13/08/2012 - The story could have taken a quite different turn

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Now when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled from the house of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and eighty thousand chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.

II Chronicles 11: 1, 2

The error of Rehoboam, Salomon’s son, was that of not preparing his heart to serve The Lord. Those who follow suit – even being the child of a parent who did know how to appropriately serve God – will not be successful. Many families’ tragedy is due to their forgetting what Jesus has already done for them and, when that happens, it turns out that they will fail to plant The Good Seed in their family members considering that, with time, the enemy will do to them the treachery he has always wished.

If the whole family is obedient to our Father, He will give all the members of those homes the necessary feeling to do whatever pleases Him. This way, Satan will not be able to fulfil his evil plan against those lives. The children of God should be more consecrated to God to be able to continue the work done by their parents or to carry out their own work because, without the divine assistance, nobody will ever be successful.

That king paid heed to his young friends rather than listening to the counsel of the elders. In doing so, the rebellion planted in Jeroboam’s heart broke out. That fact is to be taken as a warning from The Lord: however blessed a newly converted person might be, he or she does not have the spiritual maturity yet to give good counsels to anybody; after all, only those who live their lives at the foot of The Most High are fully qualified to hand out the right word when it comes to making a decision.

Rehoboam went off swiftly towards Jerusalem in order to prepare a counter-attack to put down the insurrection which was already taking shape in his kingdom, but it was too late. Those who do not have their heart ready will, one day, cry out to The Lord to save them against any treachery from the enemy, but then they will not be heard. Although the king had gathered thousands of soldiers to resist the ambush – had not it been for the counsel of Shemaiah, a man of God – he would have done something even more foolish.

Men’s conclusions are too flimsy and powerless and that is the reason why they are not suitable to resist a devilish plan. For one’s house to keep standing firm one needs to understand the plans of The Lord for them. The devil will never give up on his eagerness to exterminate men’s life by leading them into sin and losing their salvation in the end. Only those who fear God manage to get rid of all hellish assaults.

What The Most High has being revealing to you is absolutely the best plans ever. Therefore, you ought to fulfil the divine will considering that, when that occurs, you will indeed be able to be delivered from the devil’s snares. Do not forget that apart from The Almighty being wise and loving you, He also tells you exactly what it is He wants from you. Those who fulfil the divine direction will never fall into the clutches of the devourer and they will never be defeated.

If Rehoboam had prepared his heart to serve God, this king’s story would have taken a quite different turn.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares