Recorded December 08, 2024, with Rhonda Harrison.

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast

with Rhonda Harrison on 101 .7 BFM. Good morning

and welcome to Champions in Christ. We're so

happy you joined us this morning. Today we're

going to look into the Word of God and we're

going to talk about serving Him. You know it's

important that we serve God and serve others

and we do serve Him also by serving others. You

know God will speak to you what your purpose

in life is. Some people feel like they don't

have a purpose, but everybody has a purpose.

God created us with a purpose. He knew you and

I before we were in our mother's womb. That's

the Word of God. and he knew what he had purposed

in us. So that's why there's so many different

callings in life and doesn't matter if you are

in the business world, if you are in the trade

world, if you are in the art world, if you're

in music, God has a purpose and a calling. And

many times, and if you're in the government,

God has a purpose and a calling for you. And

he has exactly, he knows exactly what you need

when you need it. And so we're going to take

a look at someone in the Bible. If you'll go

with me to 1 Kings chapter 3. In First Kings,

1 Kings 3 · chapter mention

where we pick up the story is King David had

died and King Solomon, his son, would be the

one to take over. Now King Solomon was only around

20 years old at the time and it says that in

verse 1, and Solomon made an affinity with Pharaoh,

the king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter

and brought her to the city of David until where

he made an end of a of the building of his house

and the house of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem

round about because Solomon had been working

on those things. Verse two, only the people sacrifice.

high places because there was no house built

in the name of the Lord until those days this

was the actual first house built in the name

of the Lord and Solomon verse 3 loved the Lord

walking in the statutes of David or other words

following the same heart of his dad towards God

only he sacrificed burnt incense in the high

places and the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice

there for it was a great high place and a thousand

burnt offerings did he offer on that altar. Wow!

You know, he loved God so much. He loved God.

He was raised in the things of God. His dad taught

about God, taught him about God and Gideon walked

in the ways of God and it's a beautiful thing

to the point where he offered a thousand sacrifices.

You know back in the Old Testament that was a

requirement. There were all kinds of offerings.

There was peace offerings and sin offerings and

it just goes on and on and on. And this was a

way you showed your love and devotion for God.

And nowadays of course we have a new covenant

and because of the blood of Jesus there's no

more need for any other sacrifice because He

was the Lamb of God. He was the ultimate sacrifice.

And so we're going to keep going and in verse

five, in Gibeon, the Lord appeared unto Solomon

in a dream by night and God said, ask me what

I shall give you. You know, just like when your

child pleases you and have been obedient and

is loving on you, you just want to bless them.

This was God's heart towards Solomon. Solomon

being the new king, the Lord said to him in this

dream, Solomon was sleeping, it was at night,

and he had a dream, and God said, ask me what

I should give you. And Solomon said, you have

showed unto your servant, David, my father, great

mercy, according as he walked before you in truth

and in righteousness, in uprightness of heart

with you, and you have kept him from... you have

kept for him this great kindness that you have

given him a son to sit on his throne as of today.

And that was Solomon. He was saying, you've been

so good to my dad and according, of course, as

he walked in truth and righteousness and uprightness

of heart and that you've even allowed his own

son to sit on the throne. And he said, now, oh,

Lord, my God, you have made me your servant king.

instead of David my father, but I am young and

I am not, I do not know how to go in and come

out and your servant is in the midst of your

people which you have chosen a great people that

cannot be numbered or counted for the multitude."

So he was over, this is king, this is a monarchy,

he's over the whole kingdom and there's so many

people you can't number them. and he goes on

in verse 9 says give therefore your servant understanding

heart to judge your people that i can discern

between good and bad for who is able to judge

this you such a great number of people and this

this question i mean this request please the

lord and solomon had asked And so the Lord said,

because you've asked for this, wisdom and understanding,

and you didn't ask for long life or riches, nor

did you ask for the life of your enemies, but

you've asked for understanding to discern judgment

or understand justice. he said behold I have

done according to what you've asked and I've

given you a wise and understanding heart so there

was none like you before you neither will be

any like you come after you so Solomon he was

giving Solomon more wisdom and understanding

than any other king before him or any other king

after him wow that's a big deal That's amazing.

But he goes on to say, and verse 13, I have also

given you that which you haven't asked, riches

and honor. So there will be not any among the

kings like you all your days. So he was the wealthiest

king in riches and in honor. honor as well as

wisdom and understanding but he gives a caveat

he says if you will walk in my ways to keep my

statutes and my commandments as your father David

did then I will lengthen your days and so Solomon

woke up and he thought oh it was a dream and

he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark

of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was

where the presence of God resided during this

time. Now since Jesus, nowadays, since the time

Jesus died and rose again, he sent the Holy Spirit.

