II Samuel 11:1-5 (KJV) Says, "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house."
In the above passage of scripture King David gives into temptation, and it results in his having a moral failure. Notice that we are told that at a time when kings normally go to war David opted to send Joab, his servants, and all Israel off to war while he remained at home. The second thing we should note is that while at home David had plenty of idle time. He spent this time doing things such as laying on the bed, and walking around on the roof of his house. We must be careful that we don't allow to much idle time in our lives allowing Satan plenty of opportunity to tempt us.
As David is walking around on the roof of his house he notices Bathsheba bathing, and he finds her very beautiful. He should have resisted temptation, and left the roof immediately upon laying eyes on her, but instead he stood and watched her bath in awe of her beauty. This was a huge mistake that served only to cause David to become weaker in resisting the temptation, and stronger in his fleshly desire for Bathsheba. Instead of walking away, David sent someone to inquire about who she was, and discovered not only who she was, but that she was indeed married to a man named Uriah.
David's fleshly desire consumed him to the degree that he ordered Bathsheba's husband Uriah to the front lines of battle in hopes that he would be killed leaving David free to take Bathsheba for his wife. As David had ordered, Uriah was sent into battle and was killed. David then took Bathsheba to be his wife.
David had found it more and more difficult to resist the temptation of this beautiful woman so much so that he graduated from lusting after her from the rooftop to having her brought before him. When she was brought before David he sinned further in that he was with her, and she conceived a child.
The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David that because of his sin in sending Uriah to battle in order to have him killed so he could take his wife, the child that Bathsheba was carrying would die. The child later got very ill, David fasted and prayed throughout the sickness, but just as Nathan had prophesied the child died.
It is imperative that we resist temptation the moment we are faced with it. When we allow Satan to convince us that a little of this or a little of that won't hurt we are setting ourselves up for moral failure. Many tragedies came to David secondary to his not walking down off of that roof the moment he saw Bathsheba, and realized how beautiful he thought she was. He should have resisted the temptation and simply walked away. If he felt the temptation was more than he could bare then he should have called on the Lord to give him the strength to resist it. Just think, had he walked away the moment he felt tempted it would have been pleasing to the Lord, Bathsheba and Uriah would have remained happily married, Uriah would not have lost his life, and David would not have suffered the heartache and pain of losing his child.
I encourage you to resist temptation the moment you feel tempted to commit an action that you know does not fit who you are as a follower of Jesus Christ. Don't allow Satan to lie to you, and convince you that some behavior you know to be sin is small. There is no rating scale for sin that goes from great to small. Sin is sin. I urge you to call on the Lord asking him for the strength to resist any temptation you feel is too great for you to handle alone. Don't make the mistake David made, when you find yourself facing temptation instead at first recognition of it simply walk away. I have no doubt that David wished he had.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Little Faith
Matthew 6:30 (KJV) Says, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 8:26 (KJV) Says, "And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? And then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."
In the above verses of scripture we find examples of Jesus warning people about demonstrating little faith. He makes it clear to us in Matthew chapter six that even those who have few possessions should not fall prey to worrying and become anxious about there needs being met. When we become anxious and worry as to whether or not our needs will be met, we are failing to trust God and we become distracted from faithfully doing his will. Jesus tells us that even the poor among us should not worry about what they will eat, drink, or wear and he uses nature to demonstrate his point. He makes it clear that he provides for nature so he will certainly provide for us, when we are living in his will. Therefore, to become anxious and worry about our needs being met when we are living in God's will, is to distrust God, and to demonstrate that we are of little faith.
Satan puts doubt, anxiety, worry, and other like thoughts into our minds in an attempt to cause our faith to waver and hopefully lead us away from God and our service to him. We must be mindful of this and rebuke him and his lies, and remain steadfast and strong in our faith. Remember Satan roams to and fro looking for individuals to devour, and that he is the father of lies. As we see in Matthew 8:26 (KJV) the disciples who were on a ship with Jesus demonstrated little faith when they became afraid because the sea grew extremely rough in a storm. Jesus was on the ship sleeping, and they woke him up professing that they needed him to save them because they were about to perish. As we see above he responds to them by asking them why they are afraid, and he tells them they are of little faith. The fact that the disciples allowed themselves to become so afraid for their lives secondary to a storm knowing Jesus himself was on the ship makes clear how weak in the flesh mankind can be.
When we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, we must remember who God is. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and sovereign over all things. Don't allow anything to take your eyes off of him and cause you to waver in your faith. God doesn't promise us that we won't face trials, temptations, and go through storms in our lives, in fact he tells us that we will. He does promise us that he will never leave us nor forsake us, and friends he has never broken nor will he ever brake a promise. It is easy to proclaim our faith and remain steadfast in it when we are standing on top of a mountain in life. That is great, but we should also proclaim our faith and remain steadfast in it when we find ourselves in a valley. Remember to trust God and to be of great faith in all your circumstances. He is the same no matter the weather.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
In the above verses of scripture we find examples of Jesus warning people about demonstrating little faith. He makes it clear to us in Matthew chapter six that even those who have few possessions should not fall prey to worrying and become anxious about there needs being met. When we become anxious and worry as to whether or not our needs will be met, we are failing to trust God and we become distracted from faithfully doing his will. Jesus tells us that even the poor among us should not worry about what they will eat, drink, or wear and he uses nature to demonstrate his point. He makes it clear that he provides for nature so he will certainly provide for us, when we are living in his will. Therefore, to become anxious and worry about our needs being met when we are living in God's will, is to distrust God, and to demonstrate that we are of little faith.
Satan puts doubt, anxiety, worry, and other like thoughts into our minds in an attempt to cause our faith to waver and hopefully lead us away from God and our service to him. We must be mindful of this and rebuke him and his lies, and remain steadfast and strong in our faith. Remember Satan roams to and fro looking for individuals to devour, and that he is the father of lies. As we see in Matthew 8:26 (KJV) the disciples who were on a ship with Jesus demonstrated little faith when they became afraid because the sea grew extremely rough in a storm. Jesus was on the ship sleeping, and they woke him up professing that they needed him to save them because they were about to perish. As we see above he responds to them by asking them why they are afraid, and he tells them they are of little faith. The fact that the disciples allowed themselves to become so afraid for their lives secondary to a storm knowing Jesus himself was on the ship makes clear how weak in the flesh mankind can be.
When we find ourselves in the midst of a storm, we must remember who God is. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and sovereign over all things. Don't allow anything to take your eyes off of him and cause you to waver in your faith. God doesn't promise us that we won't face trials, temptations, and go through storms in our lives, in fact he tells us that we will. He does promise us that he will never leave us nor forsake us, and friends he has never broken nor will he ever brake a promise. It is easy to proclaim our faith and remain steadfast in it when we are standing on top of a mountain in life. That is great, but we should also proclaim our faith and remain steadfast in it when we find ourselves in a valley. Remember to trust God and to be of great faith in all your circumstances. He is the same no matter the weather.
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
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