00:00:00: Hello, everyone.

00:00:01: Welcome to the Lipter Jesus podcast with Courtney Gilmore on this episode.

00:00:06: faith and faithfulness.

00:00:08: This is The end of first Kings twelve in the middle of second Chronicles eleven.

00:00:21: Have you ever known someone who believes in God?

00:00:24: And they are a Christian but They just never seem to really grow in their faith and Maybe they even seemed to fall away.

00:00:34: it's like they seem to be easily swayed by the things that are going on around them and They're just not strong in their faith, And they're not growing.

00:00:45: In that fate maybe That's been you before.

00:00:48: if that's the case If you've struggled with growing in your faith or You can easily be swayed but different ideas of the faith or by different leaders, or your friends...or whatever.

00:01:03: Then that's what we're going to talk about today!

00:01:06: We are gonna look at Jeroboam and how he did not grow in his faith....how he actually went further away from God And then he also tried to lead others away from God, and some of them remained faithful.

00:01:21: Some didn't.

00:01:22: We're going talk about how we can grow in our faith so that we are strong.

00:01:27: And so if you remember last week, we talked about how after King Solomon died his son Rehoboam went to Shackham To be crowned the king and he just thought He would be crown'd The king.

00:01:43: but the people there requested something of him.

00:01:46: they asked that he not Be as harsh in His labor As his dad was?

00:01:58: made Jeroboam king there in Shechem instead.

00:02:02: And so the southern tribes followed Rehoboum, Solomon's son.

00:02:07: but the northern tribes followed Jerobohm.

00:02:11: and this is last week.

00:02:13: we talked about Rehuboam and how he started his kingdom there in the south... This week were going to talk about Jerobahm.

00:02:23: The first verse that we're going to talk about is First Kings, twelve twenty-five and it says that Jeroboam stayed there in Shechem And made that their capital.

00:02:39: So this is their capital city the place coincidentally Rehoboam had gone to be crowned the king.

00:02:50: He is kind of a slap in the face, it's like not only are we not gonna crown you King but we're going to crown someone else King.

00:02:57: and this is going.

00:03:00: And then he also strengthened a city named Pinual on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

00:03:06: Remember, there were two and half tribes that settled on the Eastern side of The Jordan River?

00:03:11: That is where they entered Israel!

00:03:15: They had stayed there for a little while... ...and two-and-a-half of the tribes were like we just want to stay here.

00:03:22: Moses said okay you can settle here but go over the Jordan and fight with your brothers their land and then when they get to take possession of their land, you can take possession on the eastern side.

00:03:34: And so two-and-a-half tribes are on the Eastern Side of the Jordan River and so when Jeroboam takes control of the north he also makes a stronghold in...on the Eastern side..to show that he also rules that area!

00:03:53: That is how he begins his reign.

00:03:58: because God promised him all of this that God had already told Him before any of it happened, you know, the kingdom was going to split and that he was going be the king.

00:04:12: And even told him what tribes He is gonna Be.

00:04:15: The King of You would think this will have increased his faith.

00:04:18: That's What we're talking about How We Grow Our Faith.

00:04:22: Once God prophesied something and saw it all happen that Would make Him rely on god more than he would trust in God More.

00:04:31: But It Didn't.

00:04:36: growing in his faith, growing closer to God trusting and God more he gets fearful.

00:04:42: And He's like what if all of this goes away?

00:04:45: What if... All of what I have now ends up?

00:04:51: you know it doesn't last!

00:04:53: So he starts to protect himself instead of relying on God.

00:04:58: In verse twenty-six.

00:05:00: it says Now the kingdom may return to the house of David.

00:05:07: If these people go up, offer sacrifices in the House Of The Lord at Jerusalem then the heart of the people will turn back To their lord Rehoboam king of Judah.

00:05:17: so there they're not.

00:05:19: he's Not talking about the Lord God.

00:05:20: He is calling Rehuboam Their Lord their boss and says I might return to Rehubaum And Then kill me and Go Back to him.

00:05:30: Therefore the king asked advice and made two golden calves, And said to people it is too much for you To go up Jerusalem.

00:05:39: So here are your gods O Israel that brought You Up out of the land Of Egypt!

