s not okay to admit wrong and never change. They need to learn from your example to admit their wrong and change what they are doing.

Finally, let me point out that, in the end, everyone is responsible for their own actions. You are not excused from your sins just because your parents did the same thing. Don’t use your parent’s sins as an excuse to do wrong. Change your ways because you have children who will copy you. Knowing that your children are copying you should motivate you to do right.

1 Kings 8:36
“Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.”

There are only two ways to choose in life; you can choose God’s way or Satan’s way. Satan disguises his way in many different forms. He disguises it through man’s opinion, personal desires, worldly lifestyle and the entertainment industry to name a few. Satan doesn’t care which way you choose as long as you don’t choose God’s way. His goals for your life are simply not to walk in God’s way. Satan will be sure to tell you all the “horror” stories of God’s way, but he is a liar and never tells you that his way ends in death.

On the other hand, you have a choice to choose God’s way. God explicitly tells us about His way in Matthew 7:14 when He says, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” It is interesting that Satan’s way is “broad” and God’s way is “narrow.” Satan gives you many ways from which to choose, but God gives you one way. John 14:6 shows us that way when it says, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Though God’s way may seem constrictive to some and too narrow for others, God shows us four things about His way that reveals the superiority of His way.

First, God’s way is good. In the verse above, Solomon calls God’s way the “good way.” It is the “good way” because God’s way leads to life and joy. People often look at the immediate to determine how good something is, but you must look at the end to realize that God’s way is a good way. I’ve never seen a person serve God their entire life and at the end of their life regret it. You will always find at the end of life that God’s way was a good way.

Second, God’s way is the right way in 1 Samuel 12:23. In other words, God’s way has no gray areas. His way is a way of absolutes. It is either right or wrong. Far too many Christians try to make God’s way ambiguous when His way is a way of absolutes. If you are going to walk in God’s way, you are going to have to always do the right thing even if it doesn’t benefit you.

Third, God’s way is the old way. God calls His way the “old paths” in Jeremiah 6:16. In other words, God’s way is a well-trodden pathway that is easy to find if you will look to the past and watch those who have walked that way. Friend, stop looking to those around you to determine God’s way and look to those from the past to see His way. There are many Christians from the past who walked God’s way, and His way is as relevant to your life today as it was for them.

Fourth, God’s way is the straight way in Matthew 22:16. In other words, God has no hidden agenda or ulterior motives in His way other than to bring you joy and happiness through doing right. If you are going to walk in God’s way, you must make your way clear for people to discern. Watch out for those whose ways are uncertain or vague. You will find those who walk in God’s way always make their stand clear.

Friend, God’s way is a blessed way. When you choose to walk in His way, you will find your life is filled with blessings. I encourage you to walk in God’s way. When you walk in God’s ways, your ways will mirror His ways to those who watch or follow you.

1 Kings 4:29
“And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.”

Knowing what to do at the right time is the most important asset a person can have. You can do the right thing at the wrong time, and it will not turn out as good as if you did it in the right timing. Having the wisdom to know what to do, when you are to do it, and how it is to be done will set you apart from all others.

Solomon seemed to understand this early in his reign when God asked him, “Ask what I shall give thee.” His response alone showed his wisdom, and God granted him the wisdom and understanding he needed to lead Israel. When you study Solomon’s life, you will see that wisdom is your greatest need because of what it will do for you.

First, wisdom gives you discernment to handle complex situations. When Solomon was faced with the complexity of trying to discern to which mother a baby belonged, wisdom showed him how to make the proper decision. You are going to face complex situations in life, and the only way you are going to be able to do the right thing is by having the wisdom of God. Wisdom shows you how to handle those complicated situations in life.

Second, wisdom gives you direction on how to manage disloyalty. Solomon wisely managed the disloyalty of his brother and Shimei. Those two men could have quickly destroyed him if he hadn’t wisely handled their disloyalty. Every leader is going to deal with disloyalty. Each act of disloyalty is going to be different and must be handled differently. God’s wisdom shows you how to manage it properly so that you can preserve others who could have been influenced by the disloyal person.

