Saturday, April 25, 2015

THE NEW KING

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 1

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

Jesus would have walked on this now crumpled road that runs along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. You see on the left openings where shops once were, and it was also the support structure for the walkway that led up into the Temple Mount. On the wall near the top you can see where the base of the walkway was. It is called Robinson’s Arch, after Biblical scholar Edward Robinson who identified its remnants in 1838 (see extra photos below for some close-up views).

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verse: 1 Kings 1:48

Also the king said thus, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see it!”

Thank God for a peaceful transition from King David’s rule to that of Solomon. No precedent had been established in Israel to determine succession to the throne. Saul, and then David, had been chosen by popular demand (although God did the real choosing). It was not public knowledge, but David had earlier chosen Solomon to succeed him. With the reminder from Bathsheba, and the support of Zadok and Nathan, David moved decisively to avoid civil war and another family tragedy. The godly counsel of the priest and the prophet were key to a smooth transition of power. Within our homes, our churches, and our countries, tragedy will strike when struggles about authority and leadership arise. Blessed and peaceful are the families, the congregations, and the nations that allow God to influence decisions and pray for God’s will to be done. Solomon learned from God, Nathan, Zadok, and his father David. We may want to read what Solomon wrote in Psalm 72:1-17. It’s no wonder that a long period of peace came to Israel and its neighbours.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Dear Lord Jesus, have dominion over my life, my family, the church worldwide, as well as my local congregation. May Your influence be strong in the governing of our land and other lands. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and the other Arab states. I pray for Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China and the Koreas. Please raise up people in those and in other states to call upon You, Lord God. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

The tragedy of the slaughter of the innocents in abortion with no protection whatsoever in Canadian law came about in the seventies. However, I thought that all was not lost in regard to the protection of these little ones when our government changed the words of our national anthem to include “God Keep Our Land.” These words are belted out at every hockey game, baseball game, football game, etc. For many who sing them, it may only be lip service, but for me it’s a fervent prayer. The other thing that encouraged me was that God was recognized in our new constitution in the early eighties. I was so hopeful when the Minister of Health, the Hon. Jake Epp, presented a bill to Parliament in the mid-eighties, which would have protected the lives of some precious ones still in the womb. This bill passed with the votes of the elected members of the House of Commons but failed by one vote in the Senate. These people, most of whom were appointed by a previous government, overturned the will of the people as expressed by the elected members of the House. God takes most seriously, I believe, the commitment of Canada’s founders, who made Psalm 72:8 the motto of our Land: “He shall have dominion from sea to sea” is carved in stone at the entrance to our Houses of Parliament. Therefore, I haven’t given up hope that somehow our representatives will all come to their senses and do something to stop these little bodies from being poisoned or torn apart in their mothers’ wombs. While Jake Epp’s bill would not have stopped all abortions, it is apparent that at least 100,000 Canadians are with us today as a result of the threat of passing that bill, which stopped many hospitals from performing abortions for a brief time. May God have mercy on us!

Yours for decisions that will please God in every area of human life,

David

Here is an up-close view of the shops and support structure that led up to the Temple Mount.

Robinson’s Arch

Robinson’s Arch and Temple Mount at the time of Jesus.

17 thoughts on “Saturday, April 25, 2015

  1. What an interesting reading today and Pastor David I so enjoyed your wonderful comments. May God’s will be done in the upcoming elections that will be held this year.
    I am just out of hospital please pray for me that I have no more heart failures.
    God bless.

    • He will cover you with his feathers, Elizabeth. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Amen! Ps 91:4 NLT

  2. Small wonder civilized elections came about. Alberta is having an election this May 5th. My husband and I are praying for representatives who love the Lord and carry out His rules and regulations first.
    Wondering how old King David was at this time.
    Praying your Prayer for Today Rev. M.
    Blessings fellow saints.

  3. Good morning David,
    Thank you for your faithfulness every morning. You are our word of truth every morning and I thank you for that. I ask you for prayer’s for Alberta. We are going into an election May 5, please pray for Jim Prentice to win, as the NDP are getting quite strong here.
    We cannot have a party like that. We need a PC majority back in our province.
    David I hope you will not mind this email.
    Sincerely,
    Doreen Brown

  4. WHY Mommy?

    Why did you kill me mommy?
    Why do you seek to be defiled?
    Why was I killed inside your tummy?
    Why could I not be your child?

    Why do you call sex ‘making love’?
    Why is that lie portrayed to be true?
    Why do you hate gifts from above?
    Why do you freely do what you do?

    Why is sex like shaking hands?
    Why can’t you control your lust?
    Why do devils from foreign lands
    Give us laws while stealing our trust?
    G W (Bill) Marshall / 31 July, 2014

  5. Thank you David, for your prayer, today. Thank You, God, for reigning over our country, land of the free. Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee. Praying for wisdom in the hands of our current government and for Your will to be done in upcoming elections.

    Thank you, Reynold, for the photos and picture of the Robinson’s Arch and Temple Mount at the time of Jesus. Photos of ruins enable us to feel the presence of our Jesus and His disciples, there, in that very spot. However, envisioning the scope of the facility in the final picture brings an added dimension of its utter awesomeness! Oh, to have walked there with Jesus!

    His name shall endure forever;
    His name shall continue as long as the sun.
    And men shall be blessed in Him;
    All nations shall call Him blessed. Ps 72:17

    • Thank you Beverlee you took the words right out of my mouth. I too was just thinking how these pics put us right there in history. I wonder when we get home…heaven, will God play back events and times in history like we were right there. I would want to be in the times of Jesus when He walked these streets we see in Reynolds pictures. Stay blessed you fellow warriors in the Lord!

  6. I just came home from a Women’s Aglow breakfast: I heard Jennifer Mitchell’s testimony: Jennifer is from Africa, a child soldier captured by a rebel army group L.R.A. the Lords Resistant Army in Uganda. At 9 years of age, to protect and save her 7 year old sister from capture…she herself was captured.
    After living in these circumstances for over a year, Jennifer managed to escape. She prayed a simple prayer for God to help her escape from the military group and by God’s Grace was rescued by World Vision.!!!
    Jennifer and her husband Cameron Mitchell are the founders of Freedom and Fire Ministries. Jennifer’s passion is to share God’s Grace, love and faithfulness, allowing the Holy Spirit to minister to the hearts of people to bring freedom to their lives.

    HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!! AND HOW FAITHFUL!!! HE NEVER LEAVES US OR FORSAKES US, PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!

  7. I awoke this morning with this song in my heart: “Great is thy faithfulness O God My Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changes not thy compassion’s they fail not, as though has been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed thy hands have provided Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto to me”!!

  8. While it is not directly connected with today’s reading and commentary, I thought I’d like to share this poem which I composed this evening. Be Blessed in Jesus.

    A Jailer’s Story

    I was told in strict fashion
    to ensure that these Jews
    be watched, and kept guarded,
    or my head I would lose !

    They’d offended their brothers,
    and disrupted the City.
    Who cares? I don’t !
    From me, there’s no pity !

    I’m paid for my duty
    and their wounds I ignore.
    So WHY the praying and singing?
    They’re chained to the floor !

    One is named Silas and the other is Paul
    They are preachers or scribes
    or much worse, I recall.

    They’ve broken the laws
    and I’m sure I won’t weep
    for their plight; this dark night.,
    Just let me have sleep !

    Nothing’s New in this world,
    There’s no Hope to employ.
    Come daybreak… real mourning
    will replace their false joy !

    All our lives are so hopeless
    as we groan in life’s Battle.
    Whether free men or slaves,
    we’ll ALL die, like cattle !

    It’s now Midnight, and I thought
    I felt a great shaking.
    So we cried , as the earth
    opened up with much quaking.

    “ All is lost “, I cried out,
    for I knew I must die
    by my own hand, if the prisoners
    could face a free sky !

    Their shackles had dropped off;
    their cell doors had sprung.
    I thought that those prisoners
    must be gone; every one !

    A light was soon brought;
    … every prisoner was there !
    I despaired of my own life,
    but I heard Paul declare …

    “Do yourself no great harm ..
    put your sword down… don’t fear.
    You can see for yourself
    we all are still here ! “

    A Light shone within me
    like never before.
    I knelt down in trembling,
    my face to the floor.

    “I’m a dead man, and Sirs
    this life is depraved !
    Tell me what to do now
    Sirs, to be saved ! ”

    They then said with one voice,
    ‘It’s Jesus, you see …
    Whom YOU must Believe in
    to be REALLY set free “

    We proceeded to my house.
    I bathed their sore stripes.
    ( my family soon Baptized
    trom Death, into Life )

    Not only did Jesus give
    Freedom and Grace.
    Philippi then released them;
    no charge did they face !

    Where once I’d intended
    to fall on my knife ..
    in despair …
    I NOW SHARE … WITH YOU SIR …
    MY NEW LIFE !

  9. My wife an OR nurse pleaded with her evangelical church to take a stand to no avail. She switched to heart surgery to remove herself from this curse…let us pray more doctors who practice this horror will be called in grace like Paul to evangelize their peers. drh

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