1KINGS 1:Like 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles were originally each one book instead of two. The books of Kings and Chronicles have many similarities. One difference is that the books of Kings seem a bit more secular in their outlook, whereas Chronicles seems to have been written by a priest. Henrietta Mears says that both sets have these things in common: 1. They begin with King David and end with the king of Babylon. 2. They open with the building of the Temple and end with the burning of the Temple. 3. They open with David's first successor to the throne, Solomon, and end with David's last successor, Jehoiachin, released from captivity by the king of Babylon.

Mears also gives these three rather odd meta messages in these books. I think they might be interesting to look for as we go through:

God does not show favoritism. Acts 10:34
When our all is on the altar, God never keeps us waiting for the fire.
The final captivity was because of disobedience to God. This was clearly prophesied long before.

PSALM 119:33-48:God is telling us how important His Word is! A favorite verse from yesterday's reading is verse 18: "Open my eyes, so that I may see the wonderful truths in your law."

JOHN 4b:When I am in Indonesia and given opportunities to pray a blessing over people, I often have prayed John 4:14 for them. Jesus said, "those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."

So I pray for the fresh bubbling spring to be within them. And John 7 says: "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'"

NLT Translation notes:John 4:21 Jesus replied, "Believe me, [0//dear woman], the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.[I don't think there is any good equivalent in English for the Greek here. One option runs the risk of sounding terribly rude, and this one runs the risk of misunderstanding the 'dear'ness of the woman to Jesus.]27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, "What do you want with her?" or "Why are you talking to [him//her]?"45 Yet [, suprisingly,] the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there.48 Jesus [said//asked], "Will you [people] never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"[It is important to show that the Greek is you-plural here, otherwise Jesus seems overly frustrated with just the one man.]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.