Psalm 78:72 and David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
Whenever we look for a leader or an employee we are quick to assess their skill level or their gifts. Can they say it? Can they do it? Can they make it? From all outer appearances there are plenty of people who appear to be able to get the job done but internally there are a lot of issues that could be brewing in the heart.
God warned the prophet Samuel of this when he selected David as King. From the outside David didn't look like much but the boy had skillful hands he could handle weapons & he was strong. He had strangled a bear & a lion. He defeated Goliath with a sling shot. He was a great warrior. He could play the harp. He had skills!
If our young people are going to make it in this competitive job market they are going to have to have some skills. It's important & vital to attain a good education but we would do well to ensure that our children & that we ourselves have skillful hands.
I had dinner with the Mayor from Holly Springs, MS Sunday & he was telling the women who cooked our dinner, " I know how to cook too! My mother told me, 'Son get in that Kitchen & learn how to cook so that if you don't get a wife you won't starve!" Here is a Mayor, educated, strong leader but he's also good with his hands.
Every child will not go to college but every child can learn a skill.
Not only was David skilled with his hands but he had integrity in his heart. David said, "I have hidden His word in my heart that I might not sin against God." the bible says David was a man after God's own heart. David wasn't perfect but he loved God & when he messed up, he was quick to repent & not repeat. Read Psalm 51.
Oftentimes, our talent can take us where our character can't keep us because of heart issues. We've got to work on our heart just as much as we work with our hands. How do we work on our heart?
1. Store up on God's Word
2. Confess your sins to God
3. Forgiving one another
4. Being led by the Spirit
5. Watching what you put in your Spirit
Dear God, strengthen the work of my hands and clean my heart. Give me balance between my skill & my integrity. I don't want to just be able to do good (perform) but I want to be good (transform). Thank you for making me a leader from the inside out.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Time 2 Clean House
I Kings 2:2-3
I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments…so that you may prosper in all that you do and whenever you turn.
When going from one season to the next it’s necessary and wise to clean your house. There are things that have been taking up space that need to be removed and things that are offensive that no longer should remain now that we are in a new season. They made sense in the previous season but are obtrusive in this new season. It’s time to clean house.
This is played out symbolically when one administration takes over another in government. All of the people minus a few are replaced with another group of people who will be loyal and proficient for the new administration. You can’t have people whose philosophy and loyalties are with another era. It’s time to clean house.
In your own life there comes a time where God is shifting you and the people who you knew as a prince/cess will not be able to shift with you as ruler of the kingdom. For every new dimension of leadership there is a need for new administration or a new circle of supporters.
When David got ready to die (old era) and hand over the Kingdom to Solomon (new era) he gave his son instructions on how to clean out his cabinet and make his leadership prosperous:
1. Be Strong. As a leader you can’t be too soft when it comes time to make decisions. You must love the people to lead the people but you can’t let them take your kindness for weakness. Solomon’s rival Adonijah wanted the kingdom and tried to go through Solomon’s mother to marry one of David’s concubines to show the people he was an heir of the throne. Solomon could have given in to his mother’s wish but instead he killed his deceitful brother for treachery. Which one of your relatives are trying to undermine your authority? Even Jesus said, “those who do the will of my Father are my mother, brother, and sisters.” In other words blood kin has no priority if they are not acting in the will of God.
2. Be courageous. David told Solomon about Joab murdering two commanders of Israel without his permission and to add insult to injury they were more righteous than Joab. Solomon didn’t need an unethical blood thirsty commander over his army so he sent somebody to take Joab out. Who on your team is unethical and needs to be removed? If someone close to you is unethical it starts to taint your leadership credibility. It’s time to clean house.
3. Keep God’s commands. David also told Solomon about Shemei who cursed David on his way out of Jerusalem with the crisis with Absalom trying to take over his father’s kingdom by insubordination. On his way back in Shemei halfway apologized and begged David not to kill him. David swore he wouldn’t kill him but Solomon didn’t make that promise. He honored his father’s request by sentencing Shemiei to be restricted to a certain town, if he left he would be killed. Three years later he left looking for runaway slaves. Shemei broke the agreement and had to die. Who is it in your camp that keeps breaking covenant and has to go? If they are not keeping their agreement then it’s time for them to break camp.
As hard as it it is, there are some people that cannot stay with you because they have hidden agendas, disloyal, unethical and are boundary breakers. You have to be strong, courageous, and keep God’s commandments. Some will use the argument that we are to suffer along with inept and unethical people because that is the Christian way but it was Paul that reminded us not to associate with these kinds of people in I Corinthians 5:1—12.
As we shift to another dimension and expect prosperity in our lives we first have to check the people in our cabinet and clean house. It’s time for a New Direction!
Dear God, give me the courage to clean house in this new season you are taking me into. I need the Wisdom of Solomon so I can discern who is supposed to stay with me and who has to go. I don’t want to make arbitrary decisions based on fleshly reactions but let me be led by the spirit to create a spirit led team who is passionate about fulfilling your Kingdom agenda. Today, I’m looking at my cabinet to see who needs to stay and who needs to go. Lead me I pray.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments…so that you may prosper in all that you do and whenever you turn.
When going from one season to the next it’s necessary and wise to clean your house. There are things that have been taking up space that need to be removed and things that are offensive that no longer should remain now that we are in a new season. They made sense in the previous season but are obtrusive in this new season. It’s time to clean house.
This is played out symbolically when one administration takes over another in government. All of the people minus a few are replaced with another group of people who will be loyal and proficient for the new administration. You can’t have people whose philosophy and loyalties are with another era. It’s time to clean house.
In your own life there comes a time where God is shifting you and the people who you knew as a prince/cess will not be able to shift with you as ruler of the kingdom. For every new dimension of leadership there is a need for new administration or a new circle of supporters.
When David got ready to die (old era) and hand over the Kingdom to Solomon (new era) he gave his son instructions on how to clean out his cabinet and make his leadership prosperous:
1. Be Strong. As a leader you can’t be too soft when it comes time to make decisions. You must love the people to lead the people but you can’t let them take your kindness for weakness. Solomon’s rival Adonijah wanted the kingdom and tried to go through Solomon’s mother to marry one of David’s concubines to show the people he was an heir of the throne. Solomon could have given in to his mother’s wish but instead he killed his deceitful brother for treachery. Which one of your relatives are trying to undermine your authority? Even Jesus said, “those who do the will of my Father are my mother, brother, and sisters.” In other words blood kin has no priority if they are not acting in the will of God.
2. Be courageous. David told Solomon about Joab murdering two commanders of Israel without his permission and to add insult to injury they were more righteous than Joab. Solomon didn’t need an unethical blood thirsty commander over his army so he sent somebody to take Joab out. Who on your team is unethical and needs to be removed? If someone close to you is unethical it starts to taint your leadership credibility. It’s time to clean house.
3. Keep God’s commands. David also told Solomon about Shemei who cursed David on his way out of Jerusalem with the crisis with Absalom trying to take over his father’s kingdom by insubordination. On his way back in Shemei halfway apologized and begged David not to kill him. David swore he wouldn’t kill him but Solomon didn’t make that promise. He honored his father’s request by sentencing Shemiei to be restricted to a certain town, if he left he would be killed. Three years later he left looking for runaway slaves. Shemei broke the agreement and had to die. Who is it in your camp that keeps breaking covenant and has to go? If they are not keeping their agreement then it’s time for them to break camp.
As hard as it it is, there are some people that cannot stay with you because they have hidden agendas, disloyal, unethical and are boundary breakers. You have to be strong, courageous, and keep God’s commandments. Some will use the argument that we are to suffer along with inept and unethical people because that is the Christian way but it was Paul that reminded us not to associate with these kinds of people in I Corinthians 5:1—12.
As we shift to another dimension and expect prosperity in our lives we first have to check the people in our cabinet and clean house. It’s time for a New Direction!
Dear God, give me the courage to clean house in this new season you are taking me into. I need the Wisdom of Solomon so I can discern who is supposed to stay with me and who has to go. I don’t want to make arbitrary decisions based on fleshly reactions but let me be led by the spirit to create a spirit led team who is passionate about fulfilling your Kingdom agenda. Today, I’m looking at my cabinet to see who needs to stay and who needs to go. Lead me I pray.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Favor for Life
Psalm 30:5
For his anger is but for a moment his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but Joy comes with the morning.
