Use Your Gifts for the Lord
Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 6 – 7
Second Milers also read – Mark 7 – 8; Psalms 86 – 90; Proverbs 18
The Scripture Memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 61:1 – 3
Not every Christian is gifted by God to be a teacher or a preacher. In this passage, we see Hiram, a man from Tyre, who was uniquely gifted by God to make all of the works of brass that were to be used in the Temple. Back in the Book of Exodus, we saw two other fellows. Bezaleel and Aholiab, who were also uniquely filled with wisdom (gifted) to build the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. As far as we know, these men never taught the Scriptures; they were not priests, or prophets; but they were greatly used of the Lord.
We have many people in our churches today who have also been uniquely crafted by the Lord to fulfill His purpose. They may be builders, like the men referenced above. They may be men or women that have a knack for cleaning, or landscaping. These are all very necessary and important jobs in the service of our churches today. As I read this passage today, I thought of a man in our church who was used of the Lord to build our platform in the auditorium along with the sound booth. He did a wonderful job, and our church building is much more beautiful and functional as a result of his using his gifts for the Lord. We also have some folks in our church that like to cook, and when we have a dinner of some kind, these people go to work, preparing delicious food for the rest of us to enjoy. They work mostly behind the scenes, but their work is very important to the Lord.
God tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” – (1 Corinthians 12:18)
Not every member is an eye or an ear: some are hands, some are feet. Not everybody is a preacher or teacher; and those that are gifted in areas other that teaching are just as important to the work of the ministry as those who teach or preach.
What is your gift? What is your sweet spot? The thing that you were born to do. Hiram was born to make brass, and he did it very well. God will be well pleased with your life if you find the thing that He has equipped you to do, and then do it for His glory.
“And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.” – (1 Kings 7:13-14)
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Do You Lack Wisdom?
Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 3 – 5
Second Milers also read – Mark 5 – 6; Psalms 81 – 85; Proverbs 17
The Scripture memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Watch “Growth Points – Three Trends That Doom A Church’s Influence” by Pastor Chappell
Read another post from today’s passage – “Almost Heaven”
“And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.” – (1 Kings 3:7)
“And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” – (1 Kings 3:28)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” – (James 1:5)
1 Kings chapter 3 is a wonderful illustration of the principle found in James 1: if you lack wisdom, you can ask God for it. Solomon recognized that he had a big job to do, and limited knowledge and ability. He admitted that he was like a little child. God likes when we see ourselves as little children. Unfortunately, all too often we are so puffed up with pride that we think we are almost godlike, knowing everything. God gave Solomon the wisdom he needed so that he could fulfill God’s will for his life. We even see an example in vv 16 – 28 of Solomon’s wisdom in action.
We need God’s wisdom today more than ever. The world that we live in is offering us all kinds of advice as to how we should live and raise our families; but oftentimes this worldly wisdom is not wise at all. We need discernment so that we will know what we should and shouldn’t do; but we need to ask. I believe the most important step in the acquisition of wisdom is acknowledging that our little, finite, human minds don’t know everything. We need God to help and guide us through all of the complexities of life. Just this morning as I was walking and praying, I was thinking about how limited I really am. I just can’t put all of the pieces together at times. But, I know that God can. Instead of trying to figure it all out on my own, I can spend my time much more profitably by simply asking God for His help. The Scripture says that “he upbraideth not”, meaning He won’t hold back, and He won’t scold us for asking. He wants us to depend upon Him. Moms and dads need God’s wisdom so that they can raise godly children. We need wisdom at our jobs, and in our churches. It’s available to us from the Lord simply by asking.
Oh, and by the way, I would be remiss in mentioning that the greatest collection of God’s wisdom has already been recorded for us in the Word of God. But, you already know that, because you spent time reading it this morning.
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I Will Be King
Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 1 – 2
Second Milers also read – Mark 3 – 4 ; Psalms 76 – 80; Proverbs 16
Scripture Memory for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51
“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)
In our passage today, we have King David on his death bed, and the kingdom unsure about who will take his place after he passes on. God had made it clear to David that his son Solomon was to be his successor (1 Chronicles 22:9), but David had been very quiet about revealing the will of God to the people. As a result, one of the king’s other sons – Adonijah – saw an opportunity to seize power. He made a conspiracy with Joab and Abiathar to take control of the kingdom. With the backing of the military and the temple, it would be difficult to stop him. He called all of the king’s sons (except Solomon), and all of the important men of Judah (except Nathan the prophet and Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men) to announce that he was king. Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, finds out about the conspiracy and reveals it to the king. Now David has to act. He command Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet to anoint Solomon to be king over Israel. Had David been clear to the people about the Lord’s will previously, the kingdom would have avoided all of this unnecessary turmoil.
My thought this morning is about the phrase spoken by Adonijah, “I will be king”. Isn’t it inside all of us to seize control of our lives away from the reign of God. God wants to be king in our lives, but we are constantly trying to knock God off the throne and assume power. Recognizing that this little battle rages within us, we must daily acknowledge and submit to God’s authority in our lives. Every time self begins to elevate itself, we must consciously abase him, and yield our allegiance to the Holy Spirit of God. We are really no different than Adonijah. Our pride causes us to lust for the dominion and power that does not rightfully belong to us. The key to successful Christian living is submission to the will of God. He is the only King.
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” – (Luke 14:11)
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How Many?
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 23 – 24
Second Milers also read – Mark 1 – 2; Psalms 71 – 75; 13 Proverbs 15
The Scripture Memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 48:1 & 2
“And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.” – (2 Samuel 24:1)
“And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.” – (2 Samuel 24:17)
This is one of those passages of Scripture that I have a difficult time understanding. The Scripture clearly says in verse 1 above that God moved David against Israel; but then in verse 17, David confesses what he had done against Israel to the Lord as sin. Here we have another example of the sovereignty of God in conjunction with the free will of man. In our passage today it certainly looks as if God was forcing David to sin against Him, which in turn brings about the wrath of God upon the people of Israel. However, I do not think this is what is happening here. I believe that it was in David’s heart to number the people long before the actual numbering took place. Man’s heart is desperately wicked. There are all kinds of sin inside of it. I believe that God kept David from fulfilling what was in his heart for a while, but then because of His anger at Israel (and David), He now allows it. I believe the same thing happened with Pharaoh of Egypt. The Scripture says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but it also says that Pharaoh’s heart was already hardened. I don’t think that God caused Pharaoh to hate Israel. He already did. God finally just removed the restraint that was keeping Pharaoh back. Satan is on a leash too. He can only do what God allows him to do.
This brings me to an application of this principle in our lives. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit of God is the restraining power that keeps all evil from breaking loose on the earth. The bottom line in all of this is that God will not cause you to sin; but He will allow you to sin. However, I also believe that there are many times when He keeps us from sinning against Him.
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” – (James 1:13-14)
By the way. You may be wondering why God would be against the numbering of the people. The reason is simple. He did not want Israel trusting in their numbers. He wanted them to trust in Him. They could beat any opposing army out there, regardless of size, as long as they were right with God.
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But Some Doubted – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
What! Excuse me, I mean good morning. ‘What’ is in reference to what I just read. Matthew 28:17 says, “And when they saw him, they worshipped him: BUT SOME DOUBTED.”
What! This was the eleven! But some doubted? Was this a reference to Thomas? This was on a mountain in Galilee, not the upper room in Jerusalem where Jesus met them a second time, and told Thomas to touch the nail prints in His hands, and put his fist into the wound in His side, “and be not faithless, but believing.”
But some doubted. If the apostles who were with Him through all the years of His ministry could doubt, I guess we could doubt also. This is just another tool that the devil has in his little bag of tricks. If the devil can make us doubt, he can ruin our lives. God does not want us to doubt. Where is our faith if we doubt? Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” And also Matthew 13:58, what I always refer to as one of the saddest verses in the Bible: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” From these two verses we can already see that when we doubt it is not pleasing to God, and we hinder His work in our lives.
Sometimes discouraging things happen in our lives. These things can cause us to get depressed, discouraged, and doubtful. If we harden our hearts, it’s just as if we blame God for our troubles. Our real problem is the devil. Satan is the one to blame. He is the destroyer of anything and everything that is good. He is after you and me because we are made in the image of his enemy: God. The devil hates us whether we are saved or not. But God loves us more than we could ever imagine, and sent His Son to die on a cross to pay for our sins, the sins of the world. James 1:17 tells us that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Do you know what that means? It means that whatever God allows the devil to do, is a good gift, and He will use it for His glory. If you are having money problems, it could be God is teaching you to be a good steward of what He has given you. The death of a loved one. God can use that to show how He can meet your special needs: He can love and comfort you when you are hurting. And God can do these things if we do not doubt.
There are two things we can do for our faith. They come from Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
You need to hear the word of God. Read the Bible. Make sure you go to church and Sunday School for the preaching and the teaching. Do the Bible. If you hear the Word of God then you will be doing the Word of God. If you hear and don’t do, the Word of God flows in one ear and out the other.
And here are some verses from the Bible you should know…
Know the truth – John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Know the Holy Spirit – John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Know about the troubles in life – Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Know that you are saved – 1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Peace. (John 13:17)
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Bittersweet
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 18 – 19
Second Milers also read – Matthew 25 – 26; Psalms 61 – 65; Proverbs 13
The Scripture memory passage for the month of April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 47:1
Read – “Concerns and Hopes for Young Preachers” by Pastor Paul Chappell
“And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.” – (2 Samuel 19:2)
This was a “no win” situation for David. David won the nation back, but lost his son. After his son Absalom rebelled against David, and forced him to flee from Jerusalem with all of his men, David had to do something. Absalom certainly wanted to see his father dead; but David, however, wanted somehow to undo the damage that Absalom had done to the nation, and still keep him as a son. He asked his men in the final battle to “deal gently… with the young man”, which they did not do. The men were right. Absalom had to die. David should have realized that. I can understand, though, how David felt. He did not blame Absalom for the way he turned out. I think David blamed himself. And even though David and his men won the victory and got the kingdom back, he still wished that he could go back and re-do some things with his son Absalom.
I can relate to that. I wish that I could go back and re-do some things with my family as well. I know one thing that I would change is that I would give each one of them a little more of my time. Instead of consuming my life with my goals and ambitions, I would give a little more of myself to helping them reach theirs. David ignored his son Absalom for a long time, and now he wished that he had the opportunity to give him his attention. The rebellion of Absalom grew with every passing day that his father neglected him. Most of my children are grown now, but I am trying to spend more time with them even now. I cannot re-claim what I missed, but I can make the most of what I have left. I do have one daughter, Hannah, who is young and still at home. I am doing things differently with her. If you still have children to influence, I encourage you to take every opportunity to do it. I bet you if David was to do it all over again, he would trade some of his successes as king for a good relationship with his children.
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Let Him Curse
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 15 – 16; 2 Samuel 17
Second Milers also read – Matthew 23 – 24; Psalms 56 – 60; Proverbs 12
The Scripture memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
“And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. … Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” – (2 Samuel 16:5-6, 9-10)
This is certainly an exciting portion of Scripture. David and his men are fleeing the city of Jerusalem because of a rebellion led by his son, Absalom. David is at one of the lowest points of his life. He is especially upset because all of his troubles were caused by his own son. Can you imagine having a close family member turn against you like that? Absalom was trying to kill his father.
Right in the middle of all of this, as David is leaving Jerusalem, a man named Shimei begins to throw rocks, cast dust, and yell curses at David. This man was descendant of Saul, and had a beef against David because God had taken the kingdom from Saul, and had given it to David. Now David had an army of mighty men with him that would have loved nothing more than to silence Shimei, and permanently disable his rock-throwing career; but David will not let them. He believes that God had allowed this man to come along, and he wasn’t about to avenge himself because of this man. He figured that if God sent Shimei to curse him, then he had better leave him alone; and if God had not sent him, then God will take care of Shimei, in His time.
Look at some new testament Scriptures that deal with this subject of not retaliating:
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” – (Romans 12:19)
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” – (Matthew 5:38-39)
I have also experienced valleys in life where it seemed that everything was going wrong; and I have also had people come and attack me right in the middle of those already difficult days. The devil really knows how to kick a man when he is down. However, I can testify first hand, that God has a way of turning the tables. If you just hang in there long enough, and learn whatever it is that God is trying to teach you, then your adversaries will eventually be silenced. But, when you are under attack, the worst thing that you can do is attack back. Go to God like David did. David had some lessons to learn, and he learned them; and God eventually took care of Shimei, and all of the other evil men that were trying to hurt him.
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The Wages of Sin
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 12 – 14
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 21 – 22; Psalms 51 – 55; Proverbs 11)
Scripture Memory Passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34
Read another post from this passage – “Amnon Had A Friend”
“Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” – (2 Samuel 12:10-11)
“And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.” – (2 Samuel 12:15)
I have to admit, that I wish passages like this were not in the Bible. In a perfect world, there would be no sin, and none of the pain and misery that come as a result of sin. Passages like this remind us of God’s passionate hatred for sin. In chapter 11, we heard nothing from God until the very last verse of the chapter:
“…But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”
Of course, the “thing” that David had done was actually more than one individual thing. It began with David’s not being where he was supposed to be. He was the king, and it was the time for king’s to go forth to war, but David was home taking it easy. Next thing he knows, he finds himself lusting after a woman (Bathsheba) that was another man’s wife. Soon he takes her, and she becomes pregnant. When he cannot conveniently cover that situation up, he eventually goes so low as to have the woman’s husband killed in battle so that he can take his wife for his own. As I said at the beginning, God does not say a word to David until he thought it was all over. But once God starts speaking, He doesn’t stop for a very long time. David would suffer much at the hand of God as a result of this “thing” that he did that displeased the Lord.
