Like Solomon, God now pays you a second visit. In this visitation , He reminds you that your life is not over. You’ve done a good job so far but there’s so far to go. Your latter years count for something more significant than you imagine. Don’t quit. Jesus expects you to finish well.

It was always in my heart to give my dear wife tokens of my love and appreciation. I would have spent all our money on her, if she let me, which she emphatically did not. I assume, though, she secretly thought, “…you did well to have this in your heart.” That my heart wanted to honor her was good enough. She knew I loved her. Apparently in Adonica’s mind, it was always “the thought that counts,” and that was good enough. 

This coming Sunday would have been her special day. Happy Mother's Day, honey! I shall always love you.

My life (and yours) is a rock quarry. It’s noisy there. Sometimes I am broken and crushed and grinded. The shaping process is painful, but always with a redemptive purpose. Jesus is shaping me into a stone designed to fit perfectly in the house He is building.

“…you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house…” (1st Peter 2.5).

“And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore,” (1st Kings 4.29).

Apparently Solomon’s “heart” was the totality of his inner nature. It described “virtually every immaterial function” of the man whom we have come to know as the wisest of all men (1st Kings 4.31). Solomon’s emotions, intellect, will, conscience, character, and personality; his 'who-I-am-ness,' were all wrapped up in this concept called “heart.”
Everybody has an inner person, but Solomon was unique. His inner person was really, REALLY BIG. God gave him “largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.”

“There is a time for war” and “there is a time to kill.” But there is also “a time to heal” and “a time for peace.” A wise person knows the difference. “Blessed are the peacemakers” Jesus claimed, “for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5.9).

It appears that Jesus leaned toward peace, not war. He would prefer to heal than to kill.

This podcast is an overview of week 19 in the Word Traveler Bible reading plan and covers the following chapters in the Old and New Testaments: 1st Kings 1 – 11; Acts 2 – 6 .

God has placed good people in our lives to advise us. We must listen to them. Even when we think we hear from the Lord about a particular course of action, it’s always best to run it by trusted advisers… our family, work associates, close friends, and fellow believers.

The Bible teaches: “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety,” (Proverbs 11.14).

Counselors keep us safe from the foolish decisions we're prone to make.

Do you have faith that He can do it? It doesn’t take much. “…if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17.20).

Absalom knew he was ‘all that.’ He had an inflated self-view. His pride led him to the false notion that he would make a better king than his father. “Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel” (2nd Samuel 15.6) and he eventually conspired to overthrow David and usurp the throne.

He almost got away with it. Absalom should have cut his hair before going into battle. Helplessly dangling by his mane caught in a branches of a giant oak tree made him an easy target. The precariousness of the moment may have given Absalom pause to consider how he might have done things differently. I’m sure he would have gladly traded his beauty for his freedom. Can you imagine his terror as David’s army commander cocked his arm to thrust a spear through Absalom’s proud heart?

Well, that was the end of Absalom.

Most decisions are easy, if you don’t over-think them. You will never have enough facts, counsel, or evidence. You may create a spread sheet, carefully weigh the pros and cons, draw plus and minus columns on a legal pad... and still make a bad decision. You will make a few mistakes during your decision-making career, but remember this... the perfectly logical choice is not always the right one.