Read the Bible in a Year (11APR19)

2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (11APR19) David sang a song of praise to the Lord for all that He had brought him through. God had delivered David from his enemies, including Saul, and even though he had to go through a lot, some of which was by his own doing, God still delivered him and allowed him to return to his throne. David knew that the Lord was his Rock, Fortress, and his Salvation. He could have done nothing without the help of the Lord. David’s song has parts written within it that is similar to when Paul wrote in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God. David said that the Lord was his shield and horn of salvation. God trained his hands for battle where his arms could bend bows of bronze. God provided a pathway for his feet and did not allow his ankles to give way. The Lord protected him from his enemies and gave him favor with foreigners; therefore, he sang praises of God’s wonders and kindness shown to him. 

Many, if not all of us can recall a time when God carried us through some difficult situations. Some of them may have been brought on by our disobedience, where others came as a result of life’s tests and trials, but we are here today only by the Grace of God. Someone was written off for death, but God was a Healer. Someone was supposed to be in prison, but the Lord was their Advocate. Someone was supposed to be homeless, but the Lord was their Provider. Someone’s marriage was supposed to be destroyed, but God was a Restorer. Someone was supposed to be unemployed, but Heaven was doing some Hiring. Someone was supposed to be in a strait jacket, but the Lord was their Psychiatrist. Someone was supposed to be hooked on drugs, but God was their Rehab. Someone was looking for love in all the wrong places, but the Lord became the Lover of their Soul. Someone was drowning in sin, but God became their Search and Rescue. Yes, many of us have been in a place where we needed the Rock who was and is our Salvation. We have a song that even the angels cannot sing and when we get to Heaven, we will be able to sing of HOW WE GOT OVER. When we think on the Goodness of the Lord, how can we render anything other than PRAISE. Something to ponder…

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY – (11APR19) David said that when a person rules in righteousness with the fear of the Lord upon them, they were likened to the morning light. David was not without his share of mistakes, but a major difference between the lives of him and Saul was that David had a fear of the Lord, whereas Saul was his own god. One thing that made America great was her reliance on God through her leaders. Even though she did much wrong, God blessed this nation to become the most powerful nation on the earth. Unfortunately, we have declined and morphed into spiritual Babylon and most of its leaders are far from God. So, every Christian should ask him/herself, “Am I doing all that I can to help others know about the Lord?” Am I witnessing to those who are lost in my family, workplace, neighborhood, or amongst my friends?  Am I living my life as a disciple of Christ in the public as well as at home? Do I live every day as if this was the day that Jesus could come? These are some of the questions that we should ask ourselves on a regular basis to evaluate our walk with Christ. Our nation has gone dark and is growing darker by the day, but it should never be completely dark when the Bride of Christ is still present to show others the way. Something to ponder…

 2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (11APR19) David had Joab to take a census of the men who were of fighting ability all throughout the land despite Joab’s concern about this. This was a time when David should have really heeded their advice, but he did not and brought about judgment upon the land. He allowed pride to enter his heart and counted the men as if it were within his own military might that they could do great exploits. There was nothing wrong with the census within itself, but it was the “reasoning” behind the census that was wrong. The Lord had Moses to take two censuses of the people during his day, but Moses only did this under God’s instruction and not due to self-reliance. Therefore, God had gave David three choices of judgment to choose from, so he chose a three-day plague where the death angel came and struck down seventy-thousand people. At seeing the suffering of his people, David petitioned the Lord to punish only him and his family. He told the Lord that he was the one who was appointed to be their shepherd and the people were sheep that he had been responsible to care for. God answered David’s prayer by removing the plague once David built an altar on the threshing floor and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices. 

Many leaders of the nation as well as the church do not have the heart of a shepherd. Some are allowing, while others are causing plagues of SIN to be amongst the people. The sins of greed, murder, porn, drugs, adultery, human trafficking, justice system (not so just), animal rights over people rights, covetousness, dishonesty, fornication, sodomy, sports idolatry, paganism, bestiality, prostitution, secret societies, and more have corrupted us as a nation and church. God allowed judgment to befall Israel because of sin. Many of the judgments that has and will befall America is because we as the body of Christ have not done our job to warn and help usher souls to Christ. We have mindlessly been caught up in worldly compromise instead of standing in the gaps for the lost. As a result, many of us have found ourselves lost as well. Many people in the body of Christ think that they are ready for the rapture, but how can we feel comfortable with saving ourselves when the world around us is LOST? 

David admitted his failures as a shepherd and interceded on behalf of his people. How many of us have a heart like David to intercede on behalf of our fallen nation? We are only as good as the person who we help to come out of the pit of sin. Are there still others in the pit? Then, we are not rapture ready… We are our brother’s keeper and until Jesus comes back to get us, we must never feel that we have arrived while we still have work that needs to be done. We must weep for the lost, lament for the broken, sound the alarm for those sleep, and be a rope for the drowning.
JESUS IS COMING SOON! Something to ponder…