Tag Archives: obedience

May 13 – Accepting Forgiveness

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2 Samuel 11&12, I Chronicles 20

King David had sex with another man’s wife. Then, when he found out he had gotten her pregnant, and that her husband had been away fighting David’s own war, he had the man killed. Then he married the woman.

By all accounts, this woman’s husband had been an honorable man. He certainly didn’t deserve the treatment he had received by his king.

When David was confronted with his sin, he repented. And God forgave him.

You might be tempted to think that David didn’t deserve to be forgiven. He was king. He took advantage of this woman and murdered her husband. Didn’t he deserve to rot in hell?

The answer is yes.

But so do we. Your sins, my sins, are as loathsome to God as David’s sins. I may not have murdered anyone, but that doesn’t make me less a sinner than David. I have fallen short of God’s holiness, and holiness is what he demands.

Enter grace.

When Jesus died on the cross, his blood bought our forgiveness. All of it. We are forgiven for stealing that paper clip, or for robbing that bank. We are forgiven for lying to our moms about eating that cookie before dinner, or for having an affair with our co-worker.

Do we deserve to be forgiven? Not in and of ourselves. But no sin is too small or too great to be covered by the precious blood of Jesus.

David repented and accepted God’s forgiveness. He didn’t try to justify his actions or convince himself he deserved to be happy. He recognized sin as sin, and asked God to forgive him. And God was faithful to forgive.

You are forgiven. David still had to make sacrifices, shed more blood, to fulfill the requirements for forgiveness. We don’t. Jesus died once and for all. His blood fulfilled all the requirements perfectly. All we have to do is accept it.

No excuses. No rationalizations. No denial. No thinking your sins are too great or too many for God to forgive. You might think you deserve to rot in hell. And you do.

But you don’t have to. Oh, God will condemn you to eternity without Him, to hell, if you refuse to accept His forgiveness. He doesn’t want to. He died so He wouldn’t have to. But He won’t force you to accept what is already yours.

If you have never asked God to forgive you, to allow Jesus’ blood to cover your sins, then do it now. What’s stopping you? You are forgiven.

Accept it.

May 1 – Come Together

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2 Samuel 5:1-10, I Chronicles 11-12

The kingdom is being handed over to David. Thousands of mighty warriors are pledging their allegiance to their new king. Some believe so strongly that David is God’s chosen leader, they risk their lives to give David a drink of water.

I Chronicles 12:32 says the people “understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.”

That got my attention.

As Christians, do we understand our own times, or are we hiding our heads in the sand? We have so much information at our fingertips. Do we use it to find out what God is doing outside the four walls of our homes? Are we aware of how much control Satan is taking in our world? And, are we in God’s Word daily so that we have the knowledge of what the Church – you and I – should be doing?

Verses 38-30 of this chapter tell us the warriors came to David with “a perfect heart to make him king over all Israel.” Everyone was of one mind to make him king.

Wouldn’t that be incredible if that happened today, if all of us who call ourselves Christian would come together as one, with pure hearts, to make God our King – truly our King? If we put aside political agendas, denominational differences, music preferences, sin, control, and determined to follow God only?

The Bible tells us that these people, who came together to be with David, to fellowship with their king experienced joy. Oh, for the joy of corporate fellowship with the King of Kings!

Sure, these warriors were prepared for battle. So should we be. But that didn’t stop them from  coming together and enjoying the sweet fellowship with the king.

Let’s be warriors who, together with pure hearts, serve our own King as He deserves. There is joy for those who do.

April 29 – Excuses! Excuses!

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I Chronicles 7-10

I wonder what it would have been like to be Sheerah. In a male-dominant society, she is credited with building lower and upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. She is given one verse in I Chronicles (7:24), but her life must have been extraordinary.

I wonder what it was about her that she was able to have men listen to her, to follower her direction, to respect her. Because she certainly didn’t build those cities by herself.

I wonder what would have happened if Sheerah had sat back and not taken command of the situation. She could hardly be faulted if she had thought, “What can I do? I’m only a woman.” Or if the first time a man tried to overrule her if she had given up.

The thing is, God uses both men and women to accomplish great things. It just takes a willingness to step out in faith.

If God is calling you into some kind of ministry, stop making excuses. God used uneducated men who were willing to follow Jesus to lead the first century Church. If God can use them, He can use you, too.

God uses men and women, healthy and dying, introverts and extroverts, children and elderly people to do great things in Jesus’ name. When a heart is yielded to God, He can accomplish the extraordinary.

April 14 – God Uses Sinners

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I Samuel 21-24

David was described as “a man after God’s own heart.” But David sinned. And some of his sins were doozies. Here in these chapters of I Samuel we see David lie to a priest of the Lord. Ahimelech the priest gave David food and Goliath’s sword because David told him the king had sent him. In fact, King Saul had not sent David.

David got what he had come for. But it cost Ahimelech his life, and the lives of his family. David would have to live with the fact that his lie brought about those deaths.

Yet this liar is described as a man after God’s own heart.

