Listening to the Word

1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 18-19; Colossians 4   “But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord.’…But Jehoshaphat asked, ‘Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?’” 1 Kings 22:5, 7 “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” Colossians 4:12 Jehoshaphat’s leadership-decisions were guided by prayer. His first priority was to seek the counsel of the Lord. His father-in-law, Ahab, used religion to manipulate people and decisions rather than to seek the Lord’s counsel. Prayer can sometimes be the religious ‘window dressing’ in our meetings rather than our first response in discernment and decision-making. Do we believe the Lord still speaks today through his Word and Spirit? While he was in prison in Rome, Epaphras contributed to the ministry of the church in Colossae through wres...

1 Kings 20-21; 2 Chronicles 17; Colossians 3 “(There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.” 1 Kings 21:25-27 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5 At the urging of his wife Jezebel, Ahab sold himself to the powers of darkness. His vile practices included rituals which involved offering sacrifices to demons. When Ahab lusted after Naboth’s vineyard to use as a vegetable garden and then supported a plot to kill Naboth and steal his land, God was grieved. Greed is the same as idolatry. We might not plot to take someone else’s garden plot; but, when money becomes our god, ...

1 Kings 17-19; Colossians 2   “…He gave him to his mother and said, ‘Look your son is alive!’ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth!’…’Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.’” 1 Kings 17:23, 24; 18:37 Why did God allow the death of the widow of Zarepheth’s son? Why did God allow a famine and no rain in Israel for three years? In these experiences of Elijah, God was turning the hearts of people to him and even back to him. The widow of Zarepheth could only think of sin as the cause of her son’s death. God’s heart toward her was full of mercy and forgiveness. Zarepheth was the birthplace of Jezebel and centre of Baal worship. In that very place God was turning hearts toward himself. The dramatic fire from heaven which consumed the soaked sacrifice at Carmel reminds us of the tongues of fire on the heads...

1 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 15-16; Colossians 1 “…the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that which you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world, this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:5, 6 The gospel Paul proclaimed was focused on the faith, love, and hope found in knowing Jesus Christ. This fruit of the Spirit is evident anywhere and at any time people have responded to the gospel and given their lives to Jesus. If we don’t see the evidence of faith, love, and hope in the lives of people who confess they follow Jesus, we have to ask whether they have truly experienced conversion or are merely cultural Christians. When the DNA of the gospel is clear, the same fruit Paul witnessed two thousand years ago is evident in gospel-transformed lives today. Are we growing ...

1 Kings 15; 2 Chronicles 13-14; Philippians 4 “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:2, 3 Paul called two women who were leaders in the Philippian church “to agree with each other in the Lord”. His call to be “like-minded…Do[ing] nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” was written for a particular conflict in leadership that he was addressing in his letter (Philippians 2:2, 3). This generous, faithful, persecuted church had conflict, not unlike our own churches today. How are we working to resolve conflict in our own contexts? Paul’s call is to be of one mind in the Lord, not the same mind as each other. If we will humble ourselves before the Lord and each other, the Lord will give us grace to see our conflict from h...

1 Kings 13-14; 2 Chronicles 12; Philippians 3   “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 12:14 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10, 11 Rehoboam turned his back on temple worship and seeking the presence of the Lord, and he almost lost everything. After experiencing the humiliation of the king of Egypt looting Jerusalem and all of Solomon’s treasure, Rehoboam humbled himself before God. When we fail to set a daily pattern of seeking the Lord, we will seek wealth, affirmation, and security in other things. What we think about and spend our money and time on, become our gods. Paul’s focus was on Christ - knowing, imitating and pleasing the Lord, Jesus Christ. This was the daily focus and passion of Paul’s life and it can be ours as well. “Lord Jesus, you are my focus...