Summer Service Project - Day 3

You all know the story of David & Goliath. I could put you in front of a group of kids right now and you could tell them the story. But there are so many details we often overlook.

In the Ladies Bible Study, we’ve been watching a video series by Louie Giglio called Goliath Must Fall. It’s a pretty interesting study. This morning we looked at overcoming the giant of rejection. Read this section of the story from 1 Samuel 17 so you can see it: 28 But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” 29 “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” 30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. 32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” 33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” 34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the LORD be with you!” 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD ’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

That was rather long, but hopefully you made it the whole way through... David faces rejection three times in the passage. First, his brother rejects him by questioning why he’s even there and tells him to go home. Second, King Saul rejects him when David offers to step up and fight the giant. And last, Goliath rejects him when he mocks him as an opponent. If I were David, I think I may have given up after being rejected more than once. However, David didn’t give up. Each time David responds with confidence to the other men. He is confident because he trusts God.

We are commanded throughout the Bible to serve others. In order to do that, we need to trust what God says about us over the comments of anyone else. When we are afraid people are going to reject us or our ability, we limit God’s ability to work through us. The enemy is looking for ways to destroy us so that we are ineffective (1 Pet. 5:8). Don’t let him make you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely. God says you are loved, chosen, valuable. The more your confidence is in God, the less the enemy can use others to get you feeling down about your life.

Reflection:

1. We have all felt rejection from family or friends, intentionally or unintentionally. How do you deal with those emotions?

2. Do you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely? Find a verse that will remind you of God’s truth when you are feeling that way.

This week: Find a friend who is feeling rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely and then find a way to serve them.

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This summer the youth group plans to do weekly service projects in lieu of a week-long missions trip. This is a devotional the teens were given after arriving to serve one day.

READY - Yield to God's Will

Yield is not a word we use in everyday conversation. What does it mean?
The place you most frequently see it is on a road sign. “In road transport, a yield sign indicates that each driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed.” - wikipedia
Keep that in mind as we look into what it means to yield to God’s will.

Background for today’s passage: Saul is currently king. David has been anointed as his successor, but hasn’t taken his place yet. We’re looking at a chapter in the midst of when Saul is angry with David and trying to kill him.

Read 1 Samuel 24:1-4. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about Saul going to the bathroom in the cave and I chuckle every time! But anyway...) So we see Saul was off fighting the Philistines and as he returns someone tells him where he can find David. We could talk a lot about how Saul is living his life and has not yielded to God’s will because he’s lost his focus. Instead of serving God and leading the nation of Israel, he’s off chasing down David for some personal vendetta. To yield to God’s will, we need to put our own will to the side. (deny ourselves)


Read 1 Samuel 24:5-7. Here we see that David feels bad about what he did and we learn why David felt bothered by what he had done. The Lord, through Samuel, had anointed David as the next king, but David realized that he needed to wait on the Lord’s timing. He felt that since God hadn’t told him to kill Saul it was wrong for him to do so. David could have easily killed Saul and justified his actions with a litany of excuses: “It’s self-defense, Saul’s out to kill me.” “It’s all right, because God promised me the throne anyway.” “It’s all right because I am in the right, and even Jonathan knows that I deserve the throne.” “This is a God-given opportunity and I should take it.” Or even, “I’m just so tired of running and fighting Saul. This can end all of that now.” But David knew they were all just excuses and he shouldn’t kill Saul. David put his will to the side and submitted to God’s will. To yield to God’s will, we need to do what’s right and quit making excuses. David felt convicted that what he had done was wrong and he doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t take matters into his own hands.
David trusted God and waited on His timing. When God promises us something, we can be sure that He will follow through on that promise. If we try to take things into our own hands, we can make God’s promises happen, but it doesn’t turn out as well as if we waited for God to do it His way. David trusted that God’s will was better than his own will.
(An easy excuse for us to make is that we don’t know God’s will. Much of God’s will for our lives can be found reading the Bible. More specifically though in Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus tells us 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. So if you are unsure about God’s will for your life, pray and ask Him and He will reveal it to you.)

