April 2019 – Praying Pint

151. And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God,

1 Kings 15:1 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.

2 Chronicles 25:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

When walking down the paths of; 1. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God. 2. he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. 3. seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.

There are dangers we face that are self-induced and none so dangerous as not giving God our whole heart. When God does not get our whole heart then we get influenced and driven by our own sinful desires or those of others. When we separate our heart to serve other things more wholly than God we jump on a very wide deceiving path of influence, illusions, deception, false hopes, and fleeting satisfaction. Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” This is true in more than just money. If we try to manage our time with God in an attempt to satisfy both our self and God we most certainly will side with self. When that happens the word of God becomes less and less, serving Him becomes a burden, honoring Him becomes counterfeit, following Him becomes more of performing art than the desired walk, and obeying Him becomes at best a guess of what society deems ok. See what Peter says about slipping away from God and it’s the outcome: 2 Peter 1:3-10 “ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,”

Serving God half-hearted will lead to acceptance and tolerance of sin in our lives. It will rob us or true joy, peace, rest, hope, and faith.

150.a. Do not let the Gospel of Jesus Christ be watered down.

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I saw something posted yesterday and it just struck me how easy it is to be led to lies. I am not sure what scripture is used to come to this conclusion but it is things like this that water down the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People could use scripture like Psalms 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”, Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Hebrews 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” These three scriptures could lead a person to believe there is no consequence to how a person lives their life and that God will just make all of the stupid selfish, prideful, lustful, hateful, and greedy things sinful people do just go away and that is that.

There is no forgiveness of sin if the need to be forgiven is not understood. There is no forgiveness without seeing the need to confess, repent, and believe. Scripture does say this about God’s love; John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Romans 3:23-26 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In our situations God will open our heart to Jesus Christ, Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” but we are to take the action of opening that door and believing in Jesus. If there is no intentional heart deep choice to open the door, submit to, serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey Jesus Christ then there is no forgiveness, no redemption, no salvation. Our culture of tolerance has opened up a watered-down gospel that removes confession, remorse, repentance, belief, and faith. Our culture seems to like to present partial truths and clings to them without want or desire to truly searching for the whole truth. Make it quick and easy and let me go on to the next thing that will occupy my time for what I want to do.

150. Within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

1 Kings 14:21 Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

Ezekiel 16:47-48     Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways.

Romans 1:24-27    Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

Deuteronomy 32:18-21  You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.  “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.  And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.  They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Do you ever wonder how people get so far away from God that they replace serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him with something else? It is not as though God changed who He was or His steadfast love and holiness changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What changes in the lives of people that they no longer have a heart, mind, and soul for the one and only true God. I have an idea it was a slow decline over time. They allowed the very evil and wayward thinking of the people God drove out before them to find it’s wake back. It is not as though they woke one day and said: “I am going to do this really stupid thing I know is wrong against God”. No, it was more like a slow steady decline and turning of their heart and mind away from God and His word. They spent less and less time thinking about Him and more and more about themselves. They spent more time listening to those who have no heart for God than time in God’s word.

Acceptance of false teaching and sinful living is the beginning of the fall. Some may think since it is just the beginning of the fall it is not that bad. If you jump off of a cliff there is really no difference in the ending from the beginning. The outcome is the same, it is just the little bit of time between. It is not as though you can grab onto anything while you are in midair on a free fall. Such are the lives of many who spend little to no time in God’s word and their heart and mind are listening to that which does not serve, honor, or glorify God. It is a slow heating of the water and nothing aware of how hot it is getting before you are dead.

There is no one holding you back from serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God but you. You choose each day.

148. Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences

1 Kings 13:33 After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”

When she came, she pretended to be another woman. But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the Lord has spoken it.”’ Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth, the Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.

Isaiah 44:20 a deluded heart has led him astray

Psalms 50:17     For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.

Nehemiah 9:26    “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.

Ezekiel 23:35   Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences

Not listening to a warning does not end well. Rejecting the word of God and its application in your life does not end well. Closing your heart and mind to things of God does not end well. Leaning on your own understanding, knowledge, wisdom does not end well. Living with God at arm’s length away does not end well. Not spending time in God’s word each day does not end well. Thinking God is only there for you to call on Him when in trouble and not needing Him other times does not end well. Not being intentional each day with the choice to humbly serve, honor, follow, trust, and obey God does not end well. Thinking there is another time in the future where you will commit more, serve and trust more fully does not end well. Thinking you are good enough does not end well. Thinking you can find satisfaction apart from God does not end well. Being lukewarm in your walk with God does not end well. Being neglectful and complacent does not end well. All of these lead us down false paths of hope and peace but they are able to give nothing. They all encourage you to cast God’s word behind your back.

Stay in His word. Choose to keep it in front of you. Do not cast it behind your back. Choose to seek him in the morning, mid-day, and evening. Keep His word close to your heart and live to honor and glorify Him.

