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: Sunday, May 02, 2021
Chapters: I Chronicles 11-12, Psalm 133
Message: United We Can Stand
Hello My Friend,
[Unity; The state of being one; oneness. Agreement; uniformity;] Unity seems to be something of a rarity these days, there is so much discourse that those who agree with each other cannot seem to agree and are biting and chewing each others heads off. And the Church is no better, they too cannot seem to get along anymore. This reminds me of what Jesus said when the disciples said that they forbade, who was probably not a Jew, speaking in the name of Jesus, [Mark 9:38-41 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.]
[because ye belong to Christ,] It sadly is not uncommon these days for Christians to fight among each other, there is only one Gospel, and yet it somehow gets clouded with rules and restrictions that God does not even enforce. Yes, God wants His people to be obedient and accountable for our actions, but we are all in this together, each one of us has our own cross to bear, our own sins to break free from, and our own walk with Christ, that is not at all like anyone else. That is why when God made you He broke the mold just as He did with me, there is only one of you and only one of me, the focus is not to look like each other, rather to look like Christ, [I Corinthians 12:12-13,26 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.]
One nation, one kingdom, one house, divided cannot, and will not stand! Being in unity does not mean we do have to agree on everything, but we must agree that we are all Americans or legal citizens, who do have a right to the same liberties, and justice. I Chronicles goes into further detail of Israel coming together as in unity to make David king, it goes on further to tell us who became the chief of his army, Joab, his cousin.
[I Chronicles 11:1-6,9-10 Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. 3 Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel. 4 And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. 5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. 6 And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief. 9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him. 10 These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.]
[So David waxed greater and greater:] A great leader is not one who dictates our every move by what they believe, it is one who has many helping hands, under God’s authority. The only reason why David became a great leader was because of his faithfulness to God, and seeking His will in everything he did. As all this was coming together, David wrote this short Psalm, [Psalms 133:1-3 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.]
[for there the LORD commanded the blessing,] God wants us to life the best life, we must understand that the freedoms we enjoy today all came from the fact that our first leaders feared God. Now, that has not been the case for quite some time, little by little our freedoms are being taken away by a godless government. And if you want to know what it would be like if they controlled everything, this pandemic is a good example. This is not unity, this is oppression, and God will not have any of it, especially from our leaders, He is waiting for just the right moment when His people come together in unity, [Isaiah 1:18-20 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. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.]
A great leader is also someone who is willing to stand in the front line to protect their people. David wasted no time getting his kingdom in order, especially the military. I Chronicles goes into great detail of the army that David put together, people from every tribe were included, and eagerly served. David, recalls when three soldiers risked their lives to get to the well of Bethlehem to bring him water only to see him do something they did not expect.
[I Chronicles 11:12-19 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. 13 He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. 14 And they set themselves in the midst of that parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved them by a great deliverance. 15 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16 And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Bethlehem. 17 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate! 18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD, 19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.]
[shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy?] Instead of keeping it for himself, he poured it out to God because he realized something as those men risked their lives to get the water for him, life is more precious than his own selfish needs. Another part of being a great leader is by our willingness to go without when others do not have it, or even better, give it to them when we have it, [Matthew 5:42-45 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.]
David continued to set up Israel in the way God directed him, even if that meant he had to deal with some people who he thought was his friends, but were against him in every way. At first, the House of Israel was against David being king, in fact, they chose Saul’s son to reign over them, while David reigned in Hebron. It was not until all of the House of Saul had been killed before they accepted David as king of all of Israel.
[I Chronicles 12:1-2,8 Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war. 2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin. 8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;]
[And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David] Not only did one tribe have faith in David, they all did, and volunteered to join in with David. David had people working under him from every tribe, including Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, who were on the other side of the Jordan.
[II Chronicles 12:16-19 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David. 17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it. 18 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band. 19 And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.]
[until it was a great host, like the host of God.] Soldiers risk their lives for their country and their leader, they do not think about who they are as a person or what they have done in the past, they are unbiased and do whatever it takes to protect their nation. Just imagine how powerful of a nation that we will be again if we all came together in unity. For the first time, and this will be the only time, Israel was united as one nation.
[I Chronicles 12:22,38-40 For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God. 38 All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. 39 And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. 40 Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.]
[came with a perfect heart to Hebron,] David’s success as king was due to the fact that he set up Israel in the way that God directed him, and when he did sin he repented. That cannot be said for many leaders today, most are like Saul, are too proud to admit they did anything wrong, let alone humble themselves to God. We must remember that a nation can only stand if it remains in unity, and our nation is unraveling as fast as Israel did. We need to be praying for our nation to come back together of one heart, and stop all this striving among one another, [II Timothy 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [I Chronicles 11:9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.]
Today’s Prayer: God, As Christians, we know that You have a place and purpose for everyone and everything that goes on in this earth, You will use any means to show the world that You are in charge and in control of all things. Through our faith in Your Son, we are united as One Body in Christ, but even we cannot get along, this is nothing, but the devil stopping us from doing what we need to be doing, and that is preaching the Gospel to the lost and showing them Jesus through righteous judgment. When we all come together as one body we can not only defeat this pandemic and all those fools oppressing us, we will knock down Satan as well. We will stand united by one faith, by one Jesus, and by one body. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your power to stand by our faith and live in obedience to Your commands so that we can be a powerful testimony as one nation, in unity against the devil and all those who try to knock us down. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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