What so many children long for is the love and attention of their fathers. My seven year old pleaded with me the other day, “Daddy come watch me hit the ball.” All he wanted was his daddy to smile and congratulate him on his ability to hit the golf ball across the front yard. When I did give him my undivided attention you could see the Joy in his face from his father’s favor.
When we are our Heavenly Father’s obedient children his favor is with us. Just like an earthly father God also chastises us when we are not obedient.
Hebrews 12:8-10 (New International Version)
8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
The Word says that he disciplines those he loves, if he doesn’t correct us then we are illegitimate children. David said, “His anger is but a moment.” David knew this because he sinned against God with adultery and taking a census in 2 Samuel 24. What’s wrong with a census? Well for David it meant he had shifted his faith from a God that helped him as a teen-ager defeat a Giant to a carnal man that had put his trust in a vast army. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. After David counted the men God sent a plague for three days killing 70,000 people but because he loved David and Israel God relented. “His anger is but for a moment, his favor for a lifetime.”
Isn’t it good to know that when you mess up and God disciplines you that his favor outlasts his wrath? Had it not been for grace and mercy we would have been wiped out a long time ago.
I’ve quoted this verse every Sunday out of context, “weeping may endure for the night but Joy comes in the morning.” The weeping is not because of some arbitrary bad events happening to me. Instead the weeping in this context is because of some bad decisions and God is disciplining the psalmist and it’s the favor of God that returns to him the next morning after the discipline in the night.
As a little boy I was very mischievous. My little brother and I set a fencerow on fire playing with matches one evening. My mother, grandmother, and aunts rushed outside to beat the fire out and that evening my mother beat me. I fell asleep crying but the next morning she held me in her arms and said, “Son, I love you but you have got to make better decisions.” Weeping endured for the night but in the morning I got my Joy back. It’s morning time and God let you see another day!
Whatever you did the day before:
1. Repent of it
2. Learn from it
3. Don’t repeat it
4. Receive your forgiveness
5. Make your retribution. To stop the plague on his people David offered a sacrifice to God. 2 Samuel 24:24But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
6. Forgive yourself
7. Walk in favor the rest of your life.
Dear God, thank you for your favor. Thank you for correcting me and not killing me. I am so happy this morning that you still love me and you are smiling on the work of my hands. I love you more than ever Father and thank you for loving me.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
For his anger is but for a moment his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but Joy comes with the morning.
What so many children long for is the love and attention of their fathers. My seven year old pleaded with me the other day, “Daddy come watch me hit the ball.” All he wanted was his daddy to smile and congratulate him on his ability to hit the golf ball across the front yard. When I did give him my undivided attention you could see the Joy in his face from his father’s favor.
When we are our Heavenly Father’s obedient children his favor is with us. Just like an earthly father God also chastises us when we are not obedient.
Hebrews 12:8-10 (New International Version)
8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
The Word says that he disciplines those he loves, if he doesn’t correct us then we are illegitimate children. David said, “His anger is but a moment.” David knew this because he sinned against God with adultery and taking a census in 2 Samuel 24. What’s wrong with a census? Well for David it meant he had shifted his faith from a God that helped him as a teen-ager defeat a Giant to a carnal man that had put his trust in a vast army. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. After David counted the men God sent a plague for three days killing 70,000 people but because he loved David and Israel God relented. “His anger is but for a moment, his favor for a lifetime.”
Isn’t it good to know that when you mess up and God disciplines you that his favor outlasts his wrath? Had it not been for grace and mercy we would have been wiped out a long time ago.
I’ve quoted this verse every Sunday out of context, “weeping may endure for the night but Joy comes in the morning.” The weeping is not because of some arbitrary bad events happening to me. Instead the weeping in this context is because of some bad decisions and God is disciplining the psalmist and it’s the favor of God that returns to him the next morning after the discipline in the night.
As a little boy I was very mischievous. My little brother and I set a fencerow on fire playing with matches one evening. My mother, grandmother, and aunts rushed outside to beat the fire out and that evening my mother beat me. I fell asleep crying but the next morning she held me in her arms and said, “Son, I love you but you have got to make better decisions.” Weeping endured for the night but in the morning I got my Joy back. It’s morning time and God let you see another day!
