2 Samuel 2:1 – “David inquired of the LORD…”

America is a divided nation, and every election cycle, we face potential chaos and crisis.   The evil one has evil plans of chaos and destruction, but God is our hedge, covering, our strong tower, and defense.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was moved to consider two things more deeply.   In 2 Samuel 2:1, we are reminded of a pattern David followed.  “David inquired of the LORD…”   Before he did anything, he sought God.  That should be our pattern in Everything!  There should be no decision (not even one) made without seeking God’s guidance.

Often, more hangs in the balance resulting from our decisions than most ever perceive.   In elections and life, we should ask, “Have we been praying God’s will or our preference?”   That was an impression from the Holy Spirit for me this morning.   I have been evaluating it in my heart.   If my preference is not motivated by God’s purposes, then my preference is selfish.

We are divided so deeply in America that even believers have become enemies. Luke 6:27-31 is a truth we often cite, but rarely as a guiding principle and more often as a theoretical concept and religious language, rather than something we actually practice.

• We are to Love our enemies?  
• We are to do good to those who hate and want to harm us? 
• We are to Bless those who curse and slander us?
• We are to Pray for them?

We tend to pray about them but not for them.  We pray, like the Pharisees in the temple, “Thank God, I’m not a sinner like them.”   That is not praying for them.  That is not seeking their best good.  That is not loving them as ourselves.

In our modern American elections, there is deep anger after the votes are counted.   I have begun praying for a hedge of protection around America, the Church, my family, and more.   How do we overcome the pervasive evil and hatred?   Only by Love!   Love is not passively being trampled upon.  It is actively demonstrating the heart of God.

If we seek God’s guidance in Everything and then obey His directives and Word, we can see the light in the darkness.   We can maintain hope in hopelessness.  We can exhibit demonstrable faith in the face of despair.

Today, people are judging each other, but is it righteous judgment?   All sides view the other side as evil, which renders reconciliation a human impossibility.  As believers, we must rise above that.   We must pray for God to open the eyes of all to the facts, but, more importantly, to God’s purpose.   Then, regardless of the outcome, let the love of God prevail.  He is our shelter in storms.  He is our God!

I have a preference based on both my personal needs and the precepts of Scripture.  I pray for grace to love and pray for those who hate God and me.   I pray for God’s justice for the defenseless.   I pray for the harvest of souls.  I hope this statement is not misunderstood or misconstrued; I am praying, “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Not my will, but Thine be done.”

In our elections and in my life, which is what I am seeking.  I am seeking what I believe is right based on what I believe the Word of God teaches and the record reveals.   However, I do not want to, nor will I succumb to hatred for those who disagree.

God help us!  Have a great day and keep looking up.

Mark 15:10 – “For Pilate knew that the High Priests had delivered Him (Jesus) because of ENVY.”

As I was reading, praying, and pondering the Word of God today, several things impacted my heart.  One is the blindness of people due to personal bias.  Some call it single-issue voting, but abortion requires dehumanizing the life in the womb.

In Luke 1:15, Gabriel declared of John the Baptist that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit IN THE WOMB.   If that is not life, what is it?  In verse 41, we read that when Mary arrived at the home of Elizabeth, the Babe leaped in Elizabeth’s womb.

It did not say ‘fetus’ but ‘baby,’ indicating life.   In verse 44, Elizabeth said that the baby in her womb leaped with great joy.   Blobs of tissue don’t have great joy, but people do.  People use willful blindness as a salve for their conscience.

Another thing was the incredible power of ENVY.   In 1 Samuel 18:9, we read that King Saul began to ENVY David.   We envy what we do not have and cannot do.   Each of us is unique, with unique gifts and callings.  We are a family in Christ, and envy is a fruit of covetousness.

In Mark 15:10, “For Pilate knew that the high priests had delivered Him (Jesus) because of ENVY.”   They loved the spotlight, the preeminence, and power.   Jesus siphoned that from them, and they hated him for it.

Today, people hate for the same reasons.   Envy, jealousy, covetousness, and selfishness are clogs in the pipeline of life.   If we pursue the two great commandments, we will be protected from the destruction of Envy.   We are to love God with our ALL and love our neighbor as ourselves.   Envy cannot love others because it is too focused on self.

If we truly love God with our ALL and our neighbor as ourselves, we do not focus on our lack (opening the door to covetousness and envy) but on God’s goodness.  We can rejoice that God blessed others, confident that His love has no partiality.

Remember the promise, “But my God shall supply ALL of your needs according to His riches in Glory.”   I may not have what others have materially, but I have Jesus, and I am kept!  His presence is my abundance!   He will sustain me!   What another has or is doing is cause to rejoice, not envy.  I am content that God will give me or allow me to do what I can be a good steward of.   He knows what is best for the kingdom.  He is my reward!

Rejoice in His Goodness, not your seeming lack.  This is the Day the Lord has made, and we have reason to rejoice!

Exodus 3:14 – “God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM.”

In my time before the LORD, I was drawn to the declaration of God to Moses at the burning bush – “I AM THAT I AM.”    What is in a name?  Everything?  When God spoke to Moses from the bush and declared His name, it revealed His nature and character.  It identified Him, not just what He is called.

When He declared His name to be “I AM THAT I AM,” we have an amazing revelation.

• I AM THAT I AM expressing the eternity of being, comprehending, and composing time past, present, and future.  His timelessness is revealed.  [Revelation 1:4].

• I AM THAT I AM expresses God’s Self-Existence.  

