Screwing up…it happens to the best of us, so repent and move on.

The mighty King David was called a “man after God’s own heart.” Considering that he lusted after his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery with her, and had her husband murdered, the Lord’s description of him is pretty amazing. How could a man who was convicted a murderer and an adulterer also be called one after God’s own heart?

Psalms 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

The answer is simple but easy: God did not see David according to the actions of his sinful ways, but according to the deepest motivations and ways of his heart and will. These were shown by David’s response to the conviction that Nathan the prophet brought on him; a conviction which brought immediate total confession and repentance, and a broken and sorrowful heart. This response showed the now humbled shepherd king’s walk with God throughout the entire journey of his life .

If, after David had fallen he made excuses, rationalized, or resisted the clear message of his sinfulness it would have been a totally different story. His heart would have revealed a self-justifying, self-righteous attitude with no realization of his absolute need for God’s mercy. This would have defeated and defined him as a man after his own heart. But the immediacy and completeness of David’s confession qualified him for the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, saving him from death and restoring him to that most treasured relationship of his life, his relationship with Jesus.

The consequences of his sin were very serious and followed David all the days of his life. But he demonstrated the genuineness of his repentance by never railing against God for the troubles which followed him as a consequence of his sin with Batsheva. David always rose up, submitted, and humbly praised God, writing wonderful psalms and pouring out his heart before the Lord. He served God and worshiped Him all his life. So the Lord God didn’t reckon David’s life by his fall – but by his walk, and by his heart.

We all stumble in many ways, but God does not define us by our failures. It’s our love for Him and our honesty before Him that reveals a true walk of faith! So if you fell, you messed up, your sin got the best of you, then come clean. Make your confession. Accept the consequences without complaining, allow the Lord to forgive and restore you completely, and continue on your journey with Him. That was David’s heart. His example is worthy to follow. May you also be one of those that lived their life “after God’s own heart!”

Dealing with the people who like to argue.

I have recently been faced with a person in my life who lives to argue. I am certain that this person would have a debate with a wall if nobody was around. The hard part is that they know how to push my buttons in ways that I never knew existed. Have you ever met someone like this? Someone who you honestly believe wants to fight and bicker? It’s a miserable feeling to be around them and can leave you wondering what the heck you should do. So what does the Bible say about it. Here’s a verse that is a good one in some cases:

Genesis 13:8-9 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.  Is not the whole land before you?  Let’s part company.  If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

I’m not saying that we should split from everyone that antagonizes us, but sometimes it’s better to part on civil and friendly terms than to wait around for another fight to start. Give yourself some room to let emotions cool and anger to recede. It’s probably the best thing you can do. Having said that, let’s look at the scripture below to see what the Bible says…

2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

 

2 Timothy 2:23-24 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord‘s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

 

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning,

 

Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

 

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

 

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

 

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Are you more concerned about money, or your soul?`This is a great read I ran across.

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also– Matthew 6:21

How you handle money reveals a lot about your spiritual condition. If your treasure is on earth and you are focused on accumulating more and more material things, it is evident there is a heart problem.

It is easy to be influenced by the world and therefore think like the world thinks. The prevalent attitude is, “this is my money, my house, my car; I can do with it what I please.” But you need to embrace a basic biblical truth and that is that God owns everything: “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

This truth should change your whole perspective. Everything that you have belongs to God and He is blessing you to enjoy it. In fact, if you are His child, you belong to him in a special way. Paul writes that you are not your own for you are bought with a price. Our body belongs to the Lord. Our mind belongs to Him, our time belongs to him, and certainly all that we possess really belongs to him.

While in most cases it is through work that we receive what we need to sustain us, it is God who gives us the power to get wealth. So as he provides a job and gives you the mind and body capable of doing what is required on the job, you must give thanks for what he has provided. You then should be a faithful steward of all with which you have been entrusted.

If you are a good steward, you will not live above your means, incur debts you cannot pay, or waste the resources you have been blessed to accumulate. Recognizing your role as a steward — a manager of what God has given you — will not deprive you of liberty, but will keep you from being enslaved by the love of money. If fact you will become a generous giver and find a great joy in knowing that God loves a cheerful giver.

Pride, it’s an ugly thing

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

The world, and even a lot of Christians, have become more concerned about their opinion and egos over compassion and concern for others. I look at today’s verse and wonder how many people truly follow this to the letter. We see what was once a unified body of believers now split up into so many denoinations that we fight over the silliest of “Doctrines” that have nothing to do with our Salvation. We have people willing to hurt and act out in name calling over a political part rather than to be polite because they feel their team is right, while so many people suffer because of a stalemate in congress. It’s just gotten to the point of being something I’m sure that God is weeping in heaven about.

This morning I saw something posted on Facebook that I disagreed with. My first instinct was to post something that contradicted it (a nice way of saying I wanted my opinion heard), but the Holy Spirit stopped me just in time because He knew that it would put the other person in a place that they felt they would have to defend their position, and most likely an argument would ensue. The verse that He laid on my heart was, “2 Timothy 2:23-24 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.”

If we really KNOW that we’re right about something, then we don’t need to shove it down someone elses throat. Now there are times, like defending the name of Jesus, that there are exemptions to this rule, but that’s for a later discussion. I’m talking about having the Spiritual Maturity to smile and love a person even though deep down inside we want to disagree with them over something that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes, but believe me when I say it’s for the better. Be the bigger person and swallow your pride when it comes to wanting to place yourself above others.