The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Kings 20:42,
"You [Ahab] have set free a man I [the Lord] had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people."
This is the word the Lord spoke to King Ahab through a prophet. The Lord tells Ahab of his judgment following Ahab's actions regarding the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad. The Lord intended for Ahab to kill King Ben-Hadad, but following the Lord's action in giving Ahab victory over the army of Ben-Hadad, Ahab let him live. Ahab had extracted an apparently very favorable treaty with Ben-Hadad.
Ahab had his eyes on what he wanted, not what the Lord wanted. Ahab set himself to follow his own agenda, not the Lord's agenda. Ahab sought his desires and not the Lord's desires.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Most everyone these days (including those in the church) seek what they desire, not what it is the Lord desires. So many prayers requesting the Lord do this and do that. So many prayers requesting the Lord provide this or provide that. And, so many of these requests reflect the agenda of the requester, not the Lord. So many of these requests reveal the desires of those praying as quite apart from the Lord's desires.
It appears the words of James are fitting here, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:1-3.
May I, and may all of us, endeavor to seek the Lord's desires, the Lord's agenda, the Lord's will in all matters. May he strengthen us all that we might approach the spiritual heights of those faithful believers the writer of Hebrews spoke of, who subordinated their desires, their passions, their agenda for the Lord's. "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." Hebrews 10:32-34.
How strong and broad the shoulders of those magnificent early believers, upon which we stand today!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"You [Ahab] have set free a man I [the Lord] had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life, your people for his people."
This is the word the Lord spoke to King Ahab through a prophet. The Lord tells Ahab of his judgment following Ahab's actions regarding the king of Aram, Ben-Hadad. The Lord intended for Ahab to kill King Ben-Hadad, but following the Lord's action in giving Ahab victory over the army of Ben-Hadad, Ahab let him live. Ahab had extracted an apparently very favorable treaty with Ben-Hadad.
Ahab had his eyes on what he wanted, not what the Lord wanted. Ahab set himself to follow his own agenda, not the Lord's agenda. Ahab sought his desires and not the Lord's desires.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Most everyone these days (including those in the church) seek what they desire, not what it is the Lord desires. So many prayers requesting the Lord do this and do that. So many prayers requesting the Lord provide this or provide that. And, so many of these requests reflect the agenda of the requester, not the Lord. So many of these requests reveal the desires of those praying as quite apart from the Lord's desires.
It appears the words of James are fitting here, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:1-3.
May I, and may all of us, endeavor to seek the Lord's desires, the Lord's agenda, the Lord's will in all matters. May he strengthen us all that we might approach the spiritual heights of those faithful believers the writer of Hebrews spoke of, who subordinated their desires, their passions, their agenda for the Lord's. "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." Hebrews 10:32-34.
How strong and broad the shoulders of those magnificent early believers, upon which we stand today!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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