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

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