Be the Change You Want to See in the World. Second Samuel 21-22; Acts 13

May the mumbling commence!

God is especially good to those who show the Lord faith and integrity.  Purity is essential to walking the path that we should.  Humility is another way to reflect our Lord Jesus.  These attitudes are the seeds sown for growing the blessedness that Jesus refers to in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke).  We see this in David’s song of praise to the Lord after David was given rest from his enemies.  Read from Second Samuel chapter twenty-two:

"To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity. 

To the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the wicked you show yourself hostile. 

You rescue those who are humble,

but your eyes are on the proud to humiliate them. 

O Lord, you are my light;

yes, Lord, you light up my darkness. 

In your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.” (Verses 26-30)

You see, it is not about the Lord being on my side.  It’s about me being on the Lord’s side.  To be faithful is to be on the Lord’s side.  To be pure is to be on the Lord’s side.  To be humble is to be on the Lord’s side.

When we do these things and have these attitudes of the heart, then the Lord will light up our darkest nights.  The Lord will grant us strength to conquer the mightiest enemy.  Yes, God will give us the strength to conquer even the person that we see in the mirror each morning.

May we be the change we want to see in the world.  May we seek the Lord’s side rather than claiming the Lord’s blessings on our own agendas.  Without these actions, all the Bible study in the world will not help us.  Read from Acts chapter thirteen:

"Brothers – you sons of Abraham, and also all of you devout Gentiles who fear the God of Israel – this salvation is for us!  The people in Jerusalem and their leaders fulfilled prophecy by condemning Jesus to death. They didn't recognize him or realize that he is the one the prophets had written about, though they hear the prophets' words read every Sabbath.  They found no just cause to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway. 

When they had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning his death, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.  But God raised him from the dead!  And he appeared over a period of many days to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem – these are his witnesses to the people of Israel.” (Verses 26-31)

O God, you raised Jesus from death.  Raise us up now into new life in Christ.  Help us to embrace the change you lay down before us.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out