This chapter ends with David revealing to Saul everything that had happened, then Saul goes home and David continues wandering around.

Read 1 Samuel 26:7-11. Saul heads out again to try and find David. When he takes break and makes camp, David finds him, again has the opportunity to kill him. Again his men encourage him to do so. Again he denies himself, and yields to God’s will and doesn’t kill Saul. To yield to God’s will, we need to repeat the process. David didn’t decide just once to follow God’s will. His decision was an ongoing decision, a daily process. Every day (sometimes every minute) we need to choose to yield to God’s will.

And we know that David wasn’t always successful. We know he married multiple wives, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he murdered Uriah. Everyday yield to God’s will, even if you messed up the day before. Being in process doesn’t mean being perfect.

The beginning of the Lord’s prayer summarizes these ideas. Matthew 6:9-11 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. To yield to God’s will, we need to pray for Him to help us. The only way that we will successfully yield to God’s will is if He helps us. Jesus taught the disciples to pray and to ask for God’s will to be done (not their own will) and figuratively asking for daily bread is showing that it is an ongoing process.

(Oh and I should probably cite my sources, as to not be accused of plagiarism :) I took the list of excuses David could have made from http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0924.htm.)


GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to yield to God’s will? What does that look like in your life? 
2. Can you think of a time that you did what God wanted instead of what you wanted and you saw positive results? 
3. What is the toughest part of yielding to God’s will for you personally? 

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This is the fifth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.

READY - Ask for Forgiveness

Recap: David commits adultery with Bathsheba, tries to cover it up because she gets pregnant and ends up murdering her husband Uriah. David then marries Bathsheba and the baby is born. God sends Nathan the prophet who tells David a story that makes David realize what he has done. 

This is how David replies once he figures out Nathan is talking about him. 2 Sam 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 

Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death…” There are many times in the Bible where someone sins and God strikes them dead because of it. Death was a realistic consequence since David had Uriah murdered. God did not have be merciful to David.

Nathan continues… 2 Sam 12:14-16,18a, 24 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.” After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground... On the seventh day the child died... Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 

There were consequences to David’s actions even though he asked for forgiveness. However God does not stop blessing David because of his sin. He eventually has another son with Bathsheba named Solomon (this is the son who will eventually take David’s place as king of Israel.)

There’s lots of emotion and feelings that David would have experienced. Many of the psalms were written by David. Psalm 51 was written by David after Nathan came to him. It records all those emotions & feelings David had. 

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 

2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 

9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 

15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 

18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Through this story and prayer that David wrote, we can see some Steps for Forgiveness:

1. Admitting you have sinned (2 Sam 12:13)

When confronted with his sin, David didn’t make excuses. He admitted his wrong without trying to justify why he did what he did nor did he try to put the blame on Bathsheba or anyone else.

2. Accepting the consequences (Ps 51:4)

There are often real consequences to decisions. Bathsheba got pregnant. Uriah lost his life. Sin makes an impact on us and possibly those around us.

Just because there are consequences, it doesn't mean you can’t ask God for mercy (which means asking for him not to give you the consequences you deserve) (Ps 51:1) In 2 Samuel 12, David 

3. Restore the joy of relationship (Ps 51:12)

When we sin, we break our relationship with Christ. 

4. Don’t dwell on what has happened. (remove the guilt) (Ps 51:14)

Even though we ask for forgiveness, sometimes we keep on thinking about what we did wrong. We don’t always forgive ourselves. Know that God isn’t looking at our sin when he looks at us. Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

5. Change your behavior (Romans 6:1-2a)

Romans 6:1-2a What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! 

If you have truly sought forgiveness, you should not continue to do that action. (But if you do, you can ask for forgiveness again.)

FAQ:

Why do we need to forgive?

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

When do we need to ask for forgiveness?

Anytime we sin, we should ask God for forgiveness. If our sin has impacted someone else, we should ask them for forgiveness.

