Follow us on Facebook Twitter, and Pinterest.
DC Books
  • Salt & Light Devotionals
  • My Books
  • About Donna L Campbell
    • Contact
    • The Latest
    • About
  • Scripture of the Day Memes
  • Campbell Family Recipes
  • Thoughts, Poems and Randomness
  • Photography
  • Untitled

Life of David Part 9: Faith to Let Vengeance be the Lord’s

8/25/2016

0 Comments

 
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19
David was a man who trusted God to be his Justice and Avenger. That is not the easiest thing, especially when someone hates you passionately and is consistently trying to hurt you. Saul had chased David relentlessly for no reason other reason than his own jealousy and personal vendetta. Other men too wanted David to die, both at this time in his life and later. But David trusted God’s promise and command that vengeance is His. Deuteronomy 32:34-36 reads,
Is not this laid up in store with me,
    sealed up in my treasuries?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
    and their doom comes swiftly.’
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
    and there is none remaining, bond or free.

 
And Leviticus 19:15-18 commands us,
You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
 
It takes a great deal of faith in God not to hurt the people who hurt us, not to take vengeance on people who attack us, and not to hate the people who hate us. But David was a man after God’s own heart who did all the will of God. He trusted and loved the LORD, He knew God well enough to know that he would rather please his Lord than please himself or people. We begin today in 1 Samuel 26. David once again was given an opportunity to kill Saul who had again come after David in Ziph with 3,000 men. Saul and his men were encamped and asleep. Saul was in the center of the army, surrounded by soldiers and sleeping next to Abner, the commander of the army. Saul trusted his life to his men and to Abner. But David saw them all asleep. He asked two of his men Ahimelech the Hittite, and Joab's brother Abishai and aksed them to enter the encampment with him. Abishai went with him. Abishai was a courageous and mighty military man in his own right. The daughter of David’s sister Zeruiah, he alone was brave enough to trust God and follow David into the camp. He had the command of one of the three divisions of David's army at the battle with Absalom ( 2 Samuel 18:2 2 Samuel 18:5 2 Samuel 18:12 ). He defeated and killed the Philistine giant Ishbi-benob, who threatened David's life (2 Samuel 21:15-17 ). He was the chief of the second rank of the three "mighties" ( 2 Samuel 23:18 2 Samuel 23:19 ; 1 Chronicles 11:20 1 Chronicles 11:21 ); and on one occasion killed 300 men with his own spear ( 2 Samuel 23:18). He followed David as David followed the LORD and seeing all David did gave him faith in God.
The two men entered the army’s camp. They could be captured or killed, especially since the army’s sole reason for being there was to kill David. But no one stirred, no one was awake guarding the king. David and Abishai went directly to the sleeping Saul whose spear was in the ground at his head along with his jar of water. Abishai said, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” (Verse 8). Verses 9-12 record David’s response,
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.
 
David could have been murdered as Saul so deeply desired, but he trusted God to protect him and God did. David refused to sin against Saul though he desired Saul to pay for his sins. God honored David’s faith and obedience and protected the man by putting the entire army into a deep sleep. David went to a place outside the camp and called to Abner who should have been alert in protection of the king.  Now awake the commander, army, and king were shown the spear and water jar David had taken. It was proved that though he could easily have killed Saul, David had spared his life again. David was hurt that he had been vanquished to serve other gods, though he refused to serve them and to serve other armies. David was innocent yet he was pursued as guilty.
Saul was once again convicted of his guilt in chasing this man who had once been so trusted and loved by him. Their exchange is recorded in verses 21-25.
 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
 
Saul once again swore he would not pursue David any longer. But David’s response showed he did not have to trust Saul, he trusted the Lord. Saul could keep trying to kill him, but David trusted justice to God not Saul.
1 Samuel 27 records that David left his beloved Israel and went to Philistia to escape Saul’s unyielding pursuit. He found favor with Achish who gave him a home in Ziklag, a home that remained the property of Judah’s kings. Verses 8-9 record some of David’s actions for Achish.
Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites,the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
David battled and killed the people Saul was rejected for sparing (1 Samuel 15). He made the Achish think he had utterly turned his back on Israel and Achish trusted David enough to bring him to war with him and let him be his personal bodyguard.
Saul meantime had been unable to hear any word from the LORD and knew a battle with the Philistines was coming. So although he knew it was a sin and had banned any necromancers and mediums form Israel he sought a witch and had her raise Samuel from his rest to implore of him what the battle would bring. 1 Samuel 28:16-19 records the ghost of Samuel’s response.
And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”
David was about to go to that same battle but as we find out in 1 Samuel 29, the Philistines would not allow this devoted Israelite to fight with them against Israel. David was not safe in Israel and could not fight for Philistia. In 1 Samuel 30 he returned to Ziklag to find it had been burned to the ground and his wives captured by the Amalekites. I can imagine how frustrated and angry David was. I am sure he wanted to take his anger out on the Philistines, Amalekites, and Saul. But instead he turned to God and asked his will. Verses 7-10 record it.
And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
They came upon an Egyptian servant of an Amalekite who fed them, confessed to all the Amalekites had done and led David to the camp. Verses 16-20 read,
And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David's spoil.”
 
David and his men came back with all their possessions and more and when they came upon the two hundred who had not joined in the battle some of the 400 did not want to give them their possessions or any of the spoil. That would be the natural response of most of us. “You didn’t fight, you didn’t help. You lose out.” It seemed like the right payback for the 200 who were too exhausted to fight. But David was a man after God’s own heart and he said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.  Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”  And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. (Verses 23-25). David even sent part of the spoils to the elders of Judah, whom he still loved and honored as friends.
1 Samuel 31 records what happened to Saul and his sons fighting the Phillistines. Verses 1-7 read,
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slainon Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. 7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
 
David did not have to lift a finger to harm Saul. Saul’s own avarice and pride killed him. The Lord had avenged David and David never had to sin against Saul, show him hate, or even be unkind for God to justify him. 2 Samuel 1 records David’s reaction to Saul and Jonathan’s death. He did not rejoice, he lamented. He mourned his friend and he mourned the king, God’s anointed.
Believer, you do not ever have to worry about taking vengeance against the wrongs done to you. Every person on the face of the earth from the beginning of creation to the end of this earth will face Justice. He will either pay for his sins by his own blood or Jesus will have paid with His. We do not have to seek vengeance. We trust and love God. We seek God, His will, His kingdom, His heart, and to know Him. We have a different view of our enemies. In Matthew 5:35-45 Jesus said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Paul echoes Jesus’ sentiment in Romans 12:14-20,
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
​
0 Comments

Life of David Part 8: Faith Enough to be Generous

8/24/2016

0 Comments

 
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38
​David had convinced Saul that he was not his enemy, but he was wise enough not to go home just yet. We’ll read in 1 Samuel 25 today. He and his men remained in the wilderness away from Saul’s mercurial mood and spirit. Samuel died and the prophet was mourned by all of Israel (1 Samuel 25:1a). David and his men went to Paran since being near the safety and counsel of Samuel was no longer an option. While he was there, he stayed near the land of a man named Nabal and as David tended to do, he was generous with his gifts and traits and cared for and protected the man’s property including his servants and sheep. A feast day was upon them, and David being obedient to God wanted to ensure he and his men honored the Lord by celebrating it. 1 Samuel 25:1b-8 describe it.
Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 2 And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
This man Nabal was very wealthy and could easily accommodate David’s request. More so, David had protected his men and his property and saw no reason this man should not agree to keep the Lord’s commandment to share the festival day with his fellow Israelites and sojourners. David was not too proud to have to beg. He knew his own heart would not turn away a beggar on a feast day and he knew that God commanded his children not to do so as well (Leviticus 23:22, Zechariah 7:9-10). The Lord is generous and gives to those who ask. David, a man after God’s own heart would do the same. Psalm 37:25-26 reminds us of God’s generosity and that we should also be generous.
I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.
26 He is ever lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

 
Nabal did not answer David with any kind of respect. David deserved a great deal of respect for all he had done, but he didn’t expect it or ask for it. And Nabal didn’t give it. He was in fact quite insulting. Maybe he was afraid of receiving the same punishment as Abimelech received for giving David help (1 Samuel 22:18-19), but regardless his answer was foolish and hateful. Verses 9-13 read,
When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
Nabal was not a man after God’s own heart. It seemed he was selfish, thoughtless, and spiteful. Jesus told us that even imperfect father’s give good gifts to their children and evil men will justice to people and so we can expect our Good and Perfect Father to do more (Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 18:1-8). Pursuing God’s heart means we too will be generous with good gifts. But Nabal was anything except what God desires for his children. The ability to be generous is a visible sign, a testimony to our faith in God and results in God’s glory. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 9:6-12
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
    his righteousness endures forever.”

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
Nabal paid David’s kindness back with evil and David was angry. He reacted wrongly and strapped on his sword. He was about to seek his own vengeance instead of waiting for God. But God was there and did not let that happen. He intervened through a faithful servant and a faithful wife. Verses 14-27 in The Message read,
14-17 Meanwhile, one of the young shepherds told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, what had happened: “David sent messengers from the backcountry to salute our master, but he tore into them with insults. Yet these men treated us very well. They took nothing from us and didn’t take advantage of us all the time we were in the fields. They formed a wall around us, protecting us day and night all the time we were out tending the sheep. Do something quickly because big trouble is ahead for our master and all of us. Nobody can talk to him. He’s impossible—a real brute!”
18-19 Abigail flew into action. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep dressed out and ready for cooking, a bushel of roasted grain, a hundred raisin cakes, and two hundred fig cakes, and she had it all loaded on some donkeys. Then she said to her young servants, “Go ahead and pave the way for me. I’m right behind you.” But she said nothing to her husband Nabal.
20-22 As she was riding her donkey, descending into a ravine, David and his men were descending from the other end, so they met there on the road. David had just said, “That sure was a waste, guarding everything this man had out in the wild so that nothing he had was lost—and now he rewards me with insults. A real slap in the face! May God do his worst to me if Nabal and every cur in his misbegotten brood aren’t dead meat by morning!”
23-25 As soon as Abigail saw David, she got off her donkey and fell on her knees at his feet, her face to the ground in homage, saying, “My master, let me take the blame! Let me speak to you. Listen to what I have to say. Don’t dwell on what that brute Nabal did. He acts out the meaning of his name: Nabal, Fool. Foolishness oozes from him.
25-27 “I wasn’t there when the young men my master sent arrived. I didn’t see them. And now, my master, as God lives and as you live, God has kept you from this avenging murder—and may your enemies, all who seek my master’s harm, end up like Nabal! Now take this gift that I, your servant girl, have brought to my master, and give it to the young men who follow in the steps of my master.
 
Abigail understood exactly who David was and the respect he deserved. Even if he had not been God’s anointed she could still see his kindness and generosity toward Nabal’s shepherds and property. She acted quickly to stop any fight. She not only gave them the foods they asked for and more, she praised what God was doing in David for Israel. She reminded David through her prophetic words that his faith was in the LORD, not his own strength. She called David, lord. He the beggar and she the lady of the house still knew David was her master and would one day be king. David had the LORD with him and was anointed. Verses 28-31 read,
Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
 
David allowed Abigail’s well-worded exhortation to work on him. He was not only generous with what he had, he was generous in spirit and willing to listen to the counsel of others and understand that God can and does work through His followers. Verses 32-35 record his response.
 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”
 
Abigail reminded David of who God is and so enabled him to trust vengeance, salvation, protection and provision to God. He was able again to be generous and chose not to harm Nabal or his men. He would leave it to God. And God did not ignore Nabals’ wickedness. Verses 36-39a record God’s response.
And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The Lord has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head.”
What Abigail told her husband made him realize his grievous sin. It gave him the chance to repent. It doesn’t record in the story if he did or didn’t but since his heart became like stone, I think he did not. When David heard what had happened, he was generous with his praise and thanks and praised the Lord for keeping him from sin. He acknowledged that vengeance belongs to the Lord and God is Justice.
God is generous. He is lavish with the good, provision, and joy He gives to those willing to trust Him. Verses 39b-44 read,
Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. 44 Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
Since Saul had taken Michal and given her to someone else, God replaced her with Abigail. It was not God’s will for David to take a second wife, but he did anyway. David was not perfect, but he was forgiven and he was a man after God’s own heart. We too are not perfect. Yet we can be forgiven and seen as blameless through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:22). Gratitude for God’s deep love allows us and encourages us to pursue God’s heart as David did. The faith God gives us enables us to be people after God’s own heart. Romans 1:16-17 says it like this,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Ingratitude, results not in spiritual growth but spiritual decay. Romans 1:21-23 reads,
 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
 
Your giving takes nothing from you! You can give because you have faith in God’s promise to take care of you. In Luke 6:38 Jesus said,
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
 
Believer, are you faithful enough to be generous? Are you faithful enough to share your gifts, provision, and thanksgiving with those around you? Are you generous with God’s glory? Don’t be afraid to step out in faith and cheerfully give all you have and see how generous your Lord will be with you.
0 Comments

Life of David Part 7: Seeking God’s Will

8/23/2016

3 Comments

 
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
​God will always have His way. We have the choice of doing His will and being a part of His work and ending on the side of blessing and justice or disobeying and ending on the side of wrath and vengeance. Today as we read more about David’s days as a fugitive from Saul, we will see how he was free to choose to glorify God in obedience or glorify himself in disobedience. Obedience to God is often a result of trusting Him. David chose to trust the LORD. In 1 Samuel 23 although David was on the run hiding from Saul, he still chose to be concerned for the people in the towns and cities of Israel. One such city, Keilah was under attack from the Philistines. So David inquired of the LORD who told him to attack the Philistines and He would give them to David. So David and his men saved the city.
When Saul heard, he completely ignored what David had done for Israel, what his own army should have done and considered the circumstances to be providential. David had inquired of God to see if saving Keiliah was God’s will. Saul assumed that God had made it so that he could murder David. Verses 7-8 put it this way,
Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
 
He had not been concerned about Philistia attacking Keilah, but he gathered his army to fight David who had just saved the city. Saul assumed he knew God’s will, he assumed the Lord was with him in his vindictive pursuit of David. David did not assume he knew God’s will. David prayed. And when he heard that Saul was coming after him, he used the ephod brought by Abiathar, the last remaining priest from Nob, and asked the Lord what would happen if he stayed in Keliah. The Lord told him that Saul was coming after him and that rather than let the king destroy their city the people would give David up to Saul. So David and his men left and hid in the surrounding country.
David was hiding in Horesh when Jonathan found him and encouraged his friend in the Lord. Verses 17-18 read,
And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18 And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
 
Jonathan knew David would be king and Saul knew it too. It was God’s will and He had not hidden His will from anyone. That is why Saul hated David so desperately. David was God’s chosen king, but Saul didn’t care for God’s will, he wanted his will. Saul’s will was for Jonathan to succeed him, even against his son’s wishes.
The Ziphites knew David and his men were hiding in the countryside and they told King Saul about it. Saul again assumed the Lord was on his side and even went so far as to bless the Ziphites in God’s name for the information they gave him. Saul chased David but had to call off the search when he learned the Philistines were attacking the land again. God would protect His plan to make David king. 1 Samuel 24 takes place after Saul finished dealing with Philistia. David was in the wilderness of Engedi with his 400 men. Saul took 3,000 men to capture him. Verses 3-4 take up the narrative,
And he [Saul] came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.4 And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’”
The LORD had given Saul into David’s hand but what seemed good David was God’s will, sovereignty and lordship, not what seemed to make sense to his men. David could kill Saul or not. Verses 4-7 read,
Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 5 And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.
 
David could easily have killed Saul. His men could easily have killed him. But he cut off a corner of Saul’s robe and even that hurt him. He knew then killing the king was not what God would want him to do. He had treated Saul with disrespect. David was tired of running from Saul. He wanted it to end. He could have ended it by killing the king, but he trusted God and refused to harm God’s anointed king. Verses 8-15 in The Message read,
Then David stood at the mouth of the cave and called to Saul, “My master! My king!” Saul looked back. David fell to his knees and bowed in reverence. He called out, “Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me. Let’s decide which of us is in the right. God may avenge me, but it is in his hands, not mine. An old proverb says, ‘Evil deeds come from evil people.’ So be assured that my hand won’t touch you.
14-15 “What does the king of Israel think he’s doing? Who do you think you’re chasing? A dead dog? A flea? God is our judge. He’ll decide who is right. Oh, that he would look down right now, decide right now—and set me free of you!”
Now it was up to Saul what would happen. David waited for the king’s response. Verses 16-22 read,
As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
 
David stayed in his stronghold. He knew Saul too well to trust that he would remain penitent for long. I have a feeling that David wanted to inquire of God first before heading back to Saul’s place.
Every step of the way, David turned to God and asked God’s will. He knew Him well enough as well that the right thing, the good thing was what would please the Lord. That was to fight for a city, even if he wouldn’t win their loyalty. That was to spare the king even if it meant the king might kill him at long last. David was a man after God’s own heart. He wanted God’s will, not his own. He trusted God to take care of him and was not afraid to obey Him.
Believer, what about you? Do you concern yourself with seeking God’s will for each day of your life or do you assume God is great with all your choices because you know he loves you and chose you? God chose Saul and loved him, but Saul’s choices were not in God’s will but for his own satisfaction.
3 Comments

Life of David Part 6: A Righteous Heart

8/21/2016

0 Comments

 
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;     his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers,     as the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3
​David was on the run from King Saul who was intent on killing him. The King was becoming more and more filled with homicidal rage. Now he wanted to kill anyone who stood with David as well. After leaving Jerusalem David went to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. 1 Samuel 21:1-9 tells the story. He was in need. He left Jerusalem in a hurry with no food and no weapons. So David went to the Ahimelech, the priest and asked for provisions. Ahimelech saw that David was alone and sensed he was likely a fugitive. David lied to the priest to keep the priest’s innocence intact, so that he would not be considered an accomplice and become a marked man as well. David told the priest that he was on a secret mission from the king and that he had men with him. He said that he had left in such a hurry that he had not brought food or weapons. Ahimelech gave him the holy bread and the sword of Goliath. David could only take the holy bread if he met certain requirements. He assured the priest that he and his men did meet them.   1 Samuel 21:5 reads,
 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”
David cared about the priest and did not want to drag him into treason. He cared about the statutes of the LORD and would not break them by taking the showbread unless he was clean to take it. David’s sense of righteousness, came not from wanting to “be good” but from love of God, His people, and His Word. David’s righteousness came from faith. Romans 4:4-8 reads,
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

 
Doeg, the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman was present there that day and saw David’s interaction with Ahimelech. As soon as he was able to leave for Jerusalem, he did. He reported to Saul that David was there. But David left and went to Gath. There the servants of King Achish recognized David as Saul’s enemy and brought him to the king. But David understood the gravity of the situation and feigned insanity. The king wanted nothing to do with a madman. (1 Samuel 21:10-15).
Now David went to the Cave of Adullam. People heard he was there. He was joined by family, by people who were disillusioned with Saul, people who were in debt, bitter and distressed. He was no longer alone. He had an army of about 400 men with him (1 Samuel 22:1-2). He was now responsible for these people and he took that responsibility seriously. He would one day be their king but now he was a man on the run. David wanted to ensure his parents’ safety. He went to the King of Moab (His great grandmother Ruth’s people) and asked for their asylum with him. King Mizpeh said yes and warned David to go to Judah (1 Samuel 22:3-5).
David again showed his concern for other people. His parent’s safety was important and he risked his own for their sake. He saw the people who were suffering under Saul’s administration and let them gather to him. David was not perfect, but he was righteous. David was not perfect, he sinned but he was blameless. He was counted righteous because of his faith in God. In Psalm 26:1-3 David writes,
Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and my mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in your faithfulness.

