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And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. 1 Kings 11:8 Occasionally, while working with someone struggling with alcohol, I’ll encounter a spouse who refuses to remove alcohol from the house. During the discussion of how the alcoholic must cut alcohol out of his or her…
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He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 1 Kings 11:3 If you read my blog regularly, you know that I write a lot about our self-destructive appetites. The problem with those appetites – whether those appetites are for food, chemicals, or money – doesn’t lie…
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And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 1 Kings 10:24 While in treatment, which was the first time in a long time that my brain had been free from drugs, my mind began to work again. As I turned my thoughts towards…
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And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the…
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Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, “Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?” 1 Kings 9:7-8 Whenever I hear about the…
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But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them . . . 1 Kings…
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Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 1 Kings 8:63 Far from being a perfect father, I made more than my share of mistakes while my kids were growing up. Early on though, I…
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Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day. 1 Kings 8:61 Most of us, as teenagers, experienced infatuation in some relationship. We had overwhelming emotions that dictated our reality. . . until those emotions just wore off. Then, for…
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The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 1 Kings 8:57-58 I wish…
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When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants . . . 1 Kings 8:35 My parents tried…
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