Scripture: 2 Samuel 12-13.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

2 Samuel 12:9-12 (NLT)

9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.

10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.

11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

When we disobey God’s laws and His commands we may tend to feel like no one knows about it, or no one will ever find out about it, or no one could possibly care about it. In this passage today we see the awful result of sin that began when David saw, wanted what he saw, forcefully got what he saw, and committed an act of sin by sleeping with Bathsheba, who was another man’s wife. This followed with David having to kill one of his best soldiers, Bathsheba’s husband. But friend, God didn’t let this go unnoticed. The results of David’s sin had long reaching effects on himself and on his family, including the death of the child he and Bathsheba conceived; his very own son committing a similar sin by forcing himself on his half-sister Tamar; then one of David’s sons killing his brother for his shameful act with his sister, and on and on and on. The bottom line is that God knows our every move, our every evil intention and every time that we disobey Him. Often the consequences are not pretty. Often the consequences result in long periods of what we may sometime call ‘bad luck’, but ultimately God is putting us in our place, and showing His displeasure with our actions. Many times we use the excuse “well no one is perfect”, and while that is a true statement, we who know Jesus, know the only One who is perfect. He has given us a book of instructions to help guide us towards a life of perfection. He told us in the New Testament that He even sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide and our comforter, and that He will be with us until the end. While there may be imperfections along the way, we must always keep our eyes focused on Jesus, always seeking the strength and guidance of the Comforter to help us along the way and to follow the commands of Jesus as given to us in His Word. Jesus wants us to be like Him, and that includes living without sin. When we sin we may be able to hide it from those around us, but my God is all knowing and we can’t hide a thing from Him. Where’s your heart today? If you’ve given it to Jesus, then He wants you to be like Him. If you’ve accepted the gift of Jesus to rule, direct and reign over your life, then I encourage you to do just that today, for He loves you more than anyone else and will do anything to show His love for those who are His. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, why not respond to this post today and let me pray with you and give you help and direction in this very important step? I want you to know my best friend!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father, thank You for loving me so much that You gave everything for me. Thank You for sending the Comforter to be my guide and my friend through each and every day, every temptation, every challenge and every trial. Satan is on the attack, but I am convinced today that You are greater and will guide me through this life to be like You. In the name of Jesus, I ask that today You keep me from sin, and that instead You fill me with Your love and compassion, so that I may reflect the true image of Christ to those that I have contact with. Someone will need encouragement, someone will need love and compassion shown towards them because of the challenges they are facing right now. May I be Your hands and feet today as I reach out to others, all for Your precious honor and glory?

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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