 
David loved God’s law but He understood that the law was based on love of God and love of people. He loved God’s law enough to meditate on it enough that he comprehended the crux of righteousness is faith and keeping the law is done in love of God.
Psalm 119:97-98 reads,
Oh how I love your law!
    It is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
    for it is ever with me.

 
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 records the Greatest Commandment,
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
In Leviticus 19, The Lord goes over the Ten Commandments and wraps it up with verse 18 saying,
but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Righteousness is not found in rituals or rules. It is found in loving people as our God loves, as Jesus demonstrated. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). 1 Peter 4:8 reads,
 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
David went to Judah to the forest of Hereth (1 Samuel 22:5). But now Saul, Doeg, and his men went to Nob to find out where David was. Saul quickly demonstrated that the only person he cared about was himself. He had no regard for the LORD and no regard for people. 1 Samuel 22:6-8 in The Message reads.
Saul got word of the whereabouts of David and his men. He was sitting under the big oak on the hill at Gibeah at the time, spear in hand, holding court surrounded by his officials. He said, “Listen here, you Benjaminites! Don’t think for a minute that you have any future with the son of Jesse! Do you think he’s going to hand over choice land, give you all influential jobs? Think again. Here you are, conspiring against me, whispering behind my back—not one of you is man enough to tell me that my own son is making deals with the son of Jesse, not one of you who cares enough to tell me that my son has taken the side of this, this . . . outlaw!”
Doeg saw his chance to look good to the king verses 9-10 read,
Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, 10 and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
 
Saul reacted as his hate directed him, he was on the warpath. He summoned Ahimelech and questioned him. Verses 13-15 record it,
And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.”
 
Saul ordered the priest’s and his family’s death, then added all the priests to the execution order out of his fear that they followed David. But his guard refused to kill the priests of the Lord. So Saul looked to Doeg and ordered him to do it. Doeg, who was not a Jewish man but an Edomite, killed 85 people, men, women, and children that day in Saul’s name. Saul, Israel’s anointed king had no qualm murdering those 85 people, the men who were priests of God, chosen by Him to serve. Saul’s fear and hate had eradicated any sense of righteousness, love, or goodness.
Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son escaped and fled to David and told him everything that had happened. David was devastated and took responsibility for the slaughter and offered protection to Abiathar.
 
David was a man after God’s own heart. He pursued God, He pursued His kingdom, and He pursued His righteousness. He understood that pursuing God means loving people, caring about their welfare and doing something about it. Believer, do you pursue God’s righteousness and God or do you pursue self-righteousness and self? It’s okay to trust God and let Him be God to you. He promised that if we do that, He will take care of everything else (Matthew 6:33). God doesn’t want your rituals or your sacrifices. He wants you in a relationship. He wants you to know Him, to chase after His heart, and to love Him with all of yourself. He wants a love based on trust and faith. Hosea 6:6 reads,
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

 
Believer, being a person after God’s own heart means that we will pursue righteousness. Righteousness is not based on following rules and commandments but based on God’s grace and love. Righteousness is given by faith and lived out in love.
 
0 Comments

Life of David Part 4: God’s Purpose Will Be Accomplished.

8/19/2016

0 Comments

 
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21 on Photo of Canoe on Suwanee River by Donna Campbell
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21
​We’ve been reading about David and gleaning lessons from his life. His life is the stuff of epic adventures. Yesterday, we left off with David escaping Saul’s homicidal attack to his home. Today, we’ll continue with 1 Samuel 19:11-24 Verses 11-17 read,
Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.13 Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”
Michal had to convince David to leave and he only did so in order that she would not be killed in the melee. Saul was not afraid to refer to David as his enemy to his daughter. He had grown to hate David with an intense fear and was determined to kill him no matter the cost.
When David left he headed for Samuel, the Prophet of God because he was the one person he knew who could protect him from Saul, who knew everything about the king, and who worshipped the One True God wholly. In Samuel and Saul’s hometown of Naioth in Ramah, where Samuel had a school of prophesy similar to Elisha’s to train prophets in the Lord David was able to rest for a time. But it didn’t take Saul long to hear he was there. Verses 20-21 read,
Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
 
It doesn’t say here what everyone was prophesying about, but I have a feeling they were prophesying about David being the chosen king, the Davidic line, and the Messiah who would save the world. Saul must have been frustrated and furious to hear it. Verses 22-24 read,
Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
 
God’s power completely overcame Saul against his will to the point that all day and all night he lay naked and prophesying. God spoke to Saul and probably told him how futile his wrath against David was. He might have warned him about the outcome of his plot to kill his anointed. Samuel didn’t take heed. David escaped and Saul went home without having accomplished his objective. Just as God used Saul unwillingly to glorify Him, He used Pharaoh of Moses’ day. In Exodus 9:16 The Lord spoke through Moses to Pharaoh and said,
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
When you give yourself to God, He will have His way with you. His purposes for you will be achieved. God had great plans for David and He has great plans for you. Believer, you are just as able to do great things as David, in fact more so. You have Jesus Christ; you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit! In John 14:12-17 Jesus said,
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever ,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
 
God chose you. He called and you answered. Salvation begins there but it doesn’t end there. It goes on as He transforms you into the image of Christ. If God can take a prideful, mad, and vengeful king and cause him to prophesy for a day and night against his will, don’t you imagine that He can use you when you are willing, humble, and faithful? Philippians 2:12-16 reads,
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
 
Doing all of God’s will requires you obey Him. To obey, you must know what it is He wants. As you work out your salvation, God works in you and makes you more and more like Jesus, Perfect Love, so that you will please Him by doing His will. Acts 13:22 reminds us that being a person after God’s own heart means we will do all His will. Ask yourself, are you living out your faith and doing all God’s will? I don’t mean earning Salvation, you can’t do that, it is yours freely given. I mean are you tangibly loving as Jesus loves, are you pursuing the Kingdom of God and His righteousness above all else, are you being sanctified, are you fulfilling the Great Commission? That is not done sitting in a pew. It is done by authentically worshipping God with your whole life. It is done by going, making, and teaching in Jesus’ name, and being faithful to God. It is done by knowing God and so knowing Love.
Believer, God has a plan. He has a purpose for you. His plans and purposes will be accomplished. Will you take up your cross daily, be an agreeable participant, and do great things? Or will you like Saul fight him every step of the way and be miserable as you watch God do what He will?
0 Comments

Life of David Part 3: A Man After God’s Own Heart, Loyalty, Valor, Humility, and Might.

8/18/2016

0 Comments

 
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 On photo of Dragonfly in the Sun
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
​After the defeat of Goliath, Jonathan, Saul’s son saw David in the light of the Spirit and loved him. He knit his soul to David’s and made vows of loyalty to him. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 reads,
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
What Jonathan did was make David his brother, he gave up his assumed right to be king and gave it to David, and vowed his unending allegiance. Jonathan didn’t have the ambition his father Saul had for him. He recognized David’s anointing. Perhaps, he didn’t understand what he saw in his friend, but he recognized that he was extraordinary. And David was extraordinary, because he had the Spirit of the Lord on him. He went out and did great things and he was successful at whatever he did. He trusted God, obeyed Him, and did all His will. But that day Saul stopped seeing David as he saw him previously. He saw how people loved him and he became jealous. 1 Samuel 18:5-9 describes it.
And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,
“Saul has struck down his thousands,
    and David his ten thousands.”

8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.
Saul’s anger opened the door and a harmful spirit came on him. He was raving and he was murderous. David stayed with him day after day playing the lyre to comfort his king. Twice Saul threw his spear at David but David evaded him and remained by his side (1 Samuel 18:10-11). He knew God would take care of him and he knew that God loved Saul and that Saul was still king. Verses 12-16 read,
Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him. 15 And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
Saul understood that the Lord was no longer with him and was with David and he was afraid. David gave him no reason to fear him. But Saul couldn’t think straight. He was afraid, because rather than love, he was full of fury, pride, and jealousy He decided to send David off to war to be killed, but because the Lord was with him, David flourished. Saul became only more afraid of him but Israel loved David all the more. Now Saul had to come up another idea to kill David. He offered him his daughter Merab if he would fight valiantly in war. When David defeated Goliath, he had earned Merab as a wife, riches, and freedom for his family (1 Samuel 17:3). He had already fought valiantly. He had earned her hand, but he said no because he was merely a shepherd from Bethlehem (Verse 18). The king had not kept any of his promises about killing Golaith. David didn’t whine about it. He didn’t do it for the rewards, killing Goliath was just something he ought to do. David’s valor, his military might, and his loyalty were part of who he was. He was a man after God’s own heart, a man who did all of the will of God (Acts 13:22). But Saul had given her to Adriel the Meholathite. Even through Saul’s scheming, God had something better in mind for David. 1 Samuel 18:20-23 reads,
Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 21 Saul thought, “Let me give her to him, that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, “You shall now be my son-in-law.” 22 And Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now then become the king's son-in-law.’” 23 And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?”
David had a reputation, but he chose humility, a warrior was nothing compared to a king. He should have had the money but Saul had not kept his promises after killing Goliath. David had earned Michal’s hand but never demanded it. And Saul slyly sounded as if the price he wanted would be a simple matter. But in truth he wanted a love struck man to be off his game and die. He put Michal’s dowry at 100 Philistine foreskins. David said, no problem. He went out and brought back 200 foreskins. Now Saul was even more afraid of David and his antagonism and hatred for David grew (1 Samuel 18:24-29).
David’s fame grew, yet he remained humble. He remained loyal to King Saul even though the man wanted him dead. Jonathan also remained loyal to David. Chapter 19:1-7 reads,
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore,“ As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
 
David’s righteous actions, his valor earned him a reprieve from Saul’s rage. Jonathan could say what he did because it was true. But once again David went to war against Philistia and once again he was successful. Once again Saul was jealous, and once again the harmful spirit entered him. What did David do? He went to Saul and played the lyre to comfort him. 1 Samuel 19:8-10 says,
And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
 
