King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021
Chapters: I Chronicles 28, I Kings 1, Psalms, 72, 127
Message: Called For A Purpose
Hello My Friend,
Jesus said, [John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.]
When you stop to think about the education, skills, and experiences you acquire, you never fully comprehend that perhaps they were given to us by God for a purpose to be used when He is ready for us to use them. Now, we all have a purpose for God bringing us into the world in the first place, He has actually predestined that we all get saved, but since He gives us all the freewill to choose, not everyone will get saved, [Romans 8:28-30 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.]
The called, of all the billions of people in the world, it really is sad to realize that very few will get saved and even fewer will be called by God for His service. And when God chooses us, it is not necessarily for the purpose of serving Him in His Church. God has a purpose for both believers and unbelievers to try His people, and to also send judgment upon His people. David may have gotten into some messes when he got out of God’s will, but God still saw him as the apple of His eye and used him for the purpose of being king over all His people. David knew that God had a purpose for Solomon as well, and it was to be more than the next king. David wanted to make sure that Solomon was well prepared to fulfill the purpose God had for him, he made sure that before he died the house of God as well as his own house, and the people of Israel would be taken care of. And now David stands before his people and reminds them that it is God who choose Solomon to be king
[I Chronicles 28:2-6 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: 3 But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. 4 Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel: 5 And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. 6 And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.]
[he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne] We will never fully comprehend that not everyone in our own house will follow the will of God, or even get saved. Believe it or not, God will call on the least qualified and least likely to succeed people to do great things through Him. The key to their success is of course, is their faithfulness to Him. When we are called by God it is best to just do it. This is actually the advice that David gave Solomon.
[I Chronicles 28:8-10 Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever. 9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. 10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.]
[be strong, and do it.] There is this phrase that I think of often whenever I say that I will try to do something, “Don’t try, do!” Often when we try we really are not making an effort to succeed as trying indicates that we can care less either way, if we succeed, then “Hooray!”, but of not, then “Oh well”. However, when we do, we set our minds and actions upon succeeding, we work harder and trust that God will see our efforts and bless us for following through, even if we do not succeed, [I Corinthians 3:14-15 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.]
David knew that while God is the one who chose Solomon and his lineage to rule Israel, it was all contingent upon Solomon’s, as well as the rest of Judah’s faithfulness to God. You see, being faithful to God does not mean we are not going to mess up from time to time, or chastened for it, it does mean that when we do mess up, we accept the course of action, and remain faithful. David even wrote aprayer, addressed specifically to Solomon, for God to give him the wisdom to rule the kingdom as He would have him, and if you listen to the words you can see a familiar resemblance.
[Psalms 72:1-4,11-14 A Psalm for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. 2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.]
[He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:] This, of course, is not really Solomon that is being talked about here, it is Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, who came here in the flesh through David’s lineage. We somehow get it through our heads that when we mess up we have to make these things work on our own, but that is not the truth. The truth is, we can do nothing without Christ, we need Him every hour of every day, and in everything we do, otherwise, Satan will attempt to lead us away from God’s calling and we could lose out. Now, David hands Solomon the blueprints for the Temple, and once again, tells him to be strong and do it.
[II Chronicles 28:11-13,20 Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, 12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: 13 Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD. 20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.]
[until thou hast finished all the work] This does not mean that once Solomon finished the Temple that He will never be with him again. It means that until Solomon fulfills every purpose that God has brought him here for that he will remain alive. God will not bring His people home until every purpose that He has brought us here for is fulfilled. Likewise, He will not end the life of the unbeliever until every opportunity to receive Him has been exhausted, [II Peter 3:9-10 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.]
We do not know when God’s purpose for us is fulfilled and we do not know when Jesus will return, and for those reasons we must never take one day for granted. We were called for a purpose and we must not stall. Now, that the orders were set in place, it was time to execute them. The book of I Kings contains twenty-two chapters, the author of the book is Jeremiah and it was written to Israel. The timeline for these events took place between 1015 BC to 897 BC. The purpose of the book was to record God’s dealings with His people from King Solomon, through the division of Israel, and the reigns of Ahab and Jehoshaphat. After David set things in order, He took a turn for the worse, he was bed bound, and while it was all set that Solomon would become the next king, David’s eldest son, Adonijah, thought that he deserved to be the rightful king. He managed to get a priest and Joab to join him in crowning him king.
[I Kings 1:5-7,10-12 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. 7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. 11 Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12 Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.]
[and they following Adonijah helped him.] Never underestimate Satan, he will do anything in an attempt to overthrow God’s purpose. And remember, it is God who allows it, which I imagine He does it to try us, and this is not the same thing as trying to do something, God trues us to prove our faith and faithfulness. David was not going to let another son attempt to take the throne from him, he called for Bathsheba, Nathan, and Zadok.
[I Kings 1:29-30,33-36 And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30 Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.]
[the LORD God of my lord the king say so too.] Let me tell you, people will switch sides in a heartbeat if it meant they would get a more prominent position or could lose their position. Nevertheless, God will stop at nothing to get us to fulfill His purpose for us. David was the only father to see his son become king. Keep in mind also that when He tells us that we are not to do something, He means that too, and will not hesitate to make us look like fools in our attempt to overthrow His will. While all these people were celebrating Adonijah being king before he was even anointed, David had Solomon declared the king.
[I Kings 1:39-43,49 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. 41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 42 And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. 43 And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. 49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.]
[And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid,] You know, Adonijah was really a good man, he just made the wrong choices, and was probably influenced by Joab in the first place. Sometimes, we can confuse our own will with God’s, and will keep going until we find ourselves holding on to those thorns at the altar. Nevertheless, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our unrighteousness when we do come to the altar in confession and repentance. And by the way, while we may not like who God chooses to rule over our country, we must respect them, and pray for them. The key to being successful in our calling is not necessarily in what purpose we get out of it, it is in our having allowed Him to direct our steps where He took them.
[Psalms 127:1-5 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.]
[Except the LORD build the house,] I will tell you that I have been educated in many things from holistic healing to electronic technology, and had many jobs from washing dishes to management. While everything I experienced was not a complete loss, the reason none of it stuck was that one, it was not always God’s will for me. And two, He has a purpose for them at one point while I am still here. Everything we go through actually does have a purpose, and eventually God will tell us what we need to do to fulfill it. Every work that we do, regardless of whether it is serving Him in His ministry or our secular job needs to have God’s hand upon it, otherwise, it is vain. Nothing we do for God is vain, [I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Psalms 72:17-18 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You have appointed all of us for some purpose, may we be used to be a testimony of the life You have given us through Your Son, and not an example of what happens if we are not. You are my life, I am nothing apart from You, I do not want riches or fame, all I want is to know Your will for my life and how I am to obtain that. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me Your power to walk with You everywhere I go, the wisdom and understanding to make the right decisions, and give me Your strength and courage to do what You have called me to do. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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