Alive and Active

When our thinking is off, we should seek the Lord and ask Him for wisdom. When our eyes are fixed on Jesus Christ, our thoughts will be taken captive. (2 Corinthians 10:5). Our old life was full of sin, but we now have a new life centered on Jesus Christ.

In this new year, we can rest in our new life in Jesus while trusting in His promises. We should remind fellow believers of our new life and we should keep moving the chains for Christ and proclaiming Him to all. We keep advancing God's kingdom even on an Earth that boos us. As believers, we will suffer, but we can have joy in the Lord because He has overcome all things.

1 John 5 tells us that everyone who believes hat Jesus is The Christ The Son of God has eternal life in heaven. When we accept the free gift that Jesus offers us, we can know for sure that we have eternal life. Collisions will happen in life, but Jesus has overcome the world and our future is secure in Him. This is the Good News of The Gospel that Jesus offers us. Do you know Christ Jesus as your...

Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers were Hall of Fame football players for the Chicago Bears. They were incredible players despite being on a very mediocre team. As believers, we are called to be marvelous and to shine brightly for Christ, no matter the direction that the culture goes. We can't blend in with a mediocre culture because we have been set apart by the Holy Spirit to shine brightly in a d...

Joab rebelled against David's command and he killed David's son Absalom. As Christians, we need to spend time with the Lord and get God's take on whatever issue we are dealing with so that our thinking is right. We must go to God and ask for wisdom no matter the circumstance. We can either be like the young man who followed his chain of command in 2 Samuel 18, or we can be like Joab...

In 2 Samuel 18, David commanded his men to not harm his son Absalom. Joab took things into his own hands and he rebelled against that order. As Christians, we need to be teachable and we need to make sure that we respect the chain of command in our lives. We operate out of a biblical worldview and we must let the word of God guide us.

In 2nd Samuel 17, Absalom finds the advice of Hushai is better than that of Ahithophel. The Lord was the one who caused Absalom to have bad advice. Absalom didn't realize that Hushai was an advocate of David. As believers, we can trust in God's sovereignty even if the odds are against us and we must live in the paint with the Lord.

2 Samuel 16 describes how Ahithophel is giving Absalom bad advice. David had refreshed himself and he was now thinking right and keeping his eyes up and looking to the Lord. The Lord was the one who was frustrating the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom. As Christians we need to be able to discern what is godly advice and what is worldly advice. God is sovereign and th...

What is our aim in life? The world will rapidly change around us, but as believers, our aim has to be on the Lord Jesus Christ who never changes. David could have gotten immediate revenge in 2 Samuel 16, but he refreshed himself in the Lord. David had the right aim in life. Do we?

David is trying to figure out who he can trust and who is for real. God’s sovereignty is at play as David leaves town and prays for wisdom. In 2 Samuel 16, David realized that Ziba, whom he thought was a friend, was actually throwing Mephibosbeth, Sauls grandson, under the bus. Later, Shimei threw stones at David and cursed him, but David remained calm and he knew that God was in control and His t...

Absalom has stolen the kingship from David and David is being run out of town. David has a mix of fickle and faithful people in his life. In 2 Samuel 15, Absalom conspired for a rebellion, but people like Zadok, Abiathar, and Ittai pledged their support for David. However, one of David's counselors named Ahithophel, joined Absalom. We must remember that God is sovereign and He works all thing...

Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will." Our lives are like jigsaw puzzles where one piece connects to another piece, which connects to another piece, until all the pieces are connected. Sometimes we might get frustrated when things aren't working out as we think they should, but we must remember that God...

In 2nd Samuel 16, David is escaping from town since Absalom had stolen the hearts of the people. Shimei used to be a big fan of David when he was King, but now he curses David and hits him with stones. David knew how to handle fickle fans like Shimei. There's going to be fickleness and faithfulness but we must look to the sovereignty of God.

As believers, how do we react when plans change and interruptions come our way? Jesus Christ routinely was interrupted but he always got back to the truth. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever and his character does not change. We need to be heavy on the truth and light on our feet so we can adapt to whatever comes our way.

In Psalm 3, we see how David responded when he fled from his son Absalom. David called out to the Lord and the Lord answered him and sustained him. The Lord wasn't going to let David fall flat on his face. The Lord met David and He lifted his head high. Our performance isn't what the Lord looks at. His perfect love covers us and we can be people who help lift others up when they are goin...

2 Samuel 15 describes how David is being kicked out of Jerusalem. In the midst of the embarrassment and sadness from leaving his kingship, David goes to the Lord and he is greatly encouraged by Him. Psalm 3 details how the Lord is David's shield and it is the Lord who lifts his head high. The Lord sees our pain and our tears and we can be encouraged in the Lord just like David was. The Lord w...

In 2nd Samuel 15, Absalom begins to strategically steal the hearts of the people so he could become King. As leaders and believers, we can't stick our heads in the sand when things get tough, and we can't take on the role of being a cheerleader instead of an umpire. Absalom took advantage of the people and his conspiracy grew. We have to hold each other accountable, we ourselves must be...

King David's family was spiraling  out of control and he had to do something with his family. As Christians, when we face tough situations we need to be people who have solutions and who are ready to act. David should have stepped up and intercepted the conflict within his family instead of leaving Absalom to plot his conspiracy for kingship.

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, the men of Issachar understood the times and they knew exactly what Israel should do. Sometimes as parents, hard things will happen in life and we need to be ready to adjudicate those things with godly wisdom. King David was not involved with his sons like he should have been. Regardless of the situation, our hope is in Christ and we can take heart and be of good cheer becau...

Can we be trusted with the time, talent, and treasures that the Lord has given us while we are on Earth? Our hearts are desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and we all have blind spots. The only way to clean up our blind spots is to be in the scriptures. The Lord wants to change our lives so that we can help change others, just like He did with Joni Erickson Tada. As we endure suffering, we are to b...

In Psalm 139, David asks God to search him and know his heart and to test him and know his anxious thoughts. As believers, we need to continuously go to the Lord and have him search us like David asked in Psalm 139. We know that the end times are near so we must prepare and choose to trust God and His word.  When we let the Lord search our heart, it's like a grand slam because if we confess,...

Time doesn't heal all wounds. Healing comes from the Lord. Ephesians 5 tells us to live wisely and make the most of every opportunity. How do we spend our time after we have been hurt by others? We can allow the Lord to redeem our time for His glory. When we follow Jesus, we will take on numerous collisions, but we have to get back up because Jesus wants to do so much with your life. Go to th...

The commissioner, God, has given us His rule book, the Word of God, and He entrusts us to make calls of balls or strikes, and follow the rule book with accuracy. King David failed to discuss the difficult things in his family. In 2 Samuel 13, David failed to jump in and speak up when Absalom plotted the murder of his brother Amnon. Judgment starts in our home and judgment has to be dealt with at h...

We can be constantly praying for our kids, but sometimes our kids might go off the path. Sometimes that's part of God's sovereignty, but we can still have hope that even if things don't look great. The game is not over yet. Luke 15 shows us the character of God in the story of the prodigal son. Even though the son had sinned greatly against his father and had used all the wealth, it...

There are many crafty men in this world just like Jonadab who want to influence our children in negative and unbiblical ways.  We are the primary Bible teachers for our kids and we need to make sure that we are maximizing the time we have with our children since the window of having them under our roof  is only open for a short time. Pour into your family and don't let work or anything else l...