Matthew 6:11-12 Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

Will God always forgive me?

Yes! 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

How many times should I forgive someone?

As many times as God has forgiven you… which means an infinite number!

Luke 17:3-4 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

**Note on Psalm 51:11 - We do not have to worry about the Holy Spirit leaving us. In the Old Testament, believers did not automatically have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. They would be anointed with the Holy Spirit for special purposes. David had been given the Holy Spirit when he was anointed by Samuel to be king (1 Sam 16:13). Because of his sin, David feared that the Holy Spirit would leave him (like he had done to Saul (1 Sam 16:14). In the New Testament, we receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved and he indwells us and we don’t have to fear him leaving us (John 14:16, Ephesians 1:13-14).

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This is the third lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.

READY - Examine Yourself

Last week we looked at Remember. This week we are going to look at Examine.

How to examine yourself:

1. Know and obey the truth. (This happens by reading our Bible and going to church, then putting the things we hear into practice.) (Psalm 119:9-12, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Spiritually we can be all over the place. We go through highs and lows. There are times we are close to God and times we are far from Him. There are so many stories in the Bible about King David and we see his writing in many of the Psalms that we can see highs and lows in his life and learn from him.

We’ve previously looked at stories about David to know that he was a lowly shepherd boy, the youngest in his family. He was not the likely choice to be king. But he has a heart for God and he faces public and private giants. Sometimes his decisions honored God and sometimes they did not.

Acts 13:22 - After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'

David starts off doing well. He is called a man after God’s own heart. In Psalm 119:9-12, we can see some of the ways David followed after God. It says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!“

David knew the Scriptures and obeyed them. The Bible is God’s Word and so important for us. It is our instruction book for life.  “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2. Reflect on your actions, words, thoughts & motives and see if they are in line with God’s will. (Psalm 139:23-24, Prov. 4:23)

Unfortunately, something happens over time where David is no longer making wise choices. We all have the potential to fall into this same thing.

“The spiritual life will never come naturally. Left to what comes naturally, regrettably we will sin. If we are going to live as spiritual [men and] women, it will result from a deliberate, conscious surrender to the Holy Spirit.” (Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself, p48-49)

Let’s take a look at 2 Samuel 11:1 “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” David should have gone to war with his men. He sets himself up for failure by not going with his men.

In the following verses, we read about David seeing Bathsheba bathing and he invites her to his house to sleep with her. She gets pregnant and to cover it up, David brings Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, back from the war so he sleep with her. Her husband refuses, so David gets him drunk and tries again. Uriah still refuses, so David has Joab, the captain of the army, get Uriah killed.

In 2 Samuel 11:26-27 it says “When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”

In order to follow God and live life deliberately, we need to be in the habit of examining ourselves. David wrote in Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Somewhere along the line David had stopped doing what he knew he was supposed to do. He was so wrapped up in his sin that he was committing sins trying to cover up other sins. Proverbs 4:23 says “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” What’s in your heart will show itself.

1. The Holy Spirit is with you to reveal things to you. (John 16:13-15)

2. There are people in your life who can also be used to help you examine yourself, when you don’t recognize issues in your life. (2 Samuel 12)

Luckily for David, he had people in his life who called him out on it. Read 2 Sam 12:1-7a,13 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." Nathan said to David, "You are the man! … David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eho1_fkjiOA (Video recap of 2 Sam 11&12)

Nathan was a prophet that God used to help David examine himself. Sometimes we need others to point out an area of our life we need to examine. We need an outside perspective to help us see what we don’t see on our own. (Share a personal example of this??)

3. Continue doing the things that honor Him. (Col. 3:17)

Just because David sinned he wasn’t disqualified from being king. There were consequences to the decision he made, but he was still able to move forward and serve God.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

4. Stop doing the things that do not honor Him. (2 Timothy 2:22)

After Nathan helped David to see what he had done, David admitted to his wrong and sought forgiveness. He fasted and wept over what he had done and asked the Lord for grace.

