“… Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9).
When Jehoshaphat returned to Judah in peace (2 Chron. 19:1-8), he tried to recover the loss which had
come upon him through his friendship with Ahab. The Lord was gracious to him, and again began to help
him to deliver him from his enemies (2 Chron. 20:1,3,22,25). The Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites
came against him as a united force. Jehoshaphat was afraid: so he proclaimed a fast and set himself to
see the Lord. God heard his prayer, and brought confusion in the army of the enemy, so that they utterly
destroyed one another, and the whole army lay dead on the battlefield. Jehoshaphat and his people had
only to go and gather the spoil, which was so much that it took them three days to remove the same.
Later on again Jehoshaphat began to reply upon his own wisdom. He entered into an alliance this time
with Ahab’s son Ahaziah. Is it not sad that Jehoshaphat should make such a mistake after all the bitter
experiences of the past? There are many like him even today. They fall into the same sin again and again,
and each time they say they will never do it again. To them life is one great cycle of falling and rising, and
confession and falling again. Jehoshaphat entered into a league with Ahab’s son!
Although at the beginning of his reign king Jehoshaphat had removed all high places, now he had become
so weak spiritually that he allowed them to remain. This brought more darkness into his life, and he
entertained his friendship with Ahab’s son Ahaziah, who compelled him to become a partner with him in
sending ships to gather gold from far-off places.
Thus we see king Jehoshaphat, who began his reign well in the fear of the Lord, making a complete failure
of his life towards the end, and even undoing the good work which he had begun. The cause of all this
was the love of money which had crept into his life, and affinity with ungodly people like Ahab which
slowly weakened him and brought about his downfall. LET US BE WARNED.
daily devotional
Children of Israel | January 18
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14).
In the days of Joshua the children of Israel failed to obey God fully and did not drive out the Jebusites. The
Benjamites also allowed these people to stay with them as servants to draw water and cut the wood. That
is where they made a big mistake. Now they became so strong that they were mocking David. “… Except
thou take away the blind and the lame, though shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in
hither” (2 Sam. 5:6). Before David could become king over all, these Jebusites had to be defeated.
Later on we read how there was one Jebusite who still remained in the land. When he was removed then
God showed David the pattern of the Temple. 2 Sam. 24:15-25. David had used his own wisdom at that
time to count the number of fighting men in his kingdom. Rather than depending upon God’s Word for
strength, his eyes went upon the number of soldiers. That is why God brought him to the threshing floor.
The same place became the site for the Temple which was built by Solomon. “Then Solomon began to
build the House of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his
father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chron. 3:1).
That was the place where Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar. Thus all the Jebusites had to be
completely sent away from the land before David could become the king over the whole kingdom.
These Jebusites speak of men who are not born again. They are worldly people. When they are given some
authority in the House of God, like the Jebusites they become strong. Those who are not born again have
no part or share in the House of God. Similarly those who are not called by God also have no share in the
work of God. Among some groups some people are brought into position in the Church by voting and
election. That is why there is a spiritual barrenness in their midst.
God had to use force to drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem. Even though they made fun of David, God
helped him and his men to conquer them and drive them out. After he had driven out the Jebusites, he
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began to prosper and went on becoming great. “And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God
of hosts was with him” (2 Sam. 5:10). It says in the margin. “went on going and growing”. That speaks of
complete victory. So we have to see that no Jebusite comes into our life, either in friendship or in
marriages or in any other relationship. In the same way, no Jebusite should be given any part in the House
of God. Those who are not born again and are not called for God’s service have no share in the House of
God.
Recent Devotions
Face of Jesus!
Jan 18
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light …
—Acts 26:18
The blind man, Bartimaeus, threw off his cloak and ran trembling to Jesus. And Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” In that moment as he said, “Lord,” his spiritual eyes were opened. And Jesus said, “Your faith has made you whole.” Notice—not your intellectual understanding, not your money, not your works—but your faith. Faith! That’s all it takes! Immediately Bartimaeus, who had been blind all of his life, began to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the face of Jesus. What an experience—to open one’s eyes and look straight into the strong, tender face of Jesus! Bartimaeus met Jesus and the record says he “followed Jesus in the way.” When you go back to your business, or your home, or your neighborhood, or your friends, or your school, you don’t go alone. Christ goes with you.
Recent Devotions
God is leading us
January 18
“As for God, his way is perfect” (Psa. 18:30).
God always looks at the end from the beginning. This is something that we human beings
cannot easily understand, but if we wait patiently, God Himself will teach us.
From the time God called David He had for him a very high and heavenly purpose, though
David did not realise this for many years. We also, when we first come to the Lord in
repentance, do not know what is in the mind of God for us in saving us, at that time we are
only concerned about being forgiven, washed, cleansed, and made righteous before God, and
when He does begin to teach us His own way we begin to question Him or even resist Him.
But we see from the Word of God that, through difficulties of different kinds, God seeks to
reveal His mind clearly and progressively to us. Everything experienced in life begins to have
a deeper and a more heavenly and eternal meaning. We find that God is leading us in His own
way, according to His own mind, thought and plan, we shall find that we have to wait very
patiently to learn the mind of God.
Recent Devotions
“Gad” means? | January 17
“For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).
“Gad” means “a troop or an army cometh” (Gen. 30:11). Gad was the first son of mother Zilpah, but Leah
believed that a troop was following after him. She saw something great in that which was seemingly small.
We also should learn to look far beyond the small beginning and see the great things that will take place
later. For example in John 4:3 we read that the Lord Jesus Christ left Judea for Galilee. There were two
roads to Galilee. One via Samaria and other via mount Carmel. The Jews would never go via Samaria (John
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4:9) but the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to go through Samaria. The Lord said to His disciples, “I have decided
to go through Samaria”, but they replied, “Why go that way? Who will give us food to eat and water to
drink?” The Scripture says, “he must needs go through Samaria”. What was the reason? For the sake of
one woman He went there and the whole of Samaria was shaken. Through one soul, He won the whole
country (John 4:39; Acts 8:5-8).
We think that the Lord works more through big crowds. That is not God’s way. Through small things, He
does great things. One day a man came in tears to see us. He said, “Please pray for my wife, she is very
ill.” He was a Hindu. We went to see her, gave a short message then prayed and left. The Lord healed that
woman and through her husband many people came to the Lord in that area. On another occasion, a lady
came to see me in Madras. She said to me, “Please pray for my husband, he is very, very sick in the
hospital. The doctors are not able to cure him.” We spent only a few minutes with them in prayer, gave
a short message and came away. Afterwards, the whole family which was from Hyderabad came for
fellowship. In the year 1950 they wrote to me, requesting me to go to Hyderabad and that is how the Lord
began to work in that city through a small thing, not through great things. That is what we learn from Gad.