So when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and

confess with our mouth he is Lord, then we receive

the Holy Spirit. So the presence of God is not

kept in the Ark of the Covenant any longer. There's

no need for it. 15 and Solomon offered up burnt

offerings and peace offerings and made a feast

to all his servants. Then came their two women

who were harlots unto the king and they stood

before him. So they are standing before King

Solomon and one woman said Lord I and this woman

dwell in one house and I delivered a child with

her in this house and it came to pass on the

third day after I Delivered that child that this

woman delivered also we were together and there

was no stranger with us only the two of us in

this house and This woman's child died in the

night because she rolled on top of it. Oh that

had to be just devastating. She rolled over on

her baby and it died. And she rose at midnight

and took my son beside me while I slept and laid

it near her bosom and laid her dead child near

mine. And when I rose in the morning to give

my child sac or her breast to feed on, it was

dead. And when I had considered it in the morning,

behold it was not my son. which which lay next

to me. The other woman said no but the living

is my son and the dead son is yours and said

no but the dead son is mine and the living so

they were arguing over whose son this was that

was still living and and they spoke this before

the king and then the king said the one said

this is my son that lives and that your son that

died and the other said the same vice versa and

the king said bring me a sword and they brought

the sword before the king and the king said divide

this living child in two give half to one half

to the other now I want you to picture and put

yourself in this place you're sitting there and

you're arguing with another woman over whose

child is dead now you got to understand they're

both distraught at this point and the king comes

in king solomon or he's standing there and he

says hand me a sword i'm just going to cut this

baby in half we're going to divide it in two

and so be it and then all of a sudden spoke a

woman whose child was living unto the king for

her bowels or her heart so yearned for her son

she said oh my lord give her the living child

and don't slay it but the other one said let

neither mine nor hers but divide it and the king

said give her the living child and don't slay

it she's the mother for sure because she was

willing to give up the very thing she loved so

it so that baby could live she was laying down

her life with that child so that child could

live and that's how the king knew that it was

the right that she was the right mother because

she had a heart for the child And all of Israel

heard this judgment, what the king had judged,

and they feared the king, for they saw that the

wisdom of God was in him to do judgment." That's

huge. You know, God spoke to Solomon in a dream,

asked him, what do you want? And then he confirmed

that word with signs following with what happened

when he had to judge a situation right after

that. So the same way, if God speaks to your

heart something, He will prove it. He will confirm

that word. If he's giving you an assignment and

you're dilly -dallying, you're kind of going,

well, was that God? Was it not God? Go back and

check yourself and expect God to confirm that

word. The same way he confirmed it with Solomon.

God doesn't change. you know, but when we serve

God with all our heart, you know, and if you

haven't had God speak to you in a dream or a

vision or hear his voice, if you'll just go to

the word of God, many times the Holy Spirit will

enlighten the word and bring us that mission

from the word of God. If you're a business person,

maybe you are to be a blessing to the kingdom

of God. If you love God with all your heart,

mind, soul, and strength, You might, God may

want that business become a multi -million dollar

business to give into the kingdom for the work

of the ministry. Not everybody's called to be

a minister as far as the fivefold ministry gifts,

but callings are everywhere and every calling

is important just like in your whole body. Every

joint supplies, your toes important, your legs

important, your knee, your hip. You couldn't

function when one of those is out of whack, then

that whole area is out of whack. So we want to

be in the place God wants us to be, doing what

he's called us to do, to be the part of the body

to fulfill our function in the earth while we're

here. The Bible says our life is but a vapor

and it's over. So we want to be sure first of

all as as king solomon started out love god with

all your heart mind soul and strength that's

the first commandment and then the second commandment

is to love your neighbor as yourself because

as you do that you are fulfilling god's purpose

in the earth the same way in the old testament

they had loads and loads and lines and lines

and you can read it in the Old Testament of commandments,

but in the New Testament it says all the commandments

hang on these two, the two I just quoted you.

Why? Because when you love God with all your

heart, mind, soul, and strength, you aren't going

to come against him. You aren't going to come

against your neighbor, which is what all of the

commandments are about in worshiping other gods.

So let's continue. You know, the Bible says in

1 Corinthians 2 9, excuse me, but it is written,

eye is not seen nor ear is heard, neither has

entered into the heart of the man the things

God has prepared for those that love him. You

know, when we love God the way Solomon did, what

did God offer him? You know, and Solomon's heart

was so pure at that point before God that he

asked for wisdom and understanding, and what

did God say? I'm not only gonna give you that,

I'm gonna give you riches and honor, and he just

poured it onto him. The same way loving parents

do to children, that they just wanna show their

love, and when they ask for something, they usually

pour out more than just that thing, because God's

love is so great for you and for me. Now, he

would like us to obey, he doesn't force us to,

but if we do, there's always reward, there's

always treasure. Now, what happens to Solomon?

