When the Doves Cry: Week Four

When the Doves Cry

Maybe I'm just too demanding (Maybe, maybe I'm like my father)
Maybe I'm just like my father too bold (Ya know he's too bold)
Maybe you're just like my mother (Maybe you're just like my mother)
She's never satisfied (She's never, never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other (Why do we scream, why)
This is what it sounds like

When doves cry

Why the heck are we starting this section with a song from Prince… because we are going to talk a little bit about generational blessings and curses.

What?

You probably did not see that coming did you? But it is there. Along with talking about generational gifts we are also going to talk about how we can both break old patterns and also set new patterns that will bless other people further on down the road. This week we are going to do a little background reading into Solomon’s early start and also where he finished his life. This talk will help guide us in our discussion concerning one of the patterns set by Solomon and look to see if we are repeating the same pattern in our own lives. Next week we will focus on Generational Blessings


Read Chapter Three of I Kings
As a group read the first three verses.
What do you observe is going on in first few verses of this chapter?
Where was Solomon’s heart in these verses?
Who did he love?
Why do you think he married Pharaoh’s daughter?
Does it matter that he married her?

Read I Kings 11:1-8

I Kings 3:3
Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; except he burned incense on the high places.

I Kings 8:23
He said Oh Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before you with all their heart…

I Kings 8:61
Solomon’s words “Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord out God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments

Proverb 4:23
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

I Kings 11:6
Solomon built a high place for the Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and Milech the detestable idol of the sons of Amon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

I Kings 11:4
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other Gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been.

I Kings 11:1-3
“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women…from the nations concerning which the Lord has said to the sons of Israel “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods”

I Kings 3: 1
Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh King of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.


Gray Matter:
I know the first thought that is running through everyone’s mind. Is she going to talk about not dating unbelievers? What I am going to talk about is much broader than talking about whom we date… but who do we allow close to our hearts.
Let’s look at the verse that is running through people’s minds.

II Corinthians 6:14

Why do we have this commandment? Is this commandment only dealing with marriage and dating? Or is there an even deeper reason behind the commandment. I realized the importance of this command after dating awesome men who were not passionately in love with God. It hit me that the commands that are given to us are, as Pastor Terry says, to give us life. Even though these men were amazing there was something missing... something life giving.

So why is this commandment life giving and not simply a prohibition? Let's look at Solomon's life to find out why and I Corinthians 6:14-18.

What happened when Solomon loved all these women? Why do you think he built the high places for his wives?

It is a true statement that you become the company you keep.
I see that principle in my own life. I have friends who are doing big things professionally and it pushes me to not want to settle in my professional life.

However, when I want to feel good about myself and settle it is funny who I surround myself with instinctively… it is also funny who I start to avoid.

Areas that used to be black and white slowly turn to gray the longer you spend time with people whose idea of right and wrong are not the same as yours. Now this is not a call to live in the church and never exist in the world. Remember we are to be in the world not of it and implied in that statement is that we live in the world. But who is feeding your soul? Is your soul being fed by someone who is getting their life source from God and so in turn when they speak to you they are speaking words of wisdom?


Generational patterns
So what does this have to do with generational patterns?
Guess what? Those high places that Solomon built…the high places that the people of Israel used time and time again to worship other gods for many generations… those high places where their children were sacrificed to please a foreign god…those gods and high places were brought in by the many wives of Solomon and Solomon himself.
Solomon desire to please his different wives set a pattern of disobedience for his people. Solomon’s pleasing a few people helped open the door for the destruction of many.

Now before we get too deep into this whole issue let’s first talk about certain things we know are true.

First in Christ no longer is it said that the son will die for the sins of the father. Or as the bible likes to say it “No longer will it be said that the father have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But what we cannot deny is that the environment we live in can affect us. We see this often times with divorce and the way people handle their divorce. The children often time re-live the pattern of their parents whether they mean to or not.

If this is true then what happens when we combine what we know about being unequally yoked with our role in the world. If we disobey God what does it mean?

For us?
For the people around us
For our families
In the same way what does our obedience mean for others?

Things to dwell on:
Here is a temperature test for you. Do you still view certain things as right and wrong… or have areas that once were black and white become gray?

Do you think it was Solomon’s intention to not follow God?

Where is your heart right now?

Do you have people in your life who can challenge you and raise the bar in your walk?

If not what are your action steps to bring them into your life?