My pastor talked to us last night at prayer meeting about Zaccheus (Luke 19). Zaccheus was a hated tax collector, getting rich by extorting money from the people. His neighbors described him as a sinner. But Zaccheus was radically changed when he met Jesus.

Think of the cruel and murderous Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. And think about how he was used by God after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

What I notice about these three men is that they didn’t let their past sins stop them from serving God. Read David’s psalms and hear him repent of his sins, and put his trust in the Lord. The Bible is full of examples of how God used David to bless the nation of Israel, and yes, even examples of what a man after God’s own heart looks like. See how, when God called Zaccheus and Saul by name, their encounter with the Savior effected the rest of their lives.

God didn’t say, “Clean up your act, then come back to me.” Instead God says, “Come as you are.”

Hear God call you by name, then respond to Him with a repentant heart. No sin is too great for Him to forgive. No life too shattered for Him to transform. And no sinner is too far gone to be used by God, once that sinner has met the Savior.

I prayed for you today.

April 9 – I Am Afraid

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I Samuel 9-12

There are some things I am afraid of. I’m afraid of guns. I’m afraid of policemen. I am afraid of dogs. I’m afraid of water. I’m afraid of falling off a cliff.

But I love to shoot. My nephew, whom I love, is a cop. We’ve got several dogs in our family. I swim, and I go boating. And I love exploring nature in all terrains.

My fears effect how I live. But it doesn’t stop me from living. My fear of guns has me treat them carefully, and aim them purposefully at the target, because I know a bullet shot in the wrong direction can kill. My fear of cops has me driving the speed limit, because I know that they have the authority to ticket me. I don’t approach a snarling dog because I know a bite from a dog will hurt, but I pet dogs with wagging tails. I wear a life jacket, and don’t swim in the ocean alone or in a storm, because I don’t want to drown. And I never run up to the brink of a cliff, because a fall could kill me.

My fears make me aware of the danger and cause me to respect those things I fear.

I Samuel 12:24 tells us to fear the Lord “for consider the great things he has done for you.”

Do I fear God? Absolutely! He is Holy. He is a fierce Judge. He is Almighty Creator. I’ve read in Scripture what He thinks about sin. And I believe Him when He says sinners go to hell.

But does my fear of God keep me from loving Him, from spending time with Him every day, from trusting Him. Absolutely NOT!

There are many places in the Bible that tell us not to fear. But I can’t find anywhere where it says not to fear God. Don’t fear the future. Don’t fear Satan. Don’t fear what man can do to us. But I think the Bible clearly warns us that God is someone to be feared.

And loved. And trusted. And respected. God wants us to live life, to enjoy His creation, to walk boldly and share the Gospel. But I think it’s pretty clear that we need to have that healthy fear of Him who is our Judge, who demands holiness of us.

My fear of God effects how I live. It makes me aware of the penalty of disobeying Him, and causes me to respect Him and His Word. But it also gives me the awareness of just how amazing is my walk with Him. This God who is to be feared loves me. He gave Himself for me. He is my constant companion, my strength, my very life.

April 8 – God’s Heart And Soul

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I Samuel 1-2

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? For Eli, there wasn’t much news that could be considered all that good. His sons were worthless. Their sins had angered God to the point God was going to kill them. Even Eli could expect God’s wrath because Eli knew what his sons were doing and, “he did not rebuke them.”

Eli knew he was guilty. His response to the bad news concerning his sons was: “It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”

But God did tell Eli a bit of good news. God was going to raise up a faithful priest, one who would act according to God’s heart and soul, and God would build an enduring house. This faithful priest would walk before God’s anointed always. (2:35)

My mind is whirling with all kinds of scenarios. Is Samuel the faithful priest God spoke about? Or is God looking ahead to Jesus, our forever priest? And as I sat here all caught up in those details, God seemed to nudge me to look outside the box.

The big picture here is that God hates sin, judges sin, and condemns sinners to death, sending them to hell. My NASV says the Lord “desired” to put Eli’s sons to death because of their sin and refusal to repent.

But these chapters also tell me God honors obedience. Whether it’s talking about Samuel or Jesus – or me as part of God’s Kingdom of Priests, God blesses those who obey Him.

What I learned today is that I want to “do according to what is in (God’s) heart and in (His ) soul.” I would love to be able to be described in that manner. I think God deserves it.

April 6 – Safe Places

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Judges 19-21

Where do you turn when you feel lost, or afraid, or overwhelmed by the circumstances of life? I hope you all can answer that question by saying you go directly to God in prayer.

But I’m talking in addition to that. When you get up off your knees, where do you go to feel safe? Who in your life represents that safe place we all need from time to time?

Judges 19 tells of a Jewish man traveling with his wife and servant. It was getting late in the day, and they were close to a town of non-Jewish people. The man decided to travel a bit further because he did not want to stay with foreigners. They went, instead, to Gibeah, a town of the tribe of Benjamin.

First of all, the travelers were ignored by their fellow Jews. No one offered to take them in until an old guy showed up and invited them into his home. Read the account for yourself. It’s horrible what happened.

