2 Samuel 18:23 – He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”  So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.”

Good morning!  What a day that shall be when my Jesus I shall see when I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace.  That song is in my heart today, but with a different twist.   It reminds me of LOVE!   God’s love for us, our love for Him, and our ability to love each other!

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a plethora of things filled my consciousness.   Most were for private consumption, but one thing draws my focus: Zeal!

Zeal?  More specifically, zeal without a specific divine directive.  That is presented in Ahimaaz in 2 Samuel 18.  He kept bugging Joab to let him run as a messenger to David.  Joab said, “You don’t have the message.”  He persisted, and Joab said, “Run!”   He outran the Cushite who had the message.  He got to David but had no message.  He said, “I saw that something was happening, but I don’t know what.”

•  He had a desire to run. 
• He had the ability to run.
• He ran faster than everyone else.
• But his effort and ability had no redeeming value.  It was wasted energy and ability.

Sometimes, we become stirred by God’s presence and quickly volunteer to run.  We have the desire to be involved.  Zeal drives us into action, but without the divine directive, we are just running!

That’s how we get ahead of God.  We act before there is a clear revelation.  In doing so, we can do damage to the cause.   How?  We stir others up but have no revelation or divine directive.   We are just doing!

God is not interested in doing things for the sake of doing them.   He always has a purpose.   A stirred heart does not, in itself, qualify one to run!   A divine call is required.  Running without God’s message opens the door to deception and disappointment.   

It can result in spiritual frustration.   We ask, “God, why didn’t You, I Ran!”  Then, at others, we ask, “Hey, why aren’t you running?”  We become frustrated with ourselves and think, ‘If I had run sooner or faster, then…‘   Never let Zeal become more compelling than Call.

Doing God’s Word, God’s Way, and in God’s Time produces God’s Results.   It is not inactivity to wait for the Call, the Word, and the Timing of God; it is resting and waiting on the Lord.   The converse is also true; waiting out of uncertainty and fear when God has called is inactivity, not rest.  Jesus said, “My sheep, HEAR My voice and follow Me.”   

The question is, are we His sheep?  If we are, we hear His voice.

May your day be filled with peace and clear purpose!

Proverbs 27:5-6 – “Better is reproof that is revealed than love that is hidden.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, one thought kept echoing in my heart and head.  BLIND SPOTS!

Proverbs 27:5-6 was a key passage for understanding.   So many thoughts leap from those words, but the one singular thought echoing inside is Blind Spots!  We all have them, experience them, and suffer because of them.

Three questions arose in my mind as I contemplated this.

• Are you consistent?
• Are you self-controlled?
• Do you think independently?

Then, I sensed more questions that challenged me.   Can you handle negative criticism positively?  Galatians 6:9 comes to mind in Paul’s directive to never grow tired of what is right.

It is difficult to discern between constructive and destructive criticism.  How can we recognize the difference?  What is the attitude of the person delivering the criticism?   Is their criticism factual?  Allow the Holy Spirit to shine the spotlight of the Word on it and on us.
Do we have true integrity in all things and with all people?   Integrity is what we are; we are.  Are we peacemakers?  Are we open to views contrary to what we think or want to be true?

Most discussions that escalate into arguments generate more heat than light and are often driven by emotion rather than fact.  A person who is secure in Jesus, emotionally strong, and has a positive self-image does not have a driving need to win every argument or debate.   Most people will change their views when they see living proof of a better way.  Our blind spots not only hinder us, but also others.

The Lord spoke to me, saying, “Blind Spots are removed by making Me (Jesus) your focus.  Let Me be Me in you in all things.  Give Me your need to be right.”

My heart desires to be like Jesus or let Him be Himself manifested in and through me.   I want to be like Him in Character, Attitude, Spirit, Actions, and Reaction.   Lord, help us be free of the Blind spots we can’t see.

May all your blind spots be transformed into spots of revelation and sight spiritually!

2 Corinthians 9:8 – “And God is able to make all Grace abound to you, so that you in all things at all times, having all that you need will abound in every good work.”

Benjamin Franklin said, “The only things certain are death and taxes.” I disagree.   God’s love is certain.  The promises of God are certain.  Heaven is an absolute certainty.  Sin destroys is a certainty, and the power of God’s grace is certain.   That the LORD created this day is certain.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the destructiveness of sin gripped my thoughts, and that was quickly followed by the grace of God.   Grace is unlimitedly limited.  What?  Does that make you pause and ask, WHAT?

God’s grace is for everyone and for everything, so in that sense, it is limitless.  It cannot flow to an unrepentant heart, making it limited.  

In 2 Samuel, David’s tryst with Bathsheba, a married woman, is an example.   David sinned.   There is no justification possible.   There was no one to blame but himself.   He then sought to hide his sin, thereby limiting the grace of God to him.

Nathan brought him a scenario that David thought was real, and David’s sense of justice caused him to become furious, and by his own judgment, he pronounced his own pain. Nathan said, “You are the guilty one.”   David repeated, but the cost of sin followed him throughout his life.  He was forgiven, but the consequences continued.  God’s grace was limitedly unlimited.   Being forgiven was the ultimate prize, but the chastisement was not averted.

After David’s sin, the account of Amnon raping his sister and Absalom’s festering hate surfaces.  Absalom hated Amnon for two whole years, seeking revenge.  No mercy was asked for by Amnon or given by Absalom.  Hate became murder and then rebellion, fulfilling God’s decree to David about his wives, another going in to.

