2 Samuel 10:15-17 (KJV) Where to Find Blessings

2 Samuel 10:15-17 (KJV)
And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves together.And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.

I spoke with a young couple who has been going through a lot of late. They recently were able to get one very heavy weight off their shoulders only to be loaded down again with terrible burdens. The wife remarked to me, “I thought once the first weight was lifted we would watch God pour out wonderful blessings upon us. It hurt even more when this burden came because I so much expected blessing.”

From this passage we see that one victory does not necessarily mean we will have no more battles. David’s men defeated the Ammonites only to have them try that much harder to defeat David. When David defeated them the second time a different enemy came upon them (see chapter 11). The fact is that David had battles his entire life. Israel has battles to this very day.

• Battles, 
• Burdens and 
• Hard struggles 

are a part of life in general and Christian life in particular. But that doesn’t mean there are no blessings. It just means we have to find the blessings in something other than rest.

• Find blessings in our relationship with loved ones. 
• Find blessings in purpose of life. 
• Find blessings in liberty to do right. Most of all 
• Find blessings in your walk with almighty God. 

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

2 Samuel 10:15-17 (KJV) Where to Find Blessings

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2 Samuel 8:15 (KJV) Judgment and Justice

2 Samuel 8:15 (KJV)
And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

King David was a man of rare ability, such as could only have been given if God.

He cared for the spiritual welfare of his nation, seeing to the arrangement and order of their worship

He cared for the defensive and offensive exploits of their military. He was an exceptional soldier

He cared for the social and civil life of his nation, seeing that in it were executed both judgment and justice.

Judgment is the legal end of this two-part execution. It is putting into place means to enforce laws as instituted by the Word of God and their own good government. Justice is the legislative end of this same execution. It is the establishment of laws that express right and represses wrong. It is the deliberation upon moral issues and the forming of convictions based, in David’s case, upon what he had learned fro God.

Godly men and women think on these things. They come to sound and Scriptural convictions about right and wrong and then they take measures to promote the right and prevent the wrong.

To my reader: I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

2 Samuel 8:15 (KJV) Judgment and Justice

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Matthew 16:12 KJV A Little Leaven

Matthew 16:12 KJV
Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 

Verses one through twelve are taken up completely with both the Pharisees and Sadducees who, though nearly opposite in doctrine and philosophy, united in their opposition to Christ. The passage ends with Christ warning them that the doctrines of both are like leaven.

Albert Barnes writes:
“Erroneous doctrines are like leaven in the following respects:

1. They are at first slight and unimportant in appearance, just as leaven is small in quantity as compared with the mass that is to be leavened.
2. They are insinuated into the soul unawares and silently, and are difficult of detection.
3. They act gradually.
4. They act most certainly.
5. They will pervade all the soul, and bring all the faculties under their control.”

I am here interested in that, though on opposite ends of the doctrinal spectrum, Jesus calls both leaven. It teaches us that it does not matter if a person is extremely right or extremely left. What matters is that a person is doctrinally correct. It doesn’t even matter that a person finds balance, common ground between the two, what matters is that a person has the correct relationship with Jesus Christ.

Leaven is an insidious thing. It can seem harmless. A little may even seem desirable. But leaven is never satisfied unless and until it leavens the whole lump.

We need no leaven. We need Christ.

To my reader:
It is so easy for us to get off on one doctrinal “leaven” or another. Are you staying Christ centered? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

Matthew 16:12 KJV A Little Leaven

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2 Samuel 7:15 (KJV) Never Again

2 Samuel 7:15 (KJV)
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

There are some things God did once that He promises to never do again:

• He will never destroy the earth with a flood 
• He will never remove the kingdom from David
• He will never take the Holy Spirit from a New Testament Christian 
• He will never wink at ignorance again 

God is good for His Word. We can trust Him to fulfill his promises.

To my reader:
Can you think of other places in the Bible where God promised to never do a thing again? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

2 Samuel 7:15 (KJV) Never Again

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2 Samuel 3:27-29 (KJV) I Am Guiltless

2 Samuel 3:27-29 (KJV)
And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father’s house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.

I am intrigued by David’s affirmation that he is guiltless before the Lord concerning the death of Abner. We know that he made this statement as much for political reasons as anything else. He wanted his nation to know that he had nothing to do with assassinating Abner and he wanted Saul’s followers to know the very same. I can see some ways to argue this that would give David some culpability.

• He must have known that Joab was still bitter against Abner for the death of his brother. 
• He could have supervised Joab more thoroughly
• He could have (but didn’t) punish Joab for killing Abner

Maybe David didn’t handle this situation perfectly but he was still able to say, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord..”

There is a spiritual parallel that exists for every true child of God. We too can say we are guiltless before the Lord because we are, in fact, guiltless before the Lord. This is not to say that we are perfect, that we never sin and that we couldn’t have handled things better than we have. Truth be told, there are things yet to happen we could handle better than we will. That being said, it is still the fact that we who are saved may confidently, boldly and even publicly proclaim that we are guiltless before the Lord.

The reason is Christ. It is not because of any good thing that we have done but because of the perfect thing that Christ has done.

• The incarnation of Christ
• The righteous life of Christ
• The substitutionary death of Christ
• The victorious resurrection of Christ and
• The heavenly intercession of Christ

Insures that, because of Christ, we are guiltless before the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

To my reader:
I wonder, can you boldly, confidently and publicly proclaim that you are guiltless before the Lord? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

2 Samuel 3:27-29 (KJV) I Am Guiltless

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

2 Samuel 1:14-16 (KJV) Dying with Dignity

2 Samuel 1:14-16 (KJV)
And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed?And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD’S anointed.

Life is so precious that, even though Saul was wounded and (he thought) would surely die at the hands of the enemy, David required the life of the Amalekite that assisted in Saul’s death.

In a day when “death with dignity”, “dying with dignity,” otherwise known as assisted suicide,  is a popular idea, it would be wise to take a fresh look at this passage:

• Every human is the Lord’s anointed 
• Every human has life from God
• Every human life is valuable 
• Every human, one day, will face an enemy he believes he cannot defeat, therefore

Every other human should see his role as helping the one defeat his enemy and not helping the enemy defeat him.

To help a person die with dignity is to put their blood on your hands.

To my reader:
I do not mean to sound harsh but only to reflect the teaching of the Bible. If you are suffering I would love to hear from you and pray for you. Leave comments below.

2 Samuel 1:14-16 (KJV) Dying with Dignity

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

Matthew 13:2-3 (KJV) Qualities of the Harvest

Matthew 13:2-3 (KJV)
And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 

I love the contrast in this scene. Jesus is in a boat talking about sowing seed. It is a foreshadowing of what is to come because later in the chapter He will be on land talking about fishing.

Jesus uses these two well-known earthly occupations as parables to illustrate what is both the heart of God and the work of the Christian. We are to gather in produce.

The wheat of the field and the fish of the sea represent the souls of men and women for which the Lord is interested.

• Both have life but harvesting brings to death
• Both are harvested only with great effort 
• Both have harvests that include something profitable and something unprofitable 
• Both are really out of human hands. 

We use the tools we have and experience we gain to improve our yield but can never guarantee our yield.

To my reader:
Are you a Christian? Have you been actively engaged in reaching the souls of men and women for Christ? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

Matthew 13:2-3 (KJV) Qualities of the Harvest

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

Matthew 12:5 (KJV) Are You Blameless?

Matthew 12:5 (KJV)
Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 

The Bible says, and Jesus endorsed it as true, that the priest doing what was unlawful outside the Temple on the Sabbath, was blameless doing the very same thing inside the Temple.

• We who have been born again are priests made so by Christ
• We, who have been born again dwell in the Temple which is the body of Christ therefore 
• We who have been born again are blameless before God.

This is not to say we are excused from righteous living. The Bible does not allow for even the existence of a person being righteous before God who isn’t anxious to live out that righteousness in life. This is a picture instead of the difference between the lost and the saved.

• For the lost, even his acts of righteousness condemn him. 
• For the saved even his lapses into the old nature cannot condemn him

To my reader:
What a blessing to be blameless in the eyes of the Lord! Tell me, have you come to Christ and received from Him that salvation which He promises? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

Matthew 12:5 (KJV) Are You Blameless?

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1 Samuel 30:5 (KJV) How David Handled Hurt

1 Samuel 30:5 (KJV)
And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

David was in a place in his life he really shouldn’t have been. Fear had driven him to Gath and it was while there that the village where he and his followers dwelt was attacked. I saw a picture of a church sign that said, “Sometimes bad things happen because we do really dumb things.” David had done one of those dumb things.

But David was still a man after God’s own heart and there is much to learn from him here:

He wept and was in distressGrieving is a healthy and sensible thing to do. David had two loved ones who had been captured. His men had had many more. It was necessary to grieve and it was necessary for David to grieve with them.

He sought counselRather than rashly taking after the culprits he sought counsel from two sources the priest and the Lord. Technically he only sought the priest in order to seek the Lord but that should be true of us as well; we go to the pastor to take us to the Bible.

He pursuedHe took action. There was a time for weeping and a time for praying. Then there was a time to correct the situation.

We can do the same when we need:

• Grieve when it is right
• Pray and get counsel before acting rashly
• Take action to correct your life

To my reader:
Have you been hurt? How are you dealing with the pain? I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

1 Samuel 30:5 (KJV) How David Handled Hurt

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Matthew 11:4 (KJV) Go, Show Again

Matthew 11:4 (KJV)
Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 

This passage is rich with benefit for the believer. The character of Christ, the nature of man, and the importance of John the Baptist are all here. There is also a hint at the sort of ministry the Christian has toward those around them.

When John had doubts Jesus’ response was “Go and shew John again…” Go, show and again.

GoThe Christian is to be active. Evangelism, discipleship, encouragement and edification ought not be passive events in the Christian life. We should be busy about this business.

ShewJesus told them to show John again the things which ye do hear and see. You don’t have to make up something you don’t know; just show them what you have heard and seen in your faith.

AgainThis may be the hardest part for us. We feel like everyone has already heard and we don’t have anything new and earthshaking to tell them. Perhaps we have already told them personally all that we know.

