Strength In Time

Friday, June 2, 2023 Good morning, Lord Verse of the Day: Proverbs 15:1 New King James Version A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. 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 CHRONICLES 17-18 JOHN 13:1-20 Strength In Time? King David of Israel was not always strong but he kept a strong faith until the day he died. The Bible records how he came from herding sheep to be king and then when he got comfortable, he sinned with a woman and sent her husband to his death. But he did not let it ruin him. He depended on God for his deliverance. As young people grow in the Lord, it is so important that you deal with sin and move on. We cannot grow and work as God intends if we cannot take His lead and choose to not remember our sin-move on and leave it and the guilt behind but use the lessons learned as weapons for the kingdom. Being forgiven gives us the freedom to move with confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, there was King Solomon, David's son. He started out wise and did many great things but let his desire cloud his wisdom. He got away from closely walking with God as his father had. So, there is one way King Solomon was not wise-he was not wise enough to keep learning or he would not have done the things he did to lose his grip on his faith in God. So, his age and former wisdom did little to make him wise when he was older. King Asa comes along in 2 Chronicles. The prophet said to the king, “Listen to me, Asa and all you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you look for him, you will find him. But if you leave him, he will leave you."(2 Chronicles 15) Asa did a lot of great things for God and Israel but when he got old, he started depending on his own power and wisdom rather than God's. 2 Chronicles 15:9 "The eyes of the Lord go around looking in all the earth for people who are faithful to him so that he can make them strong. Asa, you did a foolish thing. So from now on you will have wars.” Three kings-all started out strong. One sinned early and learned from it and then was faithful to God until he died. The other two, great kings, started well but finished badly because they became too confident in their own power to get things done. Being human and remembering our own sin can be a curse but it can also be a blessing. It is a curse if we let it make us always live in shame and it renders us worthless to God. It is a blessing if we never lose sight of how God brought us out of it. A blessing that allows us to walk in victory and humility in the Lord allows us to grow and stay close to God. King David was a great, young-warrior king who sinned and never forgot it and how he allowed it to happen but also kept growing stronger in the Lord. He died close to the Lord. The other two kings got old and proud and stupid. Young people-stay humble in the Lord. Old people-don't be proud of what you have done or what you can do in this worldy strength. Be proud of what God has done in you and for you. Stay in love with God and stay away from the world. ...because He loves us... Father in heaven, Forgive me, Lord for having pride in me in this world. Help me keep my eyes on you and your leading and love. Great God of consistency! In the name of Jesus, Amen