David Flees

13. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

 

Our text for today is as follows:

 

II Samuel 15: 13 A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” 14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword.” 15 The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.” 16 The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at a place some distance away. 18 All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king. 19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. 20 You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your countrymen. May kindness and faithfulness be with you.” 21 But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.” 22 David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him. 23 The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the desert. 24 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.

 

 Absalom’s plan had succeeded.    He won the hearts away from his father David and when the news got to David he decided to flee before there was a major slaughter in the kingdom.  We may all wonder why David did not stay behind and defend his kingdom but we still have to keep in mind that Absalom was his son and he had turned key military people away from David so David flees to re-group.

 

Inside this story, there is another story of a stranger who had just come into the city named Ittai who was an exile from his homeland and instead of staying behind to serve Absalom and be in safety he decides to go on the run with King David. 

 

It is amazing how a stranger can see the hand of God on David and his own people will abandon him and join alliance with his son Absalom.   While all of us know the outcome of this story and we do know that David will again be restored unto this kingdom, there is a powerful life lesson to be learned in this story.   Just because things go crazy does not mean that your dream was not from God.   People get so stressed when things start going wrong and wonder if God ever told them to do it in the first place.   Just because things go wrong is not a measure of whether or not God is with you.  Trials and tribulations come in a season of plenty or lack in promise or while you’re waiting on the promise to manifest.   David is suppose to be on the throne.  It was God’s plan and yes David did commit an adulterous act that started a chain of events in his household but God will perform his word despite your mistakes. 

 

Your sins may cause you to go through some unnecessary challenges but God will perform his word over your life.

 

David is about to enter into a season of reaping what he has sown but God will still protect him and guide him back to his purpose. 

 

I am learning in life that God is in control.  We say that all the time but God really does have our life in his hands.

 

David flees from the city and he takes the ark of God with him.  We will continue our story on tomorrow.

 

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

 

 

 

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Return to Monarchy Study

12. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

I am reposting the last entry we studied on the monarchy for review.   We had finished the life of Saul.  David was currently in his kingdom but his adulterous act with Bathsheba has started a series of tragic events within his family.  His daughter has been raped by his son.  His other son Absalom has killed the brother that raped the daughter which was his sister and Absalom went into exile.  David was now mourning over the rape of his daugher the loss of a son and a son that is in hiding or in exile.   David has agreed to let Absalom return to Jerusalem but now Absalom is strategically planning to take the kingdom from David. 

 

Here is our last entry:

II Samuel 15: 1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” 4 And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.” 5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 7 At the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, “Let me go to Hebron and fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. 8 While your servant was living at Geshur in Aram, I made this vow: ‘If the LORD takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron. ‘ ” 9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he went to Hebron. 10 Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.‘ ” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. 12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David‘s counselor, to come from Giloh, his hometown. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom‘s following kept on increasing.

 

As you can see, Absalom strategy over time stole the hearts of the people.  He would get up early in the morning and tell everyone that came into the gates of the city if they were Israelites that their claims were just.  Absalom went on to say that if he was appointed judge he would have made sure they received justice. 

 

At the end of four years of doing this and stealing the hearts of the people from his father David, he makes his move and asks permission from his father to move to Hebron in pretense of fulfilling a vow he made to God and he ended up strategically strengthening his conspiracy to take over the king and he was increasing in power and strength.  We will continue our study on tomorrow.

 

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

 

 

 

 

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Strategy

8. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

 

Snow day in Atlanta which means in the South, we shut it down.  It was good to be off today and just be home.  I haven’t accomplished much yet but I’m getting ready to make my evening productive.

 

This is our last day of discussing planning for the New Year.  I really hope you took the time to write some goals down.  If you don’t plan for anything this year then at the end of this year, you will not have accomplished anything.  You have the power to make your way prosperous and to have good success.

 

Today I want to share with you some more tips.

1.  Write your plans down in a book or journal so that you constantly keep them in prayer.

2.  Break your goals down into weekly or monthly goals so you can measure your progress.  It does not work well when you just say you want to accomplish something by the end of the year and have no strategic plan to accomplish it. 

3.  Now that you have your goals written down.  Take each one of them and list them on a separate page and write daily or weekly things that you will be doing to accomplish them. 

4.  If you get off track, do not beat yourself up.. Simply pick up where you left off and KEEP MOVING.

5. Make sure you take time for you.  If you do not invest in yourself, you will become overwhelmed and it could lead to things such as stress, depression, procrastination, etc.

6.  One of the best things to do in a New Year before you begin your journey is to clean your home.  You may think this is crazy but when you have clutter around you , it is very difficult to stay focused.   When you have things that you know you have to do but want do them, it stops you from moving forward, because that thing that is incomplete will always be calling you to it and you will end up not doing anything.  Get all projects and things that you need to complete out of the Way.  Stop procrastinating. 

7.  Whatever your goals are this year, just remember to have fun.   Whatever you create today, you must live in it tomorrow.   Make great choices and LIVE FREE in Christ.

 

Enjoy your weekend.  We will resume our study of the monarchy on Monday and we will also commit to begin our New Year’s plans if you have not already started.

 

I did get the requests from you to keep your goals up in prayer this year and I will add them to my prayer list.

 

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

 

 

 

 

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Meditation

7. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

 

Still on planning goals for the New Year.  I will be honest with you.  I’m not starting any of this until Monday(prayer time excluded.)  It’s okay to have a start day.  I always intended to begin on January 12..  I always get off track during the holidays and it is so okay as long as you get back on.  That’s what a vision is for.  It’s a guide. It helps you stay on track but you don’t have to feel guilty if you slip a little.  Feel guilty if you never get back on track.  (lol)

 

 

Spiritual

 

Today under my Spiritual, I would like to focus on meditation.  One of my favorite scriptures is Joshua 1:8  “this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate on it day and night that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein and then thou shall make thy way prosperous and thou shalt have good Success.

