Encorajamento / explicação por Texto Bíblico (do Dia) - 1 Kings
If God said to you, "Ask! What do you want me to give you?" As you did with Solomon, how do you think you would respond? Solomon could have asked for riches beyond imagination, great fame, or unrivaled power. But Solomon's response is an impressive display of humility and recognition of his need for God and wisdom. When you bring your requests before God, ask Him to show you the things you really need, and always remember that your greatest need is to have Him, not the things he can do for you.
Pray with me: God, I pray that You would give me a mind full of understanding and a heart that hears Your voice so that I can discern between good and evil.
When reading, feel the construction of the temple, observe the house of God was built with extreme excellence (see 1 Kings 6:18,21). Today, we, his people, are his home, the place where He lives and reveals himself. We modern-day believers need to be diligent and follow the example of the Old Testament temple and offer excellence to the world around us as excellent people.
Solomon's prayer expresses the theme: "How great God is!"
- God is the only God.
- God is greater than the entire universe.
- God is merciful.
- God is faithful.
- God has regard for your home.
- God forgives and restores our ways.
The tragedy of Solomon's life was not a sudden personal catastrophe, but the gradual decrease in his complete devotion to God. He walked the repeated path away from God: knowledge of the heart became only an understanding of the mind, and knowledge of the mind finally gave way to total apostasy.
In addition, Solomon's life teaches that the great blessings and opportunities that God gives also have hidden threats to the relationship from which these gifts and opportunities are born. Our own blessings can undermine faith in the one who bestowed these victories on us. It is evident that an individual's proper relationship with God is always based on continued, conscious, willing obedience. When obedience is lacking, the alternative is disobedience - even idolatry, as was the case with Solomon. And such disobedience brings divine judgment. The end of his kingdom, his son will NOT rule over all of Israel.
For those who do not remember this story, what happened was the following: - Solomon sinned, the kingdom was divided after his death, 2 tribes stayed with Rehoboam and the other 10 with Jeroboam. Jeroboam was one of Solomon's officers and he revolted against him.
Jeroboam made two golden calves and presented them to the people as an image of their gods.
The prophet warned that Jeroboam could submit, repent and change his attitude. Although he had heard the prophet from Judah, he nonetheless continued his opposition to God. Jeroboam's religion was partly true and mistaken, but in the final analysis, it was still a man-made and centered religion. As such, it was an idolatrous religion, that is, one in which man's desires and attitudes take precedence over God's purposes and plans. It is a kind of idolatry worse than the pagan. Jeroboam and his followers knew what was right, but they practiced what was wrong.
Today, once again this idolatry is repeated, leaders know the Biblical teaching, what the Bible directs us to do, but they are distorting the word of God and raising golden calves for the people to worship. Likewise, a religion that idolizes man. May God have mercy on his people. One wishes to change the Word of God in order to please men.
In the story that begins in 1 Kings 17:9, we see that God sends Elijah to Serepta. Possible that God sent the prophet to Serepta's widow, not because He wanted to do something for Elijah, but because He wanted to do something for the widow. If God sends you to a different place or puts you in a situation that you do not understand, He will bless you, but it may be out of love for someone else. If "your brook" runs dry, as did in 1 Kings 17 for Elijah before going to Serepta, it does not mean that you did something wrong; it is more likely that God needs you elsewhere. When God might close one door, you can always expect Him to open another.
Have you ever wondered how you would pay all the bills, or maybe even where your next meal would come from? God can be very creative when it comes to supplying his people, as Elijah discovered in 1 Kings 17:1-9. As you follow God, you can always trust Him to supply, even if it is unexpected!
Remember to thank Him for your faithful provision every day.
At the time when the sacrifice of the evening was usually offered, Elijah prayed to the God of the patriarchs of Israel, who was also their Lord. He prayed, as only an obedient person can pray, that God would answer, his people who had turned to Baal and Asherah, and bring them back to Himself.
The people, full of admiration and awe, confessed what every man must confess - the earlier, the better: "only the Lord is God!" This confession made it very clear that they had decided in favor of God and against Baal.
In Elijah's sacrifice and prayer we can see:
- A faith that dares to subject God to a test.
- A man who is concerned with the glory of God and the salvation of his people.
- The kind of response given by God to this faith is to these men.
- The people's response to the power of God thus manifested.
After announcing to Ahab what would happen - the rain was coming - Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel. There he knelt with his forehead on the ground. Can you see him in that position? In that worshiping position, Elijah had his servant run back and forth several times to see if it had started to cloud.
When you worship God, He will send the rain of His Spirit upon you, and it will drown all your "Ahabs" and all the resistances of your life. Take a stand and praise the Lord! Worship before the rain starts to fall on your life.
The armies took up position for battle on a nearby plain, where the Israelite contingent had the appearance of "little herds of goats" compared to the Syrian army. Again, through a man of God who came on the scene, the Lord sent the promise of a mighty victory over the Syrians. God intended the Syrians to be aware that He was the God of the valleys as well as the God of the hills.
Here we may think:
- In the false philosophy of the world that God is only God in the mountains, in the high places of life and moments of prosperity.
- In the true theology of the Bible when it says that the Lord is also the God of the valleys, of the depths, of times of trial and depression.
May you stand firm, knowing that in every situation God is with you.