00:05:46: and this thing became a sin for the people because they worshiped as far as Dan.

00:05:51: And so what he's saying here is that, remember?

00:05:54: The people are supposed to go to Jerusalem to worship God three times a year at least!

00:05:59: They're supposed to do Jerusalem and worship him... ...and do certain feasts in all of these things.

00:06:06: And Jeroboam starts thinking well if they go back to the South....to the Southern Kingdom and do these things, then maybe they'll just decide that they want to live under Rehoboam's rule.

00:06:19: You know?

00:06:19: They will see what it is like...they can't be bad.

00:06:22: I'm gonna worship him....and take the kingdom away from me!

00:06:27: And so in order to keep them From going back to the southern kingdom at all for any reason he decides To make two separate worship places For them.

00:06:39: and so one is in Bethel which Is about eleven miles north of Jerusalem, but it's right on The southern edge.

00:06:48: So It's the furthest south they can get In their Kingdom And then in Dan furthest north that they can get.

00:06:56: This is like twenty five miles North of the Sea of Galilee, so the furthest North and the farthest South that They Can Possibly Get.

00:07:03: he builds these um These worship sites for them And He Says You Know I just don't want y'all to have to travel so far all the way to Jerusalem.

00:07:13: There's no reason for that, you can just worship in whichever one of these places is closer for

00:07:18: you.".

00:07:19: So he... He's making it as if he's doing it for them!

00:07:22: You know?

00:07:22: iIjust dontwantyalltohavetotravelalthewaytoJerusalem but obviously ,you kno- That s not why hes really doing it.

00:07:29: The reason hes reallydoingitis because hes concerned t hathe people are going ta change their mind and NOT make him the king.

00:07:38: So out of fear, he is changing God's entire worship system instead just trusting God to keep the kingdom that He has given him in first place.

00:07:51: To be able preserve Him as King...he is too afraid and changes everything!

00:08:07: He gets these two golden calves and puts one in each of the places.

00:08:11: And he says, y'all can just worship here.

00:08:14: now.

00:08:15: this should have been a huge red flag to people even though it had been like five hundred years before they knew The history Of when Moses has given them the laws and then went up onto the mountain To talk with God and didn't come back down.

00:08:30: an Aaron made him the Golden calf?

00:08:36: Jeroboam is saying, he says here's your God that brought you out of Egypt and so That should have been their red flag.

00:08:43: They should've been like this happened with Aaron And the people had a huge plague in.

00:08:48: it killed A lot of them because they...they You know weren't worshiping god in The way that He had asked him to and obviously This calf did not bring Them Out Of Egypt.

00:08:59: and So a Lot of People Think You know, they're not really saying this is your God.

00:09:05: It's just a representation of your god.

00:09:08: and This would make sense because bail This was common in Baal worship of worshipping a calf and also, in a lot the other Canaanite religions.

00:09:19: And so yeah that makes sense.

00:09:22: it's representation is not their actual God but God had told them explicitly to do this right?

00:09:29: In The Ten Commandments he says you cannot do this because this calf didn't bring out Egypt.

00:09:36: I did.

00:09:37: In Exodus twenty beginning in verse two he says, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out at the house of bondage.

00:09:46: Therefore You shall have no other gods before me And You shall not make for yourselves a carved image any lightness Of anything in heaven above or Anything on earth beneath Or anything that is.

00:10:02: You shall not bow down to them or serve them because I am the Lord your God and i'm a jealous

00:10:08: god.".

00:10:09: So he's like, they're not the ones that brought you out of Egypt.

00:10:13: I'm the one who brought me from Egypt.

00:10:14: so you will have no other gods before Me!

00:10:16: And you won't make any images and bow down for them.

00:10:21: but they are doing this.

00:10:23: But Jeroboam does NOT stop there.

00:10:26: He also makes an entirely different system of worship in multiple ways.

00:10:32: In verse thirty-one it says, he made shrines on the high places and he made priests from every class of people who were not at the sons of Levi.

00:10:42: Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feasts that was in Judah.

00:10:48: any offered sacrifices on the altar there.

00:10:51: so he did in Bethel sacrificing to the calves that he had made.

