Read to prACTice

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Serve the Lord as David did...   I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 22   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (king David told his son Solomon when he gave him the task to build the house of the Lord. He said...) 14  With great pains I have provided for the house of the  Lord   100,000 talents   of gold, a million talents of silver, and  bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add. III. Reflection *  Questions :  To what extent did David go through in preparing for the house of the Lord? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that preparing for the house of the Lord requires great effort, including pain and financial sacrifice. That was what it took David to do for his part in the preparation for the building of the house of the Lord. I thank You, Lord Jesus,...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* The Enumerated and the Limitless... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 21   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  1  Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.   2  So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number...” 7  But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.   8  And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” III. Reflection *  Questions :  What was in the number that caused God to be displeased and David to sin greatly?  IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for reminding me that a number is a tool of measurement. Knowing a number is knowing the smallness or the bigness ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* The Tactic of Going It Alone...   I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 20   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And  Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. III. Reflection *  Questions :  Was David's remaining in Jerusalem a tactic? How so? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that David's remaining in Jerusalem while his army was out battling was indeed a tactic--not a military one but a spiritual one, not by him the commander in chief but by Satan the deceiver in chief. David fell for this tactic, and he suffered such a horrific fall from grace! I thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking me to this point to remind me of the danger of being alone, physically or sp...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Do not assume a bad motive... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 19   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  1  Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place.   2  Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him.   3  But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, "Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?"   4  So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. III. Reflectio...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* This is My Son, Listen to Him... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 18   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (The Lord helped David wherever he went; he won wars over many countries in the region...) 9  Now when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,   10  he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. III. Reflection *  Questions :  How was the defeat of all the army of Hadadezer by David important to the king of Hamath? IV. Application Dear Lord God, I thank You for showing me the importance of David's great military achievement. This could be seen by the way the king of Hamath chose his representative to come to ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Be brave as Nathan...   I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 17   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (King David wanted to build a house for the Lord, so he consulted the Prophet Nathan...) 2  Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”  3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,  4   “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the  Lord , “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in...  15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.   III. Reflection *  Questions :  What made the Prophet Nathan a brave man of God? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me that the Prophet Nathan was Your brave man. It wasn't because he confronted his king David, when the king committed adultery and murder. It was because h...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* After worshiping, do this... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 16   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (In the task that king David and all Israel relocated the ark of God to Jerusalem...) 1  And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.   2  When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the  Lord ... 43  Then all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What should people do after having worshiped the Lord? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me the result of worship: blessing other people as king David did. I thank You for reminding me also that blessing is the opposite of c...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* No one would know... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 15   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (as all Israelites welcomed the ark to Jerusalem...) 29  And as the ark of the covenant of the  Lord  came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart III. Reflection *  Questions :  What happened to Michal after this event? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for letting me know that things happening in Michal's heart were not so secret after all. You saw it when she despised David even deep in her heart. And You saw to it that she spent the rest of her life lonely ( 2 Sam 6:23 ). I thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking me to this point to remind me that not only You see our hearts, but You also let those with pure hearts see You, God the Father ( Matthew 5:8 ). ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* NOT once and for all... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 14   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (knowing that David had been anointed to be king over all Israel, the Philistines searched for David to fight against him...) 9  Now the Philistines had come and  made a raid in the valley of Rephaim.  10  David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” Then the  Lord  said to him, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand...”   13  The Philistines made yet another raid in the valley.   14  David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What is noteworthy in David's prayers and in God's replies to his prayers? IV. Application Dear ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Don't rush the process... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 13   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (thinking of transporting the Ark to Jerusalem...) 1  Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.   2  David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the  Lord  our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us;   3  and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” III. Reflection *  Questions :  Of the 2 conditional IFs above, which one is more important to bring the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for letting me know that ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* A shade in the desert... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 12   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (people all over Israel came with one mind to make David king...) 39  They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them.   40  Moreover those who were near to them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel. III. Reflection *  Questions :  How would you describe joy in Israel at that time? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me a picture of joy that fits well with the atmosphere at that time over Israel — a picture of a person swinging in a hammock under a cool shade in the middle of a desert ( Jonah 4:6 )...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Let God dwell in... I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 11   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches:  (after David was made king over all Israel...) 4  Then David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.   5  The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not enter here.” Nevertheless David captured the stronghold of Zion (that is, the city of David).   6  Now David had said, “Whoever strikes down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief.   7  Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore, it was called the city of David.   8  He built the city all around, from the Millo even to the surrounding area; and Joab repaired the rest of the city.   9  David became greater and greater, for the  Lord ...

To read this in Vietnamese, please click  here . ******************* Consequences vs Results...   I. Click here to READ   1 Chr 10   first . II. One thing the Bible teaches: (having been defeated in the battlefield the last time...) 13  So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the  Lord , because of the word of the  Lord  which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it,   14  and did not inquire of the  Lord . Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. III. Reflection *  Questions :  What would the chain of events be once one decidedly does not keep the Word of the Lord? IV. Application Dear Lord God: I thank You for showing me what happened once Saul decided to not keep Your Word: (a) it took him to someone else spiritually, (b) it took him away from seeking Your guidance, and (c) ultimately, it took him to death ...