It had become clear that it was time to escape. David ran to his home and Michal convinced him to hide because she loved him and knew her father was intent on killing him. But David never stopped being brave or faithful. He was affected by the events, he felt the sadness of having people want to destroy him. The Psalms he wrote make that clear. He kept his hope in the Lord even when his enemies surrounded him. He didn’t pretend everything was fine but he didn’t respond in spite or vengeance either. He trusted God. He remained with Saul until he had to leave. And as we read later, he had every opportunity to kill Saul, yet he remembered that Saul was God’s anointed king and refused to raise his hand against him and even sought peace with him (1 Samuel 24).
David was valiant, he knew God was with Him. David was loyal, because he understood that God is sovereign. David was humble, because he only wanted to glorify God and knew that everything he did was because God was with Him. Believer, God is with you too. He is not only with you, surrounding you, leading you, and backing you up, He is within you. You have nothing to fear, no reason to seek revenge, and no reason to let pride puff you up to sin. David trusted in the LORD. He knew who God is and He pursued God’s heart in his own life. Let us be known as men and women after God’s own heart too. Let’s live lives that please our Lord because we trust Him to be God.
0 Comments

The Life of David Part 2: A Man After God’s Own Heart, Love and Courage

8/17/2016

0 Comments

 
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 On photo of Roses in Pink by Lani Campbell
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 On photo of Roses in Pink by Lani Campbell
The Life of David Part 2: A Man After God’s Own Heart, Love and Courage
When The Lord rejected Saul as king of Israel due to his sin and pride by building a monument to himself, He chose a new king. He chose David, the youngest of eight brothers in Bethlehem. Why did He choose this boy? Samuel spoke to Saul about it in 1 Samuel 13:13-14.
And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
 
God searched for a man after His own heart. He found that man in David, even when he was still a boy. But what does it mean to be after God’s heart, to have a heart that takes after The Lord? Acts 13:22 reads,
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Paul said that to have a heart like God’s means we will do ALL His will. Doing all of God’s will takes courage, love, trust, and faith. We can look at what God commands and be afraid, be concerned with the how, why, and what ifs, or we can look at God and have courage to love enough to obey. David certainly had those traits. 1 Samuel 16:14-23 describes how David entered Saul’s service.
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
 
David was described as a man of valor, war, prudence, good presence, and he was noted to have the Lord with him. David lived a life with evidence of God, the fruit of His Spirit was apparent. People took note of him. He was a man after God’s own heart. The Lord made it so David would enter the king’s service and this boy left his family and devoted himself to the king. David followed God’s command to do as his father Jesse said. He served Saul as if he were serving God. That is part of being after God’s own heart. God loves the world (John 3:16). He is love (1 John 4:8). So serving God means loving and serving people as if we are serving God. Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us of this.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
God wants us to glorify Him through our tangible love to people. David served Saul with that level of passion. He comforted the king with music. The Spirit worked through David and the harmful spirit left Saul in David’s presence because of his faith to obey his Lord.
Can you imagine the courage that took? He had to leave the home he knew and work for the king. The king was a powerful man who could order deaths if not pleased. The people understood that God had placed Saul as king and his word was unquestionable. David was placed in a position of closeness to Saul. But he served him so well that Saul loved him, counted on him, and gave him a promotion to be his armor bearer, no small job. He had to carry the king’s shield into battle! He was responsible for keeping Saul alive during combat.
God’s heart is courageous. He wants us to be courageous as well. He is perfect Love and perfect Love casts out fear. We have nothing to be afraid of. 1 John 4:16-19 reads,
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.We love because he first loved us.
 
Note that Love serves people freely because we have no fear. Love is perfected in us and gives us confidence, that we have nothing to fear. We do not fear what people may do to us. We do not fear condemnation, death, or Hell. We have Jesus Christ, perfect love being perfected in us. Love enables us to take action. 1 Samuel 17:1-11 in The Message reads,
 
The Philistines drew up their troops for battle. They deployed them at Socoh in Judah, and set up camp between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. Saul and the Israelites came together, camped at Oak Valley, and spread out their troops in battle readiness for the Philistines. The Philistines were on one hill, the Israelites on the opposing hill, with the valley between them.
A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.
Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, “Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you’re all committed to Saul, aren’t you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you’ll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!”
When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine’s challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.
We are talking about warriors being terrified of fighting this gigantic man. No one would step forward to fight him. David’s eldest three brothers were with Saul at the battle. David was going back and forth between caring for Jesse’s sheep and taking care of Saul. The standoff had lasted forty days. Jesse sent his son to check on his brothers’ safety. 1 Samuel 17:21-27 tells us what happened next.
And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
David couldn’t believe that anyone was afraid of Goliath. Why would anyone who serves the One True Living God be afraid of someone who doesn’t have Him and His armies behind him? The army was looking at Goliath. David was looking to God. What situations have you faced where you saw Goliath instead of God? Looking at Goliath can be terrifying. But David didn’t care that the man was ten feet tall, He had God. He had nothing to fear in some dude who didn’t call on the name of The Lord.
David’s oldest brother Eliab was ashamed at his own cowardice but pride made that shame manifest as anger at David. He told David to go back home and take care of the sheep. But David didn’t let his brother’s words hurt him. Instead he convinced Saul to let him fight Goliath. Saul tried to dissuade the young man but he wouldn’t change his mind. 1 Samuel 17:38-44 reads,
Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”
The enemy tried more words to try and discourage David. But David had The Spirit on him and was not going to be discouraged or afraid. He had faith in God to be God. He knew what God could do, and He trusted Him to do it. David didn’t go fight Goliath for his glory but for God’s glory. Verses 45-51 read,
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”
When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
​

Believer, you have nothing and no one to fear. You have the Lord God. You know who He is and He has given you His heart, His Holy Spirit, Love. You know He is always with you, what do you have to fear? You are free to love, free to act, free to glorify God!
0 Comments

The Life of David Part 1: You Were Made to be Extraordinary

8/16/2016

1 Comment

 
For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart 1 Samuel 16:7 on photo of Tenacious Bush Sunflower in Black and White
For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart 1 Samuel 16:7
​I want to begin a series looking at the life of David. David is first mentioned in the book of Ruth. Ruth 4:16-22 read,
Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
 
David was Israel’s greatest king, and a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). We read first that his lineage contains Ruth, a Moabite, not a Jewess at all. Ruth was born a Moabite but out of love and faithfulness to her husband and her mother in law she chose to follow the One True God. Her life’s circumstances were difficult. She lost her husband and followed Naomi to a foreign place because of her faithfulness. In a picture of wonderful redemption Boaz married Ruth and that union created Obed, who led to Jesse, and then David.
God chooses to use ordinary people to do His work. He uses the small, the weak, the broken, the humble, the willing, and the unwilling. Ruth was an ordinary woman who worshipped a foreign God, but The Lord chose her and brought her to know Him through a family of Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah, Naomi and her sons, one of whom married Ruth. When Ruth was widowed rather than choose to be released from her responsibilities to Naomi and return to idols, she stayed true to The Lord and remained with Naomi. That simple woman gave Naomi a reason to keep going after losing her husband and both her sons. That commonplace woman worked hard and proved to be extraordinary, caught the eye of Boaz and became part of the lineage of Jesus our Christ.
God doesn’t look at us the way we look at one another or ourselves. He sees the true us, the us with unlimited potential, the us He made us to be. He knows we were made in His image and can be made in the image of Christ to glorify Him.
The next time we see David is 1 Samuel 16. The Lord had rejected Saul as king of Israel because he had stopped following the commandments and had set up a monument to himself (1 Samuel 15). Samuel was sent to Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons as the new king in Saul’s stead. He went in the guise of sacrificing to the Lord (Verse 2). Jesse had eight sons and Samuel did not know which of them would be God’s elect king. He looked at each son. 1 Samuel 16:6-10 reads,
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
Jesse’s elder sons each looked outwardly good. Eliab was so impressive that Samuel assumed God had selected him, but God said no. He sees the true person and though Eliab looked remarkable to Samuel, he nor the other six were God’s anointed. Verses 11-13 continue the narrative.
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
 
Not one of his brothers or even his own father had considered including the youngest son in taking part in the sacrifice. He was out tending the sheep and they didn’t think of including him. But God did. God invited him, chose, him, and anointed him. He didn’t leave him alone from then on to struggle through either. His Spirit rushed upon David and stayed with him from that day forward. Because David had the Holy Spirit on him, he was able to be courageous, faithful, authentic, and passionate for The Lord. This ordinary boy became an extraordinary king.
Believer, you have the Holy Spirit indwelled in you! He is not just on you, He is in you! And He will not leave you. You have the power of God on your side and within you. Ephesians 1:16-21 in The Living Bible reads,
I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you wisdom to see clearly and really understand who Christ is and all that he has done for you. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can see something of the future he has called you to share. I want you to realize that God has been made rich because we who are Christ’s have been given to him! 19 I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven, 21 far, far above any other king or ruler or dictator or leader. Yes, his honor is far more glorious than that of anyone else either in this world or in the world to come.
You don’t have to look good to the world, God knows who you are and what great intention He has for you. He will make the way for you to do whatever He has purposed for you. Isaiah 46:8-11 says it this way,
Remember this and stand firm,
    recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9     remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
    the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
    I have purposed, and I will do it.

You were not meant to live a common life, you were made to live an exceptional life in which the supernatural power of God is natural to you, the power of love abounds through the Spirit more and more, the Kingdom of God is impacted and God is glorified. You were anointed to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, God’s very own!
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 says,
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
 
You were made for more than this world, you were made for eternity, you were made for God and by God. Live with the courage and confidence of who you are in Christ. 
1 Comment

Psalm 59 Let God be your Deliverer

7/19/2015

0 Comments

 

Psalm 59

This miktam of David was written while King Saul was trying to kill David. He had sent men to watch David’s house so that he could have him murdered in his bed. (1 Samuel 19). Saul was God’s anointed king. But David had been chosen to succeed him. Saul grew ever more paranoid and angry. He didn’t care that David was married to his daughter or that his best friend was his son. His paranoia made him hate David. His anger turned to blind rage and he was desperate to kill David.

