Monday, April 30, 2012

EVEN DAVID WAS WRONG

2 Samuel 11-12 As David walked on the roof of his house one evening, he saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. Someone told him she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a Hittite soldier off fighting with David’s army. David should have put Bathsheba out of his mind when he heard she was married, but he didn’t. Read the entire lesson text... David makes his worst mistake yet. He takes his neighbor's wife, and tries to cover it up. He kills the woman's husband when he can't conceal the error. But YHWH knows the truth. Can we hide from YHWH? No. Can we cover up our sin? No - it just leads to more sin. David has a habit of letting situations escalate. When he was hiding in Ziklag, his lies became betrayal. When he moved the ark incorrectly, Uzzah died. Now, a man and a baby die for his sin. * David acts as if he has done nothing wrong- even to God! So God sends the prophet Nathan to tell David a story. Nathan tells David he is just like this man because he took Uriah's only wife. David is very upset. He begs God's forgiveness and prepares to do what he can to restore his relationship with God. * Although he is forgiven, David had serious consequences to deal with. First, the child conceived would die. Also - David's many children would always fight. This is especially hard on David because he loves all his children very much. We can be forgiven, but there may still be consequences of our sins. Uriah was still dead, despite David's repentance.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

GETHSEMANE

SOMEDAY I WILL BE HERE.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

William Barclay says we might add a new beatitude to the list: “Blessed is the man who has nothing to hide." Sometimes all you can do is to simply speak the truth about your own heart. If that’s not enough, talking for hours isn’t likely to make a difference. In times of trouble I have often prayed this way, “Lord, let your will be done and let the truth come out.” That prayer satisfies the heart because it is a prayer for God’s will to be done, not my will. I usually have an idea of how I think things should work out, but my ideas do not equal God’s will. So in praying that prayer, I am implicitly admitting that my understanding is flawed, that I see things from my point of view, and that God’s will is very likely to be different from my own perception. And it’s a prayer that God will bring the truth out by any means he chooses. Source: www.keepbelieving.com