September 14, 2010

2 Samuel 10

“Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” When your back and front is against two armies, I guess you only have two options, 1) trust in the deliverance of the Lord, or 2) be cowardly and look for a different way out. Most people look for a different way out. It takes courage to stand in the face of overwhelming odds and trust solely upon Him. It takes courage to see the glory of the Lord and to trust only in His glory. Most people look at the odds and are cowed by its power. What if what the Lord designs for us is to not be delivered from the odds but be delivered through the odds? You see, many times, the Lord receives greater glory if we walk through the trials. But when we go through them, we get to experience first had the excitement of the revelation of His glory. Is the revelation of His glory worth the trouble. I believe Joab and Abishai would give a resounding, “Yes!” Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

2 Corinthians 7

Paul's confidence in the Corinthians rests in one thing, he has a glorious Lord who is leading them. The Corinthians had blown it in several areas. But the Lord brought them back. Paul trusted them because He trusted his glorious Lord! Man, they were one messed up church. In his first letter Paul records four different factions that were in the church. Many were belittling Paul's authority. They were boasting and fighting. They failed to exercise church discipline in a blatant case of immorality. They were taking each other to civil court to settle their disputes. They were failing to pursue constraint in behavior when it would cause the weak in faith to fall into sin. Wives were rejecting the authority of their husbands. There was drunkenness in the celebration of the Lord's table. The rich were despising the poor. The worship service was filled with disorderliness as a result of a misuse of the gifts. Some were even denying that there would be a resurrection of the dead! Most of us would have walked away from the situation. But Paul was confident in them. Why? Because he knew the glory of his Lord. He knew his Lord would bring the Corinthians back. And indeed, the Lord did bring them back. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John