In verses 1-2 David calls on the Lord to deliver him and protect him from his enemies.

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
    protect me from those who rise up against me;
2 deliver me from those who work evil,
    and save me from bloodthirsty men.”


David didn’t turn to his own strength, wits, or money. He turned to the Lord God his Maker and his Justice, Elohim. The enemy wants to destroy us as well. The devil doesn’t want us coming into our royal identities. He doesn’t want to be effective. He hates us because we are heirs to the Kingdom of God. He thinks that it ought to be him. (Isaiah 14:13-15). Verses 3-7 describe Saul’s men and their wicked behavior following a paranoid and hateful leader. It can also describe the behavior of the followers of the prince of the power of the air, Satan toward believers.

3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
    fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
4     for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5     You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah


6 Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths
    with swords in their lips--
    for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”


People will hate us for following Jesus, like the Saul hated David for being chosen by God. They can hate us for Jesus’ sake, but they shouldn’t hate us for our actions. Our actions, our words, and our lives should be a testimony to God, lived in love and beneficence. In John 15:18-19 Jesus said,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

But that doesn’t give us a right to hate them, to be hateful to them, or to be evil in return. In Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus said,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

The world is lost and their inheritance is eternal death, they crave to lift themselves up, to live in the moment and make themselves happy, rich, and satisfied. But we are eternal creatures and the present, the world, and all its offerings can’t satisfy. (James 4:1-9). Only the Lord God, our Savior, our Peace, and our Provider can truly satisfy. Psalm 107:8-9 says,

“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”


But David trusted the Lord. He didn’t have to figure it out himself, defend himself, or take vengeance himself. He knew God is Just. He knew God was his Shield and his enemies couldn’t break through God’s defense. Verses 8-10 read,

“But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
    you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress.
10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
    God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.


11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
    make them totter by your power and bring them down,
    O Lord, our shield!
12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
    let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13     consume them in wrath;
    consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
    to the ends of the earth. Selah


14 Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
15 They wander about for food
    and growl if they do not get their fill.”


In this miktam David has refers to God as:

·         Elohim- Creator and Judge, the Lord of justice.

·         Yahweh- this is God’s own unpronounceable holiest name.

·         Lord God of Hosts- the powerful chief over the angel armies coming swiftly on hos noble steed to conquer the enemy for eternity.

·         God of Israel- Sovereign over His chosen people

·         My Strength

·         My Fortress

·         God in His Steadfast Love

·         Our Shield

·         Refuge

These names are all true of God. They describe His character. How can we be afraid when The LORD God loves us so much. How can we not choose to let Him take care of us when He is who He is?

The lost don’t know God. Verse 7 says they ask “Who” will hear them. They do not know who God is. But we can show them who He is by trusting Him and glorifying Him. By letting God be God and bringing them to a place where they will see their choice and make it.

In verse 11 David asked the Lord not to kill his enemies. He didn’t want them to die. He wanted them to fall and face their evil. It is in the face of our sins that we realize we need the Lord. And that is what David wanted for his enemies. That is what God wants for our enemies. He doesn’t want people to suffer an eternity separated from Him. (2 Peter 3:9). He longs for people to know Him and allow Him to lavish His perfect constant and never-ending love on them.

Rather than spend our time scheming against and wishing bad for our enemies, we can spend our time loving them and praising God. Instead of showing them how powerful and great we are, we can demonstrate God’s strength through our weakness as we depend on Him. Verses 16-17 read,

“But I will sing of your strength;
    I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
    and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
    for you, O God, are my fortress,
    the God who shows me steadfast love.”


So Believer, I encourage you to praise God everywhere, always, and through everything. Your praise and worship takes power away from the enemy and allows his followers to see the love and power of God Almighty, their Creator and Judge. Jesus’ righteousness lived out in your life makes their sin apparent to them so they can call on the name of the Lord.

0 Comments

Psalm 34 Taste and See The Lord is Good

6/24/2015

1 Comment

 
Psalm 34

David was described as a man after God’s own heart in1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22. It is the person after God’s own heart that the Lord anoints (separates for a holy responsibility or chooses for distinction). Like David, you and I are people after God’s own heart, or at least we ought to be. It means we want to know God personally, it means we take after Him in His nature, and that we want what He wants.

Have you ever been in a dire situation and had no idea how you would be delivered from it? David was in that kind of trouble more than once. The Lord always rescued Him. Because David was a man after God’s own heart, when he was in one of those harrowing predicaments he was able to listen to The Lord and trust Him. Such was the case in 1 Samuel chapter 21 when David was brought to Achish the king of Gath. The king’s servants exclaimed what a great warrior David was. The Lord impressed on David the danger of the circumstances as the king would likely kill him in his vulnerable state and gave him a plan. David began acting as if he had lost his mind. The king saw that David was no threat and let him go. This psalm was written in celebration of The Lord’s deliverance of David. Verses 1-7 read,

“I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!


4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.”


David praised the Lord, not only sometimes, not only when things were good but in every circumstance. He intended his words to always bless The Lord. That means that David never wanted his speech to bring displeasure or disagreement to God but to please Him and show others how great God was.

Notice that when David was in trouble he didn’t lean on his own strength or wit, but he sought God. God delivered him every time. Even if The Lord chose to let Him continue in his dilemma, he still gave David peace and took his fears away. God does that for us too. He may choose to allow us to go through trials, tribulations, and tests, but we do not have to fear because He is with us, surrounding us, protecting us, and delivering us from sin and death. Even in the worst of times we can smile, we can shine as we faithfully radiate the peace and love of The Lord.

It is that radiance which testifies to God’s greatness. The world can’t fathom how or why we don’t freak out. They can’t grasp how we can have such calm through the calamities we face. Philippians 4:4-7 describes it like this,

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Our lives are testimonies to God. Our lives call out to people. “Hey you oughta give this a try!” People not only wonder at our peace and joy, but at our contentment and provision. Verses 8-10 read,

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”


Your life is a testimony to God and it should make people curious to know Him. You have the opportunity and the obligation to share Jesus with them. Verses 11-14 put it this way,

“Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.”


To seek a relationship with God, to call Jesus Lord, and to repent from sin is all anyone needs to do to be saved. Yes, God delivers us from many bad situations. But the worst situation He rescues us from is that of slavery to sin and eternal death in Hell. Once that is done, there is nothing to fear in this world. God’s got us in His strong hands. He keeps in His loving heart. He leads us with His awesome Spirit. Verses 15-18 read,

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.”


He wants to do this for us, but we have to call out. We have to realize we need Him. We have to recognize our desperate situation and let it break our hearts. We can call out to friends, the government, and the bank, but the help we might get from them is temporary and still leaves us bereft and in slavery to sin. But calling out to Jesus means He will set us free, He will save us.

We will suffer, but we will go through those tribulations with the assurance and peace of The Lord God Almighty. We go through it with the hope of eternal life. We go through it knowing we will see Jesus face to face one day. The lost on the other hand will suffer eternal death and while we celebrate in New Jerusalem we will not even remember them, it will be as if they never existed. We know The Spirit, God Himself is not only with us surrounding us but inside us as we are in Him. Jesus died on the cross to give us that gift. He rose from the dead to claim victory and freedom for us. He ascended to Heaven to give us the guarantee of salvation through The Holy Spirit. Verses 19-22 say,

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”


Picture
1 Comment
    Give to Salt & Light

    Donna Campbell

    As I read the Bible every day, I take what God teaches me, what He says, and write it out. I then share that with you. It gives me a deeper understanding of the Word and I hope that it will encourage you as it does me, to put your love and faith into action.

