Man’s devises

26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. 27 Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: 28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. 29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 

Ecclesiastes 7:26-29

Who better than Solomon would know the outcome when someone leaves their “first love”, God, and looks for other “loves” whether in a person(s) or object.

“Other loves” were the down fall of Solomon. He probably realized as he penned the book of Ecclesiastes how different his life would have been if he stayed true to his “first love”, God.

Let’s look at I Kings 11:1-8 to see how much Solomon had sunk into sin.

1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 3  \And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods

As he continues this portion in Ecclesiastes, he says God is not to be blamed but man. God makes man “upright” but man seeks out “many inventions”. Man is always trying to “out smart” God. When will we learn? We can never “out smart” God. Man from the beginning of time has tried but each and every attempt has failed. From Adam and Eve with the fruit to the tower of Babel to Nebuchadnezzar declaring he was a god. Each “new invention” has failed to get the desired result.

God is the creator of the universe! God made man and knows all that is in man. We need to worship and praise HIM for all He is !!

This week, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:2 

Have a blessed day, 

Donna

Restoration continues

[23] In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: [24] And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. [25] And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. [26] Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin. [27] Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? [28] And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. [29] Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. [30] Thus cleansed I them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business; [31] And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good. Nehemiah 13:23-31

The book of Nehemiah ends. We can see the progression of sin, repentance, obedience, restoration and then the  cycle starts again.

Wow, is this just in Nehemiah’s time. I dare say no. The Christian life is like any other life. We make mistakes, we learn from our mistakes, we make more mistakes, we learn from those. Life is a circle. Hopefully we learn and grow and do not make the same mistakes again, but sometimes we do. We are imperfect people but we have a perfect Savior. He is always waiting to teach us His way.

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. Proverbs 24:16 

We may not have the same problems as the people in Nehemiah’s time, but we still have problems.

In this portion Nehemiah is saying, what you are doing is the same thing that King Solomon did. Do you not remember that he was drawn away from God because of sin?

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 1Kings 11:4 

I think of all the things/events/people/places that can draw me away from God. I have to make a conscience decision to stay away from those things. It is not easy to do right.

·        The first step is to know yourself and know your weaknesses. Stay away from those temptations.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1Corinthians 10:13 

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12 

·        Learn from the mistakes of others. There are many examples in the Bible as well in history and even in our own circle of family and friends.

·        Ask the Lord to restore you. No matter what one has done He is waiting with outstretched arms to receive us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9 

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psalm 51:12 

·        We can break the cycle of sin if we are willing to wholly follow Him.

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 1 Timothy 6:11 

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 1Peter  2:21 

Please join me on my next post. I will sum up what I learned about Nehemiah.

Have a blessed day,
Donna