Whatever you did the day before:
1. Repent of it
2. Learn from it
3. Don’t repeat it
4. Receive your forgiveness
5. Make your retribution. To stop the plague on his people David offered a sacrifice to God. 2 Samuel 24:24But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
6. Forgive yourself
7. Walk in favor the rest of your life.
Dear God, thank you for your favor. Thank you for correcting me and not killing me. I am so happy this morning that you still love me and you are smiling on the work of my hands. I love you more than ever Father and thank you for loving me.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
I Got Room Now!
2 Samuel 22:33-34
The God who has girded me with strength has opened wide my path. He made my feet like the feet of deer, and set me secure on the heights.
Sometimes, it can seem like life is closing in on you. You don’t have room to move around, real estate is prime and you can’t afford to expand. I’ve lived in spaces so tight I had to go outside to change my mind. The thing that kept me was that I allowed God to expand my territory little by little and appreciate where I was every step of the way.
I think people who are born in small places have an advantage over people born into expansive/expensive places. When you are born into humble beginnings your world view is expanded at a pace where God is at the center and everything that unfolds does so at a pace that you are sure of who the unmoved mover is.
David was from the smallest clan and the youngest in his family but God took him from being a shepherd to being a King, from small to big.
David wrote a song giving a retrospective look at his life and he said, “the God who has girded me with strength has opened wide my path.” David knew what Jabez knew, God is the only one who can expand your territory. God can take a no name person and put them in a place where everybody knows their name. He only expands you at the rate of your acknowledgment. If he moves you too fast you might forget who did it. That’s why the bible says, “be still and know he is God.”
Not only does God widen our path but he also makes our feet like deer’s feet so that we can ascend to secure heights. Oftentimes, our talent takes us where our character can’t keep us but when God widens the path he also strengthens our legs to make the climb. He gives and expects integrity so we can remain secure at the top. Today, I need you to start walking because God is widening your path and he’s giving you the strength to make it to the top. You just have to watch your step.
1. Let God order your steps.
2. Don’t go beyond the borders God has set.
3. Keep your eyes on the path.
Dear God, thank you for expanding my territory. Everyday new mercies I see. My worldview has expanded because of the places you have taken me. Thank you for releasing new territory to me this week. I will be diligent to live in a way that will not embarrass you or get me off track. Please strengthen my legs, don’t move my mountain but please give me the strength to climb. Thank you God for making a way out of no way. On Jesus Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand all other ground is sinking sand.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
The God who has girded me with strength has opened wide my path. He made my feet like the feet of deer, and set me secure on the heights.
Sometimes, it can seem like life is closing in on you. You don’t have room to move around, real estate is prime and you can’t afford to expand. I’ve lived in spaces so tight I had to go outside to change my mind. The thing that kept me was that I allowed God to expand my territory little by little and appreciate where I was every step of the way.
I think people who are born in small places have an advantage over people born into expansive/expensive places. When you are born into humble beginnings your world view is expanded at a pace where God is at the center and everything that unfolds does so at a pace that you are sure of who the unmoved mover is.
David was from the smallest clan and the youngest in his family but God took him from being a shepherd to being a King, from small to big.
David wrote a song giving a retrospective look at his life and he said, “the God who has girded me with strength has opened wide my path.” David knew what Jabez knew, God is the only one who can expand your territory. God can take a no name person and put them in a place where everybody knows their name. He only expands you at the rate of your acknowledgment. If he moves you too fast you might forget who did it. That’s why the bible says, “be still and know he is God.”
Not only does God widen our path but he also makes our feet like deer’s feet so that we can ascend to secure heights. Oftentimes, our talent takes us where our character can’t keep us but when God widens the path he also strengthens our legs to make the climb. He gives and expects integrity so we can remain secure at the top. Today, I need you to start walking because God is widening your path and he’s giving you the strength to make it to the top. You just have to watch your step.
1. Let God order your steps.
2. Don’t go beyond the borders God has set.
3. Keep your eyes on the path.
Dear God, thank you for expanding my territory. Everyday new mercies I see. My worldview has expanded because of the places you have taken me. Thank you for releasing new territory to me this week. I will be diligent to live in a way that will not embarrass you or get me off track. Please strengthen my legs, don’t move my mountain but please give me the strength to climb. Thank you God for making a way out of no way. On Jesus Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand all other ground is sinking sand.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
This Is A Good Time To Get Away
Psalm 55:6
O that I had wings like a Dove! I would fly away and be at rest
I love the Southwest Airlines commercial where something embarrassing happens to a person and the announcer comes on to say, “This is a good time to get away.” And they announce the low fares of Southwest Airlines. We’ve all had those embarrassing and even hurtful moments where if we could fly away we would.
Many of us are stuck between fight or flight. We are tired of fighting because we’ve been dong that for most of our lives but we can’t fly because we don’t have the means. David could have used Soutwest Airlines when he found himself stuck between fight or flight. David had been betrayed by his son Absalom who tried to take over the Kingdom and to add insult to injury, his friend Joab killed Absolom against David’s orders.
Sometimes its easier to fight when the enemy is from the outside but it hurts more when the enemy is someone close that you used to get pleasure from being in their company. You don’t want to fight them but now it's complicated. This is a good time to get away.
When David found out his son, Absalom had been killed after his soldiers returned victorious from squashing the rebellion he wept for his son. Joab came in to remind David that the soldiers risked their lives to protect David and the rest of his family. If David kept weeping like this it would send a message that the soldier’s lives meant nothing to David. As a leader, he didn’t even have time to grieve over his son because politically it wouldn’t look right for him to be upset over somebody that tried to take over the kingdom even though it was his son. This is a good time to get away!
What do you do when you are too tired to fight and too broke to fly?
1. Cry out to God. 16 But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
2. God will fight for you .
19 God, who is enthroned forever,
will hear them and afflict them—
Selah
Men who never change their ways
and have no fear of God.
3. Cast your cares on God.
22 Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall.
4. Get away when you can. Even Jesus withdrew to lonely places to replenish himself
5. Take your Sabbath. A day of rest every week where you are not doing any work and you spend time with God.
6. Re-create. Find something fun to do that will recreate you spiritually, whether it’s fishing, walking, riding bikes, running, etc.
7. Find yourself a cheap flight to somewhere beautiful. ☺
Dear God, thank you for keeping me until I can afford to fly. Thank you for fighting for me when I was too tired to fight for myself. I’m looking forward to getting away soon.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
O that I had wings like a Dove! I would fly away and be at rest
I love the Southwest Airlines commercial where something embarrassing happens to a person and the announcer comes on to say, “This is a good time to get away.” And they announce the low fares of Southwest Airlines. We’ve all had those embarrassing and even hurtful moments where if we could fly away we would.
Many of us are stuck between fight or flight. We are tired of fighting because we’ve been dong that for most of our lives but we can’t fly because we don’t have the means. David could have used Soutwest Airlines when he found himself stuck between fight or flight. David had been betrayed by his son Absalom who tried to take over the Kingdom and to add insult to injury, his friend Joab killed Absolom against David’s orders.
Sometimes its easier to fight when the enemy is from the outside but it hurts more when the enemy is someone close that you used to get pleasure from being in their company. You don’t want to fight them but now it's complicated. This is a good time to get away.
When David found out his son, Absalom had been killed after his soldiers returned victorious from squashing the rebellion he wept for his son. Joab came in to remind David that the soldiers risked their lives to protect David and the rest of his family. If David kept weeping like this it would send a message that the soldier’s lives meant nothing to David. As a leader, he didn’t even have time to grieve over his son because politically it wouldn’t look right for him to be upset over somebody that tried to take over the kingdom even though it was his son. This is a good time to get away!
What do you do when you are too tired to fight and too broke to fly?
1. Cry out to God. 16 But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
2. God will fight for you .
19 God, who is enthroned forever,
will hear them and afflict them—
Selah
Men who never change their ways
and have no fear of God.
3. Cast your cares on God.
22 Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall.
4. Get away when you can. Even Jesus withdrew to lonely places to replenish himself
5. Take your Sabbath. A day of rest every week where you are not doing any work and you spend time with God.
6. Re-create. Find something fun to do that will recreate you spiritually, whether it’s fishing, walking, riding bikes, running, etc.