00:10:55: At Bethel, He installed the priests of high places which He had made and so He made offerings on the altar in Bethel On the fifteenth day of eighth month In a month when He devised His own heart And He ordained a feast for the children Of Israel and offered sacrifices at the altar and burned incense.

00:11:14: Not only did He delegate these two places as worship sites but houses of worship there and appointed priests who were from the tribes not of Levi.

00:11:28: And remember that whenever God gave all of the people land in Israel, the Levites did NOT get their own plot each territory so that they could serve God there.

00:11:51: That was their job, the Levites were to be the priests.

00:11:55: They're the only ones who are allowed to be a priest.

00:11:59: and he says He made other people priests from other tribes not just the tribe of Levi.

00:12:07: So that is, you know he broke the rule of where to worship which was Jerusalem.

00:12:13: then He broke who could perform the sacrifices Which were the Levites and it says That He also changed The time Of their Feasts And so the people in Judah Were supposed To worship on the fifteenth day of the seventh month but he devised In his heart to do it on the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

00:12:36: Maybe he had already missed the seventh month, I don't know but either way He's changed time and place And He has changed people that perform these ceremonies.

00:12:47: So He made an entirely different system Of worship than one God made.

00:12:54: This is obviously completely against what God would have them do.

00:13:01: And so then if we go into Second Chronicles eleven, it talks more about the Levites and remember that when God made the Levite in all of these different territories.

00:13:14: That means some of the Levates were living in Northern Territory.

00:13:18: Some of them are living in Southern territory of Judah at this time whenever the kingdom split.

00:13:26: And so it talks about them here in Second Chronicles eleven, those Levites that are living in the north and It says from all of their territories The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took there stand with Rehoboam...the southern king For the Levites left their common lands in their possessions and came to Judah, Jerusalem for Jeroboam.

00:13:51: his sons had rejected them from serving as priests of the Lord.

00:13:55: Then he appointed for himself Priests for high places, for the goat demons, and for the calf idols which He made.

00:14:03: And after the Levite's left those from the tribes of Israel such who set their hearts the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the god of their fathers.

00:14:16: And so they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon strong for three years because they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three.

00:14:33: That Jeroboam was making special places that were not Jerusalem and setting other people, other than them to be the priests.

00:14:42: And having them worship goat demons which we just found out about they didn't talk about in First Kings...and these golden calves!

00:14:51: The Levites were like We're

00:14:53: Out!!

00:14:54: We cannot....we are NOT allowed to sacrifice to these

00:15:00: gods!!!

00:15:02: of this because we're also supposed to be worshiping in Jerusalem.

00:15:06: And so it says they left the north and all of the land that they had up there, and they went to the south and they worshipped in Jerusalem...and made Rehoboam their king!

00:15:18: It's not just them but other people from all over the tribes saw what Jeroboem was doing and they, some of them realized this is wrong.

00:15:30: This king is leading us astray.

00:15:32: he's not following the Lord.

00:15:35: King in the south is following the Lord and we're going to go down to the South and follow him.

00:15:41: And so all of these people left the North, went down to The South, made Rehoboam their king...and it says that they strengthened his rule!

00:15:52: Remember what I talked about last time?

00:15:54: That the tribe of Benjamin had also joined Judah uh, in the south and then that Simeon had kind of been engulfed in The tribe of Judah because they were um They were right in the center of Judah's land.

00:16:09: And so they were already living there.

00:16:11: So last week we talked about Jerobah-Juda Benjamin and Simeon all being part of the southern land, And now we find out that also so are the Levites.

00:16:24: So We've got those four tribes That Are following God and Worshiping in Jerusalem under The King of Rehoboam Solomon's son and the rest Of the Tribes are not Following God anymore.

00:16:37: They're Worshipping In you know?

00:16:46: demons and golden calves on these high places, they have priests that are not qualified to be priests.

00:16:55: And so they've just completely adopted an entire system of worship that has nothing to do with God anymore!

00:17:03: Even though their called the Israelites They're not worshiping God anymore.

00:17:08: The people in the South are the ones that are worshipping God, which is where the word Jews comes from.

