[cs_content][cs_section bg_color=”hsl(0, 0%, 13%)” parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_inset=”0px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_inset=”0px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _bp_base=”4_4″ class=”x-hide-xs x-hide-sm x-hide-md” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_gap size=”150px”][cs_text _bp_base=”4_4″ class=”cs-ta-center”]
WEEK 19 – En Garde!
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”hsl(0, 0%, 13%)” parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_inset=”0px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_inset=”0px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _bp_base=”4_4″ class=”x-hide-lg x-hide-xl” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_gap size=”100px”][cs_text _bp_base=”4_4″ class=”cs-ta-center”]
WEEK 19 – En Garde
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_inset=”0px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_inset=”0px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/5″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”3/5″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_video_embed no_container=”true” type=”16:9″][/x_video_embed][x_gap size=”25px”][x_button size=”global” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://join.slack.com/t/lcacademy/shared_invite/enQtMjkzMzY5ODIxNDQ3LWMxMGM2MWU4NGIxYmZjZGJiYjFkNzZjYTE4MGE4NDk1OGZmNDk1NWExZTBhMzk0Y2E0ZDc4YTMxZWY0YmI3NzQ” title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][x_icon type=”external-link” class=”mvn mln mrs”]JOIN WEEKLY DEVO SLACK CONVO[/x_button][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/5″ style=”padding: 0px;”] [/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”hsl(0, 0%, 21%)” parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_inset=”0px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_inset=”0px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 10px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”true” fade_animation=”in-from-left” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-left man” style=”color: #fff;”]WEEKLY DEVOS[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_inset=”0px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_inset=”0px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” _bp_base=”4_4″ style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ _bp_base=”4_4″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text _bp_base=”4_4″]
WEEK 19 – EN GARDE
This week we’re talking about Accountability.
En Garde!
So I’ve been reading through 1 Kings lately & first of all, I’m really excited to study the life of Elijah for a bit.
But before we get to Elijah, I’ve been fascinated by the account of the end of David’s life, his hand off to his son Solomon, and the events & process that surround that whole deal.
King David was SUCH a man of God.
Now yes, he made some terrible mistakes, don’t we all. But overall, his heart was SO set on God.
So much so that God promised him that as long as he and his descendants kept God first, God would keep his line on the throne.
Pretty amazing promise. Pretty tight relationship. Pretty incredible love.
And then when he passed the reign over to his son, Solomon started off SO GOOD!
Things were SO PROMISING. I mean God said anything he asked for, God would give it to him.
He asked for wisdom to lead well. God was so pleased with that heart & request that He gave him wisdom unlike anyone ever before AND unlike anyone that would ever come after.
WOW!
And not only that, He gave him riches, & wealth, & favor, & so much more as well, just because He was so pleased with his request for wisdom INSTEAD of riches, etc.
Oh how things were going so well.
1 Kings 10:23 summarizes it so well (check it out).
But man, the story just gets so sad.
He get so caught up in women. Starts taking wives from other countries, specifically forbidden countries that worship other gods.
God knew that people would start to follow those other gods if they went down that road, so the rule was set in place to keep people from falling into that pit.
But Solomon did it anyways. And slowly over time he started worshiping allll those other gods that his wives & their cultures worshipped.
And Solomon broke the faithful promise he and his family had with God. God takes the throne away from their line. And it’s just a really sad story from there on.
All because he got tripped up slowly over time.
Now we all struggle with different things, but there are a few things that we can put in place to keep that from happening.
First of all, it’s SUPER important to know this one principle: IT’S LONELY AT THE TOP.
The higher up you go, the less people you naturally have around you to keep you accountable. And we’re ALL capable of it.
So no matter where you are, who you are, what you do, or how high up you climb… make sure you keep in mind that ACCOUNTABILITY IS CRUCIAL.
We’ve got to be on guard. We’ve got to PREPARE FOR BATTLE before the battle comes.
So even while times seems good, if you want to win the battle when it comes knocking on your doorstep, you’ve got to have been preparing all along.
You’ve got to set your lifestyle up as one of faithfulness, not ONLY by choice & love, but also by ACCOUNTABILITY & BOUNDARIES.
We all have weak moments, and we just need other people to hold us up & to call us on our stuff, and keep us on the straight and narrow.
We have personal 1-on-1 accountability set up within the Premium tier of LCA if you want to start getting that personal, tailored, accountability to make sure you stay the right path for a lifetime.
If you are interested in setting that up then reach out to us here info@lsmerch.com
No matter how you do it, get accountable, and strengthen your ability to stay the path.
Even the WISEST man who EVER LIVED fell into it y’all. We’re not above it. This is crucial. His family lost so much because of it.
And that’s what happens. People lose families, ministries businesses, friendships, closeness with God, the list goes on.
And not only that, but it’s almost ALWAYS people who NEVER would have EVER ended up there, EVER.
But somehow, it get’s lonely at the top, the enemy starts to lie to you, and over time, if you don’t have the right accountability set up ahead of time, you can start to really make some secret bad decisions that will unravel everything good in your life pursuing a big fat lie that you just can’t seem to escape.
And all the while it was SO POSSIBLE to avoid it all together by getting accountable now!
I’ve seen AND been a part of major church scandals, major heart breaks, major confusion, hurt, frustration, brokenness, and so much more as a result of this happening over and over to people in ministry, people in families, people in business, and people who were really close to me.
This week, read Solomon’s story in 1 Kings. Ask the Lord about how you could get accountable to a trusted friend or mentor. Set it up with Jessica & I if you want to. We are here for you for sure.
Not only that, but we have people that WE meet with to keep US accountable. It’s just THAT important.
We pray the Lord helps you get on guard so that you can stay the course for your entire life, and we’re here to help you do that.
Blessings this week as you get stronger and more set up for success.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- Are you lonely where you are? Feeling like you don’t have anyone to keep you out of your head, thinking right thoughts, accountable to the straight & narrow life-giving path?
- Who might you have in your life that you could set up this kind of accountability with?
- What do you have in your life that you wouldn’t want to lose someday due to sinful decisions? Make a list, a “THESE ARE MORE IMPORTANT” list.
- If you were SUPER honest with yourself, what would be the things you could see yourself more likely to be tripped up on someday? Make a list, and then set up guards around those issues. Let your accountability partner know about those specific potential trouble areas so they can help you KEEP them from becoming trouble areas.
SCRIPTURE
1 Kings 10-11 (and surrounding chapters)
WEEKLY FOCUS
This week, read through these Scriptures each morning.
Think about this idea of getting accountable.
Ask God if there are any areas you need to surrender or change in order to be walking in faithfulness & accountability.
Let this theme guide your God time all week, and even your thoughts and conversation with Him through out your days, all week long.
Let Him speak to you about this idea of accountability & faithfulness, and see what He says.
We’d love to hear your feedback, so hop into the devos conversation thread in SLACK & we’re excited to see what the Lord speaks to you this week.
BLESSINGS!
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]