147. He sought to silence the messenger rather than respond to the message.

1 Kings 13:1 And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before. And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

David Guzik; “This is a sad commentary on the spiritual state of Jeroboam’s kingdom. This anonymous man of God was used in an important way. He demonstrates that one does not need to be famous to be significantly used by God. Jeroboam’s reaction was immediate – he sought to silence the messenger rather than respond to the message. The prophecy from the man of God was like most every message of coming judgment – an implicit invitation to repentance. Jeroboam obviously did not accept this invitation. Under the evident judgment of God, Jeroboam had no use for golden calves or their altars. He knew that his only hope was in the LORD and in His representative. As the subsequent chapters will show, Jeroboam didn’t really repent here; or if he did, it was only for a moment. Wanting to receive something from God is not the same as repentance. Jeroboam quickly – and naturally, given the circumstances – embraced the man of God as a friend. He wanted to refresh and reward him, without any repentance from the sin the man of God had denounced.”

How many times do we go down paths without a single thought of being on a path that is God led, God, purposed, and God planned? If there is no intentional choice (desire) to seek out God’s leading for each day then we leave an opening for influences other than God to slip in and guide us. Therein is the problem. We seem to condone walking through life with an occasional glance in God’s direction rather than intentionally choosing to keep our eyes fixed on Him, our heart committed to Him, and our mind ever thinking about Him.

When we are in His word each day there is a refreshing that comes to our soul. This refreshing comes in different forms. Conviction and subsequent refreshing repentance and forgiveness. Courage, peace, and rest in the face of trials. Hope in the midst of troubles. The clarity in times of confusion. Light in darkness. Strength in weakness.

If God is not first and foremost in our every day lives then what is first and foremost will not be honoring, serving, following, and serving Him.

146. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

Psalms 14:1    The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good

Mark 2:6  Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?

2 Corinthians 10:5    We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

1 Peter 1:14-15    As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

Jeroboam had a thought and it was heart deep. Since this happened, then this will happen, and because of that, I must do this. All of these thoughts took place in his heart. They took root and he acted upon them. He replaced God with two golden calves and set times of feasting and sacrificing and placed priests who were not of the tribe of Levites. He started down a path because of a thought in his heart and then continually took action in-line with that original errant thought.

Nothing has really changed in man over the years. Thoughts still come into our heart and mind. Many of these thoughts have a sin origin and unless we take them captive they will lead us on paths to make decisions that capture our heart, mind, and soul and not in line with honoring or following or obeying or trusting God.

We believe the lie or deception or illusion because the word of God is not in our heart and mind. Our desire for His word has been replaced. It is not as though we were given a black and white choice in this matter. It is just not that clear cut. What happens is we allow the busyness of life and cares of this world to seep into our heart. It starts with a little neglect of His word and this soon becomes a habit that changes how we see things, how we make decisions, how we think, and what we allow ourselves to think about and dwell on.

Paul gave us “Take every thought captive to obey Christ”. To understand our thoughts in light of His word we must have His word in our heart with a desire to have it expose wrong thoughts and keep our feet on the path that humbly serves, honors, follows, obeys, and trusts in Jesus Christ.

145. How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world

1 Kings 12:16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 25:8     But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.”

Hosea 8:4    They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.

Matthew 25:12    But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

Luke 13:25     When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

Luke 13:27     But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’

John 10:14     I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

Galatians 4:9     But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

Do we think that we are any different than those of history where the Lord says; “They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not”? We see that Rehoboam listened when he heard “for this thing is from Me”. How many then and now do not even come close to listening, they do not seek God in their decision, nor do they seek to honor Him with what they are doing. When God’s word is present in our lives it is used by the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us. Herein lies the problem. We think we can neglect God’s word in our life and make a decision based on experience, circumstance, and what is acceptable by the norm, culture, society.

Luke what Jesus said to those who played the part of being wholly for God but whose heart and mind was not close to Him or have a desire to honor, serve, follow and obey Him; ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’, “‘I do not know where you come from.’, “I do not know where you come from. Depart from me”, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,”. There is a way that seems right to man but ends in death and separation from God. It is a path that is easy to follow because many are on it and if we just look and compare ourselves to them we assume we are good enough for heaven.

Let’s get this straight – NO ONE IS GOOD ENOUGH – EVER!!!! All fall short, all need to be redeemed, all need a savior, all need their sins forgiven. When our eyes are comparing ourselves with others we will always find a way to be good enough in the eyes of Jesus. Our eyes deceive us and we easily believe that lie. Soon we are no longer being led by the word of God but the ways of the world, culture, and society.

Commit to being in His word every day for the purposes of honoring, serving, following, glorifying, obeying, and trusting Him. Allow it to reach the depths of your heart, mind, and soul and guide you.

