Live God’s Word!  It makes you wise!

Wiser than your enemies!

Wiser than your teachers!

Wiser than your elders!

Psalm 119:97-100

97 Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
100 I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.

James 1:5

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

I love God for His Word! I pray these words over my kids lives and all the young people at my church and my kid’s church!

The tongue is hard to control.  People say nice stuff and they say mean stuff. It’s a small part of the body but it can wreak major havoc.

James 3~

3 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Jesus’ words to His Father before He went to the cross~

I am praying not only for these disciples but also for those who will ever believe in me through their message.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one–as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

John 17:20-21

Mark 11:22-26 (see below)

I’ve discovered these verses are hard for me to say.  I find myself wanting to overlook them. This has happened time and time again.  So I’ve come to the conclusion, they are very powerful verses and need to be spoken as a prayer at the start of everyday.

Here are the key elements to this amazing passage~

1) When you pray these verses make sure your heart is clear of all unforgiveness towards others and God.  (Verses 25 and 26)  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you and then help you remove any unforgiveness you have.

2) A mountain in your life is any kind of overwhelming situation.  For example, it can be unforgiveness, a difficult relationship, a financial struggle, an addiction, a physical challenge.  Make a complete list of the mountains in your life.

3) Look to God. Decide you will have an attitude of complete trust/faith in God that He will get these mountains out of your life.  It’s best to start out your day with this attitude. When you waiver from your confidence in God and discouraging thoughts come, push them out of your head. Say a prayer.  Ask Jesus to help you keep your trust in God and say His name out loud! Say a related Bible verse out loud to get your thinking back to trusting God.

4) Say aloud your mountains.  Say them in a prayer to God using this passage.  As you say them practice complete trust without doubt that your Heavenly Father has taken care of this.

5) Are you obeying God in your life?  This is important to do.  Jesus said He will give you the desires of your heart.

6) Journal when you began doing this.  Keep praying everyday. If you faulter from praying it everyday, fix it as fast as you can and keep trusting God.

Mark 11:22-26

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Who would name their kid Mephibosheth?

Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan (David’s deceased best friend) and the grandson of the deceased King Saul. He was crippled in both feet.

King David asked Ziba, a servant of King Saul if there was anyone who was still alive from King Saul’s family and Ziba told him of Mephibosheth. King David had him come to the palace. And when they met the king showed great kindness to him. He told Mephibosheth that he would receive all the land that had belonged to King Saul and that he would always eat at the Kings table. Ziba and all his household would become Mephibosheth’s servants and farm the land that he now owned.

2 Samuel 9:1-13

In John 14 when Jesus was about to go to the cross he tells his disciples He will send the Holy Spirit to help them.  Then he describes what the Holy Spirit does.  As Christians today the Holy Spirit still helps us.

1) The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth

John 14:15-17

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

2) The Holy Spirit teaches us everything and will remind us of everything Jesus tells us in the Bible

John 14:25-26

25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

David was a great military leader and won many battles.  In the beginning he was king of Judah. The people of Judah and all of Israel saw his victories and how he respected King Saul as God’s anointed. They saw how he humbly mourned the death of Abner, the commander of Israel army.

Then they came together to tell him they wanted him to be king.

2 Samuel 5:1-5

1All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

2 Samuel 2:18-3:39

David was building his kingdom after King Saul died. His military was conquering new territory and working to establish reign over Israel. He was king over Judah. David’s military commander was Joab. Israel’s (Saul’s) military commander was Abner.

Asahel was Joab’s brother and in the army. He was a fast runner. He chased Abner in order to conquer him. Abner told him to stop. He didn’t so regretfully, he killed him.

2 Samuel 2:18-24

Abner became a mighty leader. Partly because of a conflict between Abner and one of Saul’s sons, He then made a major military decision and announced he was going to work to allow Israel to be ruled by King David.

2 Samuel 3:6-19

Abner meets with David to discuss the decision. The people of Israel were in agreement with Abner.  Then Abner returned to Israel with the Kings blessings

2 Samuel 3:20-25

Joab learned of everything that had happened.  He was still angry that Abner had killed his brother so he went after Abner and then killed him.

2 Samuel 26-27

David along with the people mourned the great loss of Abner.

2 Samuel 3:31-39

When David, his army and family, were fleeing from King Saul he did an unusual strategic move. He became allies with the Philistines’ town of Gath. The king of Gath liked this idea greatly because he saw how David always won battles. The irony of these two being allies is the first highly successful military move David ever made was as a young person when he killed the giant, Goliath, who was from  Gath.  Gath was still an enemy of Israel. Although David was on friendly terms with this king, his heart was still faithful to Israel but King Achish was fully convinced otherwise and asked David and his army to go to war with his people against Israel. King Achish even appointed David to be his personal bodyguard.

1 Samuel 27-28:2

And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. 4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

8 And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites,[a] and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. 9 Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish. 10 Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites.” 11 David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. 12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

28 Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

2 So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

The future king of Israel, David, when he was in the wilderness with his army of men could have killed Saul, the first King of Israel, in a vulnerable moment. King Saul had fallen into disobedience against God. But David respected him as the anointed of God and vowed to not harm him. Later Saul realized this and blessed David in his endeavor to take his place as the king of Israel.

1 Samuel 24

1 After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of En-gedi. 2 So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats.

3 At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!

4 “Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him. “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’” So David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe.

5 But then David’s conscience began bothering him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.” 7 So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

After Saul had left the cave and gone on his way, 8 David came out and shouted after him, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked around, David bowed low before him.

9 Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to harm you? 10 This very day you can see with your own eyes it isn’t true. For the Lord placed you at my mercy back there in the cave. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I spared you. For I said, ‘I will never harm the king—he is the Lord’s anointed one.’ 11 Look, my father, at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of the hem of your robe! I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. This proves that I am not trying to harm you and that I have not sinned against you, even though you have been hunting for me to kill me.

12 “May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you. 13 As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you. 14 Who is the king of Israel trying to catch anyway? Should he spend his time chasing one who is as worthless as a dead dog or a single flea? 15 May the Lord therefore judge which of us is right and punish the guilty one. He is my advocate, and he will rescue me from your power!”

16 When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, “Is that really you, my son David?” Then he began to cry. 17 And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. 18 Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. 19 Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today. 20 And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that when that happens you will not kill my family and destroy my line of descendants!”

22 So David promised this to Saul with an oath. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went back to their stronghold.