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choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living

1 Samuel 22:1-5 says, “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam.  When his brother and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.  All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader.  About four hundred men were with him.  From where David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God’s will do for me?”  So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in a stronghold.  But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold.  Go into the land of Judah.”  So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

David left Gath which in Hebrew means, “weeping,” and escaped to the cave Adullam.  David is in despair he has been hunted like an animal he hides in caves and dens of the earth. David is in God’s waiting room, but while David is in the waiting room of God he is gathering his mighty men.  God is preparing him for a victory, Oh, Readers; it might look like David is a coward running from pillar to post but God is preparing him for mighty works.  David has been rejected and on the run everywhere he turns he ends up in the mouth on the earth or in the belly of a cave he cannot find solace. Saul is a type and shadow; a reflection if you will, of Satan the enemy, as Saul hunts down David, Satan hunts us down. Remember the scripture in 1Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walking about, and seeking whom he may devour.”  I believe David’s soul was living among lions.  There were three classes of men who followed David that day; men who were distress, men who were in debt, and men who were living in discontentment.  First I would like to address those who were in distress.  They were persecuted and oppressed by Saul.  If you are feeling the whiplash of discrimination in our world today, the unfairness of your life at times then you would fit into this group of people. The only answer to their distress is to call on the name of Jesus, but how many can be brutally honest with themselves and admit you are calling loudly on many things but the name of Jesus is but a whisper.  You have called on the banker, the physicians, the psychiatrist, the circumstance, or maybe you have called on the name of Jim Beam or Budweiser, if that’s not your deal then perhaps you have called on the name of marijuana, or pain killers, sleeping pills, or xanax to wipe your mind free from the roaring lion’s voice. Readers, there is only one voice that can drown out the voice of the devourer and that is the voice of Jesus. Don’t allow the imitators of peace to call on your name anymore, start calling on the name of Jesus. The second class of men who followed David was the men in debt.  In the day David was living, debt was a type of cancer a man could lose his property and be sold into slavery. Many of you today feel exactly  like one of those men, you feel like you have been sold into a market whose only interested is your demise, you work to make ends meet, but end up stretching the ends only to fall short of meeting. You have become a slave to this world trying to pay a debt you cannot pay, because God has already paid the finale cost. Oh Readers, you stretch one end while the other shrinks back, you try and try but never feel like you are free from the sin of this world, but I have good news for you today Jesus already paid the price, He already paid the ransom so you could live among the free. Quit trying to pay back a debt that has already been paid. We are talking about something far more important than money here; we are talking about the acceptance of Jesus as your Savoir.  UN- handcuff yourself from this world and live among the living.  Now, the last group of men who followed David was the discontented, they were bitter of soul.  Life will make you bitter if you fail to see the small hand in the cloud.  There are so many of God’s people living in discontentment, protesting one thing after another never really being satisfied with the moment. You are on a scavenger hunt every place you go you don’t enjoy, because your mind is already on the next place. Your focus is on the gathering and not on the experience. Your soul is feeding off discontentment and starving to death. You feed yourself one crumb of hope but a handful of frustration. Until you can get to a place where the journey is as important as destination then you will live a life in discontentment. Choices are for the living.   Did you notice in 1Samuel 22:1 “David left Gath, which remember in Hebrew means; weeping.  David left a place of weeping to enter into the land of Judah which in Hebrew means praising.  Readers, many of you are in between the pillar and post you have one foot in Gath weeping while the other foot is in Judah, praising.  “But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold.  Go into the land of Judah.” 1 Samuel 22:5 many of you have let your situation put you in a stronghold, you are weeping and crying out to every name but the name of Jesus; you are either distress, in debt, or discontent. There is a time to stay, but there is also a time to flee.  Go into the land of Judah praising the name of Jesus lifted him high above your circumstance and believe in the flight. God is calling you to another land pick up your tent pegs and move.  Choices are for the living…

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savoir please pray this prayer.

Lord, please forgive me of my sins, I recognize the need for you in my life. I am confessing with my mouth and believing in my heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. Amen (Romans 10:9)   Now find yourself a bible believing church and get involved.