00:17:16: and so the Jews... ...the ones who worship God....are the people of Judah And the northern tribes have, even though they say their worshiping God.

00:17:27: They've created an entirely different system for themselves and are not worshipping God in a way that he has asked them to do.

00:17:36: It says that not only did these four tribes, but also other people from the north who realized this was a wrong system.

00:17:46: They went to South to live and so there were people living in the south from other tribes But they just became Jews too.

00:17:55: You know...they become part of Judah And it wasn't necessarily separated into Tribes anymore..it was separated into Who worships God?

00:18:06: who doesn't.

00:18:06: And that's the way it is now, you know we call those Judah and these tribes, Jews but also the people that just believe in God.

00:18:21: In this same way as you know they don't accept Jesus But they believe in god And there's still waiting on a savior Just like these Jews were at that time.

00:18:32: those are all so juice.

00:18:33: So basically religious Jews and genealogical Jews would be both called Jews.

00:18:41: And that's the way it was.

00:18:42: at this time, those that decided to worship God they didn't have to be from the lineage of Judah.

00:18:50: They could just be The ones that worshipped god and so all of these people Worshiped God and It says they strengthened the land of Judah for three years.

00:19:00: and the reason they say only For Three Years is because They really follow God, they followed the ways of David and Solomon it says.

00:19:09: But then Rehoboam also started going astray...and we'll talk about that here in a few weeks!

00:19:16: And so that's where we're going to end our lesson today because I want to talk growing in our faith unlike Jeroboam and remaining faithful like the Levites.

00:19:29: And then we'll spend our next two weeks after this talking about Jerobohm's reign, and that will go back to Rehoboem.

00:19:36: We're going...going to do that back-and-forth chronologically through the Northern Kingdom sometimes and sometimes though the Southern kingdom you know through the rest of our studies.

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00:21:01: see God working in our lives and instead of being fearful, of losing all the things that he's given us.

00:21:08: And taking things into our own hands how do we rely on him?

00:21:13: Instead!

00:21:15: How to be like the Levites who not only rely on God and grow in faith or strong but remain strong in their faiths.

00:21:27: and I would say that both of these things begin with us recognizing God's hand in our lives.

00:21:36: And so for whatever reason, Jeroboam knew that God had done all of those things for him.

00:21:44: he made him king.

00:21:46: He knew God did this but then didn't trust God to keep Him as King.

00:21:52: So we have two first recognize what God is doing in our lives.

00:21:59: And we will probably never be like Jeroboam where God has a prophecy over our lives that we watch come true, but We can probably all if we look back on our lives.

00:22:11: or if we pay attention right now...we can see god working for us even If didn't realize at the time..We Can Look Back and Say God was orchestrating that the whole time.

00:22:24: God is working in my life, he's preparing a way to do things I wasn't aware of.

00:22:31: or Right now, if we will just pay attention.

00:22:35: We'll see him answering prayers opening doors doing things that only God can do right?

00:22:41: If he would play a tension and I've had things like that happen in my life where i look back at them like wow god was doing stuff and I didn't even know it and I have times now if I will just stop and pay attention were unlike God is answering my prayer or God as you no working in this way or that way, I know it's him because i can't do these things.

00:23:04: I realize all of the lack-of power that I have and the immense power he has...and look at everything God is doing.

00:23:13: but we need to be aware!

00:23:15: We actually need to do that.

00:23:17: if we will look back and see what He does then that'll help us when things are happening in our future.

00:23:27: God helped me last time so I know that God's going to help me this time.

00:23:30: i've seen his power in the situation, So I trust His Power In The Next Situation or...the last time That I prayed..I saw God answer those prayers and if right now I'm not seeing God Answer My Prayers it is because He doesn't have the power To do It!

00:23:47: Or Because he isn't hearing

00:23:48: Me!!

00:23:49: It Is because He's Doing Something That Im Unaware

00:23:51: Of!!!

00:23:52: Or He Doesn't Want To Give This Thing Or Whatever You Know.

00:23:55: We Can Trust God because we've seen him work in the past and so if We will pay attention to the things he has done, And The Things He Is Doing then We Will Trust Him.

00:24:08: For whatever reason, Jeroboam did not do that.

