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….after God’s own Heart

August 17, 2017 0Comment

The king became so jealous of him that he lived as fugitive for several years.
He committed adultery with his friend’s wife, whom he impregnated. When his cover-up plan failed, he arranged for his friend’s murder.
One of his sons committed rape and incest. Another son killed that son, and temporarily overthrew his father.
He sinned so greatly that God sent a plague that killed many of his people.
God told him that he could not build his temple because he had too much blood on his hands.

Believe it or not, I’m talking about King David. David’s life reads like the raunchiest of soap operas. The prior king, Saul, became so jealous of David that he relentlessly hunted David trying to kill him. After David became king, his friend and supporter, Uriah, was fighting wars on David’s behalf. David rewarded Uriah by impregnating his wife. Then David tried to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so that Uriah would believe that the child was his, instead of David’s. When his plan failed, he sent Uriah to the front lines of battles, where he was sure that Uriah would be killed. Amnon, David’s eldest son, raped his half-sister, and David failed to punish him. His failure to punish may have led to Absalom’s (another of David’s children) murder of Amnon. Absalom also overthrew his father for a short time was subsequently also murdered. Additionally, David took a census of Israel, which doesn’t sound that offensive. However, in God’s eyes, he was relying on his own strength instead of God’s strength. Although his advisors were against it, he conducted the census anyway. God then sent a plague that ravaged David’s kingdom. Furthermore, when David wanted to build a temple for God, God told him that he had too much blood on his hands, and some Bible translations say that David was a man of blood.

Now David did some good stuff too. He defeated Goliath. He had chances to kill King Saul, but he wouldn’t because he said that Saul was God’s anointed king. He also united the tribes of Israel and Judah. However, do David’s successes outweigh his failures? My worldly, sin-stained judgment says probably not. Luckily, God judges us differently. In fact, God gave David what I consider to be the greatest compliment ever. God said that David was “a man after God’s own heart”.

What made David “a man after God’s own heart”? Every time he screwed up (which he did regularly), he admitted it. Then he genuinely tried to change his ways. It’s a good lesson. We don’t have to be perfect to be a man or a woman after God’s own heart.

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God’s Will and God’s will

August 8, 2017 0Comment

What is God’s will for my life? Books, series, and seminars abound on the topic of God’s will. I once thought that God’s will for my life was some kind of elusive prize. I thought that God’s will was very specific and particular, and it’s easy to get carried away with that logic. For example, is it God’s will that I work at a particular job? Is it God’s will that my kids go to a particular school? Is it God’s will that I eat lunch at McDonald’s today?

I think maybe that I’m viewing God’s will somewhat selfishly. I’m too much concerned with God’s will for my life and not concerned enough with God’s Will in general. Now, the following is just a country boy’s way of understanding God’s Will and God’s will. It works for me; it may or may not work for you. I separate God’s wills into two categories. Category 1 is God’s Will with a capital “W”, and Category 2 is God’s will with a lowercase “w”. God’s Will is the big stuff, God’s Will on a grand scale. Ideas such as mercy, grace, forgiveness, justice, redemption, faith, hope, and love, fall into God’s Will. God’s plan for my life falls into God’s will (emphasis on the lowercase ”w”). I’m not saying that God’s will for my life isn’t important. Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. So, God definitely has a plan for my life, but I think it would be selfish on my part to get so caught up in seeking God’s will for my life that I miss seeking God’s Will.

I once read an interesting connection between God’s Will and God’s will, although the author didn’t divide it into two categories like I did. He said that God’s will for my life becomes apparent when I consistently follow and obey God’s Will.

I’m ending all my posts with an invitation to accept Jesus. If you would like to accept Jesus, simply pray the following prayer or one like it: “Dear Lord, I’m a sinner. I acknowledge that You sent Your son, Jesus, to die for my sins. I humbly accept Your son, Jesus, and I now further acknowledge that I am forgiven of my past sins, my present sins, and my future sins.” If you prayed that simple prayer, you are saved. Now, you need to follow Jesus. Start reading your Bible. I would suggest starting with Matthew, reading all of the New Testament, then reading the Old Testament. Also, find a good church. Christianity was never meant to be done alone. You need to be in community with other believers.

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Change the Way You Think

July 31, 2017 0Comment

Sounds easy, huh?

In Mark 1:15 (God’s Word Translation), Jesus said, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News”. I think every Christ follower would like to change his/her behavior. Maybe we would like change our behavior in a general way to be more Christ-like. Or maybe we would like to change our behavior in specific areas, such as anger or forgiveness, etc. Regardless of the behavior we want to change, Jesus tells us that we have to change the way we think before we can change the way we act.

It’s simple and straightforward. However, it can be extremely difficult. For example, I had a bad experience at work. Who hasn’t, right? Nevertheless, this experience was a “Judas” experience. It was particularly nasty, and mistakes were made by everyone. I was mature enough to forgive everyone fairly quickly. However, I still think about the experience occasionally. Then I make myself mad all over again. Now, some people would say, if I really forgave them, would the experience still make me mad? My answer is yes. I don’t think it’s a forgiveness issue. I forgave them once, and every time I get mad about it, I forgive them again. I think the problem lies in the fact that I haven’t changed the way I think about the experience. Basically, I need to re-program my thoughts.

Luckily, there are several ways to spin a bad experience. Firstly, it’s not like I’m the first person to be falsely accused of something. Jesus was falsely accused everywhere he went. Also, I know according to Paul, all things work out for the good of those called to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And if I’m completely honest with myself, I can already see where that bad experience is working out for my good. Furthermore, I know that the Lord will fight for me; all I have to do is be still (Exodus 14:14). So, if I know all of these things, why do I still get mad when I think about the experience? Because I choose to think about the experience instead of choosing to think about all the things I “know”. The key is to be self-aware and to catch myself when I feel those old feelings come up. Then I can remind myself about all the things I know. If I don’t catch myself, then my thoughts will cascade into negativity….again.

Charles Swindoll said that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. How I react is entirely dependent on how I think.

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Grace

February 16, 2017 0Comment

One of my most vivid memories of college is not so pleasant. It was the first semester of my freshman year, and I must say….. I was enjoying it. I had an Economics 130 at 0915AM on Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday. Without my mom around to wake me up, my attendance for the 0915AM class was less than stellar. Nevertheless, by mid-semester, I had an “A” in the class. Then I missed a class “to catch up on my sleep”. Apparently, during that class, the Professor scheduled a test, and I eventually missed the test. I could have accepted my fate, took a zero for the test, and probably still made a “C” in the class. However, I decided to lie, and I lied in a very dishonorable, but college-like way. I told the Professor that I missed the test because my Grandmother died. The Professor became suspicious, and confronted me about my story. I’m not a very good liar, and I told her the truth.

She kicked me out of the class and gave me an “F” for the semester. The “F” was bad enough. I had never gotten an “F” in my life, but I was also on a scholarship, and I needed to maintain a 3.0 grade point average to keep the scholarship. That “F” brought my grade point average down to 2.92.

I needed to call my Dad, but it was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. But I worked up some courage, grabbed a handful of quarters, and found a pay phone (yes, it was that long ago). I called Dad, and he could tell that I was upset. Actually, in my 18 year old head, the world was about to end. I’ll never forget what he told me. He said, “I guess she’s (my Professor) never made a mistake”. With that little bit of reassurance, I knew everything would be okay.

I still have an “F” on my official college transcript to this day, but I didn’t lose my scholarship. I also learned that little white lies are not so white to some people. And while I can’t say that I’ve always been a model for honesty, since that day, I’ve done much better.

However, for me, the real lesson is not about honesty. It was about my Dad showing love and compassion, when I obviously didn’t deserve it. I guess the real lesson was about grace. My earthly father read a situation and responded with love and compassion. How much more love and compassion will our heavenly Father respond with, if we take our problems to Him?

….after God’s own Heart

God’s Will and God’s will

Change the Way You Think

Grace

You Missed

Child-Like

Inverse Hypocrisy

Spread it out before the Lord

This is the Site of a Great Victory