      Subscribe to Salt & Light Daily

    Submit

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    1
    12000 Stadia
    1400 Miles Cubed
    1 Kings
    1 Peter
    1 Samuel
    1 Thessaloians
    1 Timothy
    260 Days
    2 Chronicles
    2 Kings
    2 Peter
    2 Samuel
    2 Thessalonians
    2 Timothy
    450 Prophets
    5 Senses
    666
    Aaron
    Abba
    Abel
    Abide
    Abigail
    Abimelech
    Abishai
    Abner
    Abomination
    Abraham
    Abram
    Absalom
    Abundant Life
    Accountability
    Accuser
    Action
    Adam
    Admonish
    Adonai
    Adonijah
    Adoption
    Adultery
    Advocate
    After God's Own Heart
    Age Of Accountability
    Agnostics
    Ahab
    Ahasurerus
    Ahaz
    Ahaziah
    Ahimelech
    A Little Lower Than The Angels
    All Have Sinned
    All Things Created
    All Things Work Together For Good
    Almighty
    Altar
    Amaziah
    Amen
    Ammonites
    Ammonites.
    Amnon
    Amon
    And Moses?
    Andrea Barringer
    Andrew
    And The Life
    And The Life.
    And The Truth
    Angels
    Anger
    Angie Majewski
    Anna Bonet
    Annoint
    Annointed
    Anoint
    Anointed
    Anointing
    Antichrist
    Antichrists
    Anti-Semitism
    Anxiety
    Apocalypse
    Apostle
    Apostle Of Love
    Apple
    Apple Of My Eye
    Approval
    Arguments
    Ark
    Ark Of The Covenant
    Armor
    Armor Of God
    Army
    Aroma
    Arrest
    Arrogance
    Artaxerxes
    Asaph
    Asceticism
    As God Is My Witness
    Asher
    Asherah
    Ask
    Ask And You Will Receive
    Ask Anything
    Assyria
    As The Deer
    Astrology
    Athaliah
    Atheists
    Athlete
    Attack
    Audio
    Audio Devotional
    Authority
    Avenge
    Avenger
    Awake
    Awesome
    Axe Head
    Azariah
    Baal
    Baal-zebub
    Babel
    Baby Food
    Babylon
    Babylon The Great
    Bad Boss
    Balaam
    Bald
    Banner
    Baptism
    Baptize
    Bathsheba
    Beacon
    Bear Iniquity
    Bear One Another's Burdens
    Beast
    Beatitudes
    Beauty
    Beauty For Ashes
    Become Like Children
    Be Doers
    Be Fruitful And Multiply
    Began A Good Work In You
    Behavior
    Be Holy As I Am Holy
    Beleive
    Belief
    Believe
    Beloved
    Ben-hadad
    Benjamin
    Be Silent And Be Thought A Fool
    Be Still And Know I Am God
    Bethel
    Betrayal
    Better Is One Day
    Bias
    Bible
    Bible Devotional
    Bible Study
    Black Lives Matter
    Blame
    Blameless
    Blasphemy
    Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit
    Bless
    Blessed
    Blessing
    Blessings
    Bless Those Who Curse You
    Blind
    BLM
    Blood
    Blood Moon
    Boast In Christ
    Boast In Weakness
    Body Of Christ
    Bondservant
    Bones
    Borders
    Born Again
    Boss
    Boston Dad
    Bowls
    Branch
    Branches
    Bread
    Bread Of Life
    Breath
    Breathe
    Breathe Of Life
    Breath Of God
    Breath Of Life
    Breath Prayer
    Bride
    Bridegroom
    Bride Of Christ
    Bridle The Tongue
    Broken
    Broken Heart
    Brotherhood
    Brotherhood Of Man
    Brothers Of Jesus
    Burial
    Burnt Offering
    Burn Weapons
    Busy
    Busyness
    Bystanders
    By This They Will Know
    Caiaphas
    Cain
    Call On Jesus
    Call On Jesus Name
    Call On The Name Of The Lord
    Canaan
    Can't Be Good Enough
    Can't Earn Salvaiton
    Can't Serve Two Masters
    Captivity
    Cast Lots
    Cave
    Censer
    Chaff
    Chariots Of Fire
    Charity
    Cheerful Giver
    Cherished
    Cherub
    Cherubim
    Childbirth
    Child Of God
    Children
    Children Of God
    Child Sacrifice
    Choose
    Choose Life
    Chosen
    Christ
    Christian Gould
    Christianity
    Church
    Circumcision
    Circumcision Of The Heart
    Cities Of Refuge
    Citizens
    Citizens Of Heaven
    City Of David
    City Of God
    City On A Hill
    Clap
    Clean
    Clean Heart
    Cleansed
    Clothes
    Cloven
    Coexist
    Colossians
    Come
    Comfort
    Comforter
    Commandments
    Commentary
    Communion
    Community
    Compassion
    Complete
    Condemnation
    Confess
    Confession
    Confess Your Sins To One Another
    Confident
    Conform
    Conformed
    Conqueror
    Conquest
    Consciousness
    Constantly
    Contend For The Faith
    Content
    Contentment
    Continuously
    Copper
    Copper Toxicity
    Cord
    Cornerstone
    Courage
    Courts
    Covenant
    Cover
    Covet
    Covid
    Created
    Create In Me A Clean Heart
    Creation
    Creation Declares The Glory Of God
    Creator
    Crocodile
    Crop
    Crown Of Life
    Crowns
    Crucifixion
    Cry Out To God
    Culture
    Cup
    Cup Of Blood
    Cup Of Wrath
    Curse
    Curses
    Curses To Blessings
    Cutting A Covenant
    Cyrus
    Daniel
    Dark
    Darkness
    David
    Davidic Covenant
    Davidic Line
    Day Of Atonement
    Day Of Fire
    Day Of Judgment
    Day Of Wrath
    Deacon
    Dead
    Dead To The Law
    Death
    Deborah
    Decapolis
    Deceiver
    Decieved
    Deciever
    Deed
    Defend The Gospel
    Defile
    Defined
    Definition
    Delight
    Deliverer
    Demetrius
    Demon
    Demons
    Denial
    Denied
    Denise Hogan
    Deny
    Dependance
    Desires Of The Flesh
    Desires Of Your Heart
    Desperate
    Deuteronomy
    Devil
    Devotional
    Devour
    Didymus
    Die For Christ
    Diet
    Dioko
    Dioko Agape
    Diotrephes
    Disagreements
    Disappointment
    Discernment
    Disciple
    Disciples
    Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
    Discipline
    Divergent
    Divorce
    Doeg
    Doers Of The Law
    Does God Punish Evil
    Do Good
    Dominion
    Do Not Be Afraid
    Do Not Be Afraid Of Bad News
    Do Not Despise Prophecies
    Do Not Eat Blood
    Do Not Fear
    Do Not Judge
    Do Not Slander
    Do Not Speak Evil
    Do Not Worry
    Don't Reciprocate The Hate
    Door
    Doubt
    Doubting
    Dove
    Do What Jesus Did
    Dragon
    Draw Near To God
    Drink
    Drink From The Cup
    Drought
    Dung
    Dust
    Dwell
    Dwelling Place
    Eagle
    Eagles Wings
    Earth
    Earthquake
    Easter
    Eat
    Ed
    Edify
    Edom
    Eggs
    Egypt
    Elders
    Elect
    Election
    Eliakam
    Eliakim
    Elijah
    Elisha
    Elohim
    El Roi
    Elsiha
    Emery
    Emmanuel
    Empty Tomb
    Encouragement
    End Times
    Endure
    Enemies
    Enemy
    Enlarge
    Enoch
    Envy
    Eostre
    Ephesians
    Ephesians 3:20
    Ephesus
    Ephod
    Equality
    Equipped
    Equity
    Eric Vaughn Floyd
    Esau
    Eschatology
    Esther
    Eternal Gospel
    Eternal Life
    Eternity
    Ethos
    Eunuchs
    Euphrates
    Evangelism
    Eve
    Every Good And Perfect Thing
    Every Knee Shall Bow Every Tongue Confess
    Evidence
    Evil
    Evil For Good
    Evil-merodach
    Evil One
    Evil Triumphs When Good Men Do Nothing
    Exalt
    Example
    Exercise
    Exhort
    Exiles
    Exodus
    Expanded Consciousness
    Extraordinary Life
    Eye For An Eye
    Ezekiel
    Face Of God
    Faith
    Faithful
    Faith Like A Child
    Faith Not Sight
    Faith Not Works
    Faith Of A Mustard Seed
    Faith Without Works
    Fall
    False
    False Altar
    False Doctrine
    False Prophet
    False Prophets
    False Religion
    False Teachers
    Famine
    Fan Into Flame
    Farmer
    Fasting
    Fat
    Father
    Father God
    Father Of Lies
    Father's Business
    Favor
    Fear
    Feast
    Feast Of Booths
    Feast Of Tabernacles
    Feed
    Feed My Sheep
    Feeling Alone
    Feet
    Fellowship
    Fellow Worker
    Fight The Good Fight
    Filled
    Filthy Rags
    Fire
    First Beast
    Firstborn
    Firstborn Of All Creation
    Firstfruits
    First Sacrifice
    Fish
    Fishing
    Flaming Torch
    Flash Mob
    Flesh
    Flint
    Flood
    Flour And Oil
    Follow
    Follow Christ
    Follow Me
    Food
    Foolish
    Fools
    Forehead
    Foreign
    Forgive
    Forgiven
    Forgiveness
    Forgive One Another
    Forgive Them They Know Not What They Do
    Forgivness
    Forgotten
    Forhead
    Formed
    Forsaken
    For The Joy Of The Lord Is Your Strength
    Fortress
    Fortune Teller
    Forty Days
    Foundation
    Four Blood Moons
    Four Horsemen
    Four Living Creatures
    Fourteen Years
    Fragrance
    Frank Miller
    Freedom
    Freedom In Christ
    Friend
    Friend Of God
    Friendship
    Fringe
    Frogs
    From The Sea
    Fruit
    Fruit Of The Spirit
    Fruit Of The Sprit
    Fulfilled
    Full
    Future
    Gad
    Gaius
    Galatians
    Garden
    Garment
    Gehazi
    Generational Curse
    Generations
    Generous
    Genesis
    Genesis 50:20
    Genuine
    George Floyd
    Gethsemane
    Ghost
    Giant
    Giants
    Gift
    Gifts
    Gifts Of The Spirit
    G.I. Joe
    Gilgal
    Give
    Giving
    Glad
    Glorify
    Glory
    Glory Of God
    Glory Of The Lord
    Glory To Glory
    Glynda Gordon
    God
    God Almighty
    God Cares
    God Comes To Us
    God Disciplines Those He Loves
    God Doesn't Need
    God Doesn't Want Any To Perish
    God Hears
    God Hears Prayer
    God Hides His Face
