Repentance.
I am more than a little fascinated by the idea of repentance right now.
Last week I got into a conversation with one of my honorary brothers about this topic. We were talking about what happened with a woman he had been dating. His words to me were “You know she ended it first so I never had to repent and obey God... and then I found myself in the same situation with another woman.”
After talking with him I had to ask myself... when am I simply sorry and when and when do I actually repent? What is repentance?
We are going to take some time today to sit and think about repentance in light of I Kings.
When you look at repentance in the dictionary this is what you get
–verb (used without object)
1.to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc. (often fol. by of ): He repented after his thoughtless act.
2. to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.
–verb (used with object)
3.to remember or regard with self-reproach or contrition: to repent one's injustice to another.
4.to feel sorry for; regret: to repent an imprudent act.
Is this different from God’s understanding of repentance?
What occurred in I Kings Chapter 2?
Was Adonijah done in his grab for power?
Why did he go for it again?
Was he unaware that Solomon was supposed to be king?
Read I Chronicles 22:6-10
Why do we repeat the same sin?
Are we repentant if in the back of our hearts we are still striving to get whatever ‘power’ prize etc we want and the only thing that is stopping us is a lack of opportunity?
So then what is repentance?
II Corinthians 7:8-13
Acts 26:20
Look again at definition number 2... do you think that is repentance?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Power Plays
Who will be King?
Chapter One of I Kings opens up with a power play between two brothers, Adonijah and Solomon. But before we tackle that power play lets look back at the life of David to give a point of comparison to Adonijah’s power play and David’s power play.
Background to I Sam 24: 1-15
Saul, Israel’s current king, was seeking to kill David. This was quite a change from the way life used to be for David. Before Saul turned on David, David had married Saul’s daughter and was best friends with Saul son… the son that typically would be the next ruler. However, God had spoken and said that David was going to be the next king. It was this word of God that made Saul begin to fear David. It was the love of the people who David that made Saul hate the young man he once viewed as a son.
When we open up in Chapter 24 David and his band of men were living in the wilderness hiding from Saul. Living in the wilderness had become normal for those who supported David. Running for your life was also normal for those following David. Because of Saul’s fear/hate/jealous of David, David had to move his parents to another country. His parents end up dying in this country and not in their own home. The power struggle between David and Saul was disrupting their own personal lives and also the lives of their loved ones and countrymen.
Read Samuel 24:1-15
Why didn’t David kill Saul?
What do you think it cost David to not kill Saul?
What you think David’s obedience cost
• His men
• His wife
• His family
• Israel
Growing up my pastor used to say that it is easier to obey when our obedience only costly us… but what about when it costs our loved ones something? Will we still obey?
So what was worth all this to him?
Psalm 15:1-5
And in the middle of all this turmoil David believed this: Psalm 20:6-9
Who is God? What did David believe about God?
So now let’s switch gears to I Kings
Read I Kings Chapter One
When faced with the chance to grab power what did David do? He did not kill Saul, he did not grasp for power.
How is this different from what we see taking place in Chapter One?
Did Adonijah perform all that was required to become King?
So why did he not prevail?
Do you think Adonijah might have been taking a shortcut?
Do we ever take shortcuts in our lives: be it professional or otherwise that do not honor God?
Why do we do that?
What does it say about our view of God?
Is this as accurate view of God?
Food for thought later on in the week…
How much of this battle is a result of Israel asking for a King?
Do you think they imagined this result when they asked for a king?
What does that mean for us?
Why did they want a King? (They wanted something tangible… they wanted to look like other nations and be lead as other nations.)
What did God do? He gave them what they wanted but warned them of what this desire will do. We will return to this theme later on in the study.
Where are the areas in our life were we are not content with being lead by God but instead want someone tangible to guide us?
What could this cause in our own lives?
Chapter One of I Kings opens up with a power play between two brothers, Adonijah and Solomon. But before we tackle that power play lets look back at the life of David to give a point of comparison to Adonijah’s power play and David’s power play.
