The Battle is the Lord’s

1 Samuel 25:39 NKJV

So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.

How often do we want to make those who have insulted us pay for the trouble they have caused? If you are like me you would have to say far too many times.

David was about to destroy a man and all the other men in this area because of the mistreatment of his soldiers. If David would have followed through many people who were innocent would have lost their lives. The scripture points out three things that David thanked God for when he realized how close he came to the slaughter of the innocent.

1. God pleaded David’s case and He sent Abigail to assuage David’s anger and meet their need for food and drink.
2. God kept David from committing evil.
3. God returned wickedness to the wicked man, Nabal.

Let me ask you a question. How do you handle the situation when you are being mistreated?

The Source of Promotion

Psalm 75:6-7 NKJV

For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.

I have been taught to work hard and at the right time ask for a promotion.There have been times where I did just that and I was refused. I can tell you that my resolve to work was tested, and yet I discovered that my career path is not in the hands of men, but God.

I remember a time when I worked for a very difficult person in a Lumber yard. At the time I was making $4.25 an hour working in the hot Southern humidity for 11 hrs. a day. I had worked in this situation for several months, and I was getting tired of working for next to nothing. I had stayed in the South for the summer and I really missed my family. I had a school bill of about $1,900.00 to pay before I could enroll for the Fall semester and it was August. How would I pay this debt in time? I called my Mom who is a prayer warrior and told her that I was in over my head and that I was quitting and coming home. She encouraged me not to quit, and she told me that she was going to pray that my boss would give me a 75¢ hourly raise, I responded that she did not know my boss. I politely prayed and thought nothing of the job until the next morning my boss told me that the Lord woke him up and told him to give me a 75¢ hourly raise, just what I prayed for with my Mom on the phone!

After that time I realized that I worked for the Lord and that He would promote me in due time.

How about you? Can you remember a time that you saw God’s hand on the job?

Who is God’s Anointed?

1 Samuel 24:5-6 NKJV

Now it happened afterward that Davids heart troubled him because he had cut Sauls robe. And he said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lords anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.

The passage of scripture above has used and misused by many people over the years. So what do this scripture tell us about spiritual authority?

I will share my thoughts with you and I would like to hear from you.

1. This scripture does not condone the previous actions of King Saul towards David.
2. This scripture does not condone retaliation for past or present wrongs done to us.
3. This scripture includes a reference to the treatment of the chosen of the Lord. God’s chosen should be honored and respected.

Was Saul more chosen than David? Does the leader have special privileges that the follower does not have?

What do you think?,

The Thief

I hope you never have to experience what I experienced this past weekend. When we came back from vacation we found our door kicked in and a rock thrown through our master bedroom window! Then we looked around and realized that they had rummaged through the whole house looking for valuables, which they found very few! They did however take sentimental things that meant more to us than money, like the first promise ring that I bought my wife before we were engaged or my daughter’s baby jewelry. They even found a debit card and the pin that was hidden in a separate location. But most of all they were in my house, and I feel so violated. They had no right to come in and they were trespassing.

That got me to thinking about the Christian life. How often do we allow the thief (John 10:10) to ransack our lives? How long will we allow the thief to steal from us and ultimately destroy us? I did not know when my house would be broken into, but if I had known I would have waited for them and not allowed them to steal my stuff and damage my house.

Today take a good look around and ask yourself are you protected from the thief? Let him who stole steal no more!

Cure for Grinding Gears

Have you ever grinded the gears in a manual transmission? You know that sound that it makes just appears as though you have done something wrong to the transmission.

Well, all of us know that life sometimes can be a grind. So what do you do when all it seems like you keep doing is grinding the gears? Here is an adaptation from Chuck Swindoll (“Living Beyond the Daily Grind Book I, p. 156)

“When the gears of human viewpoint begin to grind add the oil of the wisdom of God’s perspective.”

Here it is in a nutshell: When life is grinding you add to your perspective the wisdom of God. Happy Trails.

Who is Praying for You?

Jesus had just finished praying in the Garden and the next words recorded (Luke 22:31-32) to Peter are a warning and an encouragement. Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to destroy him, but that Jesus had prayed for him. Here’s a thought.

Could it be at the same time that God is working on us that Satan would like to destroy us? What do you think?

What encouragement to know that Jesus is praying for us.

Lying,only deceiving yourself

Here is a thought for today. Lying, you are only deceiving yourself.

Redemption is Near!

With the world news of recent days I should have my head in my hands. But I found a scripture in Luke 21:28 that reminded me of my proper posture. Jesus said when you see all of these things, lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.

This is our finest hour, the devil is a liar and is trying to do what he can to derail us. Let us be faithful to the Lord and look up for He is coming soon!

L.I.F.E.

I found this little acronym on a old newsletter the other day.

L. abor

I. nfluences

F.inances

E. xperience

How are you spending your life?

Healing from the Bronze Serpent?

One of the most perplexing things in the Old Testament is that the healing of the people comes from looking at a bronze serpent. How is this possible?

In Numbers 21:4-6 the people were going by way of the Red Sea and the people began to murmur against God and Moses. The next thing that happened was that the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people that murmured against God and Moses. Many of the people that murmured died. It was not until some of the people in the crowd began to repent concerning the murmuring of those that had died. Moses prayed for the people and the Lord instructed him to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. The Lord told Moses that every person that looked at the serpent would be healed. Why would the Lord respond this way?

I believe that when the Israelites came close to the Red Sea they were reminded of the “good times” in Egypt as a slave. Funny how memories are shaped according to our present situation. Let me share with you what I believe brought about the judgment.

• Murmuring brings about the displeasure of God
• Murmuring reveals an ungrateful heart
• Murmuring can bring about negative consequences

Is there something that you are complaining about at present? Instead of complaining begin to thank God for leading you through a difficult time. Praising God is better than murmuring and has better consequences.