Our Wonderful Gracious God

2 Samuel 14:14 – “…Yet doth He [God] devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.”

I have been a Christian for between seven-eight years now. I chose to give my life to the Lord when I was around sixteen years old. Since that time, I must sadly admit that I have not treasured the gift of salvation that the Lord has given me. Of course, I do not believe I have trampled the grace of God, at least not like a monster truck would a Pinto; but nonetheless, I have not been as grateful as I should be for the gift God has given me. Unfortunately, I am sure that I am not the only Christian that falls into this boat. So many of us Christians have sold the gift of God short. Yes, we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Yes, we obey His commands. But truthfully, we are not as thankful as we should be for His mercy and grace. In our passage today, we are given the chance to do just that.

In 2 Samuel 14, we read about a wise woman of Tekoa who pleads with David to allow his son Absalom to return to the kingdom. Absalom was the third son of David, who ended up murdering his half-brother Amnon for violating his sister Tamar. Absalom after committing the murder fled to another country for fear of his life. For three years, David had let Absalom live away from the kingdom never planning to restore him, although his heart longed to renew that relationship. After hearing from this woman, David then called Absalom back from exile but still kept his distance never allowing Absalom to enter into his kingdom until two more years later. The verse today from 2 Samuel 14:14 was part of the speech that the woman of Tekoa made to David to remind him that even our righteous God forgives and finds ways to restore those who have sinned against Him.

As I read this passage, this verse popped up to me, because it clearly showed me God’s mercy and grace. We as enemies of God, horrible sinners that constantly denied and rejected Him, were rescued by God through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. God allowed His Son to die for us so that we who were banished from Him would not be expelled forever but would instead be restored in our relationship. And even more so, God did not only forgive as David did in which he allowed his son to return but not enter his court, but God restored our relationship to the point where we can come and draw near to Him always. How gracious and merciful our God is! We deserved every bit of death, banishment, and hellfire for our sin, but God instead called us out of our exile and drew us near to Him in a manner of a son being drawn to his father. He took us from outcasted orphans to adopted children hidden underneath His wings. As disiciples of Jesus Christ, we must never forget how loving our God and Father is to us to not want any to persih but all to come to repentance.

If you today are still running away from Him, if you are still lost and in exile, return to Him for He is giving you an open invitation to have an intimate personal relationship to Him. If you are a Christian and sin has been running rampant in your life, remember that God wants to restore the separation you are now experiencing, so run back to Him. He longs for you, will you not fill that longing and return to Him?

Same God Lives In Us

Galatians 2:8 – “(For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship fo the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)”

There are tons of bible heroes as well as men and women from Christian history that we admire. We can look to Paul and his misisonary journeys and consider him one of the greatest Christians of all time. We can look at Peter and how he helped lead the church at its beginning stages and consider him an effective leader. We can look at Billy Graham today and all his crusades and the many people coming to Christ and consider him one of the greatest evangelists of all time. When we look at all these fellow Christians, we tend to feel overcome as if we are nothing compared to them. For some, this difference moves them to work harder and to grow closer to Christ, while for others, it only discourages them because it makes them think that they are nothing in the kingdom of God. But the latter would be so wrong!

In this verse today, we are reminded that the same God that lived in Peter, lived in Paul and was working in and through Paul just as He did through Peter. We have that same God who never changes but is the same yesterday, today, and forever; therefore, that same power that worked in Paul and Peter is also at work in us. WE have the same Spirit. We have the same Father. We have the same Savior. Let us not think that we are nothing, for we have Christ living in us just as well. We may not have the same gifts, but we can be just as effective in bringing glory to God in the place He has placed us, for He is living in us. If we will but allow Him to live out through us, just as in Galatians 2:20 states, “I am crucified with Christ: Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” The same Christ in the great Christians of faith is the same Christ in you, so buck up and live out your life for God, serve Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and be available at all times to be used by Him, for He is just waiting to be manifested through you.

More than You Could Ever Want

John 6:11 – “And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likeise of the fishes as much as they would.”

If you were the child of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, two of the wealiest men in the world, do you think you could get anything you wanted from them? Do you think you could convince them to buy you any of the newest gadgets or toys? Most likely not, and even if they were to spoil for being their child or grandchild, they would still have a limit to how much they could give you.  Too many of us forget that Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and God, can provide us as much as we would ever want and need. He never has a limit or a seal that will prevent you from taking more of Him.  We sell Him short, treating prayer as a grocery list of chores that need to be checked off for “prayed for” and forgotten, since we really dont ask with faith that God will give it to us. We don’t trust Him with our daily lives or for resting on His provisions for us.

In this passage, we find that Jesus is feeding five thousand men (plus women and children) with five loaves and two fishes. Jesus had no obligation to provide for these people, but He felt compassion for them and wanted to provide them with food especially after spending a long day listening to Him teach and speak. The interesting thing about this passage though is that it mentions that even for the fishes, the people could have “as much as they would.” It wasn’t only unlimited bread but unlimited fish as well, something that would have had to be caught if not for the miracle worked right in front of the people’s eyes.  They never needed to go hungry during that meal. They never needed to be conservative with their stomachs worrying that others would not have the chance to eat; instead they could have as much as they would. In a very similar manner, we as Christians need not worry that God will provide for us. He will provide for us richly all that we need to live and enjoy. God is willing and wanting to give us as much as we would and would pour out His blessings from heaven if we will only seek to prioritize and place HIm first. If we will ask Him not seeking to fulfill our own pleasures but God’s.  God owns the universe and can graciously give of all that belongs to Him to His children. He will not withold anything good from us, so come before Him, knowing that He will give you as much as you would ever want if you will but place your trust in HIm.