144. But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him

1 Kings 11:42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place. Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. And as soon as Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), then Jeroboam returned from Egypt. And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” He said to them, “Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.” But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him. And he said to them, “What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?” And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Proverbs 10:11   The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

Proverbs 10:32    The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

Ecclesiastes 10:12   The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him.

James 3:17    But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

We need to be mindful of where we get our counsel. Do we seek the Lord and His leading? Do we spend time seeking Him? Do we hunger and thirst for His guidance in our life? God’s word is a deep and wide ocean of wisdom and knowledge by which we gain understanding and godly counsel. Time and busyness take their toll on the hearts and minds of those who don’t intentionally set aside time for the single purpose of refreshing their heart, soul, and mind in God’s word. The counsel of the world will flood your heart and mind because there is nothing else to combat this flow other than the word of God.

Un-godly counsel – give no thought to God’s word today because you are too busy and tired and pre-occupied and am good enough with where you are spiritually.

Godly counsel – desire and seek to be in His word each day wanting to be led by God for His purpose, honor, and glory

143. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

1 Kings 11:9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.

Deuteronomy 3:26 But the LORD was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.

Deuteronomy 9:8 Even at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.

2 Samuel 6:7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Psalms 78:58-60 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols. When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

Psalms 90:7-8 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

2 Timothy 4:10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me

Ben Dunson; “As the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, Moses preached to them about what God would require of his people so that they would not be exiled from the land once they had taken possession of it. Deuteronomy, in fact, is largely comprised of Moses’ sermons expressing God’s commitment to Israel, and Israel’s necessary response of faithfulness to God. Among the many things that Israel needs to know are the qualifications for its future kings, which are laid out for us in Deut 17:14-20. The king must be an Israelite (v. 15); he “must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses” (v. 16); he must “not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” to idolatry (v. 17); he must not “acquire for himself excessive silver and gold” (v. 17); and finally, he must diligently and humbly keep God’s law (v. 18). In sum, Israel’s king must avoid trusting in earthly power (symbolized by horses), idolatry, resting in wealth, and neglecting God’s commands.

“Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen” (see Deut 17:16). These large numbers are not necessarily sinful, but as Deuteronomy warns, such a large accumulation of horses will tempt Israel’s kings to trust in their own military might, rather than in the power of God to save his people.

Solomon’s love of these women violates God’s warning to his people that they should “not enter into marriage with them, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods”

Solomon, as a king, is very different from us, but as a sinner with divided loyalties and a propensity to turn away from God, he is all too like us today. In fact, we can see in his life many of the most pressing temptations that all believers face in every age, namely, the temptations that come along with money, power, and love, as well as the idolatry that so easily takes root in our hearts. If our hearts are not fixed on our Lord, love for other stuff, trusting in our own wealth and power will become all-consuming, and as with Solomon, will easily lead our hearts away from God so that we too become “not wholly true to the Lord [our] God”.

We must allow the word of God to correct us in the same way we allow it to encourage us. Stay in God’s word and learn from it. Listen to it speak to your heart. Cling to it, believe it, rely on it, and obey it with all your heart, soul and mind. There is nothing more precious to the soul than to be in His word and then to be led by God to repent and turn away from that which is not pleasing and honoring to Him.

142. For surely they will turn away your heart after their gods

1 Kings 11:1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4    You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,  for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Ezra 10:2-17   And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.  Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

Malachi 2:11    Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

Judges 3:6-7     And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

patrick Mabilog; “Idolatry looks completely different today from what it once was. Whereas there was a time when idols were inanimate figures and statues, today they can come in various forms. Idolatry is an issue of the heart and can thus only be broken by a transformation of the heart.

God promises that through the power of the cross, we are now set free from sinful desires and can find meaning and joy in Jesus Christ where other things will only fail us in trying to provide that.

Idols are anything that takes God’s place in giving us fulfillment, satisfaction, security or significance. Many of the things that people have idolized — both past and present — are not necessarily bad things, but good things that take bad positions on our priority tree.

We are taught by the Bible to always put God first in our hearts. Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.“

We don’t have to yoke ourselves to another person to fall into the trap of serving other gods. Work, success, money, image, sex, materialism, and self-pride/worth are all paths this world offers us to take our eyes away from Jesus. These are not bad but when we distort their value and purpose they will seep in through every crack in our heart, mind, and soul pushing God away and their lies further in. They will root and lead us to make decisions that we would not have imagined making prior.

The minute we think we don’t need to be diligent with our time in God’s word, when we think we are in control and can coast through our prosperous life, when we think we are so strong that we would never fail, when we find it difficult to find time to spend with God’s word, When we think we are being good enough forgetting that it does not matter, when there is little difference in our lives and those who do not know God – these are all good indicators that worldly idolatry has infested your heart.

Recognize it, confess it, repent of it, and seek to place God first in all you do each minute of every day.