A fallen friend Tuesday May 10, 2011

  Today's treasure:  2 Samuel 1:23

  Read Galatians 2:20 and think what this means to you

  Our old body of sin, the nature that must seek its own way, the person who is hopelessly depraved and resigned to failure,  hangs limp on the cross.  Raised in its place is the Spirit of the Living God poured into a temple of flesh so that God's presence will remain among men.  The armor that once we could only carry in our hands is now fitted for us and we rise from the dead--warriors.  Oh that we would not cling to the things of our old body of sin.  It is nothing but a decaying carcass.  I must rise, turn away from the old things of death, take on His armor, and fight the good fight.  

  Romans 6:6 is a great memory verse

  Read 1 Peter 2:16.  The word servants, which Peter was urging as the position of all who are in Christ, is the Greek word doulos.  It means "a slave, one who is in permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other"  Sounds like an armor bearer, sacrificing his will and agenda for that of his master.  The word permanent describes the kind of service God desires us to offer.  

  Do you see your role of servant of the Living Lord as absolutely and utterly permanent?  Servanthood, not salvation.  If you can say without a doubt that in your life, whether you still have your health, job, spouse, etc.  that you will be serving God, then AMEN!  A 'doulos' is a sold out servant , so what does 1 Corin. 4:1 list as one of our privileges as doulos of God?

  Read Matthew 10:39...which of the following statements best describe this verse?
  to love God is to lose your life
  to lay down your life for Christ's sake is to find His
  to find yourself is to lose everything else


  Read 2 Samuel 1:1-16


  according to verse 2, how long a period of time passed before David learned of Saul's death?  


  what lie did the Amalekite tell about Saul's death?


  What gave David a unique right to ask the question in verse 14?


  Few people in the Middle East would have failed to hear rumors of Saul's pursuit of David.  Many must have followed them as closely as a faithful watcher of a modern soap opera.  People love conflict. We revel in the sagas of the rich, famous and miserable.  

  When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women met King Saul with singing, dancing. joyful songs, tambourines and lutes.  Those women started a jealousy that cost both men dearly.  "Saul was very angry; this refrain  galled him.  'They have credited David with tens of thousands, 'he thought, 'but me with only thousands.  What more can he get but the kingdom?'  And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David"


  Read 2 Samuel 1:17-27
  In David's song of lament, why did he not want word of Saul's death and the deaths of his sons told in Gath and Ashkelon?


   In David's song of lament, his words suddenly turn from the refrain of the assembly to the grief of a single heart.  The Hebrew word for brother was ach.  It means "a brother, near relative"  it is generally a term for affection.  
  David called his friend's love for him "wonderful".  The Hebrew word for wonderful is pala..."to be separate, be extraordinary".  
Clearly we see from the definition that David was distinguishing the sacrificial nature of this friendship from anything else anyone had ever demonstrated to him.  So determined was Jonathan that David be king, a position that Jonathan stood to inherit, Jonathan committed his entire life to that end.  David found it "astonishing"
  David grieved the tragic loss of life that took place on Mount Gilboa.  His thoughts must have been consumed with how differently he wished it had all happened.  
  In the next chapter we see that "in the course of time" ...some things just take the passing of time to pass, we experience God's healing wash over us..