OT DAY 464 - God's Severe Punishment, God's Abundant Grace (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

       For it is you who light my lamp;
            the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

         For by you I can run against a troop,

            and by my God I can leap over a wall.

                                     Psalm 18:28-29

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 12:16-25)

English(ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=撒+母+耳+記+下+12&version=ESV

       

       16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

      24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him25 and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,because of the Lord.

          2   Samuel 12:16-25

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"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

    My Listening

          When God pours down His punishment, you do not want to know because it might be terrible. What happened to David is a classic example of what God would do if someone commit a serious sin. Yet, we can also see the grace of God in the midst of David's sin. 

    Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Goldingay) :

           That God's action is a judgment on David is reflected in the way the story goes on to describe David's reaction to the boy's sickness. How can God be so stony hearted as to refuse to respond to David's fasting and prayer? "With difficulty," I guess is the answer. Often the Old Testament portrays God showing mercy when people do not deserve it. Indeed, this story is an example; David deserves to die for what he has done, and his continuing to live issues from God's grace…
           Bathsheba's conceiving is a sign that God has not abandoned David and his line. At this point, David and Bathsheba do not know, but the readers of the story know, that the child she conceives is the person who actually will succeed David and in whom those promises in 2 Samuel 7 will be fulfilled. God's love for this child relates not to him as an individual but to the fact that he is the son who will eventually succeed David. 

   

John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.149-150.

       Lots of time we just want to know and to experience God's grace and do not want to think about God's act of punishment. How can the message of this passage gives us enough warning before we dare to sin next time, that is the question? How can we enter into God's grace and love but not ignoring His grace and love to step into the trap Satan plans so well for us, that is another question? 

Dear Lord Jesus,

    Help us to know that you have given us a warning today and may this warning serves as the alarm system in our house protecting us from Satan's stealing, killing and destroying.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Reflect on these questions:

    1. Could you count God's blessings of how many times he showed forth His grace to you in spite of how you sinned?

2. How could today's message helps you to set up your alarm system for your soul? This is the work of the Holy Spirit!

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

Praise and Thanksgiving

10,000 Reasons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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Today is our 116 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 8a.m. Copying the Bible to pray and 9a.m. Prayer Meeting last Saturday. We had 78 people, a new record: