“David, you may know the pleasure of having a child by whom this church will be built. Not thru your work, but through your child the dream will be fulfilled.”. It isn’t God’s judgment that’s coming on David as a consequence of wrong.

It is just God’s redirecting David’s plan and pronouncing, “This is a great resolve, but I say ‘no’ to you and I say ‘yes’ to your boy.

Well, was David not right to begin with—wrong in thinking about building the temple? It’s an issue of accepting God’s “no” and living alongside the poser of His will. And we predict God to package His plan for us just like we would. We’d like the logic that we use to be His logic. And when it’s not, we wonder what is wrong as it’s not working out like we might have worked it out. When God asserts no it isn’t always discipline or refusal. You have pursued His will ; you have wished to do His will.

With all good inclinations you announced, “By God’s grace I’m going to follow this.” And here you are, 30 or 40 years on, or perhaps only 5 years after, and it has not materialized. Now if you hear some folks, you can be put on a guilt-trip.

“You see there,” they are saying, “you set your heart on God, but you have run from Him. Maybe the road they’re traveling is God’s will for them, and it took His exclaiming “no” to get them on that right road. The thing we have got to do in our walk with the Lord God is to listen punctiliously from daily.

David brought the ark of Almighty God up to Jerusalem and back to the people of Israel. It had started to trouble him the ark of Almighty God was in a tent while he lived in a gorgeous house. So he got the concept in his mind to build an abiding residence for God in which to house all of the sacred furniture. David recounted, “It isn’t fitting the king should live in this beautiful cedar dwelling and the ark, the presence of Jehovah himself, should be in a little tent out there. Now I would like to emphasise, from everything we all know about him, David had no alternative motive here.

He had no need to create a name for himself or his folks. As a matter of fact, he would have liked to exalt no other name but God in building this house.

It is in the interludes of life that we have time to seize a dream or a perfect target. A small number of you, in a quiet moment of your life, realized the vocation into which God was calling you.

Perhaps it occurred in the silence of your own room after a church service one evening.

Or maybe it was while you used to be a student in a dorm. Before long, they stretched into a direct arrow toward some exciting and new target. You’ve got to slow down and become quiet in those special times to hear His voice, to sense His leading.

But let me add this : infrequently the dream is from God ; infrequently it is not. But when it is not of the Lord God, it will not come to fulfillment—nor should it.

To build a healthy fear of Almighty God. “Moses related to the people, ‘Do not be fearful ; for God has come to test you, and so that the terror of Him may remain with you, so you may not sin’ “( Exodus 20:20 ). “Now the LORD recounted to Moses, ‘Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I’ll give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I’ve written for their instruction.’ So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God” ( Exodus 24:12–13 ). Isn’t it great that God gave His folks written instructions to obey? This is the 1st time in all of history that God set down His Word. And to think, you and I possess those written words.

Back before the downfall of the unbelieving Soviet Union, my chum John Truck Diest represented the Evangelical Christian Publishers organisation at the Moscow Book Fair. The authorities had granted them disinclined authorization to hand out a controlled number of Russian language New Testaments, and long lines of folk waited in a queue to get a copy. When the supplies were exhausted, one despairingly disappointed man questioned if he could have one of the empty boxes that had once held those Testaments. “With tears glistening in his eyes, the person answered, “Then I at least require the box.”

The Bible was so valuable to this person that he valued the card box that had held the Scriptures.May our eyes be opened to the amazing privilege that’s ours to hold the entire written Word of the Lord in our really hands.

Moses thought he was due to be the deliverer, many years before he was given his recommission at the burning bush. He believed everybody else would realize it too. The passage goes on to inform us, “On the next day he seemed to them as they were fighting” ( Acts 7:26 ).

Now why did he return to the scene of the crime? I think he came back to carry out his plan. He’d proved his loyalty to the Hebrews by striking down an Egyptian official. That was Plan A. Now for Plan B. He would return to the scene of his action and rally the troops. But they did not hear his counsel. In truth, they did not respect him in any way. “But the person who was hurting his neighbour pushed him away, exclaiming, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?'” ( Acts 7:27 ). How those words must have stung a person who had just hazarded everything.

It is a reasonably easy plan, isn’t it? A meat-and-potatoes kind of offer. If you are a religious leader, religious folks will follow you. That is true for any leader. If you have the products, folk follow. But they did not follow Moses. At that point, the prince of Egypt led a forsaken one-man parade. The bills of the flesh are now coming due. Let’s level with one another. Ever experienced something similar to that? Many of us have been there. You get all prepared to tug off something huge for God. You set goals. You spend some time and money. You tell a handful of folk. But as agonizing as it could be for us to confess it, goals not washed in prayer or brought before the Lord in meekness turn out to be downright pointless. They do not go anywhere. They do not achieve anything.

They generate heat but no light. And you are left with misunderstanding and defeat. Bottom line : if you’re moving in the energy of the flesh, your work are cursed to fail. But when you trust the Lord God to offer you the following step, when you wait in meekness on Him, he’ll open the doors or close them, and you will get to rest and relax till he asserts, “Go.”.

Kings could offer sacrifices for themselves, but never for the state.
2nd , it was Samuel who was to convey the Lord’s battle plans. since Saul kept his eye on the sundial and his dwindling armed forces, he gave in to panic and rushed ahead on his very own.

Gentile generals decided where, when, and whom to attack, mustered their troops, then sacrificed to their gods to gain favor. The Hebrew sacrifice was changed ; it was to be an act of submission, not bribery.

3rd , and most crucial to our study, Saul made the choice to trust himself at the emergency point. His call to sacrifice and attack was based mostly on good common-sense ( from a temporal point of view ). Just like Israel’s wish to have a human king and their prepared acknowledgment of Saul based mostly on his outward appearance, the new king was prepared to advance on the enemy with a human technique. He saw his armed forces evaporating like water and the city of Michmash stuffed with his enemy. He saw the appointed a week had passed and that Samuel was late. So he tossed aside any pretense of decorum and custom.

He, actually put on the ecclesiastic garb together with his crown and signet and attempted to make the altar his very own special instrument of power—something he had no right to do. We need a Samuel, someone that cares more about our character than our image or comfort. Regularly that sort of loving truth calls for pointed words. “You have played the fool” isn’t simple to hear, but when it comes from the mouth of a reliable, godly mate, we must hear it and take heed.

See how people’s souls are saved in this short movie clip.

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus stopped in Bethany to spend time with friends He loved—Lazarus and his two sisters. Martha was rushing around preparing a meal while Mary sat listening to Jesus. In those days, culture dictated that a woman served the men in the house. By resting at Jesus’ feet, Mary was defying her society’s conventions. But this was a woman who cared more for her Lord than for doing what was culturally appropriate. When Martha complained, Jesus gently explained that her sister was making the right choice. The number one priority was to spend time with Him.

What was true for Mary and Martha is true for us today. Every believer needs to carve out personal time with God. There are many Christians who think that they prove their love for God by going to church, tithing their income, and witnessing. All of those things are important, but actions are empty unless we are connecting with God personally on a regular basis. Doing so demonstrates how much we value our relationship with Him because the people we spend time with are those we love most.

Many believers rationalize by saying they are too busy. We tell ourselves, If I could just finish a few things then I can pray and read the Bible, but each finished task is replaced by a new duty. We must choose to make time for God. Changing our schedule to give the Lord His rightful place can be difficult. But no relationship in life equals what God allows us to have with Him if we make Him our number one priority.

¹Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

²Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

³Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

⁴If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

⁵If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

⁶Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

⁷Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

⁹Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

¹¹But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.

