2 Kings 18:4 4/21/2026

“He also crushed to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.”

King Hezekiah began his religious reformation by reopening the Temple.  He then tore down the High Places that had erroneously been used as places to worship God. Then he did something very interesting.  He commanded the bronze Serpent ,which God commissioned in Numbers 21:9, to be crushed to pieces… Why?  Why would something that God ordered, made for the deliverance of His people, need to be destroyed?  The answer is found at the end of the verse. The Israelites had begun to worship the gift instead of the Giver.  A good thing had become bad, because it had become an idol. 

 Has that happened in your life? Has something God provided to help you, become an idol that needs to be crushed. Even something that God ordained can be misused and become harmful. 

Some religions have elevated people and relics far above their intended purposes. Other denominations have pushed some gifts to levels of importance to which they were never intended to be raised.  Others look to their discipline and routines to provide their salvation. Even the cross can be pushed beyond a symbol of the one who died upon it… The item or action itself may be neutral but worshiping it is not.  Burning incense literally or figuratively to a created object, person or practice is idol worship. And  ANYTHING that detracts from Jesus Christ as God  - must be crushed to pieces.  

It doesn’t have to be people or relics, it can be routines, emblems, images, religion, reputation, education, etc. The enemy is skilled in misdirecting us by using neutral items to pull us off the path we are intended to follow. God is a jealous God, and Jesus was clear, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". Chase what matters… and chase only what matters. Being a man after God’s own heart, means making sure nothing even comes close to participating in the  worship that is due to the one and only true God. 

The first commandment is first for a reason – One God and only One God.

 "An 'idol' is anything which displaces God in my heart." — A. W. Pink

1 Kings 6:15,18,20 4/14/2026

“He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper…  The inside of the temple was cedar… He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.”

Interesting details about Solomon using precious materials to build the Temple.  It was fascinating to me that various types of beautiful and expensive woods were covered by gold. Had I been the designer I would have used cheap materials for anything that was going to  be gold plated.

I think that’s an illustration of how man cares about appearance, but God looks deeper than that.  When men walked into the temple, they saw the surface beauty. But when God entered the temple, He saw the workmanship and quality material used in its construction. 

The same is true of my life. Men only see the surface. But God looks at every level and knows if what I have constructed is a cheap imitation covered with flashy material, or if I used the best of the best, and gave all I had to build a dwelling for Him.

It doesn’t say in this chapter, but my guess is God prefers the foundation to be quality even if it doesn’t look flashy.  Unfortunately, we emphasize the opposite, focusing mostly on appearance…  Sometimes our Sunday morning self looks like we’re covered in gold, but Monday shows the plywood and plastic that our image is built on. 

Let me challenge you today to examine your life at a deeper level.  At the core of your walk is there strong quality material that will be sturdy in times of trial.  Gold is pretty but it’s soft… is there solid commitment under the Gold coating?

In life you must build the solid prior to the shiny. Don’t misunderstand, our offering should be covered with the most glistening  beautiful substance we possess. But the foundation of our faith, the part that goes unseen, must be solid valuable material that will withstand the onslaught of this world.  We must have “Iceberg faith”, which means while what is above should be beautiful, the strength comes from the depth and quality that is underneath.

“Ninety percent of an iceberg is underwater.  It is that unseen foundation that allows it to destroy anything that comes against it.”

Esther 10:3 4/7/2026

“Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.”

Many of us have heard sermons on Esther including the famous line “for such a time as this”, but most lessons focus on Esther being told that, instead of Mordecai who said it. 

Early in this book Mordecai is introduced as having adopted Esther because she had neither father nor mother. That little tidbit tells us that Mordecai was a good man, even before people were watching. He did the right thing. Taking care of widows and orphans is true religion and it identifies him as a follower of God. Long before God made Esther queen, He made Mordecai faithful.  

Mordecai started out as an ordinary guy sitting by the city gate; but this verse indicates that later he was elevated to the number two man in the kingdom and loved and admired by the people. However, that was never his target. That happened because God blessed his obedience. There was no strategy for advancement, no campaign, just a man with a heart that followed God. He took care of those who couldn’t take care of themselves.  He worked for the good of his people and had their backs when things got tough. Whether he was sitting unnoticed at the city gate, or the number 2 man in the kingdom, he was the same man, and he loved and valued others. 

You may be in a chapter of life where you feel obscure and unnoticed, daily doing the mundane deeds God requires of you, … or maybe, like Mordecai in this verse, the crowd is cheering your accomplishments… Either way, your heart is what matters… Are you protecting it?  Because what is inside, will come out. 

So, today, whether God places you in a position of influence, or calls you to serve in anonymity… live with integrity and a servant’s heart… Stay ready to be used… Because in your life, just like in this story, Esther may not be the only one being prepared for “such a time as this”. 

“Godliness isn’t something we manufacture. It’s something The Spirit grows inside of us and then it overflows into our words, choices, and actions.”  - anonymous