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MAY 28 "COINCIDENCE OR NOT?"

    Coincidence or not, you tell me; that the day after we finish reading about David’s transgression with Bathsheba, do we read about David’s son’s transgression with Tamar. David Looked upon Bathsheba with raging lust and had to have her. David inquiries to find out who she is and when he is told it is Uriah’s wife, one of his soldiers, he still persists to sleep with her. Bathsheba was married and not only married, but married to one of his soldiers that was fighting in a war, that David should have been fighting. While David’s soldier is risking his life on the battle field, David is at home having sex with his wife. This is the stuff movies are made up of, but yet this is true life. Why did David do this? According to David, “he could not resist her”, she was too beautiful. Fast forward a few years down the road and we have Amnon, saying those same words about his half sister Tamar, who apparently, was strikingly beautiful, as was Bathsheba. Amnon cannot deprive...
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MAY 27 "UNSHAKEN"

         DAVID is unshaken in his faith, he has always been unshaken in his faith. When running for his life from Saul, he was unshaken in his faith and encouraged himself in the Lord at Ziklag. When faced with a grueling miserable tortuous death, facing Goliath, he was unshaken in his faith and here, suffering in the consequences of his sin, after much fasting and contending to the mercies of God to spare the life of his son, he yet, once again, even when his son dies, is unshaken in his faith. What does David do when he finds out his son dies; that he has just fasted for; our text today says,  "he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.  Then  he went to his own house....and ate".   You may say, "well what else was he supposed to do?"  Well, certainly not go worship the God who ignored his prayer! Instead he could be angry at God, begin to waiver in his faith and wonder..."is God real, maybe this is all just a joke, ma...
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MAY 26 "BIG BLEMISH ON DAVID'S LEGACY"

        WE cannot speak enough about David. David is "the real deal".  He is not a Jew trying to practice his religion, he truly is  a man of God  and has a genuine relationship with Jehovah.  "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?"   And David is not just trying to sound good! He really does want to show God's kindness. God's kindness, shown through God's people will go a whole lot further in our witness than preaching fire, hell and brimstone. Mephibosheth is mentioned to David. He is a disabled man and has now become associated with the rift raft of society. He is a nobody, forgotten by all the "somebody's"  David brings him into his household, restores everything to him that belonged to his grandfather Saul and then adds this,    "And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table" .   Not only am I bringing you into my Palace, but you will...
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MAY 25 "IMPERFECT LEADER, NO WAY?"

   Are you being led by an imperfect leader? If you are, then welcome to the rest of The Church of Jesus Christ; for we are all being led by an imperfect leader. The heart of a leader is what matters, not his perfect tract record in decision making. David asks his spiritual leader/adviser what he thinks about his desire to build God a house to dwell in. Nathan responds, "whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you". The problem is that most of us rely to much upon our leaders and not enough on God. Our relationship with our leader is much stronger than our relationship with God and this is a ticking bomb waiting to explode. On the other hand, others are "super spiritual" and they believe all they need is a relationship with God and they have no relationship with their Pastor. They avoid spiritual leadership and refuse to give them any recognition, "he puts his pants on in the morning the same way I do" is often the mantra of the...
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MAY 24 "A NEW COMMAND I GIVE YOU"

         JESUS is going to be leaving his disciples, I'm sure that brought allot of thoughts to his mind about what was best to address with his disciples.  In Jesus' absence, what would need to be addressed? With this going through his mind, this is what Jesus comes up with. " a new command I am giving you, "love one another" by this men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another".  What would be one of the major concerns in Jesus' absence, according to Jesus, that these men would bicker, fight and devour one another; without him there to be the peacemaker. Pastor's spend half their time trying to convince congregation members not to kill each other. Paul writes in his epistles, "stop devouring one another". No doubt, Jesus' foremost concern, concerning his leaving the disciples is that He will no longer be around to be the peacemaker. Who will keep these men from ripping each other apart....hmmm....hey guys, listen, ...
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MAY 23 "MEN AND THEIR STUBBORN, SENSELESS WAYS"

       This is a sad story (in the O.T.) about two leaders who do not have their heads screwed on straight. It leads to the senseless death of many; and if that's not bad enough, the drama continues years after this horrible incident. Years later when Abner decides to come over to David's camp, Joab is incensed and plots to murder Abner, to revenge the death of his brother, who was killed by Abner, in self defense....to much drama! Take note, when there is to much drama amongst God's people, this is a clear sign of a lack of relationship with God. David is the only one who mourns the death of this innocent man.  He makes sure to let everyone know he had nothing to do with this vengeful killing of Abner, by Joab and his men.  David has to live a life by which he is surrounded by other Israelites, all Jews by birth but yet none, or very few of the men around him have a relationship with God.  They all know the sacraments, sacrifices and ri...
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MAY 22 "WOW, THAT VOICE WAS COOL!"

      The Voice was for you! “the wow effect” is normally for the crowd that you don’t want to be identified with. Jesus is quick to tell them, “the whole voice thing, that was for you…not for me”.  We would say, “You mean that’s not the way it normally is? God’s not always talking to you in an audible voice?”  Jesus’ answer would be, “no, that’s  Hollywood ”. There is no greater paradox than God himself, his workings and his dealings with humanity. Although there is no more Supernatural Being or experience in the Universe, God’s dealing with us, from the outside looking in, may seem unimpressive to the unsuspecting eye. We listen for “the audible voice”, we look for the “paranormal” but we get nothing. This is what attracts many people into the occult, is the “paranormal”, to them a spiritual experience must include “voices”, “objects moving”. In other words, “if you’re a supernatural being, if you’re not just like us, prove it!” With this in mind, now let...
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