Family & God’s Plan – 1 Kings 1-2

Children who aren’t disciplined cause problems for their parents.

1:6-35 You can make all the plans you want..if it’s not in line with God’s plan, it won’t happen.

Ch. 2 David’s last wishes for his son: Be strong, obey God, follow His commands; you will prosper in all you do and wherever you go.

2:2-4 Raise your family to live for God so they will prosper.

2:6,7,8-10 Leaders need to show mercy, but also need to hold people accountable.

2:13-14 Mothers still protect their children, even when her child is successful.

2:19 Honor your mother, even when you are successful.

2:15-46 God’s plan supercedes any plan made by man.

2:23-46 When you eliminate bad influences from your life, you have to eliminate ALL of them, not just a few.

It’s Not About You – 2 Samuel 19 & 20

19:1-7 Leaders must meet the needs of their followers, even when they are dealing with their own personal problems.

19:21-23 People can change their minds about you when your actions show that you’ve changed.

19:33-38 Honor the wishes of the elderly.

20:16-22 Women influence men.

A Very Slippery Slope – 2 Samuel 11

The story of David and Bathsheba is quite juicy… sex, power, killing.  It’s also frightening because David displeases God.  A good read, with BIG lessons even for today.

v.2-4; 27 Don’t want something (or someone) that’s not yours so badly that it makes you sin (do wrong).  (a.k.a. covet).

v.27 Dishonesty displeases God.

(whole chapter) People in leadership must be careful not to abuse their power.

(whole chapter) One dishonest act leads to another.

(whole chapter) Mind your own business (marriage).

 

God Bless The Child – 2 Samuel 7

v.1-5; 21; 27 When we are still and settled, God will speak to us (we get a “revelation”).
v.4-7 We need to do what God says, not what we think is best.
v.8 God will promote you in HIS time.
v.8-13 God provides what we need.
V.9 God protects us.
v.10-11 God wants us to be stable and at peace.
v.10; 13; 15-16 God’s blessings last forever.
v.12-16 Some blessings are for children, not their parents. Parents lay the foundation so that their children can be blessed.
v.14 God disciplines us.
v.15 God will ALWAYS love you.
v.22 There is no other like God. He rules everything.
v.23-24 Israel is chosen by God.
v.28 God keeps His promises.

Praise The Lord! – 2 Samuel 6

v.6-7 Respect God’s property (which is EVERYTHING and EVERYONE).

v.5, 13-22 Praise God with all your might.

v.20-23 Don’t hinder or judge those who praise God.

v.21-22 Celebrate God and all He has done in your life.

v.11-12 Blessings are in the homes that honor God.

v.5, 14-15 God loves music and dance that honors Him.

Luke 9 – Commit and Let Go

v.3 Travel light. Don’t carry earthly treasures when you’re on a journey. (more later, this one is deep…)
v.5 Everyone’s not going to accept you. Let them go and keep doing good things that glorify God and what He called you to do. Help those who want help.
v.11 Jesus teaches us. Jesus heals us.
v.12-17 Pray and ask God’s blessing, and He will provide more than what you need.
v.18 We need time alone to pray. If Jesus needed it, we do, too.
v.18-21 We need to know who Jesus is for ourselves.
v.22 Jesus suffered, was rejected, died, and rose from the dead.
v.23 In order to follow Jesus, you must give up old habits and commit to Him – DAILY.
v.24 Life with Jesus is so much better than life without Jesus.
v.25 Earthly possessions mean nothing if your spirit is broken and lost.
v.26 If you’re ashamed of Jesus, He will be ashamed of you when He returns.
v.28 Pray with others.
v.29-36 Supernatural things happen when you pray.
v.37-43 Faith brings healing. You must believe and have faith. Demons know when your faith is weak.
v.44 Jesus knew His fate.
v.46-48 Treat everyone well. “Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.”
v.49 You don’t have to be part of an elite group to do work that glorifies God.
v.53-55 Jesus wasn’t welcome everywhere He went. He didn’t get mad about it. We shouldn’t either.
v.57-62 Let go. Don’t look back. Be clear about what your purpose and responsibilities are.
When you decide to follow Jesus, you will make sacrifices, which is not always easy.

Now I Get It

I’ve considered and tried blogging for years. I’ve started and stopped several times with different blogging sites. I thought it would be cool to have a fancy teacher blog or a healthy recipe blog. None had more than a few posts on them – something always hindered me. It seems that when I finally wrote about what God wanted me to write about (HIM), I’ve had no problem posting MANY times and it doesn’t even seem difficult or time consuming. That’s how you know that you’re doing what God wants you to do, it seems easy, even if it’s not, and eveything just falls into place and flows. Some would call it “purpose”.