    God Is Good
    God Is Light
    God Is Love
    God Is One
    God Is Peace
    God Is With Us
    God Is With You
    God Knows You
    God Loves You
    God Of Angel Armies
    God Of Hosts
    God Of Truth
    Gods
    God's Glory
    God's Image
    God's Law
    God's Nature
    God's Rest
    God's Ways Are Higher
    God's Will
    God Wants Everyone To Be Saved
    God Wants Good For You
    God Will Never Forsake You
    God With Us
    God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle
    God Works All Things
    Gog
    Golden Calf
    Goliath
    Gomorrah
    Gone With The Wind
    Good
    Good Shepherd
    Good Works
    Gospel
    Gospel According To Shopping
    Government
    Grace
    Grace Is Sufficient
    Gracious
    Grain Offering
    Great Commission
    Greater Works
    Greatest Commandment
    Great Tribulation
    Grief
    Guard
    Guilt
    Guilt Offering
    Hades
    Hagar
    Ham
    Haman
    Hand Him Over To Satan
    Hanged On A Tree
    Hanukkah
    Hanun
    Happiness
    Happy
    Harry Rubi
    Harvest
    Hate
    Haters
    Hazael
    Head Of The Body
    Healer
    Healing
    Heart
    Heart Of Flesh
    Heart Of Spirit
    Heart Of Stone
    Heaven
    Heavens Declare The Glory Of God
    Hebrews
    Hebrews 13:5
    Hebrews 4:12
    He First Loved Us
    Heirs
    Hell
    Help
    Helper
    Heman The Ezrahite
    Hero
    Herod
    Heroes
    He Who Began A Good Work
    Hezekiah
    Hidden In The Shadow Of Your Wing
    Hidden Manna
    Hide My Face
    Hides His Face
    High Priest
    High Priestly Prayer
    Hold Your Peace
    Holiness
    Holy
    Holy City
    Holy Hill
    Holy One
    Holy Spirit
    Home
    Homosexual
    Honey
    Honor
    Honor Your Mother And Father
    Hope
    Hope Deferred
    Hopeless
    Horn
    Horn Of Salvation
    Horns Of The Altar
    Hosea 6:6
    House
    House Of David
    House Of God
    How Deep Were The Waters Of The Flood?
    How Do I Please God
    How Majestic Is Your Name
    How To Pray
    Humble
    Humilation
    Humility
    Humilty
    Hunger
    Husbands
    I AM
    I Am Statements Of Jesus
    I Am The Way
    I Can Do All Things
    Identity In Christ
    Idle
    Idleness
    Idolatry
    Idols
    If God Is For Us
    If You Were Arrested For Being A Christian Would There Be Enough Evidence To Convict You?”
    Ignorance
    Image Of Christ
    Image Of God
    Image Of Invisible God
    Image Of The Beast
    Imitate God
    Imitate Jesus
    Imitate Me
    Impartiality
    Imperishable
    Incense
    Indwell
    Inheritance
    In Jesus Name
    Injustice
    In My Name
    Inner
    Insomnia
    In Spirit And In Truth
    Intercessor
    In The World
    In The World Not Of It
    In The World Not Of The World
    Intimacy
    Invisible
    Invitation
    Isaac
    Isaiah
    Isaiah 55:11
    Isaiah 61:1 3
    Isaiah 61:1-3
    Ish-bosheth
    Ishmael
    Israel
    Issachar
    Is The LORD The Only God
    I-theism
    It Is Finsihed
    It's Not Fair
    Jabez
    Jael
    James
    James 3:1
    James 4:8
    Japheth
    Jars Of Clay
    Jealous
    Jean Piaget
    Jehoachin
    Jehoahaz
    Jehoash
    Jehoiada
    Jehoiakim
    Jehoram
    Jehoshaphat
    Jehosheba
    Jehovah
    Jehu
    Jeoahaz
    Jeremiah 29:11
    Jericho
    Jeroboam
    Jerusalem
    Jesus
    Jesus Calls You Friend
    Jesus Christ
    Jesus Is God
    Jesus Is Lord
    Jesus Is The Armor Of God
    Jesus Is The Life
    Jesus Is The Same Yesterday Today And Forever
    Jesus Is The Truth
    Jesus Is The Way
    Jesus Is The Word Of God
    Jesus Loves You
    Jesus Name
    Jesus' Name
    Jesus' Sake
    Jesus Slept
    Jewish Baptism
    Jezebel
    Jim Barringer
    Joab
    Joah
    Joash
    Job
    Joel
    John
    John 14:12
    John 15:12
    John 16:33
    John 3:16
    John 8:12
    John Hagee
    John Reeve
    John The Baptist
    Jonah
    Jonathan
    Joram
    Jordan
    Joseph
    Joseph Of Arimethea
    Joshua
    Josiah
    Joy
    Jubilee
    Judah
    Judas
    Jude
    Judge
    Judgement
    Judges
    Judge With Right Judgment
    Judgment
    Judgment Day
    Just
    Justice
    Kab
    Key
    Kill
    Kindness
    King
    Kingdom
    Kingdom Of God
    Kingdom Of Heaven
    King Of Kings
    Kings
    Kings And Queens
    Knock
    Knock And The Door Will Be Opened
    Know God
    Knowing Is Half The Battle
    Knowledge
    Kosher
    Lake Of Fire
    Lamb
    Lamb Of God
    Lamech
    Lamp
    Lampstand
    Land
    Language
    Lani Campbell
    Laodicea
    Last Day
    Last Hour
    Last Woe
    Law
    Law Brings Sin
    Law Of Christ
    Lazarus
    Laziness
    Leader
    Leaven
    Legalism
    Legion
    Legs
    Leprosy
    Let It Go
    Let My Mouth Speak The Glory Of God
    Levi
    Leviticus
    Liar
    Libertarian
    Liberty
    Lie
    Lies
    Life
    Life Abundantly
    Life After Death
    Life Of Worship
    Light
    Lighthouse
    Light Of The World
    Lion
    Lioness
    Lion Of Judah
    Listen
    Live And Let Die
    Live And Let Live
    Live For Christ
    Live Out Loud
    Living Sacrifice
    Living Water
    Locust
    Lodowick Muggleton
    Logos
    Lois And Eunice
    Loosed In Heaven
    Lord
    Lord Of Hosts
    Lord Of Lords
    Lord's Name
    Lord's Name In Vain
    Lord's Prayer
    Lord's Supper
    Lost
    Lot
    Love
    Love Abound
    Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins
    Love Feast
    Love In Action
    Love In Truth
    Love One Another
    Love One Another As Jesus Loved
    Love Others As Jesus Loves You
    Love Out Loud
    Love The Lord With All Your Heart Soul Mind And Strength
    Love Those Who Persecute
    Love Your Brother
    Love Your Enemies
    Love Your Neighbor
    Luke
    Lukewarm
    Magog
    Majestic
    Makarios
    Make
    Malachi
    Malachi 3:10
    Male Child
    Man
    Manasseh
    Manifest
    Manna
    Manslaughter
    Manure
    Mark
    Mark Of The Beast
    Marks Of A Christian
    Marriage
    Martha
    Martyrs
    Mary
    Mary And Martha
    Mary Magdalene
    Mask
    Maskil
    Mattaniah
    Matthew
    Matthew 18 Church Politics
    Matthew 5:1 12
    Matthew 5:1-12
    Matthew 6:33
    Mature
    Maturity
    May His Face Shine Upon Us
    Meal
    Meat
    Mediator
    Meditate
    Meditation
    Medium
    Meek
    Melchizedek
    Members Of One Another
    Memorial
    Memorial Offering
    Menorah
    Menses
    Mephibosheth
    Merciful
    Mercy
    Mercy Seat
    Merri Trifiro
    Messiah
    Messianic Prophecy
    Mezuzzah
    Micaiah
    Michal
    Might
    Mighty Angel
    Miktam
    Mind
    Mindfulness
    Mind Of Christ
    Ministry
    Miracles
    Miriam
    Mishael And Elzaphan
    Mission
    Missionaries
    Moab
    Moabites
    Moabites And The Ammonites.
    Money
    Mordecai
    More And More
    More Than Conquerors
    Mormon
    Morning
    Morning Star
    Moses
    Mother Ann Lee
    Mother Of Prostitutes And Of Earth's Abominations
    Mount Horeb
    Mount Seir
    Mount Zion
    Mourn
    Mourning
    Muggletonians
    Murder
    Mute
    My Father's House
    Mystery
    Mystery Of Christ
    Mystery Of God
    Mystery Of Godliness
    Mystery Of The Gospel
    Mysticism
    Naaman
    Nabal
    Naboth
    Nadab And Abihu
    Name
    Names Of God
    Naphtali
    Nathan
    Nathaniel
    Nation
    Nations
    Natural Disasters
    Nature
    Nature Of Christ
    Nebuchadnezzar
    Necromancer
    Negative
    Neighbor
    Never Go Hungry
    New Creation
    New Earth
    New Heart
    New Heaven
    New Identity
    New Jerusalem
    New Life
    New Name
    New Self
    New Song
    New-spirit
    Nicodemus
    No
    Noah
    Nob
    No Broken Bones
    No Condemnation
    No Sin In Christ
    No Tears In Heaven
    Nothing Can Separate You From The Love Of God
    Nothing Is Impossible For God
    Nothing Is Sin
    Not Iscariot
    Not Just My Mout
    Now You Know
    Number Of His Name
    Oath
    Obadiah
    Obama
    Obedience
    Obey
    Obey In Marriage
    October 21st 2015
    Offend
    Offering
    Offerings
    O God
    Oholah
    Oholibah
    Oil
    Oil Of Gladness
    Older
    Olive Trees
    Omnipresent
    On Account Of My Name
    One Another
    One Body
    One Faith
    One God
    One God Three Persons
    One Gospel
    One Lord
    Oneness
    One Spirit
    One Truth
    One With God
    Outdo One Another In Showing Honor
    Overcome
    Overcomer
    Pads
    Paganism
    Pain
    Palm
    Palm Sunday
    Parable
    Parable Of The Talents
    Parapet
    Partiality
    Partners
    Passion
    Passion Week
    Passover
    Past
    Pastor
    Patience
    Paul
    Peace
    Peacemakers
    Peace Offering
    Peace Of God
    Peace Which Surpasses Understanding
    Peace With God
    Pearls Before Swine
    Peculiar
    Peculiar People
    Peirced
    Penn Jillette
    Pentecost
    Perfect
    Perfected
    Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
    Perfume
    Persecuted
    Persecution
    Perseverence
    Perspective
    Pestilence
    Peter
    Pharaoh
    Pharisees
    Philemon
    Philippians
    Philippians 3:20
    Philippians 4:13
    Philippians 4:7
    Phillip
    Philosophy
    Pierced
    Pigs