¹²Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

¹³And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

¹⁴Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

¹⁵Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

¹⁶And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

¹⁷Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

¹⁸Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

¹⁹The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

²⁰Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

²¹Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

²²But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

²³For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

²⁴Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

²⁵And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

²⁶There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

²⁷I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

²⁸And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

²⁹I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

³⁰By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

³¹And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

³²Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

³³They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

1Then the LORD said to Moses,(A) “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says(B) the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3behold,(C) the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 4(D) But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”‘” 5And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” 6And the next day the LORD did this thing.(E) All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But(F) the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

8And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become(G) boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11And(H) the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12(I) But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as(J) the LORD had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Hail

13Then the LORD said to Moses,(K) “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself,[a] and on your servants and your people, so(L) that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16(M) But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so(N) that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17(O) You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19Now therefore send,(P) get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”‘” 20Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

22Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be(Q) hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the(R) LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail(S) struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26(T) Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

27Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time(U) I have sinned; the(V) LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28(W) Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city,(X) I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that(Y) the earth is the LORD’s. 30But as for you and your servants,(Z) I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” 31(The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32But the wheat and the emmer[b] were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and(AA) stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and(AB) hardened his heart,(AC) he and his servants. 35So(AD) the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

There are some eternal principles that operate in the spiritual realm and the natural realm that are unchangeable and immovable. If you want to see results, if you want the Word of God to work for you, you must obey the Word and do the Word.

That is why I thought it necessary to urge these brethren to go to you before I do and make arrangements in advance for this bountiful, promised gift of yours, so that it may be ready, not as an extortion [wrung out of you] but as a generous and willing gift. 2 Corinthians 9:5 AMP

If you want to be blessed, you must adjust your attitude about money. According to the Word, your offering should be willing and generous and not wrung out or extorted out of you.

[Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. 7 Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 AMP

You set the level of your blessing by your giving. It will come back to you in the same spirit and measure that you gave it. Make up your mind and purpose in your heart to be a generous and a cheerful giver.

God is thrilled with a generous giver and will do His best to bless them, send plenty of seed their way and generally take good care of them. The Lord is not as thrilled with the offering of a grumpy, selfish, grudging giver any more than we would be. If you want the fullest benefits from your giving, then make sure your whole heart is in it.

And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. As it is written, He [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; He gives to the poor; His deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever! 2 Corinthians 9:8-9 AMP

When you are a generous, cheerful giver, you will be the lender and not the borrower. You won’t need others to help you with anything, but you will be the one who has enough for yourself and also a surplus that enables and empowers you to reach out and help others.

The benevolent person scatters abroad – he doesn’t limit his giving – he has a lot to give to a lot of people. Your generosity has eternal consequences – your giving will change people’s lives. You will bless people who will go on to bless other people even down the generations. Not only that, but Heaven will have a permanent record of all of this blessing – the results of your giving go on and endure forever – even into eternity.

And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity]. 2 Corinthians 9:10 AMP

The blood of Jesus made you righteous, but the fruits of that righteousness are acts of goodness, kindness, and charity. If you are a generous sower of seed, not only will God provide you with bread – all the things that you personally need – but He will provide you with extra seed to sow and He will also create new avenues that will produce more finances – which will result in more seed for you to give. It is a wonderful cycle of blessing and increase in every area.

Thus you will be enriched in all things and in every way, so that you can be generous, and [your generosity as it is] administered by us will bring forth thanksgiving to God. For the service that the ministering of this fund renders does not only fully supply what is lacking to the saints (God’s people), but it also overflows in many [cries of] thanksgiving to God. 13 Because at [your] standing of the test of this ministry, they will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous-hearted liberality to them and to all [the other needy ones]. 14 And they yearn for you while they pray for you, because of the surpassing measure of God’s grace (His favor and mercy and spiritual blessing which is shown forth) in you. 2 Corinthians 9:11-14 AMP

The Lord will enrich you in all things and in every way, so that you can continue to be generous. Your generosity not only blesses others, it blesses you and it glorifies God and it brings forth thanksgiving to God. People will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ and for your generous-hearted liberality to them. You might say that you believe the Gospel, but your giving proves that you do.

Now thanks be to God for His Gift, [precious] beyond telling [His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift]! 2 Corinthians 9:15 AMP

God’s gift of eternal life is free, but every Christian must decide to be a part of bringing this Gospel free to all those who have yet to hear.