Third, wisdom gives you content to feed people God’s Word. The Scriptures teach that people came from afar to hear of Solomon’s wisdom. Leaders need God’s wisdom to teach those who come to learn what they need to do in life. You will teach people, and only God’s wisdom can show you what you need to teach at the right time. If you will get God’s wisdom, your insecurity to teach will disappear because He will give you the content of what to say.

Fourth, wisdom gives you compassion to care for those whom you lead. Wisdom gave Solomon “largeness of heart.” Compassion is what makes wisdom palatable no matter how it may affect someone. God’s wisdom not only shows you what to do at the right time, but it allows you to do it with the right attitude. You can do the right thing with the wrong attitude, and it will hurt those you are trying to help. If you get God’s wisdom, you will lead with the right attitude.

Friend, the answer for obtaining wisdom is found in the verse above when it says, “And God gave Solomon wisdom…” Your greatest need in life is God’s wisdom. The only way you will get it is by asking God to give you wisdom, and then spend time with Him in the Scriptures and prayer so He can give it to you. Your capacity to help others will be determined by how much of God’s wisdom you have.

2 Samuel 21:1
“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.”

Throughout the Scriptures, God often sent famines to get His people to respond to something they needed to correct. The verse above shows this to be true when God sent a famine because Saul had unjustly slain a group of people. The blood of the Gibeonites had to be avenged, and the only way God could get David to do this was to send a famine. David responded accordingly, and God ended the famine.

Just like God sent famines to get Israel’s attention, He also sends them into the lives of Christians to get them to respond to something He wants from them. It could be a financial famine, a famine of unanswered prayers, a health famine, or a time of lack in some area of your life. In these times of famine, it is important for a Christian to examine some areas where they may need to correct.

First, examine your life to see if there is a sin that needs to be removed. Just like Israel had sin that had not been dealt with, God may allow you to go through a time of famine to get you to examine yourself to see if there is some sin you need to remove. The first thing you should do in a time of famine is to see if there is a sin in your life that needs to be resolved. Maybe you haven’t forgiven someone, or maybe you did someone wrong with whom you need to get right. When you are experiencing a time of famine, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to correct, and be sure to correct it when He reveals it.

Second, God could be sending a famine to get you to pray. Sadly, the only time God can get some Christians to pray is during times of famine. You ought to continually pray if you want to stop experiencing so many famines. God wouldn’t have to send you through so many famines to get you to pray if you regularly spent time in prayer.

Third, God could be sending a famine to make your relationship with Him better. If a famine makes a person pray, it will result in a stronger relationship with God. Have you ever thought that maybe God wants to get closer to you, and the only way to do this is to get you to spend more time in prayer? Stop complaining so much about the famine, and enjoy the relationship your building with God through it. The famines you endure can become a sweet time of remembrance if you build your relationship with God. Let the famine be a building time and not a complaining time.

Fourth, God could be sending a famine to build your faith and trust in Him. The stronger your faith is in God, the more He can do through you. The Christian lives by faith, and it takes a strong faith to step out on the greater endeavors God wants you to achieve. If you were to look back at how strong your faith was before and after a spiritual famine, you would always see that it grew through the famine. Likewise, God is building your faith so that you will trust Him more. The more trust you have in God, the more trust He will have in you.

Are you going through a famine? Don’t let your famine be a time of waste. Let these four areas be reminders of what you should do during the famine so that it becomes a time of fruitfulness and growth.

2 Samuel 11:11
“And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.”

One of the more tragic stories in the Scriptures is the story of Uriah and Bathsheba. We often hear of Uriah’s courage when he would not go into the house with his wife because his countrymen were at war, but I believe there is a greater lesson that contributed to what happened in their marriage. Though King David’s contributed greatly to this situation, I believe the marital breakdown between Uriah and Bathsheba enabled this sin.