    Pilate
    Pillar
    Plan
    Plans
    Poison
    Polycarp
    Poop
    Poor
    Poor In Spirit
    Portent
    Positive
    Possible
    Pour Out His Spirit
    Power
    Power In Their Mouths
    Power In Their Tails
    Praise
    Pray
    Pray Continuously
    Prayer
    Prayer Of A Righteous Man
    Prayer Of A Righteous Person
    Pray For Kings Presidents Rulers
    Pray For Those
    Pray Watchfully
    Pray Without Ceasing
    Preach
    Preach The Gospel
    Predestined
    Prejudice
    Prepared
    Presence
    Pride
    Priest
    Priesthood
    Priests
    Priests At Nob
    Prince
    Prince Of The Power Of The Air
    Prison
    Prisoner
    Prisoners Of War
    Private
    Problems
    Prohibition
    Promise
    Promised Land
    Promises
    Proof
    Prophecy
    Prophesy
    Prophet
    Propitiation
    Propser
    Prosperity
    Prostitute
    Protect
    Protector
    Proverbs
    Provision
    Prowling Lion
    Prune
    Pruning
    Psalm
    Psalm 119
    Psalm 23
    Psalm 34:8
    Psalm 37:4
    Psalm 91
    Psalms
    Psychic
    Punish
    Pure
    Pure In Heart
    Pure Of Heart
    Purity
    Purple
    Purpose
    Pursue
    Pursue Love
    Put Off Your Old Self
    Put On Christ
    Quarrels
    Queen
    Queen Of Sheba
    Quiet
    Rabbit
    Racism
    Radical
    Rain
    Raise From The Dead
    Rape
    Read
    Reap
    Receive
    Receiving
    Reconcile
    Redeemer
    Redemption
    Reflect
    Reflection
    Refuge
    Rehoboam
    Rejoice
    Rejoice In Suffering
    Relationship
    Religion
    Remain Silent And Be Thought A Fool
    Remember
    Render Unto Caesar
    Renewed
    Repent
    Resist
    Resist The Devil
    Ressurected
    Ressurection
    Rest
    Restoration
    Resurrected
    Resurrection
    Revelation
    Revenge
    Rich
    Richard Ruiz
    Riches
    Rich Young Ruler
    Rider On A Black Horse
    Rider On A Pale Horse
    Rider On A Red Horse
    Righteous
    Righteous Deeds
    Righteousness
    River Of Life
    Rivers Of Living Water
    Roaring Lion
    Rob
    Robbery
    Robe
    Robert Gordon
    Rock
    Rod And Staff
    Roman Road To Salvation
    Romans
    Romans 8:1
    Romans 8:28 29
    Romans 8:28-29
    Royal
    Royal Priesthood
    Ruth
    Sabaoth
    Sabbath
    Sabbatical Year
    Sacrifice
    Salt
    Salt And Light
    Salt Of The Earth
    Salvation
    Samaria
    Samaritan
    Samuel
    Sanctification
    Sanctified
    Sanhedrin
    Santa Claus
    Sarah
    Sarai
    Sardis
    Satan
    Saul
    Saved
    Saved By Christ
    Saved By Grace
    Saved By Jesus' Work Not Yours
    Savior
    Sayings
    Say No
    Scarlet
    Scoffers
    Scorching Sun
    Scripture
    Scroll
    Seal
    Sealed
    Sea Of Cast Metal
    Search Me
    Seasoned With Grace
    Second Beast
    Second Coming
    Security
    Seed
    See God
    Seek
    Seek And You Will Find
    Seek First The Kingdom Of God
    Seek God
    Self Control
    Self-control
    Self-discipline
    Self Righteous
    Self-sufficient
    Semen
    Separate
    Separated From God
    Seperate
    September 27th 2015
    Sermon On The Mount
    Serpent
    Serpent's Stone
    Servant
    Serve
    Seth
    Seven
    Seven Bowls
    Seven Plagues
    Seven Spirits
    Seven Stars
    Seventh Seal
    Seventh Trumpet
    Seven Thunders
    Seven Years
    Sex
    Sexual Immorality
    Shadow Of Your Wings
    Shakers
    Shame
    Shammah
    Share Your Faith
    She Bear
    Shebna
    Sheep
    Shem
    Sheol
    Shepherd
    Shield
    Shield Of Faith
    Shofar
    Shout
    Showbread
    Shulammite
    Shunammite
    Signs
    Silence
    Silent
    Simon
    Simon The Magician
    Simple Truth
    Sin
    Sinless
    Sin Nature
    Sin No More
    Sin Offering
    Sins
    Sin That Leads To Death
    Sister
    Sixth Trumpet
    Slave
    Slavery
    Smoking Pot
    Smyrna
    Snatch From Hell
    Sodom
    Soldier
    Soldiers
    Solid Food
    Solomon
    Son
    Song Of Moses
    Son Of God
    Sons
    Sons Andd Daughters
    Sons Of God
    Sons Of Korah
    Sons Of The Prophets
    Sons Of Thunder
    Sons Pay For Father's Sin
    Soon
    Sores
    Sorrow
    Sound Doctrine
    Sound Mind
    Soup
    Sour Grapes
    Sovereign
    Sow
    Speak And Remove All Doubt
    Speak Evil
    Spirit
    Spirit Filled
    Spirit Of Courage
    Spirit Of Fear
    Spirit Of God
    Spirit Of Life
    Spirit Of Power
    Spirit Of Truth
    Spiritual Gifts
    Spirituality
    Spiritual Milk
    Spiritual Warfare
    Stand
    Stand Fast
    Stands At The Door And Knocks
    Starvation
    Stay Awake
    Steadfast
    Steadfastness
    Stealing
    Stew
    Stewardship
    Storm
    Straight And Narrow
    Strait And Narrow
    Strength
    Strong
    Stronghold
    Struggles
    Stumbling Block
    Submission
    Submit
    Submit To One Another
    Such A Time As This
    Suffer
    Suffering
    Suffering Produces Character
    Suicide
    Sunday
    Supernatural
    Support
    Sustainer
    Swear
    Sword
    Sword Of The Spirit
    Syria
    Tabernacle
    Tamar
    Tampons
    Tarot
    Tassels
    Taste And See That The Lord Is Good
    Teacher
    Teachers
    Teaching
    Tears In Heaven
    Tempation
    Temple Of God
    Temptation
    Ten Commandments
    Ten Nations
    Tent
    Ten Tribes
    Ten Virgins
    Test
    Testimony
    Testing
    Thanksgiving
    Thanksgivng
    The Day Of The Lord
    The Devil Prowls Like A Roaring Lion
    The Devil Wears Prada
    The End
    The Enemy
    The Eye Is The Lamp Of The Body
    The Fool Says
    The God Who Sees Me
    The Joy Of The Lord
    The Lamb Is The Lamp
    The Lord Is Our Righteousness
    The Lord Is There
    The Love Of Money
    The Love Of Money Is A Root Of All Kinds Of Evils
    The Love Of Money Is The Root Of All Kinds Of Evil
    There Is A Time
    "There Is No God."
    The Rider On A White Horse
    The Testimony Of Jesus Is The Spirit Of Prophecy
    The Truth
    The Truth Will Set You Free
    The Way
    The World Will Hate You
    Thief In The Night
    Thirst
    Thomas
    Thoughts
    Thousand Generations
    Thousand Years
    Thou Shalt Not Covet
    Three
    Three Fold
    Three-Fold
    Throne Of God
    Through Him Who Strengthens Me
    Time
    Time Alone
    Timothy
    Tithe
    Titus
    Tolerance
    Tomb
    Tongue
    Tongues
    To The Third And Fourth Generaton
    Traits Of God
    Trample The Enemy
    Transform
    Transformation
    Transparent
    Treason
    Treasure
    Treasure In Heaven
    Tree
    Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil
    Tree Of Life
    Trial
    Trials
    Tribulation
    Tribulations
    Trinity
    Trip
    Triumphant
    Triumphant Entry
    Troubles
    True
    True Beauty
    True Vine
    Trumpet
    Trust
    Truth
    Tsid-Kenu
    Turn The Other Cheek
    TV
    Twin
    Two Edged Sword
    Two Horns Like A Lamb
    Two Or Three Witnesses
    Two Witnesses
    Type Of Christ
    Tyrant
    Unclean
    Undefiled
    Unequally Yoked
    Unfading
    Unfair
    Union
    United
    Unity
    Universe
    Unleavened
    Unrepentant
    Unseen
    Uriah
    Uzza
    Uzzah
    Uzziah
    Valley Of Bones
    Vanessa Giorgi
    Vashti
    Veil
    Vengeance
    Vengeance Is Mine
    Veruca Salt
    Very Present Help
    Vessels
    Victory
    Video
    Vindicate
    Vindication
    Vine
    Vinedresser
    Vineyard
    Vipers
    Vow
    Vows
    Wages Of Sin Is Death
    Wait
    Walk
    Walk According To The Spirit
    Walk In The Light
    Walk In Truth
    Walk On Water
    War
    Warrior King
    Wash
    Washed By The Blood
    Watchful
    Water
    Water Of Life
    Way
    Weak
    Weaker Vessel
    Wealth
    Weary
    Weather
    Wedding
    Wedding Feast
    Wedding Garment
    Weeping
    Well With You
    Were There Blood Sacrifices Before Abraham
    What Does God Want
    What Does Seven Mean In The Bible
    What Does Three Mean In The Bible
    What Is God's Will?
    What Is The Will Of God?
    What's Down In The Well
    Wheat And Chaff
    Wheat And Tares
    Wheat And Weeds
    When God Says No
    Where Grace Abounds
    Where Two Or Three Are Gathered
    While We Were Still Sinners
    Whisper
    White
    Whitewash
    White Wash
    Who Can Be Against Us
    Whoever Believes In Me
    Who Is God
    Who Opens And No One Will Shut
    Whore
    Why
    Why Did Noah Take 7 Pairs Of Clean Animals On The Ark?
    Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen
    Why Do Evil Men Prosper
    Widow
    Widows
    Widows And Orphans
    Wife
    Wilderness
    Will
    Wind
    Windex
    Wine
    Winepress
    Wisdom
    Witch Of En-dor
    Withdraw
    Witness
    Wives
    Wives Submit To Your Husbands
    Woe
    Woman
    Wood
    Word
    Word Is A Lamp
    Word Of God
    Words
    Workmanship
    Works
    Works Of The Flesh
    World
    Worries
    Worship
    Worship In Spirit And In Truth
    Worthy
    Wounds
    Wrarfare
    Wrath
    Wrath Of The Lamb
    Xerxes
    Year Of Jubilee
    Year Of The Sabbath
    Yeast
    Yes
    Yoke
    YOLO
    Young
    Zeal
    Zebulun
    Zedekiah
    Zephaniah
    Ziba
    Zion
    Zoltar

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.