1 The baby that was born to Bathsheba dies.
2 His son Amnon rapes his sister Tamar. (Notice – another sin of lust)
3 His other son Absalom kills Amnon because of what he did to Tamar.
4 David alienates himself from Absalom.
5 Absalom rebels against David, causing David to have to flee Jerusalem.
6 Absalom sleeps with David’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
7 Absalom is killed.
All of these consequences can be traced back to the sin with Bathsheba. Don’t believe me? Look at verses 10 and 11 above again. Does God not say, “I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house”? I am not saying that God caused these people to do what they did. They did what they did because they are sinners, but I am saying, that God did not do anything to prevent all of this tragedy either. Why? Because God wants us to know how much He hates sin, and how much He wants us to stay away from it. We live in a time when sin seems to no longer be sin, but let me warn you that God has never changed his mind on the subject. What are the consequences of sin? A lot of unnecessary pain and suffering for a lot of people. It’s just not worth it.
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Kindness
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 8 – 11
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 19 – 20; Psalms 46 – 50; Proverbs 10)
The Scripture memory passage for April – 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 25
Watch – Growth Points – Teamwork and Follow-up by Pastor Paul Chappell
“And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.” – (2 Samuel 9:7)
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” – (Ephesians 4:32)
“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” – (Luke 6:35)
In 2 Samuel 9, we have the story of Mephibosheth who was the grandson of Saul and the son of Jonathon, David’s friend. David had never forgotton the kindness that Jonathon had showed to David even when Jonathon’s father Saul was trying to chase David down and have him put to death. The friendship of David and Jonathon survived some very difficult days. Long after the death of Saul and Jonathon, David wanted to see if their were any descendants left from Jonathon’s house because he wanted to show kindness to them in honor of Jonathon. David finds out about Mephibosheth, a man wha had been injured when he was just a small boy, and as a result was “lame on his feet”. Mephibosheth was living a very humble existence in a place called Lodebar. He was no longer the son of a prince or the grandson of a king. David brings him and his house out of Lodebar, and restores to him all of the land that was once owned by Saul and Jonathon; and he gives Mephibosheth a place of honor at the king’s table for the rest of his life.
David’s kindness to Mephibosheth is a wonderful picture of the kindness that God expressed to us when he pulled us up out of our lost condition, and made us joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were certainly not deserving of any blessing from God, yet He reached down, plucked us up out of the fire, and gave us robes of rightousness. Why? Because He loves us, and love is kind.
We need to learn how to be kind one to another. Even among Christians there is a drought of kindness. I really believe if we were to learn how to better express the kindness of God to this fallen world, we would be a lot more effective at reaching them with the gospel.
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You’d Better Check With God First!
Today’s Passage – 2 Samuel 4 – 7
Second Milers also read – Matthew 17 – 18; Psalms 41 – 45; Proverbs 9
The Scripture memory passage for April is 1 Corinthians 13
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 19
“And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?” – (2 Samuel 7:3-5)
In 2 Samuel 7, David comes to the prophet Nathan, and informs him of his desire to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark of the covenant. He wanted to build the temple. You will recall that up until this time the corporate worship of God took place in a portable tabernacle that God had designed for them while they wandered the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. But now it was time to build a permanent structure in the capital city – Jerusalem. It was a good thing that David wanted to do, and it was also good that he went to the man of God before he did it. The problem here is not with David, but with the prophet Nathan. He gave David the green light to “do all that [was] in [David’s] heart” before he checked with God. In other words, he spoke on behalf of God, but did not say what God wanted him to say. He spoke prematurely. As it turns out, God had other plans. He did not want David to build the temple. That job was going to go to David’s son, Solomon.
There is a great lesson to be learned here for us. Before we offer our advice on a matter, we ought to check with God first. How we go about doing that is a little bit different today than it was in David and Nathan’s day. In their time God would speak directly to the man of God. Today, however, we have to discern the will of God in the following way:
1 We first go to the Word of God – check to see what the Bible says about what you want to do. Just about every possible scenario is covered by Biblical principle. Let’s say for example that a young lady wanted to know if it was OK to get involved with a young man who is not a dedicated Christian. She coul look into the Word and see that it says that she is not to be “unequally yoked” together with an unbeliever. She would also see that the Scripture says that she can not “walk together” with someone whom she is not in agreement with. And there are many other passages of Scripture which would advise her against what she wants to do. The bottom line is that if the thing we want to do is in violation of sound Biblical principle, we should not do it.
2 We go to God in prayer. We ask God to reveal to us personally His will regarding the matter. I believe that if a person is really concerned about the will of God, He will direct them. When I was praying about where to serve God after Bible college, God revealed to me precisely that He wanted my family to serve Him here in Galloway, NJ.
3 We get advice. The Bible is clear that there is safety in a multitude of counselors. Find some people with godly wisdom that you can go to for counsel regarding your decision. Give them some time to pray first before they give you an answer.
Nathan should have put David on hold until he had a chance to find out what God wanted him to do.
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