Are You Experiencing a Longing in Your Life?

Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:15

David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!"

Insights: In today’s verses we observe David making a casual comment regarding the water at the well in Bethlehem.  It was a longing he had for fresh water to quench his thirst.  There is no indication he commanded this request be fulfilled by someone.  There is also no indication that he said these words to anyone other than himself.  The three mighty men, more than likely, overheard David make this statement; and then, choose to act on their love for David.  As with the rest of this week, this scene got me thinking about this situation from a spiritual perspective.  There are times we experience a longing for the things of God.  During these times we are being satisfied from the Lord, as if by a fire hose.  The Lord becomes our true satisfaction and we are then compelled because of this amazing overflow of His presence to desire service to Him.  Thom Rainer has recently published a book titled I Am A Church Member which goes into the attitude of a person who is finding their longing satisfied in Jesus.  I would encourage you to read this little book and begin faithfully following the Lord in obedient service to Him.  I cannot communicate clearly what the dynamic of a church would look like if every member truly was longing for the Lord and His presence in his/her life.  The excitement and joy of worship would be extremely contagious and we would see the Lord do the miraculous in our midst.  Beloved, let us long for the Lord because He is the only One that matters at the end of the day.  Serve Him with a grateful heart.

Questions:

1. Are you experiencing a longing in your life?
2. Are you running to Jesus to let Him become your satisfaction?

Prayer: Father, thank You that You truly are my satisfaction.  You are the One that encourages me to walk this journey of faith and experience new adventures with You.  Help me, out of the overflow of my longing for You, serve You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Amen.

Are You Experiencing an Assault on Your Life?

Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:14

David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

Insights: In today’s verse we see the Philistines attempted to strike the new found king at his heart by attacking his home of Bethlehem.  It is more than likely that they did not know David had moved his family to Moab under the protection of its king.  It is probable they thought this attack on Bethlehem would demoralize David and make it easier for them to defeat him and place Israel under their subjection.  Again, like yesterday, this got me thinking about some of our life situations we experience.  Another one of those that we often times experience is assaults from our true enemy, Satan.  He hates us and wants nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy our lives.  He, like the nation of Philistia, wants to strike at our heart.  Philistia attacked Bethlehem, Satan attacks at whatever is near and dear our heart.  His hope and desire is to get us to take our focus off of the Lord and onto our present struggle and time of need.  He desires to break our spirit and make it subject to his evil attacks and intentions.  Beloved, let me encourage you to run to Jesus and let Him fight your battles for you.  Let His strength protect you and let His righteous hand uphold you.  He is your advocate and your defender.  Let Him be your rock and fortress, your ever present help in times of need.  Run to Jesus, because He has already defeated Satan and his assaults on your life.

Questions:

1. Are you experiencing an assault in your life?
2. Are you running to Jesus to let Him fight your spiritual battles?

Prayer: Father, as Your child I am constantly assaulted by the enemy.  There are times the attacks are more concentrated and intense, but the attacks are real no matter what.  Help me Lord to understand the truth that I don’t have to fight the battle, because Jesus already has.  Help me to understand all You have asked me to do is run to You and let You be my defender and advocate before the assaults of Satan.  Amen.

Are You Experiencing a Drought in Your Life?

Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:13

Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim.

Insights: At this point in the history of Israel David has just become king of Judah.  At this particular point he is battling against the Philistines and he and his men are at the cave of Adullam.  Now, theologians tell us that during the harvest time the cisterns, which are cut out of caves, dry up and a drought type condition begins to set in on the land.  Now, that is the physical reality of David’s situation, but it got me to thinking about some of the different life experiences we often times encounter in our lives.  One of those types of experiences we sometimes experience is spiritual droughts in our lives.  In these droughts we just are dry and barren.  We are incapable of hearing anything from the Lord.  Let me tell, the normal reason we find ourselves in these seasons of droughts is because we quit spending time with Jesus and reading His Word, the Bible.  We then stop spending time with the Body of Christ, the church, and wonder why our lives are so difficult and hard.  I would submit that in many cases it is because we are in a spiritual drought and in desperate need for Jesus to fill our cisterns with His life giving water.  Let me encourage you to run to Jesus if you have found yourself in this spiritual drought.  Let Him fill you full and restore to you the joy of your salvation.

Questions:

1. Are you experiencing a drought in your life?
2. Are you running to Jesus to let Him fill your spiritual cistern?

Prayer: Father, how many times in my life have I been in a drought?  Thank You that You are the One that fills my cistern and offers me to drink from the water of life found in Jesus.  Amen.

Because of My Salvation I will Tell the World about Jesus

Scripture: Psalm 57:7-11

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Insights: David concludes this psalm with praise and adoration.  He states he will sing praises among the nations regarding the Lord’s greatness and goodness.  He states he will give thanks among the people regarding the Lord’s gracious activity in his life.  Beloved, David’s heart is the same kind of heart we ought to have.  David is basically saying because of all I have seen and experienced I cannot but help tell other people about what the Lord has done in my life.  If you have truly been born again, if you have truly received Jesus as your Savior, if you are truly a child of the King, then you also cannot but help tell others about His salvific work in your life.  This past Sunday was Easter as we have mentioned earlier this week.  It was because of Jesus work on Friday and His victory on Sunday that gives us the hope and assurance of our salvation in and through Him.  This singular work of the Lord ought to be reason enough for us to exalt the Lord and tell others about His love.  The reality is, however, we have reason on top of reason on top of reason to praise the Lord.  Because of the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf we ought to also have an intense desire to tell others about His great love.  Ask the Lord to open your eyes and heart to tell someone this week about Jesus.  May your faithfulness bring Him glory!

Questions:

1. Are you worshiping the Lord Jesus for His salvific work in your life?
2. Are you telling others about what Jesus has done for you?

Prayer: Father, You alone are worthy of praise.  You sent Your Son do take away my sins.  Thank You for giving me salvation through Jesus.  Make me bold, Lord, in my telling the world about Jesus’ love for them.  May my life bring You glory.  Amen.

You have an Adversary Who Hates You

Scripture: Psalm 57:4-6

My soul is among lions; I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows And their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; My soul is bowed down; They dug a pit before me; They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

Insights: Sunday our youth and young adults performed a skit entitled The Everything Skit.  Many have seen this skit performed and it shows in visual form the spiritual battle that rages against all of humanity.  It shows Satan’s use of relationships, money, addictive pleasures, beauty or vanity, and ultimately despair.  Throughout the skit the Jesus character is praying for this one being tormented and attacked by Satan and his weapons.  Finally, the person surrenders and runs to Jesus.  At the same time, Satan is doing everything he can to prevent this one from entering into the arms of Jesus.  Finally, at the climactic point of the skit Jesus throws all the attackers off of the one running to Him.  There is a peaceful rest that comes over this one who is now safe and secure in Jesus’ loving arms.  This skit portrays the reality of an enemy and his hatred toward humanity.  David was literally being hunted and attacked by King Saul.  Lies were spoken about David and traps had been laid before Him.  Satan is using those same tools against us.  So often, however, we try to fight Satan in our own power and whenever we do, we lose.  Jesus is telling us to surrender to Him just like the character in the skit.  If we do, He will fight for us and He will always win!  Beloved, run to Jesus and let Him save you from the attack.  If you have not entered into a relationship with Jesus, run to Him and let Him save you from eternal damnation!  Run to Jesus!

Questions:

1. Have you been assaulted lately by the enemy, Satan?
2. Are you attempting to defeat Satan in your own power?

Prayer: Father, how many times have I tried to fight Satan in my own flesh and lost?  I cannot count the times.  Forgive me for depending on my own power and might.  Lead me into the arms of Jesus and let me rest in Him and let Him fight my battles.  Amen.

Jesus is the One Sent from Heaven to Save You

Scripture: Psalm 57:1-3

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by. I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah. God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.

Insights: Yesterday was Easter!  Praise the Lord Jesus rose from the grave!  I did not preach a “traditional” Easter sermon.  We, as you know if you have been reading my Thoughts by Scott, have been reading through the Bible chronologically this year.  Yesterday we looked as Psalm 57 which was a Psalm David wrote while Saul was pursuing him in order to take his life.  In real life God did send from heaven, if you will, saviors to David.  They came in the form of 400 men who came to encourage David in this time of fear and doubt.  Well, in a more accurate way God did send a Savior from heaven to earth to save us and that was His perfect Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to do everything mentioned in verses one through three.  Jesus is our Savior.  It was His work on Good Friday that purchased our sin debt.  He became our substitute and took on Himself what rightfully belonged to us.  I cannot express how grateful I am for the gift of salvation Jesus has given to me.  If you have never received this gift, it is obtainable by simply telling God you are a sinner who can’t save yourself.  Further go on to tell God that you are dependent upon Jesus to take your sins away.  Ask Jesus to come into your heart and to make you clean, whole and a new person.  If you will pray that kind of prayer, then Jesus is faithful to enter into your life.  There is no sin that could keep Him out because on that Good Friday, He took all the sin past, present and future.  We can completely and holistically trust Him for our salvation and eternal life.  It is my prayer if you have not encountered Jesus like this, that you will before you wait another minute.  Let God be your salvation through Jesus!

Questions:

1. Have you received the gift of eternal life found in Jesus Christ?
2. If you have not, what is holding you back from receiving this precious gift?

Prayer: Father, thank You my salvation found in Jesus.  Let me always be mindful of Your grace and forgiveness.  I desire to honor You because of all You have done for me.  May my life bring You glory.  Amen.

Triumph in the Lord when You are Greatly Comforted

Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:17-18

Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." She said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Insights: I love the way this passage ends.  We see Hannah walking off with a smile on her face.  She is no longer oppressed.  She is no longer misunderstood.  She is no longer in distress.  She has heard a word from the spokesman of God and she has believed him.  Out of this faith and hope she smiles.  She has turned to the Lord in distress.  She has trusted the Lord in misunderstanding.  She has tarried in the Lord as she was oppressed by Satan.  Because of her obedient actions the Lord has stepped in and comforted her heart and now she walks triumphantly out of the room with joy which exudes out of her countenance and she is no longer sad.  What a beautiful ending to such a horrific trial.  Beloved, the Lord desires to still do this kind of work to all those who love God and are called according to His purposes.  He works all things to our good if we are born again and living our lives for Him.  Now as a way of caution: it is true God does work it to our good, but it is not always here on this side of eternity as was the case with Hannah.  Sometimes our good occurs in eternity, but it is still the Lord of glory working our situations to our good.  May the Lord be praised for His faithfulness!

Questions:

1. Have you experienced the comforting grace of the Lord lately?
2. Are you walking as if you are truly triumphant in the Lord?

Prayer: Father, thank You for the victory I have in You.  Thank You that You comfort me and give me strength.  Thank You that You work all things together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purposes.  Amen.