DAY 13
DATE: 1/13/2013
Good Morning! My name is Jim Appel and I was asked to give you a devotional thought from the book of I Chronicles Chapters 11 and 21.
KEY VERSE:
I Chronicles 21:13-14 13 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: 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.
14 So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
REFLECTIONS:
In verse 1 David was tempted by Satan to count or take a census of the number of fighting men he was in charge of. We are only TEMPTED by Satan, it is then our free will to choose to accept the temptation or follow God’s will for our lives. David asked Joab and the commanders of the troops to carry out this task. In verse 3 Joab objected to this request but was overruled by King David.
Joab went all over Jerusalem and reported back the number of fighting men in Israel of 1,100,000 men, and in Judah there were 470,000 men. Verse 6, Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the number because this command was repulsive to him. Verse 7, This command was evil in the sight of God, so God punished Israel.
Verse 8, David admits that he has sinned and that he has done a very foolish thing. He asks God’s forgiveness and takes full responsibility for what he has done wrong.
Verse 9, God speaks with David’s seer Gad to give David the options for his punishment for the sin he committed. A seer is a person with profound moral, spiritual and wise counsel.
Verses 11 and 12, the options of punishment are presented to David by Gad.
Verse 13, David is in deep distress and requests that he fall into the Merciful Hand of the Lord.
Verse 14, the Lord sends a plague on Israel and 70,000 men fall dead. Verse 15 God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. God saw the destruction and had the angel stop.
APPLICATION:
At the time of your salvation, you prayed a prayer confessing your sins and asking God to forgive them. God forgave them! Praise God! In Romans 3:23 it states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Even though we were saved at one point in our lives, we are still sinners, but now saved by God’s Grace. We sin every day.
So when you sin what do you do with it? Look at what happened to David. His life was in “Cruise Control” and he took his focus off of God. He allowed Satan’s temptation to enter in. It really doesn’t take much. Just a tiny crack in the door to your heart is all that it takes, and you can be on the road to problems you would rather avoid. This Bible passage states that God punished David for his sin. There are other places in the Bible where people did wrong and were punished by God. I believe that is true in our lives today. God can punish you for your sins you have committed.
So:
- 1. Read your Bible and Pray daily so your focus will be on HIM.
- 2. If you sin ask for God’s forgiveness ASAP!
- 3. If you sin against someone else you should go directly to them and ask for forgiveness.
- 4. If you don’t ask God for forgiveness of your sins, the burden of carrying these sins will become overwhelming and stop you from growing in the Lord. They will weigh you down like have a heavy ball and chain attached to your leg. If you keep on the path of living with unforgiven sin the ball on your leg will become heavier.
Thank you for being a part of the Route 66 Bible Reading Challenge. Thanks for reading, and you have a blessed day!
In Christ, Jim Appel
Favorite Bible character: Paul
Family: Wife Joyce; Kids Titus, married to Amanda; Joshua, married to Sarah, grandson Samuel
Occupation: Process Control Systems Specialist at BP
Favorite book in the Bible: Philippians
When you got saved: August of 1980
Ministry at Valley: King’s Kids