Stronger and stronger
2 Samuel 3:1”There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”
When God starts pouring down His blessings on you then you need a giant vessel, such would be the overflow; however, God cannot bless a vessel with a hole, there are prerequisites that needs to be fulfilled in order to receive blessings from God. God’s Word, God’s ways are passé today, it’s all about how smart, astute, skilled, hard-working, computer- savvy, experienced and technically trained you are, very few rely on God and church for success in their life. The empty church and empty Christians are proof for this. Listen to today’s teaching very carefully and set right your life.
When I went to pray for a family who were going through severe problems, sickness and other major issues, they continuously kept asking me why they were going through such problems, this family had disobeyed God and had done intermarriage for their children with family of other faith. Did they not know it was wrong? Oh, yes they know; however, people justify their sins, is it not? They do not go to church, pray or read the Bible; yet, they kept asking me the reasons, I told them, ‘your disobedience has brought these curses on you, so set right your life and stay away from idols.’ Do you think they agreed? Never, they got upset with me, people expect to hear ‘magic words’ like next year everything would be ok. How? Unless you rectify nothing is going to change. Is anybody listening? Moses said ‘the Lord is angry with me’, read: Deuteronomy 3:26"But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, 'Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.” You know what, the common phrase that we hear today is ‘why is God angry with us’ but here we see Moses confess‘the Lord was angry with me.’ Amen. God expects that from us.
The above scripture talks about the house of David getting stronger and stronger, because despite his flaws, David repented and sought forgiveness from God and made all efforts to live upright and obeyed the commandments of God. Read his words: “Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the paths of your commands, for there I find delight.” (Psalm 119:33-35) This is called a humble and teachable spirit! You know when you love God then obedience becomes easy because we don’t want to lose God at any cost – suffered enough. Right!
I mean there’s so much to write about David’s passionate love for God, his obedience and his efforts to get his life right before God, despite his weaknesses. On the other hand, the stubborn, rebellious, disobedience of Saul brought the downfall of his entire family. When the leader errs the entire ship capsizes! Caveat!
REVIVAL BEGINS WITH REPENTANCE: When sickness, accidents, mental illness, recurring financial losses occurs, it is time that we humble before God, fast and pray for answers. This was the prayer Moses prayed when the people of God sinned against the Lord : Deuteronomy 9:25 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to the LORD and said, “Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28 Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ 29 But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”
Five months pregnant, as I lay abandoned with pain in the hospital bed, I rolled my eyes upwards to look at my Master. I had never looked up at Him that way in my life! I had too many distractions, too many people around me, God had to remove them away and bring me close to Him. What a privilege! It was not enough, God wanted to drag me more closer to Him. I was diagnosed with multiple fibroids which were found on the inner and outer walls of the uterus. The fibroids were rapidly growing along with the baby and the doctors gave a final verdict to terminate the pregnancy and abort the baby I had refused to abort my child and I was determined to complete the pregnancy period. I was rushed to the hospital and as I lay there in the hospital bed alone, I could hear the shrill cries of the new born babies being delivered by other women. I wondered what would happen to my baby! Will I ever see the baby? However during this crisis period, prayer and Bible entered my life! For the first time in my life, I decided to read the Bible from the beginning, meticulously and not just read a portion of it here and there. As I passionately read the Bible every day, God increased my faith and I took my next giant step of trusting God, eventually I delivered a baby boy miraculously – without forceps or operation. Normal delivery! Glory to Jesus! This miracle paved my way to resign my bank job and enter into full time ministry for the Lord.
The most important miracle was the U TURN that I took in my life, hearing/ reading the Word is not enough, you got to be doers without which all spiritual efforts would be futile! The moment I knew the Truth and I was saved from ‘dead Christianity’, I started pruning my life. I knew being born into a Christian home would be just not enough but I got to have Jesus in all areas of my life. I aggressively started cleansing my life by: breaking movie audio/video CDs, tore all secular magazines/books that contradicted the Bible, stopped watching all unhealthy secular programs, severed all unwanted relationships, cut away worldly stuff and lots of other things. Just to put it in one single sentence, ‘my life style took a complete U TURN!’ I stopped attending office parties, my vocabulary was more of ‘JESUS’ than any other stuff so many left me, I avoided ‘gossip parties’ and started a prayer cell in the bank where I worked. Thus started my ministry!
Revival begins when we repent wholehearted and turn to God! Your children start seeing visions and you would find them reading the Bible, praying and fasting, wow, what more do you need friend. Look what happened to Solomon, God visited him in his dream and said: 1 King 3: 14”If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days." There you have it, God points out to the obedience of David to his son Solomon and commands him to walk in his father’s ways.
Part 2
2 Samuel 3:1“…….the house of Saul grew weaker continually.”
House of Saul grew weaker and weaker: Did you know Christian parents give money to their children for alcohol and drugs? I know it would not shock many though, because the present state of the body of Christ is decayed. It is just not Eli and his children of whom we read in the Bible who were utterly destroyed, but many Christian homes are shattered and battered by the devil because of their rebellious and callous attitude towards God and His servants. When I corrected the parents and also pointed out certain wrongdoings in their life, the father of that boy asked me to get out of their house; however, alas, after few years that young man died. He never repented or changed his life, until his death he was living a happy-go-lucky life. “If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.” Malachi 2:2
Transfer of power from the wicked to the righteous: Divisions and quarrels would pop up in the house of wicked people and they would lose their peace, during the long war between the two houses, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul, actually it should be Ish-bosheth that should have been getting stronger; however, the son of Saul had less power than Abner. Rifts and tensions start now. Did you see that? Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, accused Abner by asking, ”Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” This was great humiliation for Abner and he swore: “he would help David what the LORD had sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul to David.(2 Samuel 3:10) God organizes transfer of the kingdom from the enemy’s hands into the hands of the righteous when He is pleased with their ways. Clap hands for God and say Amen. Right here, we can remember of the transfer of keys and authority from the hands of Haman to Esther and Mordecai, read: Esther 8:1,2”On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her.2 The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.”
Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Deuteronomy 5:33
Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Proverbs 10:17
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua 1:8
GOD REMOVES YOUR ENEMIES AND ESTABLISHES YOU:
Joab gets killed, read: 2 Samuel 3:30 So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.
Ish-bosheth is killed, read 2 Samuel 4:5
David is established king of Judah and Israel : 2 Samuel 5: 4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith,” Rev Billy Graham
