God will Provide

The temple is being built. Could you imagine if we had a time machine and going back and standing at the entrance to it on the day it was finished Looking at it sheer beauty, I mean you can read about all the magnificent things they built the temple out of, and the care that was put into it. Lining it with gold chains, pine, and cedar. Put precious stones of every kind inside it, having master artists coming in to make designs and carvings. It would have truly been a masterpiece, an awesome sight to see, and a great accomplishment for the Jewish people. Solomon definitely spared no expense when building this thing. This is a prime example of staying focused on a vision at hand. Originally, King David had the vision to build the temple, but do to circumstance and God’s will, David was not able to actually start the building of the temple, but he cast the vision for it, and Solomon was able to actually see that vision manifest into physical form. Now you may be asking, okay so what does all this have to do with the first couple sentences about how magnificent the temple looked? David was king, he could have built anything and called it the temple, but it would never have come close to have glorious the temple was that Solomon built. God was able to open doors and provide for everything needed to make the temple glorious. Our church has done the same, when casting the vision to build our church as well as doing it now for our covered facility. And it was done not by our providing, or by Solomon’s providing, but with the provision from God our father. So if you have a vision for something from God, and it hasn’t happened right away, be encouraged by this, that God is ultimately in control, and will see the vision through, in his timing, by his way.

Famous Last Words

Today we read about the last words of King David. These are the words he spoke at the end of his long life just before he died at a good old age as the Bible declares. King David was more fortunate then most in life and in his death as well, I suppose. He was afforded the time to speak one final time and relay his final wishes to those he loved and cared about. What would you say if you too were given this kind of opportunity? What would you say to your spouse, children, boss, or friend? What would your last wishes be? How would you bless them? What would you say? A time is coming when we will all take our last breath just as King David did. Perhaps we should not wait for that day and count on being given the time to deliver our famous last words though. Instead, I want to encourage you to speak blessings over those you love today. Whisper your wishes into their ears right now. Let your thoughts, dreams, and desires be known. Why wait until the end? Why take the chance of letting those thoughts, wishes, and dreams die with you without ever being spoken? Take some time to think today about what you would say with your famous last words. Then if it’s appropriate, say it!

Life Is Not Easy

Life is not easy. Especially when you have a child that is wayward. No matter how much you invest in them, no matter how much you support, encourage, bail them out, or let them suffer some of the consequences of their actions, they just don't seem to get it. But you need to recognize where this stems from. Recognize what the root of the problem is. Sin, lust of a brother, greed of a son, and complacency of a father makes for a bad cup of soup. We have to remember that our sin impacts our kids just as much as theirs impacts us.
Observe the mistakes made by men, see where they err in their ways and compare them to yours so that prayerfully, whether you are caught up in lust of something or someone, are greedy for something or someone, or the blindness of contempt and laziness seeks to choke you out, you can fight. Rise up as David did in Psalms and call to our Lord, cry out to a great God and plead with Him to be your rock, your fortress, your deliverer. Let His mighty hand steady your foot, shore up your hand, and guide you to make the right decision before a chain reaction starts that hurts those who are around you. We all are accountable for our actions. Sometimes we really just want to seek grace out and hope it ain’t so. But it is.

Sing A Song

I really enjoy reading the book of Psalms. Hebrew poetry does not translate well into English in many cases but it is wonderful to read in both languages. As I was reading the Psalms passage today I thought about how much I admire the way David was able to express himself to God. He lets out all of his frustrations, hopes, dreams, hardships, temptations, struggles, joy, and pain. He does a great job of using Hebrew poetry to do this. Maybe we should all try a bit harder to express ourselves to God. Perhaps we should choose our words more wisely when speaking to the KING of KINGS. I know I should! Maybe we should stop holding back and trying to hide what God already sees. Indeed we should open our lives and express it all to God just as David did. I want to issue you a challenge today that at first might seem and feel a bit strange. However, if you should dare to take the challenge, I bet you will find it quite rewarding. Here it is: write a poem to God. Take some time to sit down and express yourself through a poem or song. It does not have to rhyme or have a certain number of syllables in each line. Don’t make this hard, just sit down and express yourself with words and paper in the coming hours. You can throw it away when you are done, or keep it. You can share it with someone else, or not let another soul know you ever did it. The main thing is that you take some time to express yourself and give it all to God.

it has to cost something

I want to draw attention in today’s reading at 2 Samuel 24:18-25. David was visiting Araunah, and was needing to get the things together for the offering to the Lord. When David told Araunah what he needed, Araunah basically told David to take whatever he wanted at no charge. But look at David’s response, he tells Araunah that he will not sacrifice anything to the lord that did not cost him anything. Man how true is that. I mean, David is king. He could have offered every sheep, cow, chicken, everything living in the entire region at his very command, but no, he said he would not sacrifice anything that cost him nothing. He knew it would be meaningless to God if it cost David nothing. This reminded me of Pete’s sermon a couple weeks ago about “Uncommon Giving”. How many times do we offer up to God our leftovers? Or how many times do we tell God, I will do this, only if you do this? Or how many times do we say “I will go there lord, o but I need to take care of my things first, then I will go, if there is time left over”? Or how many times do we spend our money on things that we want, and if there is any leftover, maybe then I’ll give some to the church? What are you giving God today? Whether it be time, money, effort, is it costing you something, or is the leftovers?

Everyone Deals With It

Defeat is something we all deal with, everyone will have to face the pain, frustration, and problems that come with defeat. Even King David was defeated at times. We can certainly point to his moral and ethical defeats, but he was physically defeated at times in war as well. When he faced defeat he turned to God and we should too. Do you feel defeated today? Was it last week that defeated you, or will it be next week? The question is not “if” you will face defeat but instead “when.” How do, or how will you, deal with it? Will you feel sorry for yourself? Will you run and hide? Will you lash out in a fit of anger and rage at someone else, yourself, or God? Will you ignore it, cover it up, or pretend it never happened? Or will you turn to God and deal with it? Everyone deals with defeat but not everyone handles it well. Defeat is not cause to quit, instead it is cause to turn to God and keep going. The next victory is on its way, but what you learn and how you handle the defeats is as important as well. Examine your heart today and honestly discover how you deal with defeat. Decide today how you will respond to the next defeat and prepare yourself for it. We all deal with it, so let us all be ready to handle it in a way that honors and brings glory to God.