Let's turn to, we're going to jump forward to

1 Kings chapter 11. And Solomon begins to make

1 Kings 11 · chapter mention

a turn. and you know at this point in chapter

12 you'll learn about how all the earth was seeking

Solomon to hear his wisdom and what God had put

in his heart and they brought garments and gold

and spices and and he gathered up all the things

and but what happened was by chapter 11 I want

to read this to you it says but Solomon loved

many strange women together with the daughter

of Pharaoh the woman of the Moabites the Ammonites

that Edomites the Zionians and the Hittites and

of the nations concerning which the Lord had

said unto the children of Israel you will not

go into them nor will they come to you for surely

they will turn your heart after their gods and

Solomon cherished these in love. and he had 700

wives, princes, 300 concubines, and his wives

turned away his heart. That's verse three. Can

you imagine 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines?

The concubine was a mistress at that time that

he did not marry. So imagine, I mean, two women

in a household is a problem. So imagine this.

Okay, verse four, so 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 God as was the heart of David his

father. So Solomon went after Ashereth, the goddess

of Zionians, and after Milcom, the abomination

of the Ammonites, and Solomon did evil in the

sight of the Lord and went not fully after God

as David did. Then Solomon did build a high place

for Shemosh, the abomination of Moab, and the

hill that is before Jerusalem, for Molech, the

abomination of the children of Amon, And likewise

did he for all his strange wives which burnt

incense and sacrifice to their gods and the Lord

this is verse 9 was angry with Solomon because

his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel

who appeared unto him twice and he commanded

him concerning this thing that he should not

go after other gods and keep not that which and

and but Solomon did not keep that which the Lord

commanded Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon

for as much as you have done you have not kept

my covenant my statues which I've commanded I

will surely rend the kingdom from you and will

give it to your servant Wow Wow, it says now

with standing in your days I will not do it for

David your father's sake But I will rend it from

the hand of your son How be it I will not rend

it away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe

to To your son for David my servant sake for

Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen Okay, so

the Lord is angry you do not want you and I do

not want to fall into the hands of an angry God

Right? God is very angry because Solomon turned

away all the things God spoke to him in the beginning.

As he did what the Lord told him not to do, he

reaped. that harvest. So anytime the Lord speaks

to you not to do something or you read in his

word, you know, don't give place to the devil.

You read in his word, let not evil communication

come out of your mouth. These are these are just

things that God tells us for our own good and

if we'll obey him. and we'll just treasure what

he treasures, love what he loves and hate what

he hates. What does he hate? He hates sin. He

hates pride. He hates all those things that are

gonna bring us to a place of an unhealthy harvest.

So we wanna reap a great harvest. We wanna expect

a harvest. God said, if we sow a seed, Whether

it's a seed of love, finances, whatever we sow,

if we sow it in the name of the Lord for the

Lord Jesus Christ to help someone else, guess

what? We're going to reap a harvest. But if we

sow bad seed, just like a farmer, if he sows

corn, he's expecting. a harvest of corn, not

just one corn back, one seed back. You know,

you're going to get the ear and you're going

to get the whole stock. You're going to get the

whole field of corn. But if you sow bad seed,

and I think everyone has, if you're over the

age of Five, you've probably done something wrong,

but God's mercies are new every morning. So don't

think, wow, I've done so much. I cannot be redeemed.

Yes, you can. We don't live in the old covenant.

We live in the new. His mercies are new every

morning He will help you out of that situation

out of that circumstance that you've gotten yourself

in so deep you don't know how to get out but

our God does and As soon as your heart is turned

towards him and you say help me He will help

you as soon as you give your heart your whole

heart back to him. Guess what? He will cast your

sin as far as the east is from the West. He will

read Deem you again. You know, but love, when

you love God, you will be motivated. Your stewardship

to Him in what He's given you, the talents and

giftings He's given you, will be fruitful for

His glory. We are at our best when we are serving

God out of a heart of love. You could serve Him

out of mere obedience and not have the right

heart and it's not you're not going to be happy

doing that but when you start to get to know

him that's how we get to love him more is get

in that word worship him praise him lift up thank

him thank him thank him the Bible says be thankful

in all things you know so as we do those things

we will get to know him he will come the Bible

says he inhabits the praises of his people and

we will want to serve him out of that heart of

love, you know. And just like Peter, you know,

Peter in the New Testament, oh, he served God.

He followed after God. He performed miracles,

signs and wonders. And when Jesus died and they

started coming after those that followed, you

know, they thought their life was going to be

in trouble. And what does Peter do? He denies

him three times. Now, Jesus told him, you're

going to deny me three times because Jesus knew.

He knew. He knew what was going on but then later

Peter comes back God restores him and To he reaffirms

him three times and then tells him feed my sheep.

He gave him his assignment So while you think

about that and we're going to go to a couple

of songs and we'll come right back you In desperation,

I seek heaven and pray that That's right, in

Jesus' name, He has everything provided for you.

So pray this prayer with me. Father, forgive

me, cleanse me, wash me, renew a right spirit

in me. In Jesus' name, amen. I just thank you

for listening. I want you to go out and make

it a great day. Please know that God loves you.

We love you, and you are a champion in Christ.