Introducing a new opening segment on The Bridge:
SERIOUSLY, IT’S IN THE BIBLE
King David’s Last Will and Testament, 1 Kings 2.
David died of old age. Others, of Benaiah.
David had an unusual last will and testament. Before he died, ending a magnificent 40-year reign, he gave his parting instructions to his son, Solomon.
Be strong, show yourself to be a man, keep the charge of God, walk in His ways, and keep all God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments. If you do, you’ll prosper and our sons will stay on the throne of Israel. Also, remember what Joab did to me and that time he killed those two captains of the hosts of Israel, Abner and Amasa? And when Shimei cursed me? They gotta pay. Take care of that. Watch out for my friend, Barzillai, and his family. Be kind to them and let them eat at your table. They took care of me when I needed help.
Solomon gave the hit list to his right-hand man, Benaiah. Because, Benaiah had skills. Joab thought he could touch home base and be safe—grabbing the horns of the altar (hey, it worked that time for Adonijah), but nowhere was safe. Benaiah did not stop until David’s last testament was fulfilled.
Takeaway
Support God’s Ministry and you’ll be blessed by God. Work against them and you work against God. After David died, he was no longer available to those who worked against him to right their guilt. God didn’t bring bad tidings unto them until David was gone. You may not be on Benaiah’s naughty list, but if you’ve worked against God’s man, you will reap what you’ve sown. Should you be worried? We don’t know. Should you?
Don’t tear down what belongs to God. Let’s all lift the hands of God’s Ministry and sow what’s right and good. We’ll sleep better at night and dream of reaping righteous things.
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
The message last Saturday night and how it deepened and enlivened our spiritual desire.
THE OPENING
Life In The Fast Lane
Brother Nobles told us God put it on his heart that previous Sunday to go to Indiana on Monday. He wanted to make sure everyone in The Church at Connersville was doing okay and to bring them peace and support. He knows they are grieving over losing Elder LaFleur, just as we are. He and Brother John Shepard left the next morning. They arrived Monday night, fellowshipped, had service on Tuesday, drove home on Wednesday, attended the Shepard’s Fourth-of-July fellowship Wednesday night, played guitars, sang, and had a blast (with fireworks).
Brother Nobles asked Brother John to give a report about the fast and furious trip.
Whatsoever Things Are Lovely
At the beginning of his report, Brother John gave us a scripture about what we should be thinking about.
He remembered the Elder as not only a great teacher in what he said, but also in what he did. He emphasized that every minute spent in Connersville was quality time and ended with, “I can feel the peace of God in me.”
P.S. We love you Brother & Sister Gill and Church at Connersville.
THE MESSAGE
Elder left the Church in a great place spiritually, and Brother Nobles is continuing to move it forward. He began his message talking about buying the truth.
Hold Up
Salvation isn’t free? Brother Nobles read Proverbs 23:23 about us having to buy the truth and sell it not.
In verse 23, he also alerted us to the word, instruction. What, like it’s hard?
Yes. Of the three—wisdom, instruction, and understanding—instruction is the one our nature struggles with most. Taking instruction is hard to do and can be incredibly uncomfortable for our carnal nature.
Without instruction, wisdom and understanding won’t do us much good. We need instruction.
Cultivate Spiritual Desire.
We have to work on it every day.
Advertisers work relentlessly to cultivate worldly desires. They steer desires with commercials and ads. A breakthrough in preventing wrinkles, frisky singles in your area, shoes that feel like you’re walking on air, are you vaccinating your baby? Do frisky singles have wrinkles while walking on air and will they vaccinate their children? The craziness never stops. Companies know they have to be persistent. They push ideas and products in our faces as much as possible. Why? What they’re cultivating pays off in a big way. It’s hard to argue against something that works.
What we cultivate affects what we do and who we are. The things we don’t cultivate, wither away.
We must continually cultivate our spiritual desire to do the will of God and grow, or we’ll find ourselves scrambling to get it back. Brother Nobles referred to one way of cultivating spiritual desire—the right fellowship.
Fellowship with the world leads to being worldly. Flirt with the world, and it will hook you fast.
Oh, and self-fellowship is the same thing as worldly fellowship. Hi, red flag.
Dinner and Wine In Isaiah, Priceless.
Isaiah 55:1 tells whomever is thirsty to come to the waters and drink. Without money, you can eat and buy wine and milk. It’s without price, meaning no price can be placed on what He’s giving us—what we’re buying is way beyond having a price tag.
Turns out, money can’t buy you love. Or truth.
Break Out The Stretchy Pants
Spiritual ones. Brother Nobles said we can delight our souls in the fatness.
We’re living in good times. The amount of truth we can get is unlimited. Our resources to hear truth and grow in salvation extend beyond church services. Bible studies are frequent. Access to ministers who can teach one-on-one and who are willing to answer questions provide even more opportunities in which we can take advantage of hearing the Word.
Incline your ear and stay sharp to what God is saying.
Banished To Nothing
Holding our own ways and thoughts too dear, means we are rich in ourselves.
DON’T BE RICH IN OURSELVES. Sorry for yelling, but this one is important. If we’re rich in ourselves, God will send us away empty, with nothing.
If we are hungry, He will fill us.
May I Have This Option On My Insurance, Please?
As long as our faith is built on truth, God will be our shield and buckler. He will protect us. With truth, we get the Lord’s full protection.
Do I Have Enough Truth Yet?
No. Because, Psalm 119:93.
Never forget His precepts. Keep seeking His precepts. We have to leave our ways behind and take on His ways. We are on a journey which we must continue on until we have bought it all.
HOW WE’RE WINNING
We’re never going to stop buying the truth. These truths are what are producing eternal life in us!
We’re staying hungry and thirsty after the righteousness of God.
Our hunger and thirst is what’s moving us forward in the Kingdom of God!!!
Thanks for stopping by The Bridge.
Yes, we’re holding stuff back. If you’re hungry and thirsty and want to hear more, put us in your GPS. You’ll be glad you did. See you soon 🙂