Hanging a red cord out my window so others can be saved….Michele Davenport

For prayer or questions please feel free to email me at fbministries@comcast.net

For more of my teachings on audio or to order my books you can go to fbministries.com

choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living

1 Samuel 10:20-22, “When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.  Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was chosen.  Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.  So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”  And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

The first king was chosen by casting lots, flat stones carried by the high priest.  This might sound like Saul was chosen merely by happenstance but on the contrary, the Lord himself had instructed the Israelites to make the lots to determine decisions, so therefore God was taking the decisions out of their hands and putting in His own hand. What was really fascinating to me Readers, when I read the story in 1 Samuel 10:1, “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance?”  Then Samuel went on to say in verse 2 thru 7, “When you leave me today you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin.  They will say to you, ‘The donkey you set out to look for has been found.  And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you.  He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?” Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor.  Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there.  One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine.  They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.  After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost.  As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes, and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.  The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.”

Wow! Readers, how many of you heard the Lord calling you to do something powerful in His name?  He has sent sign after sign like he did for Saul a goat, bread, wine, prophets and even a band.  The Lord has told you where to go and what to do. He has anointed you King over that assignment, but where can you be found? Is it among the baggage?  You see Saul knew he had already been selected to be the king but when they called for him he was hiding among the baggage.

photo credit - rachellegardner.blogspot.com

Readers, can I be so bold to suggest that many of you are hiding behind the baggage of your past; your past mistakes, past failures, past hurts, and present fear.  God has already called you my friend according to Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” Samuel said, once these signs have been filled, do whatever your hands find to do because God is with you. Have you been hearing harps and flutes?  Samuel gave Saul many signs, what sign has God given you?

 I wonder how many times we have missed being an answer to someone else’s prayer due to our own insecurities coupled with excuses.  Did you notice God knew exactly where Saul was when someone asked in 1 Samuel 10:22, “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” You might be hiding from everyone else but you are not hidden from God. Once Saul came out, faced his fear he was generously accepted. What are you waiting for; today is the youngest you will ever be, today is the day to obey. Stop hiding behind the baggage of your past, you are so much more than what you were before Christ because you are a new creation, created to do good works prepared in advance for you to do.
Choices are for the living…Live among the baggage or step out and move on.

Today is the day to obey.

Stepping out and moving on.

Michele Davenport

For questions or prayers please email me at my new email address fbmin02@gmail.com

To order my book, “Ripened on the Vine” a story of survival and God’s grace or to listen to my teachings on audio visit our web page at  www.fbministries.com

choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living

Romans 8:6-8, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind in the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it desires not to submit to God’s law, indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

While I was preparing my fermented salsa this morning a thought came to my mind, the thought was this; as I was chopping the vegetables for the salsa I noticed I was being very careful not to put any questionable pieces in the jar because I didn’t want a few bad vegetables to ruin the whole batch which takes a couple of days of sitting on the counter to even ferment enough to be eaten. Fermenting makes the food easier to digest and the nutrients easier to assimilate.  Most of the digestion is done for you.  Fermenting also holds onto the enzymes and vitamins and other nutrients that get destroyed by processing the food.  The nutritional value of your food gain more nutrients by fermenting.  I started to think about the fermenting process and the benefits from this process.

