King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2020
Chapters: II Samuel 22, Psalm 57
Message: Blessings In Disguise
Hello My Friend,
As we go through life, without even realizing, we can lose sight of all the blessings we have been given by God. Yes, we thank Him for our provisions, and salvation, but how often do we consider the trials in life as blessings. There is a song, Blessings, and the chorus goes like this, [Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?] Believe it or not, the trials in our lives are blessings, this pandemic that we are all dealing with on some level is a blessing, one thing it is doing for me is getting me to understand that there is power in prayer. Trials of this life do one of two things, they either draw people away from God or draw them near to God. If we are honest with ourselves, it may have been a little of both through all this, one thing is for sure, we are all getting a taste of the mercies of God.
[Psalms 57:1-3 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. 2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.]
[until these calamities be overpast.] We cannot escape calamities (trials), no matter how much we try, they will always be present as long as we remain on the earth, and until Jesus returns and carries all His saints out of here. The truth is, trials are what are necessary to give us a reality check, do you think that when David sent for Bathsheba all those years ago that he expected anything other than a night of pleasure to come out of it? What he got was a big reality check of God’s mercy as adultery alone was punishable by death. After all that he went through in almost losing the kingdom and his own life when his son tried to take it from him, he was reminded of all the blessings from God. After God delivered him from Saul, David wrote Psalm 18, this entire chapter is the Psalm as he is reminded once again who his Saviour is.
[II Samuel 22:1-7 And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. 4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; 6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; 7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.]
[thou savest me from violence.] We may have to endure some very difficult things in this time of our life, but we must never forget that [if we are saved] our soul belongs to Jesus, He saves us from the destruction that would take place if we never accepted Him as our Saviour. [and my cry did enter into his ears.] God hears every single cry, and I am not talking about crocodile tears, I am talking about sincere, repentant tears. Repentance is our friend, if we have no sorrow in our heart for the wrongs we have done, then we will never understand the true mercies of God. Our salvation is one thing, the blessings that come until we see Jesus are all determined by how we live the rest of our days here. Are we going to mess up? Of course, we are, but His mercy endures.
[II Samuel 22:21-29 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. 25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. 26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. 27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. 28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. 29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.]
[For all his judgments were before me:] If there is one thing I have come to understand through all this is that God has a plan for everything that we go through. He knows exactly where we are headed, what decisions we are going to make, and how we will react to the trials and temptations, He allows in our lives, [Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]
[And the afflicted people thou wilt save:] The trials in this life are what actually keep us faithful, especially if we have messed up and discovered our Father will save us. We cannot expect to have sin in our lives and God just be okay with it, this goes back to being repentant, sin always comes with consequence. And if you are honest with yourself, just like David discovered, there is nothing good that comes out of it, sin is never as pleasurable as the actually fantasy of it is, but praise God, we are saved by grace, [Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.]
[and the LORD will lighten my darkness.] This is the greatest thing about God, we can mess up a yet God will help us overcome the trails that we bring upon ourselves, and even encourages us to come to Him, [Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.]
Faithful Christians understand that whenever we fall into sin it is God that we sinned against, and it takes a much harder toll upon our heart as the guilt and shame of sinning against Him is worse than the sin. However, that is what repentance is for, it teaches us to let go of that guilt by confessing our sin to God, as well as forgiving ourselves. Nevertheless, God does know our heart, and that is why His mercy always endures. [Psalms 57:7-11 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.]
To the world, God will never be nothing more than a figment that is out to take away their freedoms to do the abominable things they do. Let me tell you though, the strangest thing often happens to God’s faithful, He will put them right in the midst of these people. Why? The greatest blessings come from the biggest trials.
[II Samuel 22:31-33,47-51 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? 33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. 48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, 49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. 50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. 51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.]
[and he maketh my way perfect.] Yes, God does have a reason for everything, and the trials we face are the biggest blessings as He uses them to perfect us through them. For years I prided myself on the fact that since I dedicated my life to Christ I have not fallen into a life of sin. Through this pandemic, God is teaching me the importance of being humble, and unless I keep my eyes fixed on Him, I will get caught up in a life of sin. So, as we pray, let us not forget that blessings come in all sizes, shapes, and forms. The ending of the song, Blessings says it all, [What if my greatest disappointments Or the aching of this life, Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy? What if trials of this life, The rain, the storms, the hardest nights, Are your mercies in disguise?] And let me tell you, grace, it truly is our greatest blessing from God, [I Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Every day I am amazed that no matter how many times I mess up, no matter how much I fain You, Your love is unconditional, You have not forsaken me, and I still have a place with You for eternity. Thank You for Your amazing grace, I am not saved for the good that I have done, but because of my faith in the finished work of Your Son. Thank You God, for everything You do for me, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad, You are always there guiding me in the right direction, and while do not always understand Your purpose, and have no clue why You lead me down the path You have me on, I do understand that You are the greatest blessing in my life. The trials in my life have truly brought some of the greatest blessings, the most astounding is that I get to spend eternity with You. Lord, Lead me and guide me in the ways of Your Son, fill me with Your mercies and grace, teach me to love like He loves, to worship You like He worships You, to obey like He obeys, You are my LORD, my Rock, my salvation, I live because You live. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus.. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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