| Prayer: Father, when it seems the world is crashing in around me and I need a touch from You, please be that word of encouragement. Amen. Reading: Psalms 3 key: vs. 4 4 But You, Adonai, are a shield around me, my glory and the lifter of my head. Attention: The longer you establish a daily lifestyle of time with God in His Word, the more you get to know Him and the various people in the Bible. You get to know their struggles with sin and obedience with God, interpersonal relationships within families, and national conflicts with other nations. Today we hear from King David, as he cries “out to Adonai with his (my) voice,” and agonizes over his son Absalom. A little background on Absalom. He was the third son of David, with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. We are told in 2 Samuel 14:25, that Absalom was a strikingly handsome man and he had long hair. Unlike his father David who respected God’s anointed (Saul) and did not try to assume the throne before his appointed time, Absalom worked to steal the people’s hearts (2 Sam. 15:1-6). With that accomplished he went for the throne on Ahithophel’s (priest) going “to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel (2 Sam. 16:22).” After he secured his father’s palace, he turned his attention to full revolt seeking David’s death. Absalom’s demise came when riding on a mule, “the mule went under the thick branches of the great oak and his head got caught in the oak, so that he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on (2 Sam. 18:9).” David’s commander, Joab, killed the young man. David had wanted desperately for Absalom’s life to be spared. Joab knew that was not going be possible. We are told that David wept for Absalom, much to the chagrin of Joab, his military commander. It would be an emotionally cold father who would not cry for his son. The scriptural signs of the end times are marked by family division. Matthew 10:35-36, records Jesus as prophetically saying, “For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in –law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” If you have a son, I pray that you have not felt or experienced your own flesh and blood turn on you? I share this with you, so you will not be surprised when division rises within your own household. You are blessed if do not experience this with any of your children. Action: I pray against the spirit of rebellion and division in my family. Yield: I am surrendered when I give my family to God. Engaged: I am engaged in my family’s spiritual well-being when I pray for them daily. Relationship: When my vertical relationship is right, my horizontal relationships have a better chance of being right. Prayer: Father, may I be like Job who every day, prayed for his children. I pray for the reconciliation of families today, with You first and then with each other. In Jesus’ name, amen. Memory Verse: Psalms 3:4 4 But You, Adonai, are a shield around me, my glory and the lifter of my head. Music Video: Thou, Oh Lord |
| Remember: Abide in Jesus today. |