A day full of promise!

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their

provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness,

Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forebearance] and

found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.”

 

“Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked

and irritated and embittered God against them].”

Hebrews 3:7-15

 

Today is not just another day. Today is the day. We can’t change what happened in our past.

The future is too far away to make any meaningful change. What we have is today.

The Israelites sinned against God in the wilderness. they murmured, they complained,

they doubted, they envied, they tested God. He gave them chance after chance but their

hearts were hardened.

I don’t what your past has been like but know that “Today” the Holy Spirit is calling.

The past is the past. He wants to do something new in your life starting today.

You might be riddled by guilt but TODAY is a new day! The Lord is calling out to you.

 

Today is our second chance.

We messed up and messed up some more but today is our second chance.

A day can make all the difference when God is involved.

I have made mistakes,

I have made some bad decisions,

I have done a lot of dumb things in my life but as I read this scripture I believe God wanted

me to know today is a new day.

I don’t have to keep looking back at those things.

You don’t have to let the things of the past hold you back any longer.

God is calling you today!

And all you have to do is answer His call.

Don’t let today go to waste. Make the most of it by answering the Holy Spirit. In our own strength,

we will fail but with God, today can be a start of something great!

Amen!

 

Rolain

He turns dark situations into light!! (part 4)

This is the last post in my series on David. I love the word

because there is so much to learn. I have really enjoyed

this series. David truly was a man after God’s heart!

Let’s get going.

Some time ago I wrote a post on David titled “nine months

later……”

In that post I talked about David and Bathsheba.

 

“When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was

dead, she mourned for her husband.

And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her

to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

2 Samuel 11:26

 

That was the key scripture I used. David sinned and he didn’t

even know it!

David didn’t repent straight away. We know from the above

scripture that Bathsheba was in a time of mourning.

She also gave birth to a son and still David hadn’t repented!

For at least nine months we know David was in sin and he didn’t

even know it. Even when the prophet Nathan came and told

him a story that would expose David’s sin, David still didn’t

get it. Nathan had to tell David, he was the one he was talking

about in the story!

 

But we know the end of the story and I would like to pick up

the story there.

 

“Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her

and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name

Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the

hand of Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,

because of the Lord. “

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

 

This scripture amazes me. David and Bathsheba were not a

good thing. Death, pain, seperation, darkness had come

into David’s life because of that relationship.

But then something amazing happens, Solomon!

I think of Abigail, she was an amazing woman. Why didn’t

Solomon come through her?? I know, it’s a crazy thought but

I hope you understand where I am going with this.

I don’t think it brought a smile to David’s life when he thought

about Bathsheba. He killed someone because of her. He was

seperated from God in that time. There is no record of what

transpired during those nine months. David didn’t do any

exploits during that time. It was just a dark time for him

and Bathsheba.

 

I have a theory…..

 

“Now satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number

Israel. “

1 Chronicles 21:1

 

The enemy’s plan was to take out David. Bathsheba was how he

was going to do it. This was not the first time the enemy had

tried to take him out. he tried a few other times but God always

delivered him! And that’s why I believe Solomon came through

Bathsheba and not Abigail or David’s other wives. The Lord

would use what the enemy meant for harm for David’s good.

The enemy would not win! God would be glorified in the very

situation that was meant to kill David!

Please understand me, I am not saying Bathsheba was the

enemy. The enemy used that situation to try to destroy

David. He was supposed to be out at war but he chose to stay.

(read 2 Samuel 11:1)

The fight was always against satan and he would of won if

God had not stepped in!

 

As God was with David, He is with you and with me. God is our

Deliverer! The enemy will not win no matter what weapon he

fashions! I really believe that.

Even when David was blind to the sin in his life God came in

and saved him! God is so good friends!

What a testimony it was for David and Bathsheba. They would

look at Solomon and remember God’s goodness and mercy.

He turned such a dark situation into something glorious!

Be encouraged friends. God will not leave us alone. God will be

with us as He was with David.

David wasn’t perfect. But his life is a testimony of what a loving

God can do in a life of a man or woman who loves Him! I pray

this is a blessing to you like it was to me! Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

The arrogance of man….

And Saul built an altar to the Lord;

It was the first altar he built to the

Lord.  1 Samuel 14:35

 

Saul built an altar to God. It was probably the only

altar he built to God.

Why he built the altar is not really clear but the point

is this, he built an altar.

Saul building that altar almost seems out of context.

In fact, it’s so out of Saul’s norm that the word says,

 

“It was the first altar he built to God.”

 

Building an altar meant on a very rare

occasion Saul remembered God, he honored God!

It was one of those very rare occasions where

Saul put God first, where Saul stopped to thank

God.

The altar that Saul built tells us a lot about where

his relationship with God was. He didn’t build altars

which meant something.

 

On the other hand let’s look at David.

Building an altar wasn’t out of context for him.

He built countless altars to God. That also said

something about his relationship with God.

David was a man after God’s heart. God was the

most important thing to him….

 

David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-5)

David kills Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-23)

In both these situations David repented to God.

He confessed his sins and asked God to forgive him.

His heart broke because of what he did.

 

David counts his people (2 Samuel 24:1-9)

After counting the people the word says:

David felt ashamed after he counted the people

and said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in

what I did! Lord, I beg you, forgive me for my

sin. I have been very foolish.”

2 Samuel 24:10

 

Once again David humbled himself before God.

He confessed his sin to God quickly!

 

David wants to build a house for God.

(2 Samuel 7:1-18)

Even in peace David still sought the Lord.

He never forgot Him!

 

This is what I am trying to show you,

We need to be like David who built countless

altars to God. He loved God so much. Yes,

he sinned many times but he always turned 

to God. No matter how bad things got he

always turned to God and even in good times

he still turned to thank God!

 

Saul didn’t put God first a lot of the time.

Some would say he was proud. He believed

he could make it on his own. He was a skilled

warrior who was a “head taller” than everyone

else. (1 Samuel 9:2)

Whatever the case we must aim to be like

David who humbled himself before God.

He never relied on his own strength. Instead,

he relied on God and ALWAYS turned to

God, always……

The goal is not to be David but it’s to take

those things that made his relationship

with God stronger and apply them to

our lives.

The goal is not to discredit or attack

Saul but it’s to look at his life and

learn from his mistakes. We all sin

so attacking Saul would be foolish…

 

God wants us to put Him first….

Pride will always resist God.

We need to be humble and allow

God to lead us.

Rolain