00:24:11: Maybe he knew God had made him the king but wasn't focusing on it because He was too fearful and afraid of losing it.

00:24:20: instead trusting in God to keep it for Him—he trusted himself!

00:24:26: The first thing we need is pay attention to things that God does and recognize —take note of this fact—God did so.

00:24:36: If we will take note of the fact that God did this, then We Will Be Aware Of What God Is Doing In The Future.

00:24:44: So I'm going to read you a couple of verses on That.

00:24:46: Deuteronomy eight eleven through eighteen says... When your herds and your flocks multiply, And when you're silver in gold are multiplied.

00:25:11: All of YOU have multiplied!

00:25:14: When your heart is lifted up, You forget the Lord your God who brought out a land from Egypt From the house of bondage Who led through that great and terrible wilderness In which there were fiery serpents and scorpions.

00:25:26: Thirsty land where no water was found.

00:25:29: the God who brought you water out of the flinty rock and Who led You Out Of The Wilderness With Mana, which Your Fathers Didn't Know That He Might Humble You And That he might Test You To Do Good In The End.

00:25:43: When all that happens... ...you might say in your heart My power & my might From MY hand Have Gained Me This Wealth.

00:25:52: Then You Shall Remember It Is The Lord Your God That Gives You The Power to Get That Wealth and that you may establish your covenant with Him whom You swore as Your God.

00:26:07: Don't forget him.

00:26:09: Don't Forget the things that God has done for you because it's easy whenever You are living in this, you know life That if you think you've created for yourself to think that you've create at it For Yourself But you haven't and so god is The one that's given It To you And god Is the One That can Can Preserve?

00:26:27: It for you and So you have to trust In Him.

00:26:29: even If You will pay attention if He Will not forget That he'S the One that gave it to you then Maybe You also will Not forget lie on him.

00:26:38: And then in Psalm seventy-seven eleven to fourteen it says, I will remember the works of the Lord.

00:26:43: surely i will remember your wonders of old .I Will also meditate On Your work and talk Of Your deeds!

00:26:51: Your way oh God is In The sanctuary.

00:26:54: who Is so great a god as our God?

00:26:57: you are the God Who does the wonders.

00:26:59: You have declared Your strength among the people.

00:27:02: So, recognize that God's the only one who can do these things and then meditate on it.

00:27:07: Maybe THAT is what Jeroboam didn't do because he recognized God did it!

00:27:11: You know He had to KNOW!

00:27:12: God gave him this prophecy AND THEN IT ALL CAME TRUE!

00:27:15: HOW DO YOU NOT REALIZE IT?

00:27:19: Focus on it instead.

00:27:21: He focuses on oh my goodness what happens if I lose all this?

00:27:24: I've got to do something about and If he would have focused on the fact.

00:27:28: look at all of things that God has done for me.

00:27:30: Look, at What god gave To Me.

00:27:32: i need to you know.

00:27:36: Follow him.

00:27:37: i Need to trust in Him then maybe You Would Have Done That And so we need to not only recognize It but focus On.

00:27:47: And when we really see the things that God has done for us, then our faith will grow.

00:27:52: Then We Will Realize He Helped Us Before and He Can Help Us Again!

00:27:57: And We'll Begin to Understand How Much Power he Has & how Little Power We Have...and This Will Make Our Faith Grow.

00:28:07: But It Not Only Increases Our Faith it Also Will Increase Our Desire For Him.

00:28:13: And so we will want to have these experiences with him again.

00:28:17: We'll wanna see what else he would do for us, pay attention and talk to Him.

00:28:26: What is it that God's gonna do next?

00:28:30: What great power does He has in my life?

00:28:34: How is He working?

00:28:35: What is He doing?

00:28:36: We're going to understand Him, know Him better.

00:28:41: The more experiences that we have with God, the more experience as We want to Have With God because He's so great.

00:28:47: He is powerful and loving.

00:28:49: He Is so wise and perfect And So will Want To Know Him Better.

00:28:56: Psalm sixty three one eight says oh god you are my god.

00:29:01: Early I Will Seek You.

00:29:03: My soul thirsts for you And my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

00:29:11: So I have looked at You, in the sanctuary to see Your power and your glory looking for His power and glory because Your loving kindness is better than life!

00:29:22: My lips praise You.

00:29:24: Thus will bless You while I live.

00:29:26: My soul shall be satisfied and my mouth shall praise you with a joyful lips.

00:29:33: When I remember You,I will meditate on You in the night watches because You have been my help.

00:29:39: therefore In the shadow of Your wings i'll rejoice!

00:29:43: My Soul follows close behind You.

00:29:46: your right hand holds me

00:29:48: up.".

00:29:49: So he talks about how He's searching for God's power...He is searching For God's glory....God's loving kindness towards Him.

00:29:58: Like I said, when we see God's power... We look for His Power in all places.

00:30:04: More and more!

00:30:06: When we see the glory of God then we want to experience that more.

00:30:09: We wanna experience things that make God God you know?

00:30:13: Things which can't be found within people.

00:30:15: And if we see how much He loves us Then like we treasure it more than anything he says this is better than life itself.

00:30:24: And so we seek him.

00:30:26: We meditate on the things that are of Him, and we follow Him

00:30:32: closely.".

00:30:33: Oh it also says that we hide under the shadow of His wings...we seek his protection in His provision!

00:30:41: So when we see all these things—when we see the magnitude of God's goodness…of His wisdom …of His power ...and His faithfulness towards us....His love toward us then The next thing that happens is we start feeling indebted to him.

00:30:56: We start thinking, look at all the things he's done for me!

00:30:59: Look what He IS for

00:31:01: Me!!

00:31:02: I wish i could pay Him back and then think well...I can't pay Him

00:31:05: Back!!!

00:31:05: I CAN'T BE WHAT GOD IS TO ME TO

00:31:07: HIM!!!

00:31:08: And so..the only way that we can possibly repay Him....is to honor Him.....and to please

00:31:15: Him!!!!

00:31:15: And the ONLY WAY FOR US TO DO THAT...... recognize the things he's done and praise him for it.

00:31:22: And then to follow Him closely, like He says in uh...the end of that verse..He says I follow close behind you!

00:31:29: Well how do we follow close-behind God?

00:31:31: That is what makes us faith!

00:31:34: right?

00:31:34: And so we've grown in our faith and then we remained faithful like the Levites did.

00:31:41: The Levites recognized that Jeroboam was leading them astray because he knew what God had told them to do, and so the only way that we can remain faithful to God is to know his ways...to know him better!

00:31:57: And so when we experience him, We want to experience Him more and then have a greater desire for Him.

00:32:04: The greater the desire that we had for Him...the more indebted we feel to Him....and we want to obey Him!

00:32:10: We want please

00:32:11: Him!!

00:32:11: We want follow

00:32:12: Him!!!

00:32:13: So the only way we can do this is to know Him better.

00:32:19: We begin to learn his commands, learn his ways.

00:32:22: Learn his character.

00:32:24: in John fourteen twenty one it says he who has my commandments and keeps them is the One that loves me.

00:32:31: And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I'll love him, and manifest myself to Him.

00:32:38: So if you love him... You will follow him!

00:32:41: If you follow him then He will love YOU AND HE WILL SHOW HIMSELF TO YOU MORE!

00:32:46: The more you get to know Him the more He will reveal about Himself to you.

00:32:50: but you have to FOLLOW HIM!

00:32:52: You have to OBEY HIM!

00:32:54: Second Corinthians five fourteen to fifteen says, the love of Christ compels us because we judge this way.

00:33:02: That if one died for all then all die and Jesus did die for All that.

00:33:09: those who live should no longer live for themselves but For The One Who Died And Rows Again For Them?

00:33:16: So thats what it should compel Us To Do.

00:33:18: We Should Be Like I want to live for God.

00:33:21: He died for me and i wanna live for him, that's how we repay Him!

00:33:25: That is what our indebtedness should compel us to do... ...is to follow Him in that way.

00:33:31: Hebrews eleven one and six say faith is the substance of things hoped for.. ..and evidence of things seen not seen.

00:33:41: Without faith, it's impossible for us to please him.

00:33:44: For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that HE is a rewarder of those who diligently seek

00:33:50: Him.".