 

The word meditate that is used in the above scripture means to think on something to the point that you act.  You can easily see this definition in the body of the scripture for the text says to meditate so that you will observe or obey which means to act.

 

This is not a foreign concept to us at all.  We have all meditating on something to the point that it caused us to act.  It could have been something negative or positive.  I remember a long time ago, I was in a relationship and this man hurt me so that I vowed to get even.  I meditating (thought) on the matter so hard and long that I was moved to act out my thoughts or my meditations and it ended very ugly. 

 

I have also had positive meditations.   I remember when I wanted to open up my first business.  I meditated (thought) on it to the point that I begin acting out what I had been meditating on in my mind and I have now been self employed for almost twenty years. 

 

I can go on and on with examples of how I have held thoughts in my mind and focused on them until the point that those thoughts became realities.  The word of God teaches us to meditate on God’s word to the point where the word that you have in your mind manifests into reality.     A friend of mine by the name of Bishop Dwight Pate always says that your “wealth is in your mind.”  It all starts with a thought.    A meditated thought is acted out upon.

 

So when we talk about having meditation time, the scriptures are not simply saying just read your word but hold on to it in your mind and focus on it and guard it so the enemy want counteract with evil thoughts and cast down every imagination that would exhalt itself against the knowledge of God.

 

Think God’s word and act upon it.  Our Joshua text also teaches us that we are to meditate day and night.   Then the text closes with powerful results.  If you do this,, then YOU will make YOUR way prosperous and YOU will have GOOD SUCCESS.

 

If we focus on the spiritual this year and not the material the possibilities in God are unlimited.

 

A good example is to get a memory verse at the beginning of the week.  (maybe on Monday) and memorize and repeat it the entire week.  Not only will it help you commit scripture to memory but it will help you with meditation. 

 

I use to try to memorize a scripture every day.  I was so anxious.  It was too overwhelming.  I found simpler goals are easier to obtain and then elevate to more complex ones.  

 

Okay,  we will continue our journey on tomorrow.

 

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

 

 

 

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Writing the Vision

6. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

Hello Everyone:

 

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family is phenomenal.  Such a tribute to his mom and it will take you through a range of emotions from laughing so hard it hurts to tears that you don’t even know where they’re coming from.   Get your tickets when it is in your city.  Bev in England and Tracy in Australia, I will send you programs when they are ready.  The programs are an awesome collector’s piece.   

 

Welcome to the New Year.   Mine has started off really great.  Now, I have to admit though I am not on my New Year’s schedule yet.  I have just being having fun and relaxing.  Well…. It’s time to get focused.    This week before we pick up our study, I would like to share with you some of my goals for the New Year.   This will not be an exhaustive list because some of them are really intimate and personal but I will share the majority of my plans. 

 

As you know I divide my goals into three categories; Spiritual, Physical, and Financial.

 

Spiritual

(1) Meet God at the chapel at least 5 days a week for am prayer.  Sometimes if it is really cold, or the weather is bad, then I will just stay at home and pray in my prayer closet.   The goal is to have a place.  A set time and place that you go and spend with God.  

(2)I have this “read the bible” in a year book that I use just to read content.  It is one of the chronological ones so it goes from Genesis to Revelations in the order that the events happened.  I do not use this bible to study with but  just for meditation purposes.  So my goal is to get through the bible in a year.  You would be amazed at how many Christians have never read the entire bible.  It never gets old.  Each time I read it, I find things that I don’t ever remember reading before.  It is fascinating to me. 

(3)Volunteer at least once a month at the women’s prison.

(4)Get involved in another community outreach program or create my own.   I haven’t decided yet what I want to do.

(5)I am currently working on a book called:  “How to study the bible.”  My goal is to finish my book this year.

(6)Master the monarchy which is the life of Saul, David, and Solomon.  I always choose a special topic to focus on each year besides my general reading.

 

 

Physical

 

1.    Have at least one night a week as a date night between me and my husband where we just catch up and be.  Currently it is on Saturday nights.  We were pretty faithful in keeping it on last year, but we got off track a little. 

2.   Exercise for an hour at least five days a week.

3.   Commit to keeping my exercise schedule and routine when I am on the road.  This is my weakness… Always get thrown off when I travel but I can do it if I want to, I just haven’t.

4.   Make better eating choices when I travel.  Traveling always throws my routine off.

5.   Have one day a week just for me.   That day I have identified as Sunday.  I attend an early service so after church, it is my day just to do whatever I want for me even if it is to do absolutely nothing.  

 

Financial

 

1.     This year I will be focusing solely on building my savings account back.  Those of you that follow me know that I was on a five year plan to get out of debt and I am currently debt free except for a mortgage.  Back to contributing to our IRAs, etc.   SAVING, SAVING, SAVING.

 

I would love to hear from you and to post some of your goals.  Of course, I will not use your name but it will help us as we see how other people are making their schedules and plans.  Many of my accomplishments were taken from what worked for someone else.

 

So email me and I will post some of your plans on my site so people can have other ideas to pull from.

 

Remember:  Change does not happen without an announcement of what you’re going to do.

 

Also,  A pastor friend of mine always post on his FB page the following :   “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Yes, things happen but what we know for sure is that nothing will happen unless you start planning.

 

Write the Vision and make it plain…  (Habbakuk)

 

Stay encouraged everyone and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

 

 

 

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heading home

5. January 2010 by Bernice Davis.

been in elpaso texas since sunday for the opening of madea’s big happy family. it was awesome. on plane.. had no time at all to post. will resume for the new year on tomorrow. love you all.

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