Tuesday, February 18, 2014

David Thanks the men of Jabesh-gilead (2 Sam. 2:4b-7)

8/20/2010 8:06:22 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Appreciation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Samuel 2:4b-7

            Message of the verses:  “And they told David, saying, "It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul." 5  David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "May you be blessed of the LORD because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him. 6  "Now may the LORD show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7  "Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.’”

            David did a good thing in showing appreciation to the men of Jabesh-gilead for risking their lives in order to bring the bones of Saul and his three sons back to their land and bury them. Later on David would dig up these bones and bury them in the land of Benjamin when they were from.  David then took the opportunity to tell these men that he had been made king over Judah and wanted them to join him, which they refused to do at first. 
            It is at this point of today’s SD that I wish to make a quote from Dr. Wiersbe, something that to my understanding is the timing of the Lord for me to see at this time of my life:  “The people of Jabesh Gilead allowed their affection for Saul to blind them to God’s plan for the nation.  They had a good motive, but they made a bad choice.  How often in the history of the church have God’s people allowed human affection and appreciation to overrule the will of God!  Jesus Christ is King and He deserves our submission, loyalty, and obedience.  To put human leaders ahead of God’s anointed King is to create division and weakness in the ranks of the Lord’s followers and invite multiplied problems for the Lord’s people.  As Augustine of Hippo said, ‘Jesus Christ will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been struggling with what to do with my membership at GBC as I am not happy with the leadership at the church for many reasons.  I’ve seen in this church many young people who have been following a man and some have as much told me so, and this disappoints me very much.  I have seen a Pastor who does not care that he is splitting this church, nor even admits splitting it.  He admits that he has trouble relating or ministering to older people, has a short temper, wants his way at any cost, and does not seem to care when many of the older generation leave the church.  For these and other reasons I have made my choice to remove my membership from GBC and seek out another church where the teaching is deeper, and they have an appreciation for all people in attendance.  This is something that is very difficult for me to do and something that has taken me a long time to decide, but it now seems very clear to me that I am to leave GBC and the job that I have loved to do especially working for WCA whom I will miss very much.  Perhaps the biggest reason that I have waited so long in making this decision is because the difficulty of leaving a church that has family in it, but my prayer is that their eyes will be opened to the truth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.      Trust the Lord to guide my path this day.
2.      Trust the Lord to protect me with the spiritual armor that He has provided.
3.      Trust the Lord to see me through this day without ill effects of IBS, especially while playing golf.
4.      Trust the Lord to continue to teach me contentment in these difficult days.
5.      Trust the Holy Spirit to search my heart for unconfessed sins in my life.  


8/20/2010 8:34:22 AM

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