Alive and Active

When we come out of any type of sin, we have to move on and share what we came out of. The enemy wants us to live in the rear view mirror. In 2nd Samuel 13, David's son Amnon lustfully falls in love with his half-sister Tamar. David should have stepped in, but because of his absence, Amnon is influenced by the wicked Jonadab. The Lord wants us to steward our family well and we need to make da...

In 2nd Samuel 12, David acknowledges his sin of sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah and he pleads that his son would stay alive. When he finds out that his son died, David gets up, washes, eats, and goes to worship the Lord. David recovered quickly and he comforted Bathsheba. When you understand how much Jesus loves you, you won't want to take advantage of Jesus. When we go out of bound...

In 2nd Samuel 12, God sends the prophet Nathan to convict David of his sin. David confesses his sin and pleads with God that his child would not die. David knew how much God loved him and after the child died because of the consequence of his sin, David gets up and worships the Lord. In our best and worst moments in life, we can go to the Lord and pour our hearts out to Him and we can be confident...

Psalm 51 is a heartfelt Psalm of forgiveness. David blames no one but himself for sleeping with Bathsheba and having Uriah murdered and he begs for God's forgiveness. David knew that his sin hurt God's heart and because of that, his heart was broken. But joy eventually comes and David no longer feels the guilt because the Lord forgave him and restored his fellowship with Him. When we sin...

In 2nd Samuel 12 the prophet Nathan comes to David and tells him a story about a rich man and a poor man and how the rich man came and stole the poor man's only possession, a ewe lamb. David is furious and says the rich man must die, but Nathan points out that David “IS THAT MAN!!!!”because he stole Bathsheba from Uriah and had Uriah killed. We can try to cover up our sin and run from it, but...

In 2nd Samuel 11, David continues to go deeper and deeper with his unconfessed sin of sleeping with Bathsheba. He tries to coax Uriah into coming back from war so Uriah would sleep with Bathsheba since she was already pregnant. After a couple of failed cover-ups, David finally resorts to having Uriah murdered. When we find ourselves trying to cover up our sins, we too will quickly find ourselves m...

Where do we go and what do we do when we get caught in our sin? We can't hide because God already sees it. We have to look under the hood and acknowledge our sin. As Christians we can't bench ourselves when we sin. When we sin, we don't lose salvation but we do lose fellowship with God. Jesus Christ restores our fellowship with God when we confess our sin, repent and get back on mis...

When it comes to sexual sin, we can either be on the side of prevention or on the side of cure. In 2 Samuel 11, David should have been at war, but instead, he allowed himself to lust after another man's wife.  Instead of fleeing from temptation, David used his power to get what wasn't his. We are called to flee and run when temptation comes our way. Put a stake in the ground against sexu...

There are two tests in life: the test of adversity and the test of prosperity. In order to pass both tests, we must allow Jesus to have full access to our lives. Our playbook of life SHOULD BE GOD’S WORD and when we follow that, we live with a biblical worldview.

In 2 Samuel 5, David became a more and more powerful King and the Lord was with him. Over the next few chapters, David has a string of victories and he defeats several opponents. But in chapter 11, King Davids disobedience catches up to him and he fails the test of prosperity when he sleeps with Bathsheba and then murders her husband Uriah while trying to cover up his sin.  How do we handle prospe...

In 2nd Samuel 2, David is anointed king over Judah. Abner who represented Israel, challenged David's men, specifically Joab, to a fierce battle as Abner was vying for leadership. As believers we can get caught up in battling our colleagues for rebound position, especially when we have a new boss or take on a new role at work. Instead of boxing out our own teammate, we should humble  ourselves...

Our love for the Lord should be reflected in how we speak to others. As Christians we should honor God and be humble servants of Jesus in all things. We need to protect our hearts and minds from things that aren't godly or we will end up using our tongues in ways that are ungodly. We can't praise God with our lips, but at the same time curse people. The love of Jesus and resting on in wh...

Proverbs 18 and James 3 both talk about controlling our tongues. We have to put in a tremendous amount of effort in changing how we speak and it starts with godly training. When we take in God's Word and we let it saturate in us, we can then speak life to others and edify them instead of tearing them down. We represent Jesus at all times and our mouths are a reflection of our hearts.

Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead and defeated death. Believers are born-again (John 3:3) by the Spirit of God. God has put all things under His authority. We have been transferred from death to life and God has spiritually adopted us as his child. If you are a Christian, you are living under supernatural power. Our labor in this world is not in vain with the Lord. Download Study Guid...

We “Get To” worship an ALIVE and RESURRECTED JESUS. Religion is man's attempt to reach God, but salvation is God coming down through Jesus Christ to reach man. Jesus died on a cross to fully pay for our sin, and he rose three days later and defeated death. It's not do more, try harder. It's dying to our old self daily. We get a new life from dying not trying. Trusting in Jesus Chris...

In 1st Samuel 20:17 Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again because Jonathan loved David as a brother. We experience true deep friendship with one another when we do life with them, go through the highs and lows with them, and learn how to express our true feelings with them. The end goal is to be conformed into the image of Christ and one of the ways we get there, is when we shar...

Wisdom is a skill set that we can develop through everyday training. We do this through our relationship with Jesus Christ since He is our firm foundation. In Proverbs 30, ants, rock badgers, locust, and lizards are all described as small but unusually wise, but those animals and insects teach us how to prepare, how to have a solid foundation, how to work together, and how to be opportunistic. As...

Jesus went across enemy lines and shed His blood to cleanse us from all sin. In 2 Samuel 23, David's mighty warriors risked their lives to cross enemy lines and bring back water that David longed for from his hometown of Bethlehem. David refused to drink the water because the water represented the men's blood. There was a culture of love with David and his men. The culture of love starts...

Colossians 3:23 tells us to "Work with all of your heart at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." No matter what job or hobby you have, you can live for the Lord in all things. Jesus Christ is our motivation and he was as tough as they come since he endured the brutal beatings and crucifixion. As followers of Jesus, we look to God's word s...

In the Bible, God uses the animal kingdom to teach us about wisdom. As powerful as lions are, God has given us human beings that are made in His image. Despite not looking the part, David was confident when he went against Goliath because he knew that God was with him. When opposition comes our way, we can look to Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith and he makes us more Christlike.

Joab was a mighty military warrior under David, but he was flawed because he sacrificed his morals and he did whatever it took by any means necessary to accomplish his purpose. As believers in Christ, we can't operate that way. We have to live differently and not follow the ways of the world. We are called to be Christ like and we can't let our circumstances determine how we live this li...

Kindness may be viewed as a weak thing, but it is a fruit of the spirit. In 2 Samuel 2, David showed kindness to his men and he looked out for their households because he cared deeply for them. Jesus showed us the ultimate kindness by sacrificing his sinless life for our sin filled life so that we may be restored with God and have eternal life. Download Study Guide Here

In Mark 10, blind Bartimaeus cried out to the Lord despite the opposition. Jesus stopped everything for Bartimaeus and He healed him and Bartimaeus followed Jesus. Do we let our circumstances or anything get in the way of our joy in Jesus Christ or do we get entangled in the affairs in this life? God uses circumstances for us to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes open, loo...

Brook Berringer, a highly skilled backup quarterback for the Nebraska Huskers was a winner on the field but he also faced incredible adversity. When Brook gave his life to Christ, his definition of success changed and now he offered his circumstances to the Lord. Brook believed in John 3:16, which says, "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believ...

In Matthew 18, the disciples asked Jesus, "who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" Jesus told his disciples that they must become like children and be humble. Jesus used a young boy to show what reliance on the Father looks like.  It's not where we've been in life, it's where we are going and we can humbly submit to our heavenly Father in all things. Download Study...