Man Two Man

24.Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;

Thought of the day….

Today’s verse is from a familiar story from David’s life were he had an adulteress affair with Bathsheba and bore a son then had her husband killed in battle. The Lord was displeased with David and his actions and the son bore in sin died. David repented, took Bathsheba for his wife and she bore another son and named him Solomon. Solomon grew up and followed in his father’s footsteps and became King of Israel.  Solomon was loved by the Lord and was very wise. 1 Kings 4:30 tells us Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. I tell you all this to bring forth a point. All of us like David have made mistakes in our lives possibly not to the magnitude that David did but mistakes none the less. The thing that stands out to me in David’s life is that when the Lord was displeased with him, he dealt with David accordingly but when David repented and followed the Lord, He blessed him.

Today I ask, are you living in repentance and pleasing God?

 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

Thought of the day….

Today I want to share a devotional that my wife received from the state coordinator of Moms In Touch. I especially like the last statement “as long as I have breath.”

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: The Cost of Quitting

If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly the Christian who is pressing on toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite.

Viewed one way it is a pilgrimage through a robber-infested forest; viewed another, it is a grim warfare with the devil. Always there is struggle, and sometimes there is a pitched battle with our own nature where the lines are so confused that it is all but impossible to locate the enemy or to tell which impulse is of the Spirit and which of the flesh….

My point here is that if we want to escape the struggle we have but to draw back and accept the currently accepted low-keyed Christian life as the normal one. That is all Satan wants. That will ground our power, stunt our growth and render us harmless to the kingdom of darkness.

Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a man who has quit fighting. But the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of eternity just cannot afford such a thing.

“Oh God, don’t ever let me compromise to take the pressure off! Keep me fit for battle; strengthen me for the constant warfare. Don’t ever let me settle for ‘peaceful stagnation’ as long as I have breath to serve You. Amen.” 

Today I ask, are you willing to not grow weary and fight and serve as long as you have breath?

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Thought of the day….

Amazing love! Think about it, Jesus is hanging on the cross, they have beaten Him, they have betrayed Him, they have hung Him on the cross to die a horrid death and now they are dividing up His clothes, yet He loves them so much He is going to the Father on their behalf. He still does that today. He loves us that same way, He loves us in a dying love. Jesus if needed would go back to the cross for us today.

Today I ask, do you have the kind of love Jesus has?

9. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Thought of the day….

Love has been described as a feeling, a state of mind and an emotion of the heart. I prefer to say it is an uncontrollable emotion of the heart. It is something inside you that can’t be controlled whether it is for your children, you family or your wife. Each is a different emotion but all still love. As today’s verse says, Love must be sincere or real it is not evil but everything that is good.

Today I ask, do you really love?

9. She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God.

Thought of the day….

“ A man of God” what does he look like? Is he tall? Short? Rich? Poor? Several years ago my family and I worked with homeless people in Dallas. After a shower and new clothes they looked just like us. Several months ago I went to a maximum security prison and saw several prisoners. I kept thinking that with different clothes they would look just like me. That made me think about how God made all of us in His image (Genesis 1:27). In His image, not to just physically look like Him but to possess His spiritual appearance. So what does a man of God look like? He has a worldly body but has the spiritual image of God because he is filled with the Holy Spirit.   

Today I ask, are you a man of God? Does your body possess God’s spiritual image?

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Thought of the day….

Have you ever been in the dark? I mean really dark, so dark you can’t see your hand in front of you dark? I’m not really afraid of the darkness but it still makes me a little uneasy. However, if in the distance there is even the faintest light, it immediately seems better. Just seeing a glimpse of light brings a sense of calm and hope. Christ is the light and even a glimpse of Him brings calmness and hope. “Let the light shine out of the darkness.” Even if there is darkness inside us, God’s light can shine through it and glorify Him.

Today I ask, is the light of Christ shinning in your heart?