Fermenting makes our food easier to digest and the nutrients easier to assimilate.  The word of God helps us digest life, as we live it. Everything we need to know, all the spiritual vitamins we need to nourish our bodies is found in the written Word of God, but we have one small problem many of us don’t want to digest the word of God because our minds are set on the flesh.  We over process our lives; by feeding our flesh the desires of our hearts and not the desires of God’s heart.  Spiritually we take a beating that came from our own hand, we love to swallow what taste good in the spiritual, but what about the scriptures that call us to feed the poor?  Did you know there are over 2000 scripture in the bible on the poor?  We skim through those like they don’t apply to us, like God is talking directly to the poor not to the people who could help them.  I think we have been spiritually over processed, as Christian a lot of our nutrients have been depleted our enzymes are out of balance we need a spiritual cleanse.  In addition the public is having a hard time digesting Christians because we have too many toxins floating around in our lives. Now, I know I’m getting a few of you all riled up  because you think I’m saying we have to be perfect to be of any use, but not all, we just need to be who we say we are. The word of God says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “We become a new creation in Christ when we are born again the old things have vanished and the new things have come.”  You can’t expect to watch pornography and then minister to a man who has an addition to pornography.  The same way you can’t expect to be at war with your spouse and then try to mentor someone on how to have a great marriage. I could no longer be obese and tell you how to lose weight than someone who is a practicing a drug addict could tell me how to become drug free. Hypocrite; is what people call this kind of behavior. For some of us we have allowed ourselves to be over processed, with the hormone induced, chemical manufactured, corn fed chickens of this world. Let’s eat the Word of God organically, be mindful of what we are allowing in our temples because what we put in us will eventually come out. Dr. Newell once said, “To hope to do better is fail to see yourself in Christ.” He also said, “To be disappointed with yourself means you believed in yourself.” Let’s see ourselves through God’s eyes and put our trust and faith in Him alone then and only then can we expect fermentation to happen.          Choices are for the Living

My food is to do the will of the Father

Michele Davenport

For prayer or praise report please email me at my new email address fbmin02@gamil.com

To order my book, “Ripened on the Vine,” or to listen to my teachings go to fbministries.com

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choices are for the Living

Choices are for the Living

2 Corinthians 5:11-14 (Message Bible), “That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure.  It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in the place of Judgment.  That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God.  God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and how deeply we care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you.  We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you.  Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes.  His love has the first and last word in everything we do.”

Wow! Readers, What an awesome statement of truth; “If I acted crazy I did it for God, if I acted overly serious I did it for you.  Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes.”  I do believe this is what we need in the body of Christ, a move of extreme love, a crazy kind of love that moves us to be as serious about death as we are about life.  We spend much time preparing to live, planning, doing, and going, but what about death?  I  can hear some of you now getting all theological on me,” Michele you know as believers we really don’t ever die.” What I mean about death is the transition from this life to the next. Do we really care about the people who might not be going vertical?  Love must compel us it must move us to extremes.  When was the last time you told someone about Christ that was not already attending church?  When was the last time you acted crazy for your God? I don’t mean straight jacket crazy I mean out of your comfort level crazy. What might be crazy for me might not be crazy for you.  For an example I just finished teaching a bible study, “Outlive your Life,” by Max Lucado, the main focused was on the footprints we’re  leaving behind, and doing all things unto God. The point of our life is to point to His.  One of the examples in the book was; go to your local laundry mat and pay for people’s laundry, and fellowship with those we call strangers but whom the Lord calls His children. The mission is called, “Laundry Love.” “If I acted crazy, I did it for God.”  Church, isn’t it time we get a little crazy for Christ? Isn’t it time we get serious about Heaven?  You might be saying I am serious about heaven.  I have been serving God most of my life.  I mean get serious about other people going to heaven.  I mean letting Christ’s love move you to extremes.   

photo credit storypoint.info

Some of you are waiting on a word from God before you step a foot in the Jordan. Joshua 3:8 "When you reach the edge of the waters, "GO" and stand in the river." According to the NKJV God has told you 1487 times to "GO"!! What are you waiting on? When you start to "GO" the waters will stand in a heap. You don’t think this was crazy?  It was the rainy season, the Jordan was swelled high above the normal river size, but the priest obeyed. As they stuck one foot in the water the water stood up on its head. Wow!  What a great example of what God will do if we will pick up the ark of the covenant, which represented God’s presence and ,”GO”.  Love crazy for God, get serious about Vertical faith, and let Christ’s love move you to the extremes. Choices are for the living.

Michele Davenport

Dipping my toe in the Jordan expecting a miracle.

For prayer or praise reports please email me at my new email fbmin02@gmail.com

To order my book, “Ripened on the Vine,” true stories of my life or to listen to my teaching on, “Vertical Faith,” go to our web page www.fbministries.com