KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Wednesday, April 05, 2016
Chapters: 2 Samuel 19-21
Message: 2 Samuel: God Is Always Faithful

Hello My Friend,

Do you know what the most amazing thing about God is? No matter how many times we mess up, or how many times we question His methods, or how many times we do things against His will, He is always faithful. It seems like the past two weeks I barely spoke to God, and let me tell you, the longer you go without talking to God the more crazy thoughts you get in your head. As I was praying the other day I noticed something, the tree in my yard that had been blowing off dead leaves now has new leaves all over it, immediately I was reminded that God removes the dead things from our lives, but always replaces them with something new. At times, it seems as though we are very distant from God, but He is always faithful and He is always near, all we have to do is come to Him. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:11-13.

When David committed sin with Bathsheba he did not have that communication with God that he always had, in fact, it was the prophet Nathan who came and told him what was going to happen. David like many of God's faithful can lose communication with God, even though they confess their sin and are forgiven. I imagine this is because they know they sinned against God and still have guilt and shame over what they have done. But God is faithful, and once we humble ourselves to Him He is right there. We can learn a bit about God's faithfulness through David and Shimei, who was the one cursing David when he was hiding from Absalom. After David mourned over the death of his son and he got a wakeup call from Joab, David headed back to his palace, only to be stopped by Shimei on his way back.

“And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David. And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king. And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan; And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart. Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.” - 2 Samuel 19:16-19,23.

“that the king should take it to his heart.” If God took everything to heart that we said out of anger or grief none of us would be saved today. When we yell and complain to Him He knows it is because of the circumstances we are facing, He knows what we are going through and that we will find our way back to Him. Now, there are some people who do get angry and walk away from God completely, they in fact, get down right rebellious and hateful toward God. It is much easier to forsake God and turn to a life of shame than deal with the issues straight on, so they seem to think so. Let me tell you, anger and bitterness will destroy your life, unless you get a handle on it it will be the death of you. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.” - Psalms 37:8,9.

As soon as we get things right with God and start moving forward in the right direction, here comes the devil placing trials before us in an attempt to drag us back into sin. No sooner than David gets back to his palace, a man named Sheba starts another civil war.

“And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.” - 2 Samuel 20:1,2,6,15,16,22.

“but the men of Judah clave unto their king,” The world will always walk away from Christ, but those who are of His inheritance will cleave to Him. When we receive Christ and allow Him to live in and through us, even in our darkest hour we can see the Light. Circumstances try and often do separate us from Him, and at times, we can become distant with Him, but He knows who are His, He knows what we are going through, and He is always there for us. Christ promises to never leave nor forsakes us, all we need to do to find Him is listen for His voice.
“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” - John 10:15,16.

Sometimes God's distance has nothing to do with what we have done, but what others have done. No sooner than God delivered Israel out of the hands of Sheba a famine comes, it lasted three years, David seeks answers from God and finally is able to communicate with Him to find out what the problem was.

“Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.” - 2 Samuel 21:1-3,5-7.

“because of the LORD'S oath that was between them,” You know, once we receive Christ we are His forever, and no one can take us away from Him. Once we belong to Christ we belong to God, and nothing we do can change that. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” - John 10:27-30.

Jesus Christ Revealed: Today Jesus is revealed through David, who wished to be invited back as king (19:11). The only way Jesus will save us is if we invite Him in. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” - Romans 10:9,10.

Today's Prayer: God, Although I do not understand everything that You afflict me with, I do understand that You have a reason and a purpose for it and that You are faithful to me. Lord, give me Your strength to endure my trials, give me wisdom to handle these trials before me, and help me remove anything from my life that has no life in it . Give me Your power to trust, wait, and grow closer to You through these trials and keep me to looking to You for guidance in all my steps so that I can know how to handle them. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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