Celebrate Jesus

Scripture

Tibia died, and Omri reigned.

~1 Kings 16:22

Quote

No kingdom has two kings. No such title as co-king.

~Ya’akov

After Solomon’s demise and death, his son Rehoboam incensed the ten northern tribes and they rebelled leaving him to govern the tribe of Benjamin and Judah. The Levites lived everywhere but the greatest concentration was at Jerusalem. The northern kingdom, hence forth known as Israel, had nineteen kings and all of them were bad. I guess Jehu came closer than any to being a good king but they all grade as bad. The fourth of Israel’s kings was Elah and he was murdered by Zimri who became king for seven days. The seven days were not good days and Zimri did like Hitler, he burned himself in the palace. This left Israel divided with half following a man named Tibni and half following Omri. Tibni died and Omri reigned.

Of course, two kings is one king too many and they fought each other like two stallions fighting for the mares and Tibni {intelligent} was killed so that Omri emerged as king of Israel and reigned for twelve years. The point is–no kingdom is big enough for two kings. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters.” Every single living person has an inward throne. We are all ruled by something or someone. There is no room on this inner throne for two kings. We cannot serve both Christ and ourself. This is what makes the verse above so real…“Tibni died and Omri reigned.” The moment I read it I knew exactly what it meant…“Jack must die and Jesus must reign.” As John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and He must increase.”

This plays into Romans 6…For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Potentially, the problem has been solved. Jesus took our old self with Him to the cross and our old self died with Him, but reality seems to contradict this because we still sin and it comes from the old self which apparently is not dead.  Romans 6:11 states…In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word  translated count is an accounting term. It means to consider, take into account, weigh, meditate on, to suppose, deem, judge, to determine, purpose, or decide. The potential is available but it has to be accessed by faith. Anything less than faith will activate the old self. If you are as frustrated as I am in dealing with the old self, read Romans 7 in a modern translation. It will make you feel better.

The bottom line is: Jesus is not your Co-King or as the old bumper sticker said, Co-pilot.

Extra

They have reduced the chance of rain considerably and looking at the radar, I don’t see much possibility that we will get any. We need rain at 11:20. Jo Ballinger got to come home, PTL. I know Bo is tickled. Don’t forget the front pew shower Sunday for Bo’s family. We are doing gift cards. Matter of fact we are planning something special Sunday. We are going to have the fellowship and offering at the same time. It will be fun.

I hope you have a good Friday and great weekend. Thanks for reading the blog.