01/13/2024 – Morning devotion: See comment – note connection with the Sapphire devotion.
“Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber”
1 Kings 22:48
Solomon’s ships had returned in safety, but Jehoshaphat’s vessels never reached the land of gold. Providence prospers one, and frustrates the desires of another, in the same business and at the same spot, yet the Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as another. May we have grace today, in the remembrance of this text, to bless the Lord for ships broken at Ezion-geber, as well as for vessels freighted with temporal blessings; let us not envy the more successful, nor murmur at our losses as though we were singularly and specially tried. Like Jehoshaphat, we may be precious in the Lord’s sight, although our schemes end in disappointment.
The secret cause of Jehoshaphat’s loss is well worthy of notice, for it is the root of very much of the suffering of the Lord’s people; it was his alliance with a sinful family, his fellowship with sinners. In 2 Ch. 20:37, we are told that the Lord sent a prophet to declare, “Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.” This was a fatherly chastisement, which appears to have been blest to him; for in the verse which succeeds our morning’s text we find him refusing to allow his servants to sail in the same vessels with those of the wicked king. Would to God that Jehoshaphat’s experience might be a warning to the rest of the Lord’s people, to avoid being unequally yoked together with unbelievers! A life of misery is usually the lot of those who are united in marriage, or in any other way of their own choosing, with the men of the world. O for such love to Jesus that, like him, we may be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; for if it be not so with us, we may expect to hear it often said, “The Lord hath broken thy works.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
The connection between our two devotions this morning reminds me of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, walking that narrow path through prayer and by the grace of God. With the first, we are reminded to “love our ‘enemies'” , with this devotion: “avoid being unequally yoked. I will elaborate here on the later.
Trump and the Republicans caved on abortion, the fundamental right to life, so that in their minds, they could get elected. I guess the bottom line was drawn from the world: “the end justifies the means.” Thankfully, I am pulling away from media more and more, but I heard: “Trump ‘the builder’ is the one, he can rebuild California.” Once again: “So, he is a god, is he!” And much of that is coming from self-proclaimed christians.
To state the obvious: The LORD is in complete control! I pray that we keep our focus on Him, being prepared for a total collapse of this country prior to the 2nd coming, and maybe even the 7 year tribulation period and the rapture, for those of you who were 100% banking on that as a personal escape. If I am off base as to the probability of this collapse near-term, praise God!, for being prepared in a kingdom way, will have served Him regardless. “Being prepared” in this sense has virtually nothing to do with focusing all our waking hours on “survivalist’ mode. Let’s get laser focused on the Great Commission!
Thoughts? / Reflections?
Always connected through prayer and by His grace!
Love,
Your brother in Christ,
Jimmy