7. Find yourself a cheap flight to somewhere beautiful. ☺
Dear God, thank you for keeping me until I can afford to fly. Thank you for fighting for me when I was too tired to fight for myself. I’m looking forward to getting away soon.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Monday, May 10, 2010
Don't Get Caught Up
2 Samuel 18:9
Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
It’s easy to get caught up in ourselves. In this narcissistic society where it’s all about us, it’s easy to get caught up with an over indulgence of hedonistic pursuits. I think this is caught very well in the movie “Drumline” where the band director reminds the lead drummer that he selected him years ago because he loved the sound of the line more than he loved the sound of his own drum but when Devin (played by Nick Canon) came along the lead drummer shifted to falling in love with the sound of his own drum. He got caught up.
Absalom, David’s son, got caught up in a tree by his hair and Absalom drove three spears in his heart for committing treason but it was way before the tree that he got caught up.
1. He got caught up with revenge when his sister Tamar got raped. 2 Samuel 13: 28 Absalom ordered his men, "Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' then kill him. Don't be afraid. Have not I given you this order? Be strong and brave." 29 So Absalom's men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king's sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.
2. He got caught up with bitterness when his father didn’t want to see him. 2 Samuel 14: 32 Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I sent word to you and said, 'Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, "Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!" ' Now then, I want to see the king's face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death."
3. He got caught up with deception when he won the people’s hearts by misrepresenting his father. 2 Samuel 15:5-7 (New International Version)
5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
4. He got caught up with pride when he took over his father’s kingdom with mutiny and slept with his father’s concubines. 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
5. He got caught up in his own vanity, he got caught up in the branches by his hair and Joab threw three spears in his heart. The very thing that made Absalom distinguished and handsome got him caught up.
How do we avoid getting caught up? By humbling ourselves before the Lord and letting him raise us when it’s time to be raised. Don’t let your vanity get your caught up to where you are no longer grounded. Absalom hung between heaven and earth vulnerable to attack, held by his vanity. Stay grounded!
Dear God, keep me humble and help me to think of others before I think of myself. Order my steps so I will not get caught up by my own vanity.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. His head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.
It’s easy to get caught up in ourselves. In this narcissistic society where it’s all about us, it’s easy to get caught up with an over indulgence of hedonistic pursuits. I think this is caught very well in the movie “Drumline” where the band director reminds the lead drummer that he selected him years ago because he loved the sound of the line more than he loved the sound of his own drum but when Devin (played by Nick Canon) came along the lead drummer shifted to falling in love with the sound of his own drum. He got caught up.
Absalom, David’s son, got caught up in a tree by his hair and Absalom drove three spears in his heart for committing treason but it was way before the tree that he got caught up.
1. He got caught up with revenge when his sister Tamar got raped. 2 Samuel 13: 28 Absalom ordered his men, "Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' then kill him. Don't be afraid. Have not I given you this order? Be strong and brave." 29 So Absalom's men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king's sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.
2. He got caught up with bitterness when his father didn’t want to see him. 2 Samuel 14: 32 Absalom said to Joab, "Look, I sent word to you and said, 'Come here so I can send you to the king to ask, "Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there!" ' Now then, I want to see the king's face, and if I am guilty of anything, let him put me to death."
3. He got caught up with deception when he won the people’s hearts by misrepresenting his father. 2 Samuel 15:5-7 (New International Version)
5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
4. He got caught up with pride when he took over his father’s kingdom with mutiny and slept with his father’s concubines. 2 Samuel 16:22So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he lay with his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
5. He got caught up in his own vanity, he got caught up in the branches by his hair and Joab threw three spears in his heart. The very thing that made Absalom distinguished and handsome got him caught up.
How do we avoid getting caught up? By humbling ourselves before the Lord and letting him raise us when it’s time to be raised. Don’t let your vanity get your caught up to where you are no longer grounded. Absalom hung between heaven and earth vulnerable to attack, held by his vanity. Stay grounded!
Dear God, keep me humble and help me to think of others before I think of myself. Order my steps so I will not get caught up by my own vanity.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
You Hold The Keys
Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Growing up in rural Olmstead, KY I can remember the sound of the building engineer, (back in the day we called them janitors) coming down the hallway of the school. You always knew he was coming because you could hear those keys jingling. There were a million keys on his hip and they went to every closet, door, cabinet, shed in our school. When you heard those keys you knew something was getting ready to be fixed.
We are God's building engineers. We hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. For every door we need to get into there is a key we already have possession of. Prayer is the key and faith unlocks the door. The devil can’t keep us locked up because we hold the keys. We have the authority to open up and lock up. We have the authority to bind and to loose. We have over a million keys to give us full access to the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus told his disciples, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom. “ The keys represent his teaching that he has given us and when we spread his teaching it’s like using keys to open up doors that were previously shut. Whatever we bind on earth will be bound in Heaven! Jesus told the disciples based upon our confession of faith he will build his church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. We have the keys. We have the authority and power! Nothing can keep us out and nothing is unreachable.
1. Whatever we want to cease we have the authority to bind it, to lock it up and God will back us up in heaven. What we do on earth echoes into eternity. It’s like fixing a leaky pipe. Once we use our turn key to cut off the drip God will cut off the supply if we ask him to. He will cut off Spiritual attack from symptomatic troubles. We bind up demonic attack and foolishness in the name of Jesus! We bind up an attack on our finances and our family in the Name of Jesus!
2. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The power of Life and death is in your tongue, so whatever you decree, open up, God will do as long as it is in alignment with His will. The key has to fit God’s pattern of Holiness or else it ain't going to open up, but if it fits His will God will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you will not have room to receive.
You have the Keys! Go open up that door!
Dear Heavenly Father, Loose him/her in the name of Jesus. No weapon formed against him/her will prosper! Bring them out and work it out for their good. We bind up poverty and debt and we loose Life and Life more abundantly. We bind up unemployment and recession and we loose prosperity and economic revitalization. We bind up crime and violence and we loose unity and sustainable urban development. We bind up depression and loose Joy. Thank you for my Keys! I’m ready to go fix what’s broken in my Life!
In Jesus Name!
Amen!
I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Growing up in rural Olmstead, KY I can remember the sound of the building engineer, (back in the day we called them janitors) coming down the hallway of the school. You always knew he was coming because you could hear those keys jingling. There were a million keys on his hip and they went to every closet, door, cabinet, shed in our school. When you heard those keys you knew something was getting ready to be fixed.
We are God's building engineers. We hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. For every door we need to get into there is a key we already have possession of. Prayer is the key and faith unlocks the door. The devil can’t keep us locked up because we hold the keys. We have the authority to open up and lock up. We have the authority to bind and to loose. We have over a million keys to give us full access to the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus told his disciples, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom. “ The keys represent his teaching that he has given us and when we spread his teaching it’s like using keys to open up doors that were previously shut. Whatever we bind on earth will be bound in Heaven! Jesus told the disciples based upon our confession of faith he will build his church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. We have the keys. We have the authority and power! Nothing can keep us out and nothing is unreachable.
1. Whatever we want to cease we have the authority to bind it, to lock it up and God will back us up in heaven. What we do on earth echoes into eternity. It’s like fixing a leaky pipe. Once we use our turn key to cut off the drip God will cut off the supply if we ask him to. He will cut off Spiritual attack from symptomatic troubles. We bind up demonic attack and foolishness in the name of Jesus! We bind up an attack on our finances and our family in the Name of Jesus!
2. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The power of Life and death is in your tongue, so whatever you decree, open up, God will do as long as it is in alignment with His will. The key has to fit God’s pattern of Holiness or else it ain't going to open up, but if it fits His will God will open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you will not have room to receive.
You have the Keys! Go open up that door!
Dear Heavenly Father, Loose him/her in the name of Jesus. No weapon formed against him/her will prosper! Bring them out and work it out for their good. We bind up poverty and debt and we loose Life and Life more abundantly. We bind up unemployment and recession and we loose prosperity and economic revitalization. We bind up crime and violence and we loose unity and sustainable urban development. We bind up depression and loose Joy. Thank you for my Keys! I’m ready to go fix what’s broken in my Life!
In Jesus Name!
Amen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