That He IS.  He is the source of life and depends on nothing or no one outside of Himself for His very existence. [John 1:1-4; Acts 17:28]

• I AM THAT I AM expresses the Essential Attributes of God, such as Omnipotence (All Powerful), Omnipresence (All Present), and Omniscience (All Knowing and All Seeing).

His Name could be rendered, “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.” Whatever we need, HE IS.   Whenever we need Him, HE IS!   This God, the Creator of All things, the Self-Existent Eternal God, is our Father!  He has adopted us into the Family through the Blood of Jesus.  We are now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus.  We are more than conquerors.  We are victors, according to God’s Covenant and Name!

The question is, why do we live as Paupers in the Palace when He has commissioned us to reign as kings?   Why do we allow the defeated devil to intimidate us when we have been given All Authority through Jesus?  Why do we doubt when God cannot lie, die, or fail?

Today, rise up and embrace Who He is, and in that revelation, embrace who you are! You are a New Creation in Jesus!  You are Born-Again through the Blood of Jesus.  You are More than a Conqueror through Jesus.  You are covered, protected, and provided for by the I AM THAT I AM!  Today is your day to begin living victoriously!

Father, help us to recognize You as The Living God!

Mark 4:22 – “For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing concealed except to be brought to light.  “

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, I thought it kept resurfacing.  It challenged my heart.    In Mark 4, we find the lesson of Jesus about the seed sown in various types of soil and the resulting growth.  In verse 22, Jesus reminded them of God’s omniscience and the impossibility of hiding anything from Him.  Yet, we do it all the time.

In verses 36-40, we encounter an event that yields a life lesson, one that, if embraced, can revolutionize our lives.   He said, “Let us cross over to the landing place.”   They proceeded to depart by boat, and a heavy storm with fierce wind and overflowing waves arose.  They were terrified by what they saw, but Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat.

The reaction of the disciples is the reaction most people have in difficult situations.   They were fearfully focused on the conditions—the storm, the wind, and the waves.   In their state of fear, they roused Jesus up to pray.     In their appeal to Him, they shifted their focus from their fear to Him – “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”   Imagine that, Jesus, if you are not fretting, worried, or doing something, what’s wrong with you?  Jesus got up and quieted the storm.

After He rescued them, He said (v.40), “Why are you so fearful?  And why do you have no faith?” The second question is answered by the first.  No faith because of the fear.  But why the fear?  It is because of the focus.

They had the Word—“Let’s go to the other side.” They heard, but what they heard was overshadowed by what they saw.  They focused on what they saw rather than what He said.  When we misdirect our focus from God’s Rhema to our perception of reality, fear gains entrance, and faith cannot live in a heart filled with fear.

The key is trust!  The key is learning to focus on what God says rather than what we see.  The key is developing spiritual ears that produce spiritual eyes, which enable us to look beyond or through the circumstances to the destination.  In the natural, We see the now and fear.  If we develop spiritual eyes and ears, we see the then and believe!

Lord, give us ears to hear and eyes to see so that we can believe.  What we see is temporary.  What He says is eternal.

Have a fantastic day, confident that the God Who Sees and Knows All is Our God!

Judges 16:18-21 – “When Delilah saw that he had told her his secret, she sent for the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up here again, for he has told me his secret.” So the rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her, bringing the silver in their hands.  ¹⁹ She made him go to sleep on her lap and then called a man in to shave off the seven braids of his hair.  She made him vulnerable and his strength left him.  ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are here, Samson!” He woke up and thought, “I will do as I did before and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.  ²¹ The Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes.  They brought him down to Gaza and bound him in bronze chains.  He became a grinder in the prison.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I heard a warning.  The account of Samson and Delilah produced some challenging thoughts.

My focus was not on the sin of fornication, although it is important.  My focus was on a danger that is not uncommon.  Samson allowed his physical desire and his ego to bring him into bondage.

If we dabble with sin, we open the door to deception and corruption.  We give the devil control, and as he controls, he corrupts.  Samson knew the power of God.  He had experienced it.  He has first-hand knowledge of God’s power.  He presumed upon God, and through the open door to the devil, he toyed with evil.  He had been used by God mightily.  He presumed his specialness.

Samson toyed with Delilah, but his continued interaction with sin wore down his resistance.  He trusted wickedness and gave his strength to sin in a moment of weakness.  He told Delilah the secret or the condition that produced his strength.

That’s why we are told to shun the very appearance of evil.  That’s why we come out from among them.  That’s why we submit to God and resist the devil.  That’s why we bring every thought captive to Jesus.  The more we indulge in sin, the less dangerous it appears, and over time, it erodes our resistance and ultimately controls us.  You can’t play with fire without getting burned.

Multitudes in the church today allow sin to become part of their lives, thinking they are so special to God that they are immune to its consequences.  Things once considered sins no longer bother us.  Profanity on TV and in life does not make us uneasy and convict us.  Sins of the flesh don’t faze many.  Creating idols of the heart no longer breaks our hearts.

Like Samson, we presume that we are special because we have experienced God’s power in the past.  God’s power without purity pollutes the mind and penetrates the heart, poisoning the soul.  Purity is the ingredient that enables us to have God’s power without the pollution of sin.  Power alone is not evidence of favor.

Seek God above all, and His power for His purpose will be manifest.  God’s power, peace, provision, protection, and presence are available to the pure of heart.  It’s not power we are to seek but purity and purpose.

Lord, please help us not to trust in the flesh but to be totally committed to the Spirit in our lives.