1 Chronicles 28:1-9 Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the leaders of Israel: the officers of the tribes and the captains of the divisions who served the king, the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possessions of the king and of his sons, with the officials, the valiant men, and all the mighty men of valor.
Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it.  But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’  However the LORD God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler. And of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel.  And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.  Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.  Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to observe My commandments and My judgments, as it is this day.’  Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

When fathers prepare to leave this world it is not uncommon to find them leaving some last words for their loved ones to remember.  King David was no different.  As he prepares to leave, he has some words for his beloved son, Solomon.  He simply tells Solomon to remember the God of his fathers, and serve Him with a wholehearted devotion and a willing mind.  He also tells him to make sure that his devotion is real because God knows the heart.  He then gives him words of comfort.  He says that when you seek God, He will let you find Him.  What more does a child of God need than to know that when we need the Lord, He will be there.  David then finishes by telling Solomon to be strong and do the work.  That message is for us as well!

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 From a Father to a Son, August 22, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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In 1 Peter 2:11-12 Peter again refers to the Christians as aliens and strangers in the world as he did in the beginning of the book.  He wants them to be clear of the importance of standing out from the world and by doing so they will cause those around them to glorify God at the second coming.  The question for us today is, are we standing out in this world or are we just trying to fit in?

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 Study on 1 Peter, August 22, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Psalm 51: 7-19

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

As we began looking into confession from David’s perspective we saw that Psalm 51 gives a wonderful example of how to confess our sins to God.  We complete the two-part lesson by seeing that David prayed for renewal and restoration from the Lord, he vowed to take his new found freedom from sin and teach others about the benefits of confession, and he prayed that throughout the whole process God’s will had to come first.  The great King David still teaches today the benefits that come from confession of sin.

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 The Importance of Confessing, Part 2, August 15, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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In this study of 1 Peter we will look at the encouraging words Peter uses with the Christians in Asia Minor.  He knew that their persecutions weighed heavy on their minds and so his encouragements had to hold equal value.  He begins by calling them a Chosen People, referring to the Hebrews of old; then a Royal Priesthood, letting them know that even though were not Levites they were of Jesus lineage; then a Holy Nation, telling them that they were set apart as a group or family; and finally he calls them a People belonging to God, letting them know that they had been bought with a price and were now God’s to use.  These words were meant to build and prepare them for God’s work.

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 Study on 1 Peter August 15, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Psalm 51
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,[a]
And blameless when You judge.

5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

When we talk about things that are important in our relationship with God, the idea of telling Him all that we have done wrong and accepting the responsibility for those things has got to rank at the top.  King David is one of the greatest examples we can look to when it comes to the art of confessing, and in Psalm 51 we find his confession following his sin with Bathsheba.  There is so much to take from this passage that this will be the first of two lessons on the subject and will consist of the first three things we must learn.  We must learn that we must appeal to God’s mercy and love, we must acknowledge our sins before God, and we must understand where we are and where God wants us to be.

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 The Importance of Confessing, August 8, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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In this study we see that as Peter begins his second chapter by telling his readers that they must do two different things: turn from the things of this earth, and crave the pure milk of the Word.   He uses the description of the newborn baby that craves its mother’s milk with us craving the Word of God.  He then says to taste that the Word is good.

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 Study on 1 Peter August 8, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Philippians 3:7-11 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

As we come to the end of this series on the secrets of abundant life, we find that the secret to loving God, is knowing God.  In our human relationships, the more we get to know another, the closer we become to them.  The same is true in our relationships to God and Christ, for the more we get to know them, the more we will love them because we find that they are love.  The way then that we come to know them better is through communication and experience.  As we talk to them through prayer, and they talk to us through the Word, the closer we become.  The same is true for experiencing them.  As we experience their love for us and the powerful strength they offer, the closer we will become to them.  When the steps all work together we will find that we can experience abundant life through Christ.

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  The Secret of Abundant Life – Knowing, August 1, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In this study we find that we are told that since we have been bought with a price, then we must now show our appreciation by the showing of our love, love, love and more love.  The text says that we are to love deeply and sincerely from the heart because we were born again through the enduring word of God.  We are to focus on the things of above and not the things of this earth.

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 Bible Study on 1 Peter August 1, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

When one looks into the secrets of life, one can’t help but see the importance of loving the Father and the Son.  In our series on the Secrets of Abundant Life we can now see that the secret to obeying Christ is loving Him.  Here we learn that there are three levels of obedience.  First is obedience out of fear, where we obey for fear of hell.  While good in its proper place, it is less mature than the others.  The second level is obedience out of selfishness, where we obey because of what we will receive in return.  While more mature than out of fear, it is still not on the level Christ would prefer.  The highest and most accepted level is obedience out of love, where we obey Him because we love Him, and will continue to no matter what.  This is the level Christ wants from us and is the level He displayed in His obedience with His Father.

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 The Secret of Obeying is Loving: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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John 15:9-14 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

When looking into the Secrets of Abundant Life we find that the secret to abiding is obeying.  In seeing Jesus as our example for all things we can find that obeying His Father was at the very core of their relationship.  Even though He had all authority He still said that it was by His Father’s will that He came to do what He did.  We can see in both the Old and New Testaments that obedience was vital to God.  From the Israelite nation and its kings to the apostles of Christ and Christ himself, obedience to God was a key part of their relationships.

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 The Secret of Abiding is Obeying: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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