Jesus said “Go, show him again.”

To my reader:
Every Christian can witness to the unsaved, encourage the doubters and minister to growing believers. Just go and show them again what you have been hearing and seeing, as you walk with the Lord. I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

Matthew 11:4 (KJV) God, Show Again

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Matthew 10:1 (KJV) Faith in Christ and No Other

Matthew 10:1 (KJV)
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

I am focusing on the references to Christ through the pronouns in the verse:

When He had called…That’s authority

Unto Him…That’s location nowhere else

His twelve…That’s possession

He gave them…That’s power

The Christian faith is faith in Christ and no other. Sometimes we forget that and make it about everything and everyone else, but it is only Christianity when it is only about Christ.

To my reader:
Life would like to distract you from Christ. Don’t let it happen. Keep your eyes on Jesus! I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

Matthew 10:1 (KJV) Faith in Christ and No Other

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

Matthew 9:14-17 (KJV) New Wine in New Bottles

Matthew 9:14-17 (KJV)
Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. 

We would do wrong to miss the connection between the question about fasting and the parable about new wine in new bottles.

These “disciples of John” were stuck in a middle ground spot between Old Testament Mosaic Law and New Testament Law of Christ. They had not come out of Judaism. They were, I believe, the Judaizers Paul contended with all his life and the Messianic Jews of modernity.

The message of Christ is that this new covenant required a new container with a new law. There would be fasting in the New Testament as there would be worship but it would not be the same as the Old. When Christ left this earth then believers entered a “new container”. Judaism, the synagogue and the Old Testament rituals were replaced with Christianity, the local Church and New Testament faith.

To my reader:
Paul wrestled all his life with those who attempted to marry the Old Testament with the New. There is a place for the Old Testament today, but it is not for our practice. It serves as an illustration and example. We are to come out of any system of religion that blends religious effort with faith in Christ. The Christian serves, but out of devotion and love, not in an effort to win righteousness before God. I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

Matthew 9:14-17 (KJV) New Wine in New Bottles

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1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV) Religious But Lost

1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV)
Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Whether this “familiar spirit ” was Samuel or a demon is a matter of question. Whichever it is changes the understanding of the passage but not the immediate result; Saul was going to die in this battle, as would his sons who were there in the battle. Saul’s disobedience had brought ruin to those who followed him.

If this was the spirit of Samuel then the message was that he would die and be not in heaven but hell.
At this time hell and Abraham’s bosom were next to one another and though a great gulf was fixed between them, communications from one to the other was possible. Some believe Saul to have been saved. It is true that judgment in this life is not synonymous with eternal hell in the next.

If the familiar spirit was a devil there were portions of his response to Saul that was true but great deception was his purpose.
Not all of Saul’s sons were killed because not all of them were at the battle. He would not die the next day but a few days hence. Saul is not with this spirit at death as the devils are not bound in hell (at least not those who could have communicated with Saul).

I personally see Saul as one who had been enlightened by the Spirit and drawn to the Savior but who had never come to trust Christ alone. He was religious but lost.

To my reader:
My greatest concern for the souls of men is that they, like Saul, are religious but lost. Heaven or hell is not based upon what you do, if or where you worship or how good you have been in your life. The Bible makes it very clear that heaven is attained only through personal saving faith in Jesus Christ.  I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV) Religious But Lost

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1 Samuel 26:10 (KJV) Faith, Patience and Confidence

1 Samuel 26:10 (KJV)
David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

David was not a perfect man and the very next chapter will chronicle what I believe to be one of his failures. But in this text we find what is one of David’s strongest qualities; that of trusting God when it’s it would be easier (for the moment) to take matters into his own hands.

For a second time Saul was delivered to David so completely that everyone would have thought it was God’s will for him to kill his enemy. This time one of his men offered to kill him for David and to do so in a manner that would respect the office of the king. Again David refused to harm the Lord’s anointed. David explained that he trusted God to remove Saul in His time.

The passage is:
A display of faithHe trusted God.

A demonstration of patienceHe would wait on the Lord.

A display of confidenceHe knew God would work because He knew God’s Word.

Faith, patience and confidence are all products of the knowledge of God’s Word.

To my reader:
In what areas of your spiritual life are you lacking? In what areas could you grow immediately? It is the practice of daily study of the Bible that begins that spiritual growth. I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

1 Samuel 26:10 (KJV) Faith, Patience and Confidence

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1 Samuel 24:4 (KJV) Sincere Counsel

1 Samuel 24:4 (KJV)
And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.

These were good men and they were sincere. Their advice to David seemed consistent with the promises of God and it seemed like their advice is justified in that Saul could have been killed here.

David knew better.

There is a difference between what seems to be consistent with the Bible and what is the Bible. We are to heed the Bible completely. We are under no such obligation with the advice of our companions, no matter how sincere and well meaning they are and no matter how much like the Word of God their counsel may seem to be.

Ultimately we, like David, are responsible for just two things:

• Obedience to the Word of God
• Worship according to the dictates of our own conscience.

1 Samuel 24:4 (KJV) Sincere Counsel

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.