There’s No Sword Like That Sword by Dawson Parker
Today’s Passage – 1 Samuel 19 – 21 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 7 – 8; Proverbs 4; Psalms 16 – 20)
Read the “0404 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.” (1 Samuel 21:9)
I Samuel 21-23
I want to point out a few things that we should keep in the back of our minds as we go into reading this passage. Just a few chapters prior, David miraculously defeated Goliath and this caused all of Judah and Israel to love David and want him to be their new king. However, this made King Saul very jealous to the point that he wanted to kill David. It is important that we understand that David is on the flee from Saul and he is running for his life.
In I Samuel 21:1, we see that David comes to Ahimelech the priest and is going to get a few things that will aid in his journey as he flees this enemy that wants his life ruined even unto death. Although David has God on his side, David realizes that he needs a weapon. In verse 8, David asks Ahimelech if he has a spear or sword and in verse 9, we see that there was a sword wrapped up in a cloth. This is a great picture of preservation, in that God was keeping that sword perfect for the right time. David takes this sword and remembers the time he used it to cut off the head of Goliath… a time-tested sword that had already won some battles. David says, “There is none like that; give it me”, and takes this sword with him as he flees his enemy Saul. Out of all the things David could have taken with him, he wanted a weapon and he chose the sword.
We can learn a lot from this story and apply it in our lives in that we also have a real enemy, Satan, who is seeking to steal, kill and destroy our lives. We are on the flee every day from this enemy and we need to realize the importance of taking a sword with us. Ephesians 6:17 calls the word of God the sword of the Spirit; you see, God has provided us with the exact weapon we need, a preserved sword that is time tested and has won many battles, the King James Bible.
I am so thankful for this application from this story and for God giving us his perfect Word. God’s Word is truly the difference maker in this life, but we need to make sure that we are using it as a weapon against our flesh, temptation and Satan. In order to use Gods Word as an efficient weapon, we must know how our weapon works inside and out. I think we can all improve in the area of reading our Bibles and being a diligent student of Gods Word.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Dawson and Lexi Parker
Posted in Devotions by Dawson Parker with 3 comments.
Bearing Fruit When Your Spirit is Broken … by Dawson Parker
Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 9 – 12; Proverbs 1; Psalms 1 – 5)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 92:1 – 4
Read the “0301 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. … When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.” (Matthew 14:9-10, 13)
Read all of Matthew 14:1-21
We are going to be looking into the life of Jesus and how even in a time of brokenness in his life, he was still able to greatly be used of God. Before we look at how God used Jesus, we are going to look at what made Jesus broken. We see that John the Baptist said something Herod didn’t like, and Herod put him in prison and some things eventually led to Herod beheading John the Baptist. The disciples found about the death of him and went and told Jesus. The Bible says in verse 13, “When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by a ship into a desert place apart:”. In my opinion, I think Jesus was very upset and went to be alone to pray to God.
- John the Baptist was Family of Jesus – (Luke 1-2)
- mothers were cousins
- similar age
- both births prophesied by angels
- John the Baptist was a Friend of Jesus –
- they respected each other – Matthew 11:11 – “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.”
- they shared spiritual moments together (baptism) – Matthew 3:13-17
- John the Baptist was the Forerunner of Jesus –
- Mark 1:2-4 – “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the remission of sins.”
I say all of that so we can realize the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. When Jesus found out this this man who meant much to him was put to death, he was upset! What he did next is what is so important. He got alone with God and that is what we need to do when we get bad news. Often times, running to God is the last resort but we should run to the one who has all of the answers and we should do it immediately. What is interesting is the fact that even though Jesus was broken and wanted time with God, there was still people who had a need. Verse 14 says, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion towards them, and he healed their sick.” Next, we see the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand but let’s not forget that this event is taking place while Jesus was still broken. No doubt, this is a picture for us that God can greatly use us when we are broken but only if we run to God and get power from him. II Corinthians 12:9-10 – “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasures in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
So, in conclusion, let’s look at the 3 key points of this lesson so we can apply them in our lives –
- When we get bad news, we need to run to God!
- There are still people with needs even when we are broken.
- God can greatly use us when we are broken.
Posted in Devotions by Dawson Parker with 4 comments.