00:33:51: So we have to believe in God and then seek Him...and THAT will grow our faith!

00:33:56: That will be the evidence of our faith.

00:34:02: basically as what he's saying....the fact that we follow HIM will prove that WE HAVE FAITH IN HIM.

00:34:11: And so, all of this you see is building upon each other.

00:34:17: That we're growing in our faith and then we are proving that we have the faith by following him.

00:34:23: That's what makes us remain faithful to Him In same way that the Levites remained faithful in Him Is knowing who God is & What He does.

00:34:35: If we will familiarize ourselves more with God, focus more on him.

00:34:40: Pay attention to the things he's doing pay attention to who He is and only way that We can do That Is To spend time With Him Read His Word Talk to Him Watch And See What He Does.

00:34:53: Then We Will Know His Character We Will know his Ways We'll Know His Teachings.

00:34:57: if We Know His Characters We know his ways and We know His teachings then We won't be led astray by leaders that are going the wrong way, but if we don't know God well enough and We don't what he teaches us to do then.

00:35:12: Then we are going to go astray because we're unaware And we didn't even realize that were doing anything wrong.

00:35:19: people Are Going To be able to lead Us away from God?

00:35:22: So we have to Know him.

00:35:24: The only Way to know Him is to spend time with him to read his word.

00:35:30: But a lot of That starts With just recognizing who he is, and what He does.

00:35:37: And once we recognize those things then we will want to know more...and want to no more....And THEN WE WILL WANT TO PROVE THAT WE KNOW HIM AND BELIEVE HIM BY walking faithfully with him by obeying his

00:35:50: words."

00:35:52: we have to walk really close behind him.

00:35:55: We have to keep Him in our

00:35:56: focus.".

00:35:57: I think that's what Jeroboam didn't do, he didn't keep God in his focus you know?

00:36:00: He got.

00:36:01: let His focus be off of God and onto his own kingdom...and that's where he went wrong!

00:36:06: And so knowing about God and then keeping Him uh-you know close in our minds, keeping His ways um-you directly in our eyesight.

00:36:20: You know, that's how you follow someone is by keeping them In your eye sight.

00:36:26: if we aren't keeping God and I focus then We're not going to be following him closely enough.

00:36:32: And so people are going to Be able to say this Is the way?

00:36:35: This is The Way and we're gonna get off of Of god's path an easily be led astray.

00:36:42: So i'm Gonna end with these last four Five Verses.

00:36:47: In Psalm one, one through three it says... This man, this man that meditates on God's law day and night.

00:37:11: And delights in it will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water That bring forth its fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither... ...and whatever he does will

00:37:22: prosper.".

00:37:23: That means He'll be fruitful!

00:37:25: You will see evidence Of the fact that he is Christian.

00:37:28: Remember at very beginning I said do you know anyone or have ever felt Like YOU believe in god but there no real evidences.

00:37:36: You're not growing in your faith, you are NOT producing any fruit.

00:37:41: He says the way to do that is delighting God's law and meditate on it day & night.

00:37:47: Psalm one nineteen ten through sixteen says With my whole heart I have sought you.

00:37:53: O let me not wander from Your commandments.

00:37:56: Your word I've hidden in My heart That I might not sin against You.

00:38:01: Blessed are You.

00:38:02: oh Lord Teach me your statutes.

00:38:05: With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth, I've rejoiced in The way Of Your testimonies as much As In All riches...I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways.... I Will Delight Myself In Your Statutes And I Will Not Forget Your Word.

00:38:23: We Have to think about God's words ALL OF THE TIME so that they you know.

00:38:29: we don't forget what God has told us TO DO and ask God to continue to teach us, that we are continuing to be receptive.

00:38:39: John ten twenty seven-to-twenty eight says my sheep hear My voice.

00:38:44: I know them And they follow Me.

00:38:47: i give Them eternal life and They will never perish.

00:38:50: neither Will anyone snatch them out of My hand.

00:38:53: if We Know Jesus?

00:38:59: and we are following those things.

00:39:01: We're following him closely, then nobody's going to be able to take us away from him.

00:39:09: there won't be an ability to pull us and lead us astray because Work on knowing God.