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Do you have healthy spiritual habits? Do you read your Bible? Pray? Listen to worship music? If so how frequently?
2. Do you have people in your life who question you about decisions you are making? Who?
3. Do you listen when you feel the Holy Spirit is prompting you?

Personal Reflection:

1. Is your faith authentic?
2. Do you live what you say you believe?
3. Is there unconfessed sin in your life?
4. Are your motives in the right place?

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This is the second of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.

We Keep Accountable Because We Love

Do you have one of those friends who tells you what you don't want to hear? Like the little angel sitting on your
shoulder pointing out to you why you shouldn't make whatever dumb decision you're about to make?

At one point in college, I was going through a bit of a rough time and as a result, I wasn't reading my Bible or praying – I was just going through the motions. One of my roommates called me on it. To this day, I can still hear her telling me that I needed to change – "Good Christian girls can get pregnant before they're married, pastors can have affairs and leave their families..." If you don't live for God daily, you can end up like that too…

You’re Keeping Me Going

Ever watch White Wolves?  My new goal in life is to incorporate this movie every time I write a devo… since starting I’ve got a 50% success rate… not too bad ;) I’ve already given you a brief synopsis of the movie in case you haven’t seen it. So after the trip has become a rescue mission, there is yet another injury and it gets to the point that the whole group just can’t travel on anymore. In the middle of the night, Benny decides he’s going to go off alone and get help. Pandra catches him as he’s packing up and asks him what he’s doing. He explains his plan is to hike an old lava flow, cross an old bridge then white water raft the Lone Pine. Pandra tells him he can’t do it alone that it’s class 4 rapids and she’ll join him. As they are hiking along, Pandra trips and Benny tells her they can stop for the night and she says she’s fine and she doesn’t want to slow him down. To which he replies, “You’re not slowing me down, you’re keeping me going.” After awkwardly glancing at each other, she says, “Then let’s keep going.” And they continue on.

More Than You Can Handle

There is SO much good stuff in Perry Noble’s book and there is SO much more we can learn from David’s life too. So I only got to write two of the devos this week, but I easily could have written more! I wanted to share with you a little bit more that you can maybe go and do once you return home. Maybe it will help the spiritual high of this trip to last a little bit longer. If you read through this, share your thoughts with me. Send me an email or fb message or a good old fashioned phone call :)

Did I ever tell you about the crazy adventures Jeff, Hil and I had going to Georgia for the Catalyst conference last October? Jeff ‘borrowed’ a pumpkin from outside this gift shop we went to… we found the CRAZIEST/STRANGEST yard with all sorts of monsters/creatures/body and even helped the owner move a 6-ft tall hand into a guy’s truck… we had dinner in Alabama so I could add another state to my list of visited states (which means I’m currently beating my brother and father)… Hil and I rode a pirate ship… We had sushi with Sharla Megilligan (one of the missionaries we support)… But most of you probably didn’t hear about those things.

Your Heart’s Desire

I love the Chronicles of Narnia! I think The Magician’s Nephew is probably my favorite (with The Voyage of Dawn Treader being a close second). Towards the end of book Aslan (who is the God character in the book) sends Digory (young boy from our world who ends up in Narnia) on a mission to get an apple from this garden at the far end of Narnia. Once this apple is planted it will protect Narnia from the evil empress. However, when he gets to the garden he sees this sign:

Time-Out

Ever watch White Wolves? For those of you that haven't had the privilege, a group of teens and their leader go on a backpacking trip, very much like the wilderness trip, with less canoeing. Their goal is to get to the top of Eagle Rock. They eventually make it to the top and disaster strikes! Their trip turns into a rescue mission and they go through struggle after struggle on the way. At one point, after yet another plan doesn’t work out as anticipated, Kara gets overwhelmed and yells out, “No, I can’t do this anymore, I wanna go home!”

Do you ever feel that way? Things get frustrating or scary or hard and you’d rather give up than keep going?