December 11 – None Like Him

“He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart,” – 1 Kings 8:23 (NASB)

 It is common among all people for all time to believe in more than one god. The “more than” are the invented gods that spring from the imaginations of people who reject the one true God. Making comparisons causes some who do not know God to think that there exists a choice in what god or gods we might believe in. There is only one true God who is the God who created all things. Solomon, the King of Israel knew and believe this truth. He makes his affirmation in this verse which is a declaration of the truth and a promise we can believe it. To believe in the actual existence of any other god is to believe in false ideas of make-believe gods. Like Solomon, a wise man beyond comparison on this earth we too can say in our prayers, “there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath.” The enemy of God is Satan and he is real but he is not a god but a fallen angel who embodies many false gods. Let’s not be led astray with the thought that there is any beside our Lord God to worship and trust.  

 

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June 21 – A Promise to Guard All Promises

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.” 1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)

These words of praise were spoken by the King of all Israel, Solomon, son of David at the time of the dedication of the temple which he had built in Jerusalem (10th century B.C.).  It reminds us of God’s perfect faithfulness of and that we can trust all of his promises to us. God had given many promises to His people through Moses almost 500 years before Solomon. In Joshua 21:45 Joshua had reminded them “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” Did you note what Solomon said about these promises? He said the same thing Joshua had said, “Not one word has failed.” God had kept his promises in every detail. This is the kind of God we have today. Most days we look at a specific promise to remember and today that promise is that He'll keep every word of His promises to us. Think of some promise or promises God has given you my friend. He will be faithful to you as he was to Israel then and now. 

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May 5 – Bank of Faith and Trust

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”  - 1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)

These words, spoken as a benediction by King Solomon following his prayer of dedication for the Temple which he had built in Jerusalem.  This was the first Temple built in Jerusalem.  Up until this time, since receiving the Law to Moses, when the people were in the wilderness worship was done in the Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting.  It has been nearly 490 years.  Solomon praises the Lord God who has kept His every promise.  There has not been a single time in the history of these people, says Solomon , that God failed to keep his promises.  And it continues without failing to this very day, and God continues without failing to keep all promises into eternity.  God promised Moses and King Solomon believed those promises.  We too can believe the promises we find in the Bible. All the promises made to Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac,  Jacob and Joseph will be kept.  We can rejoice thinking about God’s promise to keep His promises and offer us words of blessing and thanksgiving to God for each promise. Put it in our Bank of Faith and Trust because God backs it up, it will never fail. 

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April 6 – It Comes To Pass

“In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”  - 1 Kings 16:34 (NASB)

We know God fulfills his word because He promises to do so.  Most days we consider promises of blessings from God.  Sometimes these promises call for a certain preparation on our behalf.  Today’s promise is of a different kind.  When God says that something will be or will come to pass, it will.  Jericho, was the first city in Israel’s Promised Land to be destroyed by the hand of God. God declared all was to be destroyed (except the treasures which were kept for God and Rahab’s family). Nothing else was to be spared or taken as booty. The re-fortification of Jericho was forbidden by God, who had supernaturally destroyed it so God then put a curse on the city through Joshua’s prediction.  Whoever was to rebuild Jericho would lose their first born son at the beginning and the last born son at the finish.  The eldest and the youngest sons of Hiel, a man living during the time of the wicked King Ahab, died just as God promised when he rebuilt Jericho. Today’s verse gives us the fulfillment of that promise.  What God promises, comes to pass.

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June 21 – A Promise to Keep All Promises

“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.” 1 Kings 8:56 (NIV)

These words of praise were spoken by King Solomon of Israel at the time of the dedication of the temple which he had built in Jerusalem (10th century B.C.).  It is good for us to be reminded of the faithfulness of our God and that we can trust all of his promises to us. God had given many promises to His people through Moses almost 500 years before Solomon. Did you note what Solomon said about these promises? He said “Not one word has failed.” God had kept his promises in every detail. This is the kind of God we have today. Most days we look at a specific promise to remember and today that promise is that He'll keep every word of His promises to us. Think of some promise or promises God has given you my friend. He will be faithful to you as he was to Israel then and now. 

November 28

“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us.” 1 Kings 8:56-57 (NIV)

Some things change and some things never change.  These are words of King Solomon at the dedication of the temple he built for God and the nation of Israel. He had reason to expect that God would be with His people and fulfill His promises. He knew that God never changes. As He had done in the past He would do forever. Even when everything else is changing around us and in our world, we can expect our God to be with us always. Just as King Solomon knew God was true to His word we can know as well. We can be assured that God will keep His promises – every single word. And since Solomon, for 2,947 years, not one word of His promises has failed and you can trust today that they never will!