Guard Closely

Thursday, ‎April ‎20, ‎2023

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Hey, Death! What happened to your big win?

Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?

56 Sin came into this world, and death’s sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law. 57 Thank God, then, for our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King, who brought us victory over the grave.

Memory of the Month: John 10:27-28

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Today's reading: 2 SAMUEL 9-11 LUKE 15:11-32

Guard Closely

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Proverbs 4:23 ►Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Second Samuel, chapter 11 starts like this:

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

He was the king, after all, he could do whatever he wanted, but, think of it like this:

In September, the Cowboys went to play the Redskins and the head coach stayed home.

This is not a rational thought. This would never happen short of illness or tragedy.

The Lord wants us to see:

>David was in the wrong place

> His mind was not right or he would have been in the right place. His heart was not right. His ego was not right.

> The first chapter is a 'foreboding'-it would get much worse from here-all because the warrior king was not where he should be.

David sent his best guard into battle-his best chance to be the very best he could be-he sent into battle-he let his guard go. He would relax and enjoy being king.

But what happens when you tell your guard to walk away? There is no guard left at home. This is what we do when we let our spiritual guards down. When we feel the strongest, we let our guards go away. We get comfortable.

If Second Samuel was a combat manuel, it could read like this:

In the spring, when you know the fight is coming, do not think you can get away from the battle by staying home and praying for everyone else to win. The enemy will hit you because your guard is down and this can get really nasty. See what happened to king David?

Lust, adultery, conspiracy, collusion, murder, lies, cover-up, false-self justification-more lies-darkest depravity brought awful tragedy and it always will-just because a warrior got comfortable with his power.

With great power comes great responsibility-really? A line from a movie?

How about scripture: From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded. (Luke 12:48)

The Lord entrusts us with His great power daily and the enemy knows it and comes at us with great power. The enemy has no chance against the greatest power but knows well we all are descended from Adam and, like David, we want to get comfortable and watch the battle from the sidelines-away from the guard. We want to take the armor off and lay down the weapons.

Only with God's weapons, armor, and guard do we defeat the depravity that the enemy employs against us.

The next time the sun comes out and a cool breeze gently blows across you senses-the next time the whole world is turning green and looking new, put on the whole armor of God(Ephesians 6:11-18).

Therefore having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober-minded, set your hope fully upon the grace being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ,(1 Peter 1:13)

We are promised times of refreshing(Acts 3:19-20) and soul restoration(Psalm 23) and a sound mind(2 Timothy 1:7)-but-it will only happen when we are in the battle...and the battle is constant.

Matthew 6:33-But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

God will let you feel comfort and give all of us times of rest-but He will let us know-when we least expect it-and it will be a blessed time.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven, Holy God,

Remind me over and over to train my mind to keep my guard up and let my comfort come from You-always. Forgive me.

Great God of comfort and peace!

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen