Breakthrough – Busting through the obstacles that take us to the next level and maximize our potential.

What is your favorite dessert?

· Psalm 90:5 NIV - Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Scripture: 1 Kings 11:1-6 NLT – Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. 4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

· Ignoring God’s word

o 1 Kings 3:5 NLT – 5 That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

o 1 Kings 9:4-5a NLT – 4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever.

o Deuteronomy 17:18 NLT – 18 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

o Psalm 119:11 NIV – 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

· Worldly Success

o Who wants to be successful?

§ Proverbs 30:7-9 NLT – 7 O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. 8 First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

o Solomon’s wealth was beyond our ability to fathom.

§ 1 Kings 10:14 NLT – 14 Each year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold.

§ 1 Kings 10:21 NLT – 21 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon’s day!

§ 1 Kings 10:23 NLT – 23 So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth.

§ Deuteronomy 17:17b NLT – And he (the king) must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.

· Our Best Friends and Loves in this life…so choose wisely.

o 1 Kings 11:2 NLT – 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.

o 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 NIV – 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister a but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

o 1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT – “bad company corrupts good character.”

o Daily engage with God and His Word

o Examine yourself weekly

o Bring temptation into the light

o Evaluate your relationships

· Matthew 25:21 NIV – Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

o Memorize: Psalm 119:11 NIV – 11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

o Evaluate: Am I jeopardizing my legacy or eternity with God?

o Action: Only choose people of Godly character as your closest friends.