Obeying God’s Calling – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “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.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Chapters: I Chronicles 28, I Kings 1, Psalms 72, 127
Message: Obeying God’s Calling

Hello My Friend,

I have to be honest with you, this pandemic has been tugging greatly on my faith, and I do not mean that I am losing my faith in God, I am talking about my capability as a Christian. I feel like I fail God the second I get out of bed, then I read these words this morning, [I Chronicles 28:10 Take heed now; for the LORD hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.] Of course, I am not Solomon, and God has not chosen me to build a temple for Him, but He has chosen me to build His house up. So, even though I fail Him, I must be strong and do what He has called me to do, [I Corinthians 7:20-23 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. 21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. 23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.]

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 because he was faithful to 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. This is the only king to appoint who would take care of things after he died. David stood before the congregation and spoke.

[I Chronicles 28:4-7 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. 7 Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.]

[chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever:] This goes all the way back to Jacob when he prophesied that the scepter or rule would not end at his family until Jesus returns, [Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.] Incidentally, the scepter is a staff, similar to a shepherds hook, the king would hold it out to allow the people to talk to him. If he never held out his staff, you would not even be allowed to approach the king and live to tell about it. You know, God works the same way, only His staff is His Son, He stands before Him, and we must touch it by accepting and receiving Him as our Saviour, otherwise, we would be wasting our breath trying to talk to God because He will not hear us, [John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.]

[if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments,] Even David knew that while God is the one who chose Solomon and his lineage to rule Israel that 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 prayer, 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 judge the poor of the people,] 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, 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. Now, David took a turn for the worse, he was bed bound, while it was all set that Solomon would become 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 1:5-7,11-12,16-17 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. 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. 16 And Bathsheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? 17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.]

[and they following Adonijah helped him.] Let me tell you, people will switch sides in a heartbeat if it meant they would get a more prominent position or would lose their position. Nevertheless, when God appoints our duties He will stop at nothing to get us to perform them. And anyone who tries to alter that will be stopped themselves. Keep in mind also that when God 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. Now, Adonijah, and all these fools that followed him were going to learn what fools they are, while all they were celebrating Adonijah being king before he was even anointed, David declared Solomon the king, and look who was pleading for his life now.

[I Kings 1:32-34,48-52 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 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. 48 And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. 49 And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. 50 And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. 52 And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die.]

[mine eyes even seeing it.] David was the only father to see his son become king as it was he would have died before his son would actually become king. Is it not great how God intervenes, and even though we mess up, He still fulfills His promises to us, [he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying,] 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, we 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. Remember, obedience is better than sacrifice. 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 we learn from getting out of His will, it is building knowledge upon the foundation of Christ, and then allowing Him to direct our steps the right way. [Psalms 127:1-4 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.]

Today’s Prayer: God, You have called 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 is what Your will for my life is 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 on how to make the right decisions and judgment of people, the strength and courage I need to do what You have called me to do. And fill me with Your mercy and grace to get back in Your will should I fall out of it. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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