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Christian Devotional – January 22, 2017
As we continue to look at Solomon, we see that things did not go well for him. He had great success and had built the temple. He was very wise and God had promised to be with him in everything if only he would trust and obey God. God even reiterated this promise to Solomon and we read about that in the last devotional. However, then comes 1 Kings chapter 11, a disastrous chapter for Solomon. Read 1 Kings 11:1-13. Here we see that Solomon got distracted. He was distracted by women and all the seemingly wonderful things that this life has to offer. He stopped following God and was…
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Christian Devotional – January 19, 2017
Yesterday we saw that Solomon had become king and he had a conversation with God where he received wisdom to govern the people. The next few chapters in 1 Kings (4-8), we see Solomon displaying this great wisdom and even going about accomplishing the amazing purpose that God had for him. Solomon built the Temple for the Lord, which was the culmination of his father David’s dream. Then we get to 1 King chapter 9. Read verses 1-9. God reiterates his promise and reminder to Solomon. Why would He choose that very time to do that? Solomon was at the height of obedience. He’d been faithful to do what God…
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Christian Devotional – January 18, 2017
As we look again at Solomon today, we are looking at the same passage of scripture from 1 Kings chapter 3. As we see in the first several verses of the chapter, Solomon has been worshipping God and God comes to him and asks him a question that many of us wish God would ask us, “What do you want me to give you?” We can think of many things that we might answer God with. We often use our prayer time to bombard God with a litany of requests. Solomon’s answer was very interesting. He asked for wisdom in governing people. He did not ask for wealth and power.…
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Christian Devotional – January 17, 2017
We’re going to spend the next few days looking at the life of Solomon. There are, perhaps, no better examplesin the Bible of someone who had great opportunity and who missed it. He had amazing purpose,but he did not live up to all that God had for him and there is so much to learn from his life. Today, read 1 Kings 3:3-15. Solomon has just been crowned king and the Bible explains that he did loveGod and he did follow God, but he didn’t give up all the evil practices that the others were doing in Israel at that time. So as a result, we find Solomon offering sacrifices…
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Christian Devotional – January 14, 2017
Have you been afraid? What about a situation where you really wanted to know the answer to something, but you were afraid to ask? Maybe others didn’t want you to know. Maybe you weren’t sure you could handle the answer. Either way, it presents a difficult situation. That’s how Nicodemus must have felt. Read his story in John 3:1-21. He was a high ranking religious official and he had spent years studying the law and living by the rules that were set forth in that. Now there is this person, Jesus, who is teaching something similar, but different. He didn’t understand it and he had questions, but the other religious…
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Christian Devotional – January 13, 2017
I like to see results. I am very driven and motivated by seeing the results of what I am doing, however, that generally means that I’m expecting something to happen very soon after whatever it is that I’ve been doing. Today we’re looking at purpose that doesn’t show immediate results. Read 2 Timothy 1:1-7. Timothy certainly was well on his way to accomplishing his purpose and Paul was writing to him to help encourage him along the way. However, Paul also mentions Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois, He commends them for having fulfilled their purpose by training and teaching young Timothy, so now Timothy is better equipped to…
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Christian Devotional – January 12, 2017
Peter had purpose. He was one if the disciples who had been in Jesus’s inner circle. Peter had made the great confession about who Jesus was and Peter had always been the outspoken leader of the group. However, he was also the one who denied Jesus 3 times on the night he was crucified. Not exactly something he would have liked to add to his resume. We all mess up. We all have moments when we fail to meet the purpose that God has for us. We miss out on the blessings of God, but that doesn’t mean we are through or that God is through with us. Read John…
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Christian Devotional – January 11, 2017
Over the past several days we’ve learned several things about purpose and God’s purpose in our lives. So why do we not just jump up and do the purpose that God has for us? Why aren’t we busy fulfilling all of God’s purpose in our lives? Read Romans chapter 7. There are so many things that push and pull for our attention and often, we don’t even realize the war that is going on inside of us. We say we want to please God and do the things that He asks of us, but then we end up doing the exact opposite. We want to do good, but we fail.…
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Christian Devotional – January 10, 2017
Several of the people in the Bible had great purpose, but few were more clearly spelled out than John the Baptist. His coming and the work that he would be doing was prophesied about in the old testament. His birth was foretold by angels and was a miraculous birth. He had a following of people who would hang on every word that he said. You can read about him in many places of the New Testament, but we’re going to look at him from Joihn 3:22-36. As you read through this, you see John giving an overview of his purpose to other people. Interestingly, even though he had all those…
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Christian Devotional – January 8, 2017
As we continue looking at purpose, what happens when people don’t think you’re the right person for the purpose you believe God has called you to? Jesus ran into this very early on. Read Luke 2:41 through the end of the chpater. Jesus was going to the temple with his parents. He was only 12 years old, Still, Jesus knew exactly what His purpose was and how to fulfill it. Unfortunately, not everyone around him, like his parents, knew or understood exactly what that meant or looked like. As a result, Jesus went about fulfilling His purpose and His parents left Him at the temple. Sometimes when we are working…