Absalom never repented and limited the unlimited grace of God.   God’s grace is limited, but to receive the limitlessness of it, we must come to Him in repentance.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just.   He forgives all confessed sins.  Until David acknowledged his sin, he bore his guilt.  The grace of God carries us through the chastisement of God.  The grace of God preserves life!   The grace of God enables us to rise above sin.  The grace of God transforms.   By grace, are we saved through faith.  It is the gift of God.  Grace is God’s gift to lift us into His presence and preserve us for eternity.  Sin is devastating, but grace is liberating.

May your day be filled with the Unlimited Grace of God!

1 Samuel 30:6 – “David strengthened himself in the LORD.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I began to have something unfold that will require a great deal of time to unravel fully.  I will share excerpts and hope they resonate.

In 1 Samuel 30:6, it says, “David strengthened (va-yit-chazek) himself in the LORD.”   God identified David as being a man after His own heart.  David trusted God completely.  That’s why he could refrain from retaliation against Saul, Absalom, and others who wronged him.   Love was a motivator.

In 1 John, the apostle John reveals the key to assurance of salvation.   Through the years, I have observed things inconsistent with the heart of Jesus in people.  One of the pieces of evidence of salvation is love.  Not just loving God but actively loving people.   That is a sticking point for many.  Biblical love demonstrated!

John gives several identifying marks of Christianity.   One is obedience to Jesus’ commands.   In 1 John 2:6, he reminds us that if we claim to be a Christian, we are to live in the same manner as Jesus.   That certainly includes how we respond to others.

Hate and salvation are incompatible.  I have heard more justifications than I can remember, and none of them pass the biblical smell test.   If we hate, we do not love, and if we do not love others, we cannot claim to love God.  1 John 2:9-10 reveals the true condition of our hearts.

1 John 3:17-22 is challenging on many levels.   If we see a need, have the ability to help, and remain unmotivated and ignore it, is that love?  It’s not our profession, but our actions, which reveal our true spiritual condition.   Love gives us confidence of our salvation.

1 John 3:14-15 provides a means to have settled assurance of our salvation.   Love for others.  Just because you responded to an altar call does not give assurance, but love (genuine, active love does).   1 John 3:17-24 reveals how we can know we are saved.   True compassion and generosity that compels us.

Benevolence alone is not the key, but the heart that is so filled with love that it acts.  1 John 4:17 is powerful, “By this, has love been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

Then, verse 18 has a two-fold application.  If we are filled with love (active love), there is no place for fear.    Perfected love eliminates fear.

Through love, we are free to love actively.  God’s love flowing to us and through us is both evidence of our salvation for us and a witness to the world.

We have no justification to hate.  People do bad things because of bad hearts, so we should not hate them, but hate the motivator for them to act as they do.   Jesus never hated people.  He identified evil and exposed sin, but NEVER hated people.

1 John 3:23 won’t leave my thoughts.  “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, AND (we bypass that part) love one another, JUST AS He gave a commandment to us.” Therefore, love is not optional.

My continual prayer is, “Lord, help me to genuinely love with an active love.”

May this day be a day of incredible victory for each of you!

1 Samuel 8:5-6 – “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead us, just like all the other nations have.”  ⁶ But this request displeased Samuel, for they said, “Give us a king to lead us.”  So Samuel prayed to the Lord.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, the thought of troubles and trials came to mind.  There are at least two kinds of troubles we encounter.  Those of our own making and those because we are believers.

1 Samuel 8:6 reveals a doorway for trouble for Israel.  They said, as Moses prophesied, “Give us a king.”  Two root causes prompted them to reject being a theocracy and become a monarchy. One was that Samuel’s sons were abusing them, not following after righteousness.   Religious abuse often causes people to turn to the world.   Fleecing the flock causes the flock to look for protection through human effort.

The second was that their hearts were not wholly turned to God.  They had one hand on God (religious tradition) and the other on the world (fleshly desires).  The King, Saul, morphed from humility to pride, which led to abuse and troubles, both internally and externally.

1 Peter 4:12 is intriguing, especially in light of what we have just considered. “Beloved, DO NOT BE SURPRISED at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”

What did we think would happen?   We deserted the devil by turning to Jesus.   The devil considers us traitors.   That’s good, but a guarantee of trouble.

Our comfort is in 1 Peter 5:10 – “AND AFTER you have suffered (experienced or encountered trouble) for a little while, the God of ALL GRACE, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, WILL HIMSELF restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you.” What a promise!

The cry is “Lord, restore us to a former state, and this state should be thought of as Adam before the fall.   Strengthen is to infuse with might; that is, “God’s strength.”   Remember, He is “in” us.  

To confirm is to validate or authenticate, which means identifying us as children of God and heirs of God – Family Eternally. To be grounded is to be planted and secure on a solid foundation. Anchored and enabled to weather any storm.

If we give our all to God, we know that trouble is temporary, and eternal victory is our heritage. Trouble is not the issue. The cause is. If trouble is the result of our disobedience, repentance is required to have restoration. If it is because we changed camps, rejoicing is the proper response.   Don’t be troubled by trouble; be trouble to trouble by yieldedness to God!

Lord, help us not to create our own troubles, but run to you for and give ourselves to you completely!