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  DISCUSSION                                                               In the book of Galatians, Paul is surprised that the Christians in Galatia had already turned aside to a different doctrine.   It seems that part of their problem had been they had allowed some false teacher to creep in and confuse them by saying that they had to adhere to specific aspects of the Mosaic Law; namely circumcision.   As he finishes up his letter, he makes this statement in Galatians 5.9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”.   What he meant was, it doesn’t take much of something to corrupt the whole thing.   The same could be said of King Jehoash in 2 Kings 12.   Revival seems to be on the horizon as Jehoash begins to do the kinds of things that will lead God’s people on the straight and narrow.   In fact, 2 Kings 12.2 says that “Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days…”.   However, there was one little thing that Jehoash failed to do “Nevertheless, the high places wer

  DISCUSSION                                                         What a great victory Jehu must have thought he had accomplished in destroying all the prophets of Baal along with their temple in 2 Kings 10.18-27.   Not only did they destroy it, but the Bible said that they made it a “latrine” or “sewer”.   I am sure this was an event that was spoken of for months and years after the fact and considered a great accomplishment.   As it was a great accomplishment, it may have also served as an accomplishment of Jehu.   Could it be that Jehu felt good about his accomplishment; so good maybe that he thought he did not have to do anything else? Sadly, in 2 Kings 10.29, we read that “Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.   How could a man do so much good, while at the same time do so much evil?   Maybe Jehu had a vision problem?   Maybe Jehu could see very clearly to notice the sins of others but failed to see his own shortcomi

  DISCUSSION                                       “You have got to be kidding me. You mean to tell me that if I go and dip myself in the Jordan River seven times, my leprosy will go away? You’re not even going to lay your hands on me, or touch me, or say abracadabra or nothing?   Man, that is the craziest thing I have ever heard!”    That might have been the way Naaman reacted if this happened today. Honestly, considering what Elisha said to him, we might have said the very same thing.   It seems strange to think that doing something so simple would accomplish so much.   Yet, that is exactly what happened! You see the power was not in the Jordan River, and it wasn’t even in Elisha.   The power came from God, but the healing happened when Naaman obeyed.   The same thing happens to us today.   It seems strange to believe that being baptized into a body of water can remove all our sins.   However, we must remember the power is not in the water; it isn’t even in the action of the bapti

  DISCUSSION          In 2 Kings 1, Judah’s new king is Ahaziah.  He has had some type of accident and has not been able to walk as a result. He sends messengers to inquire of Beelzebub (an idol) as to whether or not he will get better.  As they are on their way, they meet a man from God who scolds them for inquiring of an idol over the LORD.  As a result, he tells them that Ahaziah will die due to his rejection of the LORD.  When the messengers return, they reveal the news to king Ahaziah.  “Who told you that?”; ask the king.  “We don’t know his name, but he wore a garment of animal hair with a leather belt”, replied the messengers.  The king knew that it was Elijah the Tishbite. Isn’t that interesting that the king knew exactly who Elijah was based on the words he spoke and description of what he wore? That tells us that Elijah had a reputation; people were aware of what kind of a person he was by just a brief description. Everybody has a reputation; the important thing is to have

  DISCUSSION                            Have you ever been in a situation where you feel powerless?   It may be because of illness, tragedy or the actions of others against you. Whatever the case, you have no control over the situation.   In 2 Chronicles 20, that is the way Jehoshaphat feels.   The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites have joined forces and are headed to attack the nation of Judah.   The Bible says that King Jehoshaphat is afraid because he knows that they are no match for this “horde” of an enemy.   He feels powerless; there is nothing he can do to stop them from coming.   The only thing he can do is prepare for the impact.   He calls assembly before the House of the LORD and cries out to God for help.   Although they ask for God’s deliverance, they are content to accept whatever fate that God has before them.   As the King closes out his prayer, he says something very significant:   “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.   We do not

