King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Failure To Succeed
Date: Thursday April 12, 2012
Today's Chapters: 1 Kings 10-12

Hello My Friend,

Successful people of the world will tell you that they made themselves a success and give glory to themselves for their success. Successful Christian's will tell you that God made them a success and will give Him the glory for their success. However, if Christian's are not careful, they too can lose sight of God in the midst of their success and if they do they can be sure that their success will fail them. “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” - Malachi 2:2.

King Solomon was the most successful king of all time, he not only possessed great wisdom, he was wealthy and looked highly upon by the rest of the world. Solomon had kings and queens from all over the world coming to see the king and place where the God they only heard about was sending so many blessings. Solomon got a visit from the queen of Sheba. “And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.” - 1 Kings 10:6-9.

We may not realize it, but a Christian not only has the audience of the world checking them out, but other Christian's. Those who do not really follow Christ are just itching to find out if we are as godly as we make ourselves out to be. That is why it is important as a true Christian to keep our sight on God at all times, walking with Christ daily. Even if we appear to look like we are doing something ungodly they will use it against us to make themselves look better. How can we overcome this? By keeping our sight on God. “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17-23.

Solomon did not keep his eyes on God, in fact, he disregarded several of the warnings that God gave him prior to his great amount of sacrifices and prayer. He eventually began to do everything he was not to do as king, and quickly fell from God. How did he fall? Women. If you thought David had a lot of women, it is nothing compared to the number of wives Solomon had, 700 to be exact, and 300 back ups too. The bigger problem was that many of them had different religious backgrounds, which in turn brought Solomon to following their false gods. “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” - 1 Kings 11:1-4.

Before the end of Solomon's life he realized that his pleasure driven life was his downfall, he penned down the words of the Book of Ecclesiastes upon coming to the conclusion that everything he did to please himself was vanity and brings a troublesome heart. “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” - Ecclesiastes 2:24,26.

Solomon's corrupting influences of his wealth, worldly policies, many pagan wives, and ignoring the Word of God brought not only grief to him at the end of his life, it brought a great division in the house of David. After his death, his son Rehoboam inherited the kingdom, he foolishly took the advice of his friends, ten of the eleven tribes in Israel rejected him as king, following a ruthless man named Jeroboam. “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon...Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.” - 1 Kings 12:19-21,24.

God put a stop to the fight, stating that brothers should not be fighting against brothers, and that He caused the division to take place. Even today God remains to keep the tribes divided and only a few Jews follow Jesus Christ, yet we are still encouraged to stop the fighting as we are also brothers with the Jews and eventually we will all be one with Christ. “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel...After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb...For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” -Revelation 7:4,9,10,17. Praise God!

Today's Psalm: 29:2 - “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”

Today's Proverb: 28:12 - “When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.”

Today's Prayer: God, You deserve the glory for every skill, talent, good deed, and success that I reach through them all. I know that at times I have gotten so busy with the work You bless me with that I fail to acknowledge that You are the cause of it all. Forgive me for putting my work above you and not thanking You for all of it, even the work that I have not been compensated for. Lord, let me not take my eyes off of You for a second, that is all it takes to get me in trouble. Keep me in Your Word and praying daily, help me to muffle all the noises in my head that keep me from hearing You when You speak to me. By Your strength and guidance I know I can be a success and remain successful in all that I do. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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