God keeps His promises.
God told Solomon that because his heart was divided, away from God and towards his many women, that God would divide his kingdom.
However, God had promised David that He would sustain Solomon's rule. so this division would occur w/ Solomon's son.
Reheboam received advice from two different sources: wiser, older advisers; and younger foolish foos. he decided to follow the bad advice.
consequences ensued.
God's promises came true.

--------------
taught this passage to 7-10 year olds at sunday school. the kids were more interested in the fact that solomon had 700 wives than any other part of the story. the scripture also mentions that solomon had 300 concubines. best questions asked:

-"what's a concubine? like, a stripper?"

-"so if king solomon had 700 wives, that means he had to get an extra 699 flowers and candy on valentine's day?!"

new year!

that in seeking i may find Thee
that in serving i may love Thee
that in singing i may share Thee

'woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!
go to Calneh and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,
and then go down to Gath in Philistia.
are they better off than your two kingdoms?
is their land larger than yours?
you put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror.
you lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches.
you dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.
you strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.
you drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;
your feasting and lounging will end.'
amost 6:1-7

already, but not yet.

the right thing to do, but not quite exactly.

so there has been a lot of media hype about the end of the world. non-christians mocking christians at the fact that people have given up all their worldly possessions in anticipation of jesus coming back to earth to take his followers to heaven, (before mass destruction). then christians against christians, throwing scriptures back and forth.
namely, no one will know the day or time. only the Father knows.

anyway, the prophecy was not quite fulfilled. to my knowledge, the rapture did not occur last saturday.

i don't really watch much of the news. so i haven't seen the reactions of the people who were waiting to be taken up to skies. it's never nice to be duped. the prophet, apparently made the same claims in 1994... and then keeps changing the date. sounds like crying wolf. but he supposedly doesn't care coz he be makin lots of money with his followin.

okay, so there are thousands of folks who have laid down everything (retirement money, children's college funds, homes, belongings...) for the cause of christ.

now they have nothing. some fear that they will be bitter at church leaders for deceiving them. and maybe even fall away from God.

sounds a little tragic.

lemme rewind my thoughts.

okay, so there are thousands of folks who have laid down everything (retirement money, children's college funds, homes, belongings, pets...) for the cause of christ.

that doesn't sound too far from what jesus calls us to do.
-leave our nets, and follow him.
-take no money, no food, no extra tunic.
-sell everything and give to the poor. ok, maybe these people didn't give to the poor.

well, we humans don't always get it exactly right anyway.
God looks at our hearts. which aren't completely ever totally motivationally pure.

but when we have nothing of this world, there's all the more room on the throne of our hearts for Christ. then He works. in us. through us. for us. not against us.

it's great to wait for kingdom come. it's obviously not here all the way. but it's here since emmanuel.

well, i hope to see some good coming out of these situations. and i have faith that God will redeem, restore, renew, as he is currently redeeming, restoring, renewing. because He is passionate for His name.

'tis sweet to trust in Him.

"but first he needed to find some helpers and friends. he had a lot to do. he would need some people to help him.
who would make good helpers, do you think? clever ones? rich ones? strong, important ones? some people might think so, but i'm sure by now you don't need me to tell you they'd be wrong. because the people God uses don't have to know a lot of things, or have a lot of things - they just have to need him a lot."

(from the jesus storybook bible)

matt 16
-demanding a sign as subverting jesus' king status and having a posture of authority rather than a posture of surrender
-jesus denying a sign in response to resolved unbelief, rather than a doubtful belief trying to fight unbelief
-faith as a gift from God
-jesus grants a sign in response to our faith

http://utmost.org/are-you-exhausted-spiritually/

http://www.reavivamentos.com/es/libros/chambers_med/feb/09.html