  DISCUSSION                                  In the final days of Ahab, King of Israel, he is faced with a battle against the King of Syria.   In his estimation, he was not allowed to defeat them himself, so he solicits Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah to join him.   Jehoshaphat agrees and unites with Ahab on one condition; that they inquire of the LORD first.   Ahab agrees and calls in 400 prophets and asked them, “Should I go and face Syria in battle and Ramaoth- Gilead?”.   “Go up” they replied.   Jehoshaphat interjects “Is there not a prophet of the LORD that we could ask?” (Evidently, Jehoshaphat noticed that these prophets were not true prophets of the LORD.).   Ahab replied, “There is one, Micaiah; but I hate him, for he never prophecies good concerning me”.   Don’t you just have to laugh at Ahab?   Here he is, seeking out advice from those that agree with him, rather than looking to a true prophet from God that will reveal to him the truth.   His reasoning is that the true pr

  DISCUSSION                                                “Sell out -someone who sacrifices their personal convictions for some type of advancement.”       Naboth had set himself up to become a very wealthy man.   He owned a vineyard that was located on a prime piece of property, right beside the palace of King Ahab.   It just so happens that Ahab desired this vineyard for himself and he wanted to turn it into a vegetable garden.   As Naboth might have expected, Ahab made his offer to pay whatever the piece of property was worth.   It could have been very easy for Naboth to accept Ahab’s offer and ride off into the sunset a healthy, wealthy man.   There was just one problem;   this vineyard was worth more to Naboth than any amount of money that Ahab would offer.   As it turns out, Naboth had inherited this vineyard from his father.   It could have been that this piece of property had been in his family for three or four generation, maybe even longer.   Naboth wasn’t interested i

  DISCUSSION :                                                                                                             As the spiritual state of the nation of God continues to decline, the prophets of God became afraid of Ahab and Jezebel and hid in caves in groups of fifties. God is looking for a prophet with the courage to, not only confront Ahab and Jezebel, but also make a statement from God against idolatry.   God finds His man in Elijah.   Elijah not only has the courage to confront Ahab and Jezebel, but he is also willing to take on the entire group of the prophets of Baal in a showdown.   The result, God shows His power through Elijah and gets rid of 400 prophets of Asherah and 450 prophets of Baal.   One would think that after such a devastating defeat, that Ahab and Jezebel would either retreat or repent from their wicked ways; but that was not the case.   In fact, the defeat only fueled Jezebels hatred for Elijah and she sets out to kill him.   I always thought that wa

  DISCUSSION                             As we continue our study of the kings of the two kingdoms, we see that as the nation of Judah begins to be (for the moment) on the right track in the early days of Asa, the Kingdom of Israel continues to fall in rapid decline.   With each passing king they grow worse; from bad with Jeroboam, to really bad with Baasha, to really really bad with Elah, to extremely bad with Zimri, to horribly bad with Omri until we get to the really, really, extremely, horribly wicked Ahab.   It was said about Ahab that he “…did evil in the sight of the LORD more than anyone else before him” (I Kings 16.30).    How did things get so bad?   It seems that each king attempted to trump the wickedness of the one that was before him.   As students of the Scriptures today, this should be a warning to us of the progression of sin.   James reminds us in his book of the progression of sin from birth to death, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his

  DISCUSSION                                        As we continue to read and study the nation of Israel, it doesn’t take very long before we see a tremendous downfall of the kingdom after the sins of Solomon.   The kingdom has now been divided into two sections; the nation of Judah is now referred to as the Southern Kingdom and the nation of Israel now becomes known as the Northern kingdom.   Judah is comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, while the remaining tribes make up the Northern Kingdom of Israel.   Each kingdom has slipped back into idolatry and now has their own separate linage of Kings, and the remaining portions of I and II Kings and II Chronicles compile a brief history and description of these kings.   1 Kings 15. 1-24 and 2 Chronicles 13-19 is comprised of the accomplishments of one of Judah’s kings… Asa.    Asa’s reign as king has a fantastic beginning.   In I Kings 15.11, we read that he “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD…” .   He begins by quickl

                  1 Kings 13 tells us about the Prophet Who Lied and the Prophet Who Died… the Li-ar and the Li-on…    It’s an interesting story where the man of God goes to Jeroboam to tell him about his future and how it will come crushing down by a child named Josiah because of the evil he was doing.   In fact, upon telling Jeroboam this, his hand withers and the very sign that the man of God predicted … “Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.” (vs 3) … occurred.   For this reason, Jeroboam offered to him to come home with him and refresh himself, but the man of God tells him that the Lord commanded him not to “eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.” (vs 9).   And, this command he obeyed, until he met an old prophet from Bethel who told him that God said that he was to come home with him and eat bread.   So, the man of God followed him even though he was lying; this lead to his death.   It’s interesting that his punishm

