Revelation 1:5-6 “…Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
John, the beloved disciple, was given this revelation that WE are kings and priests, and in chapter 5 verse 10 we are also told again that we have been made “…kings and priests” and that “we shall reign on the earth." When I discover new and exciting truths in the Word of God, I get excited and begin check out the rest of the applications found throughout the pages. Recently I have been studying the Books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings. These are the very simple but profound truths I uncovered.
1 Corinthians 10: 6-7 tells us that the Old Testament illustrations are given to us as "our examples." Another translation, the New Living Testament, states it this way... "These events happened as a warning to us, so we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. " The entire Old Testament can be viewed as Historical happenings in the lives of God's Chosen People, but for us it also serves as examples, warnings and illustrations as to how to live our lives in the Spiritual realm. It is filled with examples on how to live victorious lives as well as how to avoid going down in flames.
One of my favorite parables that Jesus told is found in Matthew 7 where He tells us that there are two basic kinds of people in this earth. He tells us that in the midst of life's storms there are those who "stand" and those who "fall." He tells us that everyone goes through the storms of life, but there are Scriptural keys to going through the storms successfully. Matthew 7: 24-25 "...whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock, And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it did not fall for it was founded upon a rock."
WHOEVER DISCOVERS AND APPLIES THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD, WHETHER WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE OR SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SPIRIT ARE THE ONES WHO STAND IN THE MIDST OF LIFE'S STORMS!
In the two Old Testament Books of Kings, the same basic principles apply. Over and over the lives of each of the Kings of the the divided Kingdom (Judah and Israel), either stood or fell depending on what they did with the Word of the Lord. Two recurrent themes appear that we would be wise to discover for ourselves and apply that which is most pleasing to the Lord.
Let's talk about the "Good News" first. Jesus told us to proclaim the Gospel (Good news)to the world, so here it goes. Without exception when the King of the nation would "do right in the eyes of the Lord" and rid His Kingdom of all the idols, then that King would prosper. Here's the amazing part! Not only did he prosper, but his family prospered; and his Kingdom prospered, as well. As an example, let's look at 1 Kings 11:38-39
"If you listen to what I tell you and live the way I show you and do what pleases me, following directions and obeying orders as my servant David did, I’ll stick with you no matter what. I’ll build you a kingdom as solid as the one I built for David. Israel will be yours!" TM
Throughout the Old Testament, God basically required two things: Putting Him first by destroying all idols and not intermarrying with others of different faiths, which would eventually lead to idolatry, as well. He also commanded them to obey His directives, both written in His Word and those spoken by the mouth of His prophets. When His commands were followed, the King , his family and his people prospered.
Now here's the not so good news. When the King disobeyed the Word of the Lord, he got whacked (My own term for allowing the enemy to hit us wherever it hurts), his family got whacked and his kingdom took a hit as well. 1 Kings 13: 32 "But even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from the rank and file of the people. Anyone who wanted to could become a priest for the pagan shrines. This became a great sin and resulted in the destruction of Jeroboam’s kingdom and the death of all his family."
Since this pattern is repeated over and over again throughout the two Books of Kings, I figure maybe the Lord is attempting to tell us something. If you want the Lord to prosper you, your family and your efforts in His kingdom work, as His chosen Kings, then here's what we need to do.
1) Rid your life of all the idols. Take time with him and ask the Holy Spirit if there is ANYTHING that you have centered in your life that gets more attention than relationship with Him. (Could be ministry, family, leisure, children's activities, money. relationships, work, sports, news, video games, sex, etc.) Take anything in your life that can remind you of their existence and destroy them. Get it out of the house or out of your life. Ask God for a Divine Strategy to rid these idols from your relationship with Him. When you implement His Strategy, He will empower you!
2) Do not marry yourself with the things of this world. We need to be involved in the lives of others in this world and to exercise our Godly influence in the world and its people, but we are not to begin to look or act like the world. The things of this world must not rule our lives and our decisions. We are told to Love God with "all our heart, mind, soul and strength,"(Mark 12:30) and to put Him and His Kingdom first, then everything else will be added to our lives.(Matthew 6:33)
3) Live our lives in loving obedience to His written Word and to the directives of His Holy Spirit. When you discover His principles as contained in the Bible, put them into practice, whether they are additions or deletions to your life. Do it or quit it! Stay connected with him so that you can hear His voice. Acknowledge Him in all your ways (Not just the big ones) so He can direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.
His commandments and directives are good. 1 John 5:3 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." God is not giving us His commandments to control us. He gives them to us so that we may live the God kind of life. John 10:10. If we follow His words then we we experience " life (God's kind of living) ....and health to all our flesh." Proverbs 4:20
Kings are designed to live well and so we shall, when we do "what is right in the sight of the Lord" and eliminate anything that gets in the way of our relationship with Him!
2 Kings 18:1-7 "...Hezekiah...began to reign...And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD...He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the brasen serpent...He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he followed the LORD, and did not depart from following him, but kept his commandments...And the LORD was with him; and he prospered wherever he went."
Talk with God tonight and ask him to tell you the truth. He will IF you will listen!
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