Bible In One Year-Day 161 (Tuesday, June 10, 2014)

Commentary: 1Chronicles20-22. Satan, in his usual manner, will not work out instant fall for any man, but a gradual one. He worked on David gradually starting from wrong positioning; 1 Chronicles 20:1 “And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.”

In this verse, firstly, we realized it was a time when kings go out to battle. Secondly, the war only wasted the country of the children of Ammon. Thirdly, David, who was supposed to go to war like other kings, decided to stay back at home. Looking into satanic agenda for David, the first thing we could notice was that he made him stay away from his responsibility. He was supposed to be at war but tarried (or stayed back) at home. A right positioning is being in the right place at the right time. He was in the right place but at the wrong time and because of this, he gave David another assignment which he carried out against Uriah the Hittite, 2 Samuel 11. This is a lesson for us. When you move according to the Lord’s direction and timing, His angels will take charge;

Psalms 91:11 “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”

There is also comfort instead of fear. To go to war is to pass through the shadow of death but for as long as it is within God’s timing and purpose there is a promise attached to it;

Psalms 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

To pray and ask for beautiful house, good cars, career and other admirable things of life is our birthright as Christians, but seeking for all these out of God’s timing is seeking for satanic assignment; God’s time is the best.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

Whatever you have, no matter how expensive it is, if not within God’s time, it cannot be beautiful. And this is what makes us to be seeking for recognition after acquiring whatever, out of God’s time.

The second point in satanic agenda for David was in the following passage;

1 Chronicles 21:1 “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked (moved, caused) David to number Israel.”

Despite Joab’s counsel, David still did it which really displeased God. This angered the Lord so much that He put before David three options as punishment; Famine (natural disaster), sword of the enemy and the sword of the Lord. Here is David’s response;

1 Chronicles 21:13 “And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait (distress or situation): let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

Though this was a good option but some innocent blood was shed. On these two occasions of satanic influence on David, though he fell in the first place, yet he defeated the devil at last by repenting from his sins. It was not the case with King Saul who decided to seek help through a satanic medium. David was a sinner but was never caught with a sin twice; he never repeated a sin after he had repented. This simply implies that he never premeditated the sins. This is the character of a genuinely repented person. Repentance is the greatest weapon in the hand of a Christian which breaks the backbone of satanic hold or grip on his or her life. Shying away from repentance strengthens satanic grip; Satan could easily drag such person back into sin. The root of inability to repent lies in pride. It grows into hard heartedness, mindset, error, regret, frustration and consequently death (i.e. sicknesses such as depression, high blood pressure and other diseases). King Saul had this problem, his ending was not good. David repented and cried fervently to God for forgiveness. For the first time, David saw an angel of the Lord while praying in humility of heart, 1Chron21:16. Repentance is an old path which never outdates. It was the message of John The Baptist. Jesus preached it; it is the message of the gospel. Repentance is the only thing that restores a fallen man with signs and wonders; it rekindles the fire on the altar of prayer.

1 Chronicles 21:26 “And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.”

God did not allow David to build a house for Him because he shed innocent blood in many ways; first, he wasted a whole nation (1Chron20:1), secondly by organizing the death of Uriah the Hittite and the plague which killed seventy thousand Israelites (1Chron21:14). All these shedding of blood were due to satanic assignment he got himself involved in; they left stains on David’s life until death. Thank God for Jesus who came to shed the blood strong enough to remove every engraved stain of sin from our lives, Halleluiah!

Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”

Thank you JESUS.

Repentance is regarding you past sinful acts as shameful and never willing to get involved any longer; this should be with an accompanying fruit as spoken by John The Baptist;

Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”

What is this fruit expected as a result of genuine repentance? The following passage reveals it;

Luke 3:9-11 “And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?He answereth and saith to them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.”

This is living the kingdom life; the desire to have the world is no more there but to live for people, just as Jesus lived and acted in Acts10:38. Jesus emphatically said His coming into the world was to salvage the sinners for them to repent of their wrongdoings;

Matthew 9:13 “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is 1Chronicles23-25. Keep the fire burning and alive