  DISCUSSION                   As we did for Proverbs 27 - 29, we're looking at an outline of the Proverbs for today. Proverbs 30 - Agur Gets Existential This next section is entitled "Sayings of Agur, Son of Jakeh" (no one knows who Agur was, but he may have been a non-Israelite, representing Near-Eastern wisdom in a more general way). It begins with a confession of human ignorance—the speaker admits that he doesn't know anything, doesn't understand how the world was made, or how the universe was structured. He lacks wisdom, he says, but ends by saying to God that God knows all. He says that everything God says comes true, and people shouldn't falsely attribute statements to the divine. In life, Agur says he only wants to be free from falsehood and lying, and to have just enough to live—being free from both poverty and wealth. He asks God for these gifts and says he won't be able to live an u

  DISCUSSION                                         It is estimated that if Solomon was alive today and had all the wealth that he had while King of Israel, he would be worth over 2.1 trillion dollars.   If that were the case, (and my math is correct) that would mean that Solomon could spend $95,890,000 a day, every day for the next 60 years.   When we put things into perspective, that is so much money it makes my head hurt.   Was it not the great Philosopher, The Notorious B.I.G. who once said “Mo Money, Mo Problems”?   It seems that he could not have been more right in that statement.   Solomon had so much wealth and popularity that his spiritual problems seem to escalate.   He placed more emphasis on things (Eccl. 2:4-10), than he did on his relationship with God.   It is so easy for us to fall into the same trap that Solomon did.   When we focus on making ourselves happy, we will never be able to find it in the physical things.    It is only when we focus on God and our relatio

  DISCUSSION                                                 Recently, a dear and kind friend of our family lost her battle with cancer.   She fought with courage and faith for years and kept the light of hope.   She was a faithful member at her church, loved her friends and family tremendously and unselfishly gave of her time and money to others.   From the outside looking in, THIS life needed THIS woman.   Her family needed this matriarch, and we all needed this friend, yet it wasn’t to be.    As I think about this precious soul taken from us at the young age of 63 and hear of murderers, thieves, and liars that live long healthy lives, it just doesn’t make sense to me.    Even though we shouldn’t, it’s hard not to want to question God and say, “WHY?”   But I am reminded of the wisdom given to us in Ecclesiastes 11: 5 where the king says, “Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you don’t know the work of God who makes e

  DISCUSSION                                                                Last month thousands of 18-year-olds walked across the stage and graduated from high school.   In a couple more months, thousands of those same 18-year-olds will be dropped off at college with moms and dads choking back tears as they drive back home.    Every day in hospitals across America new babies are born to nervous parents and goodbyes are said by a wife to a husband of many years.   What do all of these have in common? They are all changes in the season of life.   As sure as February snow melts into the sunshine of March, our lives will go through different seasons as well.   In Ecclesiastes 3, the King of Jerusalem pens this wisdom and reminds us that there is a time for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven.   For those of us who aren’t fans of change, Ecclesiastes 3:11 gives us comfort when it says, “He has made everything appropriate in its time.”   If we truly trust God and his t

  DISCUSSION                                                   No one can doubt that Proverbs is a hard book to study.   Most of the chapters are collections of wise sayings and good advice.   This means chapters are hard to characterize with one line of thought.   With this in mind, looking at an outline of the chapters might help us glean the wisdom intended. Chapter 27- Taste Follows Appetite More advice piles up: don't boast about what will happen tomorrow, because it could all be overthrown; don't praise yourself, let others do it; jealousy is worse than wrath or anger; and fool's provocations are harder to resist than a heavy stone or sand pressing down on you. It's better to rebuke someone out of care for their wellbeing than to hide your love for them. True friends will try to steer you into doing the right thing with rebukes and reminders, whereas enemies will just flatter and kiss up to you. If your app

  DISCUSSION                                                                            You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. –Proverbs 19:21 Daily planners, calendars, date books, to-do lists, grocery lists. However you organize it, we often spend a lot of our days planning our time as much as we do spending our time. We plan our errands, dinner, workload…all the things! Do we ask God for help in the planning? We may think that these menial tasks don’t require the Almighty’s assistance. James reminds us in chapter 4, “ Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’   How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.   What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’   Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all s