2 Samuel 22:7 (KJV) He Will Hear and He Will Help

2 Samuel 22:7 (KJV)
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

It is worth noticing that, even though David trusted in the Lord, he still faced distressing circumstances and he did stress over them. Wherever did we get the idea that living for God, trusting Him, means He will remove all troubles from us? Trusting Him means 

• He will go through them with us
• He will comfort us in them
• He will guide us so that we have the means to get through them

David experienced multiple times of distress. Some of them were of his own making, many of them were not. When He was in distress, he said he cried to his God. He brought: 

• His pain and trouble, 
• His concerns and problems, 
• His heartbreak and fears to God 

and God heard him. 

God will hear us too. If we cry out to him instead of reacting to the circumstances, He will hear and He will help. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

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2 Samuel 22:7 (KJV) He Will Hear and He Will Help

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2 Samuel 20:11 (KJV) For David

2 Samuel 20:11 (KJV)
And one of Joab’s men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.

I don’t trust anything Joab does or says. His purpose does not, it seems to me, ever really support David but only in how David might advance himself. His killing of Amasa seems cowardly and unprofessional. 

Still, Amasa’s procrastination had caused great damage to David’s cause and had to be addressed. David had not ordered Amasa’s death but did order his replacement. No one needed to favor Joab but they ought to have been for David.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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2 Samuel 20:11 (KJV) For David

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Luke 7:42 (KJV) Frankly Forgiven

Luke 7:42 (KJV)
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

The term frankly forgave derives from the word charisma or grace. 

• He graciously forgave
• He forgave as a favor

He chose to forgive not because the offending party deserved forgiveness or in any way had earned it. This forgiveness was freely, completely and absolutely based on the grace of the one forgiving. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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Luke 7:42 (KJV) Frankly Forgiven

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2 Samuel 19:2 (KJV) Mourning Victory

2 Samuel 19:2 (KJV)
And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.

I think David is on the right track and Joab is the one in the wrong. Some victories ought to be mourned – maybe most of them. 

We are glad we won the America Revolution, the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. We are not glad we had to fight them. We are not glad of the sinful state of man that leads to war. We are not glad for the lives lost to secure the victory. There are families today still mourning the losses of the victories of the World Wars. There are families that will grieve the losses of every conflict for the rest of their lives. 

Is this not also a spiritual principle? We grieve for those who are lost to Jesus Christ, lost to Biblical truth and lost to our churches. When a brother or sister must be put away, it is for the benefit of the church. This does not mean we celebrate but rather pray for reconciliation one day. 

Joab is a symbol of bitterness, vengeance, and retribution. None of these are the characteristics of godliness. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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2 Samuel 19:2 (KJV) Mourning Victory

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2 Samuel 18:29 (KJV) The Heart After God

2 Samuel 18:29 (KJV)
And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

What a difference there is in the heart of a rebel and the heart after God. 

In 2 Samuel 17:2-3, Absalom was more than willing to smite his own father. 
His wicked heart held no compassion. Though he had won the hearts of the people through feigning love for them, the truth was, he had no interest in them but only revenge. He had learned to hold a grudge until he was able to act on it with his brother, Amnon. He attempted the same with his father. 

David, on the other hand, had compassion and concern for his son even through his rebellion.
Though a battle was necessary,[1] David sought the security of his son. 

The heart after God is always a heart of compassion. It will do what is necessary, but it will always seek restoration and reconciliation. 

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[1] At least a defensive battle. Absalom didn’t merely want the throne, he wanted David.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
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2 Samuel 18:29 (KJV) The Heart After God

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Luke 5:11 (KJV) Remain Faithful

Luke 5:11 (KJV)
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Over the years I have witnessed countless numbers do much the same. For their love of the Lord, they have forsaken careers, friends, and family in order to follow the Lord. Some of them have gone on to be pastors and missionaries. Some have been faithful church members whose lives were turned right side up through Jesus. 

But I am reminded that, much later in the account, Simon considered returning to his ships and old way of life. I’ve seen that happen too. Peter forsook his boats but didn’t sink or sell them. 

It would be wise for the Christian, who has paid a price for his faith, to remember how easy it is to slip. When things don’t go as we plan, we can get disillusioned. 

• Forsake all 
• Follow the Lord and 
• Remain faithful 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Luke 5:11 (KJV) Remain Faithful

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2 Samuel 14:19 (KJV) Let Him Lead

2 Samuel 14:19 (KJV)
And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

Joab’s loyalty to David was for personal motives. David knew it and, though he used Joab, he never trusted him. He saw right through this woman’s act to Joab. 

Because of Joab’s involvement, I doubt that it was a good idea to bring Absalom back. For whatever reason, David knew he should not return. I understand that all that happened was chastening for David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. But I also see that, had Joab kept out of it, Absalom could not have: 

• Won the hearts of the people
• Led a rebellion against David and
• Died in the battle

All of that is on Joab. 

Sometimes a leader’s decisions may not make sense. They may appear to be petty and even wrong. 

Sometimes it’s just best to let him lead as he is led.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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2 Samuel 14:19 (KJV) Let Him Lead

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Luke 3:1-2 (KJV) We Believe the Bible

Luke 3:1-2 (KJV)
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

Recently I listened to a message that addressed, not this passage, but Luke 2:1-2. The pastor pointed out that archeology has found no record of this order for taxing. He then assured his congregation that modern archeology constantly makes discoveries confirming the Word of God.[1] He said he had no doubt but that one day they would discover evidence of this taxing. But he said, even if they don’t, we believe the Bible. 

One of the evidences of the truthfulness of the Bible is in passages like Luke 2 and Luke 3. There is such detail in these dates that the recorders of them were either confident in the dates or else they were buffoons to not realize that making up events like this would destroy the veracity of their work. The dating is meant to verify the writing. The penmen, aware of their times, were comfortable recording these dates with such detail because they knew them to be true. Modern skeptics, though supposedly educated, have no real knowledge of those days except what they find in ancient writing. The only reason to question dates recorded in the Word of God is that they refuse to accept the message of the Word of God. 

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[1] I would also point out that archeology has never made a discovery disproving any portion of the Bible.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

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Luke 3:1-2 (KJV) We Believe the Bible

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Luke 2:39 (KJV) No Contradiction Here

Luke 2:39 (KJV)
And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

Matthew chapter 2 provides at least a couple of years, probably more, to the account of the early years of Christ, Joseph, and Mary.

• They were visited by the wise men while in Bethlehem 
• They stayed in Bethlehem until Jesus approached two years old
• They fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of the children in Bethlehem 
• They returned to Nazareth only after hearing of Herod’s death

The account in Luke seems to take them right from eight days old to Nazareth. I do not see any contradiction here. I see, instead, a different perspective. We get the fuller account by harmonizing all four Gospels, but we get to focus on different parts of the account when we limit to one or another of the gospels. They are each equally true. There is no error in studying one without adding what the others give to us. 

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4700 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Luke 2:39 (KJV) No Contradiction Here

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.