Fix Your Hearts … by Dawson Parker
Today’s Reading – Psalms 108 – 114 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 15 – 16; Psalms 36 – 40; Proverbs 8)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
Read the “0708 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.” (Psalm 108:1)
I will be focusing on the first line of Psalm 108:1 which says, “O God, my heart is fixed;” Now in context, David is writing this Psalm and he is saying that he is focused on singing to and giving God praise. This is obviously a great thing for us to do and something we should work on doing regularly. There were things that distracted David and even things that fought for priority above God on David’s list, but he had to make a choice to get all of his mind on the Lord and do it with all of his might. You may ask, what does the word fixed mean? It means settled; established; firm; fast; stable. In order to have a consistent walk with the Lord on a daily basis and in order to be a Christian that makes a change in this world, our hearts have to be fixed on some things! Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Naturally, our heart is going to stray away from the things of God and sway left on issues and just get corrupt. This means that we continually have to “fix our hearts”, and work as David did with all of his mind and might. With all the things going on around us in the year 2020, it is very easily to get distracted and even lose hope sometimes but neither of these will help us make an impact for the Lord. There is one major thing as Christians that our hearts need to be fixed on and that is the Word of God! Personal, daily bible reading, and devotion has never been so important and never been so easily neglected. We need that final authority in our life to keep us straight! It is no doubt the most attacked thing in our history and in our current age. There is a show on TV called “Alone” where people go out and try to survive by themselves in the wilderness and the rules will not even let them bring a Bible because of an “unfair spiritual advantage”. Isn’t it crazy that worldly show hosts see how important and life changing the Word of God is but so often we forget! The end part of Psalm 138:2 says, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” and Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” I think it’s about time we start making the Word of God as important in our lives as it is to God Almighty!
The Lord has greatly used his word in my life multiple times. In some of the most difficult and trying times of my life, I have always been able to look in God’s Word and he never fails to speak to me and change my whole situation and outcome just because I set my heart on making his word a priority. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Posted in Devotions by Dawson Parker with 3 comments.
Flashy or Faithful? … by Dawson Parker
Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Mark 3 – 4; Proverbs 16; Psalms 76 – 80)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 61:1 – 3
Read the “0416 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.” (1 Kings 1:5)
We can see many things in chapters one and two but what I want to focus on is a comparison. I will be comparing the actions of Adonijah to the actions of Benaiah. From the beginning of the story, much of what we read about is Adonijah and not a lot is mentioned about Benaiah. In I Kings 1:5, Adonijah reminds me of Satan in that he was trying to exalt himself and get the kingdom, which didn’t belong to him (Isaiah 14:13-15). We then see him go out and recruit Joab and Abiathar. Notice that he knew who to, and who not to talk to, as he didn’t try to recruit King David’s mighty men because he knew he couldn’t convince them since they would be loyal to King David. “Rebels raise armies” – Pastor Clark. We keep seeing Adonijah pop up throughout the story, just like sin often rears its ugly head time and time again. Adonijah and his men heard about the anointing of Solomon to become king and they actually were afraid and scattered. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” We know that Adonijah and his men were up to no good because the Bible makes this clear. The last action we see from Adonijah ultimately puts him to death. He comes to Bathsheba which hits home because Bathsheba was King David’s wife and the mother of now King Solomon. Bathsheba asks him if he comes peaceably and it seems he lies and says that he comes peaceably. I believe there was an underlying hidden motive that he wanted to try to get even with King David’s family. He asks Bathsheba to go in unto King Solomon and see if he will grant Adonijah the same damsel that comforted King David before he died! It seems as if this switch flipped for King Solomon in that he made the decision to have Adonijah killed.
Here is where it gets good as we see the other side of the comparison in Benaiah. Guess who King Solomon calls upon to kill wicked Adonijah? That’s right, Benaiah! King Solomon knew he had a friend that had been faithful to him and one that he could count on. We see that Benaiah is not mentioned a whole lot and he is kind of in the shadows or serving behind the scenes but nonetheless he was faithful and doing his job. King Solomon continues to rid the rebellion out by having Benaiah kill Joab. We then see that King Solomon promotes Benaiah in that he put him in his room over the host! And lastly, King Solomon calls upon Benaiah to once again kill Shimei. Benaiah keeps getting these opportunities from the king himself and the best part is he is getting rid of the wicked men.
So, in conclusion, who would you rather be? Would you rather be flashy and ultimately not get used by God like Adonijah or be faithful behind the scenes like the king’s right-hand man Benaiah? The Bible says in I Samuel 16:7, “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” It doesn’t matter if we are in the spotlight and everyone thinks we are being used by God is our heart is wicked like that of Adonijah. It matters what God sees when no one else is watching as he did in in the life of Benaiah. Promotion comes from God and he is keeping a record!
In this time of quarantine and stay at home orders, as we are not having many opportunities to see people, go to church and do ministerial work, let’s make sure we are still faithful in pleasing the Lord as he is still watching. Our personal reading of God’s Word and prayer life has never been so important. Let’s each get our eyes off of ourselves and others and let’s get our eyes on what really matter which is God! Proverbs 20:6 says, “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”
Posted in Devotions by Dawson Parker with 2 comments.