Background to I Sam 24: 1-15
Saul, Israel’s current king, was seeking to kill David. This was quite a change from the way life used to be for David. Before Saul turned on David, David had married Saul’s daughter and was best friends with Saul son… the son that typically would be the next ruler. However, God had spoken and said that David was going to be the next king. It was this word of God that made Saul begin to fear David. It was the love of the people who David that made Saul hate the young man he once viewed as a son.
When we open up in Chapter 24 David and his band of men were living in the wilderness hiding from Saul. Living in the wilderness had become normal for those who supported David. Running for your life was also normal for those following David. Because of Saul’s fear/hate/jealous of David, David had to move his parents to another country. His parents end up dying in this country and not in their own home. The power struggle between David and Saul was disrupting their own personal lives and also the lives of their loved ones and countrymen.
Read Samuel 24:1-15
Why didn’t David kill Saul?
What do you think it cost David to not kill Saul?
What you think David’s obedience cost
• His men
• His wife
• His family
• Israel
Growing up my pastor used to say that it is easier to obey when our obedience only costly us… but what about when it costs our loved ones something? Will we still obey?
So what was worth all this to him?
Psalm 15:1-5
And in the middle of all this turmoil David believed this: Psalm 20:6-9
Who is God? What did David believe about God?
So now let’s switch gears to I Kings
Read I Kings Chapter One
When faced with the chance to grab power what did David do? He did not kill Saul, he did not grasp for power.
How is this different from what we see taking place in Chapter One?
Did Adonijah perform all that was required to become King?
So why did he not prevail?
Do you think Adonijah might have been taking a shortcut?
Do we ever take shortcuts in our lives: be it professional or otherwise that do not honor God?
Why do we do that?
What does it say about our view of God?
Is this as accurate view of God?
Food for thought later on in the week…
How much of this battle is a result of Israel asking for a King?
Do you think they imagined this result when they asked for a king?
What does that mean for us?
Why did they want a King? (They wanted something tangible… they wanted to look like other nations and be lead as other nations.)
What did God do? He gave them what they wanted but warned them of what this desire will do. We will return to this theme later on in the study.
Where are the areas in our life were we are not content with being lead by God but instead want someone tangible to guide us?
What could this cause in our own lives?
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
History behind I Kings
So First Kings… what is the background you need to know? Well, the chapter opens up with a the changing of a guard. So let me give you some background to help you understand what is going on.
Fun facts (and slightly juicy) to keep in the forefront of your mind as we study.
History of the Kingdom:
The Children of Israel were relatively young in regards to having a king. The chapter opens up with King David who was Israel’s 2nd King being ill and needing help. (We will examine this more in detail later on) Previous to David and Saul, Israel was guided by prophets who God spoke to. Israel did not necessarily have a central human leadership rather God spoke to them(through the prophets) and they acted. However as time went on they did not want to be lead by a religious leader they wanted a king they could see and touch to lead them. They wanted to be as the other nations.(1) God answered their demand but He also warned them what a King would bring.(2) Keep this warning in mind as you read through I Kings. Saul was their first king and from all appearances he seemed to be a good king. He was handsome and strong… but he had one flaw he did not love God with all his heart… and like we so easily can, he fell in love with power and the rest of his reign is a picture of what a life that grasps at staying in power can look like.
David was Israel’s next King. He was not perfect as evidenced in the fact that he killed a loyal servant to hide the affair he was having with that servant’s wife.(3) (not awesome) Yet something in his heart was still turned towards God.(4) It is his heart that we will examine first so that we can understand what God means when He says the different kings in I Kings either had a heart for God like David or not like David’s heart.
David’s Heart
The Book of Psalms was written mainly by David. We are going to take some time to look at various sections of the Psalms to get insight into David’s relationship with God.
Psalm 63, Psalm 62:5-8, Psalm 55: 1-8, 16-18, 22-23
What do you observe about David’s heart in these passages?
Who did he turn to for salvation?
What did he want from God?