Shouldn’t we be able to feel the safest with our families? Shouldn’t we be welcomed and cared for by those related to us? And shouldn’t the same be said for our churches?

This story made me think of those who have been hurt or betrayed by people in their homes, or in their churches. We probably all know someone who tells of mistreatment at the hands of those who they trusted to care for them. Maybe you have experienced that pain yourself.

If you describe your home as a Christian home, is it the one place on earth your children feel the most welcome, the safest, the best loved? Even when discipline is required?

Is your church fellowship warm and caring and forgiving? Or is there gossip and jealousy and pride running rampant? Do your members have reason to trust and support each other?

If there is hurt going on, don’t just stand by and let it happen. That makes you just as guilty as the one inflicting harm. Let’s put our homes and churches in order and set them as the standard for which everyone else strives.

Our Christian homes and our churches need to be the safest, most caring and loving places in the lives of our fellow Christians. And making that a reality is something you can do.

Dear God, I pray for all of us today as we take a look at our homes and our church fellowships. Convict those of us who are guilty of holding grudges, or having a mean temper, or who gossip, or are jealous… I pray that you will help us to repent, to speak up against mistreatment of our brothers and sisters, and to demand that our homes and churches be the safest place for a Christian to be. May You be glorified as we love one another like You love us.

April 3- Do What Seems Best

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Judges 10-12

The children of Israel once again worshiped idols, the false gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. It seemed like the right thing to do. After all, their neighbors were doing it.

So God let them be enslaved by the Philistines. For eighteen years the Israelites were mistreated at the hands of their captors. Then, when they finally cried out to God for help, God told them to cry to the gods they had chosen. Maybe those wooden images would deliver them.

But then the Jews said something that hit home here in the 21st Century. “We have sinned. Do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day.” (10:15)

The other day I told you what Kay Arthur had to say about God’s judgment on the US. God cannot NOT punish our disobedience. And it will come because God’s people have rejected Him in favor of wealth, health, tolerance, and acceptance of sin. God is going to judge this nation because too many pastors are not preaching the Truth according to Scripture. He’s going to judge this nation because the rest of us have accepted it.

We’ve been living according to what we think is best, what makes people comfortable and feel good about themselves. We go to church for a worship experience, and come away unchanged and unrepentant. How is that working out?

I would like to rally Christians to revival. To say to God what Israel did so long ago:

We have sinned, God. Do to this nation what you deem right and good. Deliver us as you seem best. Forgive us. And may Your children be found faithful through it all.

April 2 – Blessings That Lead To Sin

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Judges 8&9

What do you do with the blessings that God gives you? Can you pay your bills? Are you healthy, have a family, someone you consider a good friend, a roof over your head and enough to eat?

More than that, are you walking with the Lord? Have you accepted His grace and do you enjoy His Presence, His love, His joy, and peace?

What do you do with it all?

Gideon received 1700 shekels of gold from the spoils taken from victories at a war. God had defeated Gideon’s enemies in a miraculous fashion. And what did Gideon do with the gold?

Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. (Judges 8:27)

Did Gideon use what God had given him for the glory of God? No. And it led to sin.

I don’t know most of you reading this blog. But I know for a fact you have been blessed by God. Oh, you might be struggling right now. But that doesn’t mean God is not blessing you every day, too.

I think God would have us take inventory today. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.

Then ask yourself if you are using what He’s given you for God’s glory. Or are you using those blessings in self-serving ways? Are you squandering the blessings God is pouring out on you by not recognizing them, or by abusing them in some way?

Beware, dear one. What you do with God’s blessings is between you and Him. Just know that if you aren’t careful, those very blessings could lead to sin.

April 1 – It’s No Joke

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Judges 6&7

Sometimes obeying God can be scary. God told Gideon to tear down his father Joash’s Asherah pole and the altar of Baal. Gideon obeyed. But he did it at night because he was afraid of his dad. As it turned out, the neighbors were more angry than Gideon’s father. Joash told his neighbors that if Baal was such a great god, let Baal take care of Gideon for destroying the altar. Gideon’s dad had his son’s back after all.

God wanted Gideon to attack Midian, promising him victory with only 300 men. But Gideon got cold feet. He sneaked into the Midian camp during the night to check things out for himself. You know, in case God overlooked a detail or two.

What Gideon heard two Midianite soldiers say to each other there in the middle of the night affirmed to Gideon that God was going to help him win the battle.

God doesn’t always ask us to do the safe or comfortable things in Jesus’ name. Befriending that grouchy neighbor might scare you to death. Teaching the Bible study in your home, or taking a stand at work, or running for political office, or going to Africa to share the Gospel, or quitting smoking, or walking away from an ungodly relationship, or asking someone to forgive you can be scary.

God might be nudging you to do something way out of your comfort zone, and you are tempted to think, “This has to be a joke.”

Hear God say, if He asks you to do it, He will go before you, He will be your strength, He will give you the victory. God is very serious about using you today to win the war against Satan.

If you feel the nudge of God to talk to someone about the Savior, rest assured it’s no joke. Gather your courage and do it. God promises to be right there with you every step of the way.