You know the story of how David saw something he should not have seen, thought about it, enquired about it, and then took it to his shame. To cover his sin, he sent for Bathsheba’s husband from the battlefield. When Uriah arrived at the king’s palace, he gave a report of how the battle fared. David then told Uriah to go home and get a nights rest at his house with his wife, but the verse above showed that he would not sleep at his home with his wife while his men were at battle. This may seem honorable, but it reveals two problems in this marriage.

The first problem was that Uriah’s job was more important to him than his relationship with his wife. When Uriah placed those men on the battlefield above his relationship with his wife, he was telling his wife that she was not as important as his job. This no doubt was not the first time that Bathsheba had felt the shunning of her husband for the sake of his job. She had to know that their marital relationship was not a priority to her husband. I believe this contributed to her willingness to yield to David’s invitation.

Every married couple needs to be careful that they don’t allow anything to come between them. A pastor must be careful not to allow his ministry to take priority over his marriage. Men, no career is as important as your marriage. Likewise, ladies, no job or hobby should take preeminence over the marital relationship. Your relationship with your spouse should be so close that they would never consider a wrong invitation from anyone in the world.

The second thing that caused this marital breakdown was a lack of communication. Bathsheba knew her husband was sleeping outside, but she wouldn’t go outside and communicate her desire for Uriah to come in. You are going to have to keep the lines of communication clear between each other if you are going to have a strong marriage. This whole thing probably started because of a communication breakdown. Don’t let anything keep you from communicating. Digital technology, television, work or hobbies should never take time away from communication. There are times when you need to set these things down so you can communicate with each other.

This tragic story could have been averted had they known this pattern that leads to a marital breakdown. Priority breakdowns will lead to a communication breakdown, which will result in a marital breakdown. If you want to avoid a marital breakdown, avoid those things that will hurt your priorities and the communication in your marriage.

2 Samuel 9:1
“And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

David may be the most thoughtful person mentioned in the Scriptures. What is amazing about David is that his thoughtfulness process went from God to friends and family, and then outside influences. He understood the importance of remembering those influences who helped him get to where he was. He never acquired the mentality that he did everything himself. He truly understood that there were influences in his life who helped him to climb the corporate ladder.

Every person should regularly take the time to remember those influences who helped them get to where they are in life. Some people influenced you who wonder what their efforts in life accomplished. You could make someone’s day if you took the time to remember those influences which took the time to influence you when you were a nobody. There are several observations that we can learn from David’s life about remembering influences.

First, you will never be grateful for the influences of people if you are not grateful for God’s influence in your life. It is interesting that David honored his Divine influence before honoring human influences. David wanted to build a temple for God because he felt indebted to God for what He had done for him. You will never honor human influences properly if you don’t remember God’s influence.

Second, remembering and honoring influences is never convenient. It wasn’t easy for David to honor Jonathan because he was dead; however, David didn’t allow the inconvenience to stop him from remembering and honoring those who helped him in life. It may be an inconvenience to remember those who influenced your life, but remember that they were inconvenienced when they took the time to help you. Never let an inconvenience keep you from remembering and honoring your influences.

Third, it will take time and effort to remember influences. David had to make the effort to find someone who he could be kind to for Jonathan’s sake. Likewise, you are going to have to put time and effort into finding those who have influenced you. Don’t let your lack of time hinder you from putting the effort into remembering and honoring them. You will never regret taking time and putting the effort into honoring those who influenced you.

Fourth, it is a choice you must purposely make. David said, “I will…” This was a deliberate choice that he made. You have to choose consciously to remember and honor those people who influenced you; it won’t happen by mistake. Put it in your schedule to remember someone who influenced you. Don’t be so selfish and self-centered that you won’t purposely remember those who had a part in helping you succeed in life.

Friend, those who influenced you may not be what they are supposed to be today, but they were an influence in your life, and you owe a debt to them for what they instilled in you. Let me encourage you to think of someone today who influenced you, and do what you can to honor them. Start with honoring God, family, and friends. Afterward, go to those outside influences and honor them. You will never regret it.