Who did He know God to be?
What about his heart did God love?
Did any of this resonate in you?
************************************************************************************
(1) I Samuel 8:4-9
(2) I Samuel 8:10-18. The important things to remember from this section is that the Israelities were warned that a king will take their sons for war, he will take from them their best, and the people will become his servant.
(3) II Samuel 11:1-27
(4) Acts 13:22
Fun facts (and slightly juicy) to keep in the forefront of your mind as we study.
History of the Kingdom:
The Children of Israel were relatively young in regards to having a king. The chapter opens up with King David who was Israel’s 2nd King being ill and needing help. (We will examine this more in detail later on) Previous to David and Saul, Israel was guided by prophets who God spoke to. Israel did not necessarily have a central human leadership rather God spoke to them(through the prophets) and they acted. However as time went on they did not want to be lead by a religious leader they wanted a king they could see and touch to lead them. They wanted to be as the other nations.(1) God answered their demand but He also warned them what a King would bring.(2) Keep this warning in mind as you read through I Kings. Saul was their first king and from all appearances he seemed to be a good king. He was handsome and strong… but he had one flaw he did not love God with all his heart… and like we so easily can, he fell in love with power and the rest of his reign is a picture of what a life that grasps at staying in power can look like.
David was Israel’s next King. He was not perfect as evidenced in the fact that he killed a loyal servant to hide the affair he was having with that servant’s wife.(3) (not awesome) Yet something in his heart was still turned towards God.(4) It is his heart that we will examine first so that we can understand what God means when He says the different kings in I Kings either had a heart for God like David or not like David’s heart.
David’s Heart
The Book of Psalms was written mainly by David. We are going to take some time to look at various sections of the Psalms to get insight into David’s relationship with God.
Psalm 63, Psalm 62:5-8, Psalm 55: 1-8, 16-18, 22-23
What do you observe about David’s heart in these passages?
Who did he turn to for salvation?
What did he want from God?
Who did He know God to be?
What about his heart did God love?
Did any of this resonate in you?
************************************************************************************
(1) I Samuel 8:4-9
(2) I Samuel 8:10-18. The important things to remember from this section is that the Israelities were warned that a king will take their sons for war, he will take from them their best, and the people will become his servant.
(3) II Samuel 11:1-27
(4) Acts 13:22
Disclosure
In the interest of true disclosure we are doing this study because I need it. I need to examine what does it mean for me to have a heart after God, what does it mean for me to not let my many loves turn my heart away from my king. I need to know how my seemingly small decision affects not just me but my community.
I am doing this because like you I need God to provide here along in my life on a daily basis and because like you I want to know what it means to follow God in the midst of mistakes, failures, circumstances I can not control, and circumstances I can control, and to love him in all environments.
Thank you for being willing to join me on this self serving journey. But I feel like me you are on the same path. We all make mistakes in various ways. The other loves we have might not be as extensive as Solomon’s. (He had how many wives and concubines? I can barely handle dating one guy at a time…) but his struggle is the same as ours… Are we allowing these loves to turn us away from our Heavenly Father?
My hope and prayer in this study is that we grow, we are strengthened, and we follow God. That’s the point of any study right? Isn’t the point to learn how to follow God. I think we have amassed enough knowledge… let’s start living after him.
I am doing this because like you I need God to provide here along in my life on a daily basis and because like you I want to know what it means to follow God in the midst of mistakes, failures, circumstances I can not control, and circumstances I can control, and to love him in all environments.
Thank you for being willing to join me on this self serving journey. But I feel like me you are on the same path. We all make mistakes in various ways. The other loves we have might not be as extensive as Solomon’s. (He had how many wives and concubines? I can barely handle dating one guy at a time…) but his struggle is the same as ours… Are we allowing these loves to turn us away from our Heavenly Father?
My hope and prayer in this study is that we grow, we are strengthened, and we follow God. That’s the point of any study right? Isn’t the point to learn how to follow God. I think we have amassed enough knowledge… let’s start living after him.
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