Wednesday, April 13, 2016

OT DAY 456 - True Wisdom Acts When God Calls (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

       The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
            you hold my lot.
         The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
            indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
                                     Psalm 16:5-6

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (2 Samuel 2:12-32)


       
        12 Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.16 And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. 17 And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
18 And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. 19 And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.
24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” 27 And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.            2   Samuel 2:12-28

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

    My Listening

          Why Saul's servants and David's servants fought and killed each others although they were both Israelites, God's people? Why David did not move to North right away after Saul died and let Saul's son Ish-Bosheth to be king for two years? We can learn from today's passage of how David's wisdom worked to unite the whole kingdom together in two years time. 

    Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

           Politically, David's position overlaps with that of the leader of an opposition group that has been seeking to overthrow the government. From the governments' viewpoint and now from the viewpoint of Saul's supporters, he is a terrorist. Because his base lies in Judah, where he comes from, that is where he goes for this first human anointing. It is a humanly shrewd move, but it is also one he consults God about. He does not immediately show his hand or show his face in Saul's heartland, further north, and chapter 2's story about the clash between forces loyal to Saul and forces loyal to David shows the wisdom in his caution. 
         
John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.118.

     Do you know what is true wisdom? Wisdom is when God says go, you go; when God says stay, you stay and when God says wait, you wait!

     That's wisdom! Do you have this kind of wisdom?
     First of all, do you have this kind of relationship with God as David had that you can hear from Him clearly?
     Second, do you have that kind of courage as David had that you are willing to act according to what you have heard?  I do hope David's experience can give you true wisdom.

      The wonderful thing is that this morning I finally acted on what I have heard for quite some time. I stopped running for more than half a year and without any exercise. God told quite a number of people to remind me of doing work out again but I kept on not listening.

     This morning during our 6:30a.m.Prayer Meeting I acted on what I have heard for months. I told our brothers and sisters this morning that from now on we are going to have a group work out every Thursday after our 6:30a.m. to 7:30a.m. Prayer Meeting. We will go to the new Richmond Community Centre just across the road to do work out from 8a.m. to 9:30a.m. every Thursday morning. Are you going to join us? 

    I truly believe that God wants us to have spiritual exercise and also physical exercise!

Dear Lord Jesus,
    Help us to be willing to take action of your call so that we can receive more wisdom from you.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Reflect on these questions:
   1. Have you heard from God and not acted lately?

2. Are you going to act now?

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

Praise and Thanksgiving

10,000 Reasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E


四十天的"破. 立"靈修:

如果你有 Android cel. 請按此處上載程式,可直接一按收聽最近之十次廣播:

破.立 Break.Build: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideal.bb.app


歡迎你使用三年三個月讀完新舊約聖經blog: 
     http://discipler123.blogspot.com/ 


Today is our 104 days non stop Morning Prayer Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. to 7:30a.m. Saturday 8a.m. to 9:45a.m., Sunday 7:30a.m. to 8:30a.m.


The offering of our First Fruit every morning have changed lots of things: unity, lifestyle, character …and many more!

Prayer sheet for our daily 6:30a.m. Copying the Bible to pray and 7a.m. Prayer Meeting today:






誰能使我們與基督的愛隔絕呢?

  大齋期四十日 "破。立"每日靈修,請按下面連結: http://breakbuild.blogspot.com/   楊平忠大主教領受 "使命113"異象之見證 Archbishop Yong’s MISSION 113 videos,...