One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. —II Samuel 11:2-4 How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!… At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with…

“How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.” —II Samuel 7:22 “If you love me, keep my commands.” —John 14:15 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” —John 14:21 “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” —John 14:24 “Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.” —Psalm 119:33 “I will walk about in freedom,…

And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him. —II Samuel 5:10 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. —I John 14:12-14              Just as the Lord God Almighty was with David, so He is with us.  Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always,…

Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” —John 13:20              Jesus said… Yes, truly, Jesus said, “As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world” (John 17:18).  So, brothers and sisters, fellow followers/disciples of Jesus, we have been sent into the world to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).  Jesus was sent into the world to bring us the Good News— Himself.  Now we are to take Him to others.  If they accept the Jesus message we bring, then they accept Jesus. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord…

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. —John 12:23-26 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it…

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.  I look in triumph on my enemies.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. —Psalm 118:6-9              Can you say this? — “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?”  Do you have this confidence in our Lord?  Are you trusting Him like this?  Do you really believe that “The Lord is with me; he is my helper?”  God’s Word…

As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. —I Samuel 26:10-11              There are those who may want to or have harmed us in some way.  It may be our first inclination to retaliate somehow.  But remember, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).  If there truly needs to be action taken against the one who has harmed…

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”  “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man,…

The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep. But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David. He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the…

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.  As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go, “he told him, “Wash…