“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15

Good versus Evil

Who doesn’t love seeing our money make more money as we save or invest our assets wisely. It takes time, forethought, and wisdom to do; but if we wait long enough the interest or the investment will grow and mature. Most often, there is a payoff at the end.  We know that funds invested in a disciplined and wise manner will give us income later when we need it most to sustain our lives.  Waiting is key.

There is another way to invest our lives that aggressively leads to the implosion of our lives.  We want it and we want it now is living life that feeds our daily desires. The Enemy of God knows our nature to sin well.  He tempts us daily with shiny objects of affection that lead us away from the wisdom and desires of God.  God wants His best for us. Evil wants merely to distract, deceive, and ultimate destroy us.  God gives life. Evil leads to death.  Both are eternal and forever.  Who do we choose then?

Sin gives birth to death—it always has and always will. Hiding it does not get rid of it.  Glossing over it with comparing our sin with other sinners thinking “our sin is not as bad as their sin” does not remove it or stop its growth.  Sin compounds with our interest in it.  Sin leads to more sin as we give in to the desires of our hearts. Speaking of our hearts, stop believing the notorious lie of the enemy who says, “just follow your heart” and all will be well. It won’t!  We cannot trust our hearts!  God relayed this message of Truth to Jeremiah, His prophet who warned God’s people what their sins would lead to—certain death.

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 MSG

Sin compounds with interest with kings who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” With Jehoshaphat as a father, Jehoram had a good example to follow. When he became king, however, he foolishly chose to marry the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (probably as a political alliance). This daughter, Athaliah, brought evil practices and the need for God’s judgment to the southern kingdom.

If we purposely ignore God’s desire for us, we will find ourselves candidates for his discipline.  God disciplines those He loves.  Hold that thought forever along with God’s blessed assurance; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

God is our hope and future. Sin leads only to death.

2 Kings 8

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” ² The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years.

³ At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land. ⁴ The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” ⁵ Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land.

Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” ⁶ The king asked the woman about it, and she told him.

Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-Hadad

⁷ Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” ⁸ he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

⁹ Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

¹⁰ Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’ Nevertheless, the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” ¹¹ He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed. Then the man of God began to weep.

¹² “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.”

¹³ Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?”

“The Lord has shown me that you will become king of Aram,” answered Elisha.

¹⁴ Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” ¹⁵ But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.

Jehoram King of Judah

¹⁶ In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. ¹⁷ He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. ¹⁸ He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab.He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

²⁰ In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. ²¹ So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. ²² To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.

²³ As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁴ Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Ahaziah King of Judah

²⁵ In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. ²⁶ Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. ²⁷ He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.

²⁸ Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; ²⁹ so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God knows the desires of our hearts; but gives us exactly what we need as His best for us.  We may not agree with God at the time; because the desires of our sinful nature and the temptations of evil are great.  But remember, evil’s power is limited.  God is great and His power available to us is greater still. The same power from God who resurrected Jesus from death to life three days later is available to all who believe in Jesus. 

This is the “secret” sauce of living a life with power that overcomes evil! (Colossians 1;27) Christ lives in all who believe and call on His Name for help to overcome all temptations to sin!  We will always be tempted by sin until Jesus comes back to take us to our forever home.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 We will fall at times because we are not perfect.  However, we are perfectly forgiven!  Not only that, God forgives all repented sins in the Name of Jesus immediately and completely—to be remembered no more!  There is no one like our God!  It is Jesus who cleanses us, clothes us in righteousness, making us presentable to God, the Father! 

John, beloved disciple of Jesus, writes;

“My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception. 1 John 4:4-6 MSG

Replace sin with God’s perfect will!  Surrender is our greatest investment!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

When we fully surrender our lives daily to our all-knowing, all powerful, sovereign God as an offering to Him; we will know God more and His desires for us. Follow, trust, believe God—not our hearts!  Our goal is the know and follow the heart of God!

Lord,

Some kings did what you asked for the good of your people and for your glory while other kings did not.  We see the difference in walking with You versus walking with evil. Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies for today, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  We need your power to overcome. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I’m yours and I’m listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen