Wives of Noble Birth - My Article in the Southside Messenger

Spirit & Truth # 180

“Wives of Royal Birth”

By Rev. Greg Smith

Solomon “had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray (1 Kings 11:3).”

Above: "Solomon had 700 Wives and 300 Porcupines"

The month of June is upon us—do you hear wedding bells? More people get married in June than in any other month. It seems like every June, I have at least one wedding scheduled. But I don’t think King Solomon waited until June to schedule his weddings. How could he, with all the wives and concubines he had? He was far too busy to wait until June!

The question must be asked: Why did the king have so many wives? The answer can probably be found in his name—Solomon, which means “peace.” God had granted Solomon peace so that he could build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. Solomon depended on the surrounding nations for supplying the temple building project. In order to keep the peace and guarantee his supplies, Solomon had to make treaties with the surrounding nations. Treaties in those days meant marriages between royal houses. So Solomon married the daughters of neighboring kings. These idolatrous wives led him astray. Soon he was building shrines to their gods and worshipping their idols. Solomon the peacemaker was actually Solomon the capitulator.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9),” and Paul tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18).” But does that mean we should pursue peace at all costs? Solomon’s quest for peace caused him to surrender his morality and his loyalty to the God of Israel, which resulted in God’s judgment. Our culture teaches tolerance of sin, but tolerance is the first step to acceptance. Acceptance, then, becomes the pathway to participation.

There are a thousand sins which plague believers. Like Solomon, we beautify these sins and make them part of our harem. Notice that 70% of Solomon’s harem were wives of noble birth, compared to the 30% who were concubines, and likely commoners (which is why he didn’t marry them—there was no political advantage in it). Christians fall prey to a thousand sins, but most of them get dressed up, made official and respectable. They may even seem noble in one way or another. Can you think of anything in your life that offends God, even though it doesn’t offend the world? For the Christian, it’s actually the minority of the sins that are a blatant offense. Most of our idolatries are simply when we replace God’s best plans for us with the world’s good plans. By substituting God’s best with the world’s good, we become idolaters and given up our allegiance to God.

1 Kings 11:9 says that God had actually appeared to Solomon twice. How many of us can say that? Anybody can fall into the temptation of capitulation for the sake of peace. Nobody should think himself so spiritual that he can’t fall into this deception. Remember not to take blatant sin (concubines) into your life. But also be careful of those “wives of noble birth” that you espouse. Even the best of noble intentions can become a snare, if you let them get in the way of your walk with God.

This spoke to me in my devotion time today, so I thought I'd share it with you:

By way of encouragement, God tell us in scripture: "I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart..." (Ezek. 11:10). But I'm still waiting, asking myself when and how this will happen.

In our community the other day there wasn't much coffee.

Coffee does me good down here in the desert...it helps me...I am old.

I was worried about not having any, about spending a few hours feeling dull and weak, and so--without perceiving the evil I was doing--I went into the kitchen before the others and drank up all that was left.

Afterwards, having suffered all day and made my confession, I thought in shame of my selfishness, of the ease with which I had excluded my two brothers from those black, bitter remains.

It seems a tiny thing, yet in that cup of coffee, taken and not shared with my brothers, is the root of all the evil which disturbs us, the poison of all the arrogance which selfishness, riches, and power create.

The difference between me and Jesus is right here, and an affair that seems simple but isn't at all; after a whole life time it is still there to make you think. Jesus would have left the coffee for his brothers; I excluded my brothers. No, it isn't easy to live with hearts like ours; let us confess it.

--From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

Suggested Website for Free Audio Bible MP3 Downloads

Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

I don't know about you, but time is precious to me. I don't get a lot of it to spare. During Lent, I wrote to you about the need to take time with Jesus in prayer. Precious few of us devote enough time to God. After I had challenged our church to pray for an hour a day, someone came up to me and said, "I think it's great that you challenged us to pray, but couldn't you have asked us to pray for two minutes a day instead?"

Really? REALLY???

God wants our time. Again, I don't know about you, but time is one of the things I have the least of. So to me, time is gold. God wants me to give Him my best. He wants me to give Him my time.

Now---that said...

There are days when I'm on the road or in meetings virtually all day long. Rather than giving God my sleepy time, when I'll doze off as soon as I crack open my Bible, on days like that it's better for me to absorb God's Word through audio. I can just pop an earbud in my ear (not two earbuds if I'm driving) and enjoy a good MP3 Bible passage. If you're looking for a good MP3 Bible download, I have to suggest a great website:

faithcomesbyhearing.com is a great source of several free English versions of the Bible, all on MP3 for free download. Please check out this website to learn more about the ministry of Faith Comes By Hearing. Using MP3 technology, they are spreading the Gospel in many different languages all over the world. You can donate to support their missions work, or purchase products like the BibleStick or the Proclaimer, or order an MP3 disc if you're on dial-up and the free download is too difficult for you.

Faith Comes By Hearing offers a couple of really cool products for sharing the Gospel with others.

The BibleStick is made for both military personnel and civilians, and for $30 you get a dramatized audio New Testament that you can give to someone who might never take the time to sit down and read the Bible--but they'll listen to it in the car or on their morning jog.

The Proclaimer is an amazing tool for international missions! The website says, "We consider the Proclaimer** to be a gift from God. Why? Because the inspiration for it came during three days of fasting and prayer by the entire staff of Faith Comes By Hearing. The Proclaimer is a digital player dedicated to playing God's Word in the local heart language...

How does the Proclaimer work?

• An installed microchip contains Scriptures in the heart language; the chip will not erase or wear out from frequent playing.
• The battery will play for 15 hours and can be recharged enough times to play the entire New Testament more than 1,000 times.
• The Proclaimer has a built-in generator and solar panel to charge the battery.
• The solar panel, in addition to charging the battery, will run the Proclaimer even without battery power as long as there is sunlight.
• The sound is digital quality and loud enough to be heard clearly by groups as large as 300.

The Proclaimer was developed primarily as a playback device for poor and illiterate people who may not have any other source to hear God's Word. Our goal is to use the Proclaimer in the majority of our FCBH programs worldwide."

So, if you're interested in supporting international missions where people get to hear God's Word in the language of their heart, then check out faithcomesbyhearing.com. If you just want to download a free MP3 for your own use, let me tell you, these are great. My 8-year old son is loving his new children's audio Bible, and I've got the New Testament loaded on my Blackberry. Listening to the Bible on MP3 is a great way to make use of your time...not to mention that "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

Godincidences

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in Godincidences.

What's the difference?

A coincidences is simply when two seemingly unrelated incidents coincide - by accident. If it seems to be a good thing, we call it serendipity. A Godincidence is when two seemingly unrelated incidences coincide - and you can see God's hand orchestrating the whole thing. Here's an example of a Godincidence:

A couple of weeks ago on a Monday I went to the local jail to visit a parishioner. This is someone that I see every Monday morning, so it came as a surprise to me when I was told that a guard had gone to his cell, and he had rolled over in his bunk saying, "I don't want to see him." Why would my friend refuse me? Surely he was sick or something.

My next appointment wasn't for another two hours, so I had some time to kill. I decided to sit in the parking lot and send some emails with my Blackberry. (This was a lot where I don't usually park, because the lot where I usually park was unusually full that day.) I hadn't been in the lot for very long when a girl came out of the jail. Seeing me, she asked, "Do you have a cigarette?" When I told her I didn't have a cigarette, she asked, "Can I use your cell phone so I can call my mom?" I did oblige that request.

When she got off the phone, she said her mom would be there in a little while. I introduced myself, telling her that I'm a pastor so she wouldn't be too creeped out by this man who was about to volunteer to wait with her until her mom arrived. Lynn (not her real name) said that she was 18 years old, and that she'd been arrested the night before for driving under the influence of alcohol. She was distraught, and seemed like she really needed to have someone wait with her. She needed to be treated tenderly, with the grace of Christ. She also needed a pastor there with her, because she had spiritual questions that needed answering. I shared some scriptures with her, and when her mom arrived, I gave Lynn my personal Bible (marked up and underlined, fully customized. I'll miss that Bible).

The thing is--we wouldn't have had that conversation if my friend hadn't refused to see me that morning. So when I left, I thanked God for making him feel badly. Sounds weird, but I do believe that sometimes God will cause something unpleasant to happen, just so He can orchestrate something glorious.

Then, I got a phone call from my parishioner's mom. She said that he hadn't refused to see me at all. In fact, there was another inmate there with a very similar name. The guard had asked the wrong inmate if he wanted a visit from Rev. Greg Smith. No wonder the total stranger had refused to see me! When my friend had heard that the guard had spoken to the wrong inmate, he called his mom immediately, and asked her to call me and tell me about it--just so I wouldn't think he was upset with me. So God didn't need to make my friend sick in order to get him to refuse my visit, just so I would be in the "wrong" place at the "wrong" time just so I could have that conversation with Lynn. All he needed to do was create a case of mistaken identity.

The next day I returned to visit my friend, and we had a good laugh about what had happened. Toward the end of my visit (or, what I thought was going to be the end), I told him that I wanted to share a scripture with him. It was the scripture that had been in my devotional reading that same morning. His mouth dropped open when I opened the Bible to Psalm 121, because that had been the same scripture he had read this morning. "There were some things I didn't understand in that passage," he told me, "and I needed someone to explain them to me. Now, here you are opening up the very same scripture."

Yet another example of a Godincidence.

What kinds of coinciding events have you had in your life lately? Are they coincidences--accidents that have no meanings? Or can you see God's hand in them, speaking God's word into your heart through His manipulation of circumstance? I hope that when these serendipitous events happen in your life, you'll see God's hand and hear God's voice. I pray you'll open yourself to the unexpected so God can use you as His agent in this world.

Partnering in Prayer - A Lenten Devotional - Day 47 - The Easter Horse

-->Day 47 – Resurrection Sunday!

Drawn to the Things of God

This morning we had a great crowd at Antioch’s Easter sunrise service. Someone estimated around a hundred people who gathered at the foot of the three crosses in the church’s side yard to worship our risen Savior. We also had an unexpected visitor. Before we began the service, I had asked the crowd to part in the center and create an aisle down the middle, to allow for a visual pathway and sound to travel to one of our physically challenged members who watched the service from his car. As I was preaching, and before I had even given an invitation, our special visitor appeared and started to make her way down the center aisle.

Our visitor was a chestnut Belgian draft horse that had apparently heard what was going on in the church yard and decided to investigate. She had been so drawn to what was going on at church that she escaped her owner’s fenced-in field and made her way to join us. One member said he thought the horse was about to walk down the center aisle and join the church. I said that if we were to baptize that horse, we’d have to sprinkle, instead of immerse!
Today we graduate from our covenanted time of praying together for an hour a day. Hopefully, you’ll be drawn to the things of God, just as that horse was drawn to church. “I don’t know what’s going on there,” the horse must have thought, “but I just have to go and see.” She escaped from the fenced-in yard that kept her life predictable and safe, in exchange for the adventure of Resurrection Sunday. So too I hope that you’ll exchange conventional religion for a resurrected prayer life that draws you deeper into the things of God. I pray that this is just the beginning of a renewed commitment to prayer—that you’ll keep on praying for an hour a day, and even more, now that you’re used to it. I hope that you’ll check out our new Wednesday evening Renewal Services. Maybe you’ll even seek God’s will for how you can begin a new prayer ministry in YOUR church.

Whatever God leads you to do, I hope you’ll be like this morning’s horse, so drawn to what God’s doing that you can’t stay away. May God lead you by His unfailing love, this Easter season and beyond!

(P.S.: Yes, we did get the horse back to its rightful owner.)

Partnering in Prayer - A Lenten Devotion - Day 46 - The Seven Last Words of Christ

Day 46 – Holy Saturday
The Seven Last Words of Christ

Yesterday, we looked at Jesus’ three prayers from the cross. At the risk of being redundant, I want to share with you from this morning’s quiet time, something the Lord showed me about the seven last words of Christ from the cross.

The seven last “words” aren’t single words at all, but phrases Jesus uttered as He hung upon the cross. I’ll share the words with you, and then some insights on them.

1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 24:34).”

a. Even when Jesus was on the cross, He prayed for us. Though it seems perhaps forgiving His tormenters didn’t come naturally. Notice that He didn’t say, “Tormenters, I forgive you, for you know not what you do.” Instead, He prayed that the Father would forgive them. Could Jesus, as God, have forgiven them Himself? Of course He could have—but I believe that being overcome with the sin of humanity made forgiving His enemies something difficult for Him to do. It was not beyond His Father’s ability, though. So, wishing to forgive them but finding Himself unable to do it Himself, Jesus prayed the Father to forgive not only Jesus’ tormenters, but all of humanity whose guilt He bore. If Jesus can pray for God to forgive sinners, then I can, too.

2. “This day you shall be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).”

a. If jesus can save that gujy, who had insufficient theology, and no baptism, and no future of good works, then maybe—just maybe—there’s hope for me! Notice—Jesus knew the length of time it would take this man to die. Every second of our lives is in God’s hands.

3. “He said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother (John 19:26-27).’”

a. Even at the end, He was thinking of others instead of Himself. Jesus entrusted His mother into the hands of the church, not into the hands of family members who even at this point did not believe He was the Messiah. He knew what real family was, and wanted the faithful to care for the woman who dedicated her life to Him.

4. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me (Mark 15:34; Mathew 27:46)?”

a. Here, Jesus understands humanity’s plight to the fullest. He had taken on so much of humanity’s sin and depravity that He felt God had turned His back on Him. How tragic for Jesus, but how wonderful for humankind, that our Savior can understand us that completely!

5. “I thirst (John 19:28).”

a. Jesus’ physical thirst must have been agonizing, for what Roman would think to take a break in the middle of his beating and offer Him a cool drink of water? He must not have drunk anything for many hours. Yet, when they offered him drugged wine to dull the pain, He would not take it. Instead, He drank in our suffering. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” Jesus had said from the mountainside, “for they shall be filled.” Yet instead of being filled with ighteousness, Jesus’ thirst was only filled with our grief, shame, and sin.

6. “It is finished (John 19:30).”

a. A better translation would probably be “accomplished.” There was nothing more than Jesus needed to do, to secure our salvation. His work was complete, and now He could rest.

7. “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit (Luke 23:47).”

a. These should probably be my last words, too—every day! Maybe my first words each day, as well. May each day be fully committed to God!

These Seven Last Words are also the mission of the church: to forgive, to evangelize, to care for widows, to seek God’s face and care for the forsaken, to feed and water the hungry and thirsty, to finish the ministry that He began, and to commit ourselves completely to God.

Tomorrow will be our last email together. Our time of covenant prayer will be ended, but I pray that you will take Jesus’ Seven Last Words to heart, and make them your mission in life.

Partnering in Prayer - A Lenten Devotion - Day 45 - Prayers from the Cross

Day 45 – Good Friday
Prayers from the Cross

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46).
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Lk 23:34)
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Lk 23:46).
Tonight at church, we followed the Stations of the Cross (a wonderful meditation, if you’ve never done it. At Station # 12, the author writes:

Dear Jesus, at this site I tried to hear your last words, your last breath! And during these long hours I heard you pray, pray, pray! Your words were words of dependence on the Father, words of hope in deliverance. Dear Lord, teach me how to pray. Teach me to open my heart to you and to feel the warmth of your love! Teach me to pray with the heart and not with words that come out of my lips like a river. How good it is Lord, that from this site, where you prayed and forgave, where you passed your last hours of pain, I can rise up and say aloud: "Our Father who are in heaven!" Yes Lord I can proclaim this because at this spot you gave up your life for me! Thank you Jesus!

What would I be doing if I were in the kind of agony Jesus was experiencing? As much as I hate to admit it, I’d probably be focusing totally on myself. But Jesus was focused on others. He showed concern for the salvation of the thief on the cross. He made sure his mother would be taken care of after he was gone. He prayed—and I believe his three prayers from the cross are a great model for the Christian life.

1. He sought God’s face. Yes, he did so in despair and defeat (victory wouldn’t come until Easter). But that’s even more important for me to see—that even in despair and defeat, Jesus sought God’s face. He didn’t just trust God when times were good, but he desperately wanted to know God’s presence in his hour of need.

2. He sought the forgiveness of others. If we’re to be like Christ, then we need to be about seeing others forgiven and restored.

3. He rested himself in God’s loving embrace. Rather than striving any longer, Jesus decided it was time to give up the ghost. He decided when to breathe his last, and committed himself to God. We need to live as Jesus died, seeking God’s face, seeking the forgiveness of others, and totally committing ourselves to God.

If we can live as Jesus died, we’ll be doing ok. Pray, pray, pray—even when (and especially when) it hurts.