Battle-conscience Attitude

[S] 2 Samuel 11:11 --
11  Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing."

[O] Uriah's dedication and loyalty to his country and other co-laborers is astounding.  Something very rare to see today.  He was fully aware of the on-going war and how many others are risking their own lives to fight and in his clear conscience he could not see himself simply ignoring that to enjoy himself, not that it was a sin to enjoy but he discerned when is the right time to enjoy or not.  I see a leader in him who genuinely cares for others to position himself in the most proper fashion.  I believe God honored that because even though we don't know much more than his death here, his name is part of the "great" lineage of Jesus Christ as referenced as in Matthew 1:6.

[A] The take away from Uirah's awareness of the "red alert" battle situation which directed his actions instead of going with his desires.  The spiritual battle is very much active and my actions must be fully in accord with such an urgent situation we live in.  This doesn't mean removing all "fun" out life, but being fully aware and prepared not to let the enemy gain any more grounds by my ignorant actions.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for refreshing in my mind through Uriah's dedication how urgent our spiritual battle against our enemy is and how I need to not loosen up with my attitude of serving others with a clear purpose of standing our battle positions wherever we are.  Please continue to use me and our church to stand up for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Retirement Model from Job

[S] Job 42:12,17 --
 ¹²The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
 ¹⁷And Job died, an old man and full of days.

[O] After all that Job went through, the completion of his life displayed the splendor or His beautiful and wonderful provision for His children.  It is not only because God restored the material wealth and his family, but because of the greater intensity of Job's life in the latter days than his beginning as well as how he was able to die full of days.  He maximized his life in the Lord even through the "deadly" downturn of his life.  My take away here is: I will surely go through challenges of my life no matter how closely I walk with God but that shouldn't be my excuse to not live out my life full of days, giving it all for Him.

[A] As I'm bombarded with lots of interruptions and challenges of my life stage, I need to defocus the strain coming from them and redirect my heart to focus more on the hopes and visions God intends for me to catch and to figure out a way to live the rest of my life giving it all for Him.

[P] Dear Father, Job's beautiful example of living out his life for You inspires me today.  I also want to follow his footsteps of living my days full for You.  Just like how someone once mentioned that on his tombstone, he wants to put a gas gauge with the needle pointing to "E" (for empty) signifying how he's given it all he had during his life.  I want to follow that model so please continue to teach me how I may do that until You call me home.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

From Dedication to Healing

[S] 1 Chronicles 26:26-27 --
Shelomith and his relatives were in charge of all the treasuries for the things dedicated by King David, by the heads of families who were the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and by the other army commanders. Some of the plunder taken in battle they dedicated for the repair of the temple of the LORD.

[O] There was a need to repair the temple of the Lord. They needed funding to meet this need. The funding was met by the offerings King David dedicated. Our dedications to our local church community is used to build up His ministries. The word "repair" prompted me to think that above the practical aspects of the buildings, etc. how much we are in need of the healing of our souls. As we observed that King David's victories were led by God in a supernatural ways, but He still uses our offerings to build up His ministries rather than doing everything for us. Couldn't He have repaired the temple Himself? Yes, but it was the offerings of His people that was used to repair it instead. God includes us in His wonderful works.

[A] When giving to God's ministries, don't hold back. Those are opportunities for me to be included in His works.

[P] Dear God, as You look at our hearts and not what or how much we offer to You, I want to dedicate my whole heart to You and also dedicate the rest of the resources You granted me to have in this world. I pray that my offerings will be used to repair/heal Your people here. In Jesus' name. Amen.