00:39:23: Knowing the things that he would say, knowing the things That He Would do, knowing His character, knowing his teaching, knowing its ways.

00:39:29: so No one can lead you astray.

00:39:31: Romans ten seventeen says faith comes by hearing and Hearing By The Word Of God.

00:39:37: So listen to God's words And You Will Grow In Your Faith.

00:39:41: Lastly James One twenty two To Twenty Five Says Be Doers of the word and not hearers.

00:39:48: only deceiving yourselves.

00:39:50: For anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man observing himself in the mirror.

00:39:58: He observes himself And it goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he Is.

00:40:04: but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty?

00:40:07: And continues in It...and is NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK.

00:40:12: This is The One Who Will Be Blessed In What He Does.

00:40:16: So You're deceiving yourself if you hear the word of God and then don't do it, because what is the point?

00:40:24: Then you forget what kind of man you are.

00:40:26: You forget that your a Christian...you forget that you're a Christ follower!

00:40:30: ...You forget at what It Is That God told you to follow.

00:40:34: And so he says Follow me closely as soon As you hear A Word from Me.

00:40:39: Do IT!

00:40:40: As soon as you recognize my power Keep it in your focus and then act on that.

00:40:49: the natural reaction for us when we see something that God does is to look at Him and do another thing.

00:40:57: The more we know God, the more we should want to know God!

00:41:01: And what he sees in our lives are the more indebted to him we feel... ...the closer we should be to him.

00:41:14: if we don't feel close to God or any growth in our walk with him, then it's because we're not focusing on Him.

00:41:26: It is NOT because of HIM!

00:41:27: IT IS BECAUSE OF US!

00:41:29: IT'S BECAUSES WE HAVE YOU KNOW, OKAY I KNOW ABOUT YOU, I BELIEVE IN YOU THE END.

00:41:36: WELL THEN WE'RE GONNA LIVE LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD BECAUCE WE'RE NOT THINKING ABOUT HIM.

00:41:41: BUT IF WE'RE THINKIN' ABOUT HIM THEN we will be focused on him and it'll grow us.

00:41:48: It'll make want to know more about this several times because I thought that was a great analogy of the Awanas motto, you will love him and if you love Him, You Will Follow Him.

00:42:07: And I think that is the natural progression.

00:42:11: we may be thinking oh i need to follow God... well If you don't know Him then you don' t love Him..and if you do not love Him ,you dont want to follow Him Robotic, you know.

00:42:25: It's just doing it because you're supposed to not because you want too.

00:42:30: So you have to have that love for him in order?

00:42:32: To want to follow Him but You can't have that.

00:42:35: Love for him if you don't know him.

00:42:36: and so it all starts with knowing God Recognizing who he is And what He does.

00:42:43: and so we have to be proactive In growing our faith and then remaining faithful.

00:42:48: and I think the way to do That is to just draw ourselves closer to him to get to know him more, to recognize his hand in our lives.

00:42:57: To learn more about Him...to spend more time with Him.

00:43:00: so focus on that today!

00:43:02: Focus on reading your Bible more uh learning more about him, spending more time with him so that you can see the things he does.

00:43:12: See his power and wisdom as well as love!

00:43:19: Then search for those things more and more and your faith will grow and become more faithful.

00:43:27: That is all I have for today.

00:43:29: Please join me back next week and we will continue talking about Jeroboam's reign, see what God does in reaction to his disobedience...to His going astray & leading others astray!

00:43:43: And then also if you'll join on social media at Live Through Jesus.

00:43:49: I'll be posting clips from this and then also scriptures from here, And if you will go to livethroughjesus.substack.com and become a free subscriber there Then You can get all of my past blog post access To All Of Those.

00:44:05: Hopefully i Will Soon Get Some New Blog Posts Written.

00:44:09: When I Do I'LL EMAIL THOSE TO YOU AUTOMATICALLY.

00:44:12: IF YOU BECOME A FREE SUBSCRIBER So Join Me On All Of These Places.

00:44:17: Become a subscriber to the podcast so that you will not miss the next episode and then I'll just see you back.

00:44:24: Next week.

00:44:25: Thanks, and have a good day.