“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4 NASB
The Lord is having me to focus on just these two verses
today, and he is taking the application of these verses today in a very
specific direction, which then parallels over to the story of David and
Bathsheba (read 2 Samuel 11-12).
David was God’s chosen king of Israel. And, he was a mighty
warrior of God. But, he was also human, and at one period in his life, he
sinned greatly against God and other people, too. For, while his servant soldiers
were out fighting in battle against the enemy, he remained back home, and it
was then that he was tempted. And, he gave into the temptation.
He lusted after a married woman, and then he exercised abuse
of power to bring the woman to him so that he could sleep with her. She became
pregnant, and in order to cover up his sin with her, he sent for her husband,
who was one of his servants, to try to get him to lay with his wife, but he
would not. For, he was a man of integrity and did not feel he should have the
comforts of being with his wife while his fellow servants were still in battle.
So, then David got Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) drunk, so
that he would go sleep with his wife, but he still would not go. So, next David
plotted Uriah’s death. And, Uriah was murdered by David’s command. Then,
Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband, but when the time of mourning was
over, David took her to be his wife and she bore him a son. “But the thing that
David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27b).
In the Sight of The
Lord
I am going to focus particularly on men today, but this is
not to say that women don’t deal with the same issues, they do, just not in as
great of numbers as men. But, also the Lord is having me address men in this
because they are the leaders of households and the leaders of churches, and so
I believe he has a specific message for them that he wants me to convey today.
Also, I believe I am the chosen messenger today to bring this
message to them, because so many men today who claim to be Christians have
emasculated themselves by making the lusts of their flesh their gods. And,
thus, they are not doing the work of the Lord that they should be doing as leaders
in the church and in the home, for they are busy following their lusts, instead.
Men, God has called you to be spiritual leaders, much like
he called David to be king over his people at that time. He has given you the
responsibility to lead your families and your church congregations in the way
of the Lord, which is the way of holiness, honesty, integrity, purity,
morality, and righteousness. He has called you to be his servants, to humble
yourselves, and to lead those under your care by your example; by how you live your
life, especially when no one else sees what you are doing.
But, many of you have chosen the way that David took. You
have shirked your responsibilities and have left those under your care with the
burden of having to do what you should be doing. I believe that is one of the
reasons God is using me, a woman, in the way that he is, mainly because the men
who should be doing this are not doing it, because they are busy looking at
porn, or watching sexually charged movies, or they are busy with their games
and their sports or with their careers while God and their spouses and their
children and their congregations are neglected.
But, it is not just that you are neglecting your spouses and
your children and your church congregations, but that you are treating them
like David treated Uriah, his servant, most especially your wives. For many
women are being betrayed by their husbands’ addictions to porn, movies, games,
sports, and extra-marital affairs (romantic or sexual), and the like.
And, in God’s eyes, lust alone is adultery. And, doing so to
your wives, especially over long periods of time, and then lying about it and
covering up your sins, is hate, not love, and God says that hate is the same as
murder. So, you are murdering your wives by your adulterous ways, and you are
murdering your children and your church congregations, too, for not only are you
engaging in what is evil in God’s sight, but you are influencing others to do
the same.
Nathan and David
Nathan was a prophet of God, and it was his calling to be
God’s messenger in taking God’s messages to whomever God wanted to speak. So, God
sent Nathan to speak with David about his sin. But, instead of confronting him
directly with his sin, he told him a story, which David thought to be something
that was really happening, instead of a parable.
Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and [a]said,“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his [b]bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he [c]was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 2 Samuel 12:1-4 NASB
David was enraged when he heard this. He proclaimed that the
man who did this deserved to die and that he “must make restitution for the
lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion” (v. 6). But,
then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
How many times have you gotten angry over things that others
did and yet failed to see that you not only are doing the same things but that
what you are doing is far worse? The Bible warns against such judging as this,
which is hypocritical judging which looks at the speck in others’ eyes while it
ignores the log in one’s own eye. We all need to be so careful that we don’t
judge hypocritically by getting angry about what others do while we may be
doing something much worse.
Nathan then spoke the words of God to David. He reminded him
of all that he had done for David and all the many ways in which he had blessed
him. And, so he asked him why he despised the Word of the Lord by doing evil in
His sight. And, he enumerated all the ways in which David had sinned in secret
against God and against other humans. And, then he told him that, though his
sin had been done in secret, God was going to judge him before all Israel, out
where everyone could see.
When David was confronted with the fact that he was the man
in the parable, he was cut to the heart, and he confessed that he had sinned
against God. And, Nathan then assured David that God had forgiven him, but
still there were going to be natural consequences for his sin, one of which was
that his child would die.
You Did in Secret
Sexual sin is usually done in secret. Men (and women, too)
watch porn usually when they think no one else can see what they are doing.
But, God always sees, and it matters to him what we do. It matters to your
spouses what you do, too, although some of you may think it is “no big deal.”
But, it is, because you are living in adultery against your spouses when you practice
lust and view porn and watch movies with sex in them, et al.
But, again, it is not merely adultery, for it is hate, not
love, and hate is the same as murder. For when you lust after others and you
view porn or any other sexual material, or when you have private chats with
someone of interest, or you are involved in sex-texting or you slander your
spouse in order to cover your sin, or you manipulate, lie, deceive, bully, etc.
in order to cover your sin, you are murdering your spouse in your heart, and
you are putting your marriage to death.
And, if you think your spouse does not know, don’t be so
sure of that. Anyone who loves his or her spouse, and who knows his or her
spouse, and is tuned in, can tell when things are not right, and they should,
if they are tuned in, know when you are lying, too. So, don’t think you are not
hurting them if you keep your sins a secret. You are still hurting them and
your marriage and your family whether you see the damage you are doing or not.
So, God wants you to see your sin through his eyes today for
many of you are in the habit of excusing these sins away and justifying them
and thus you lie to yourselves and you believe your own lies. So, the Lord wants
to open your eyes today to the truth of what you are doing so that you will
repent of your sin. But, know that you may have to face some natural
consequences to your sin. Yet, God is calling you today to come forward and to
be honest with your spouses about how you have been secretly sinning against
them, for the truth will set you free.
But, to the wives of the men who are addicted to lust or who
regularly practice sins of lust against their wives and their marriages, I want
to encourage you.
Forgive your spouses (husbands or wives) of their sins
against you, but not in a way that gives them permission to keep sinning
against you. Set biblical boundaries for your marriage relationship, and let
your spouses know that you love them, and that you care about them, and that
you are there to help them to victory over their sin if they will let you
inside and not shut you out. And, then trust God to work in their hearts and lives,
and then speak the truth in love to them when God says to speak, for you may be
the only voice of reason they will ever hear.
The Lord also wants to encourage you to make HIM your
husband and your desire, and to let him satisfy the deep longings of your
souls. He wants you to come to him with your suffering and to trust in his love
and in his grace. Believe in his sovereignty over your life, and then let him
heal your wounded hearts.
Draw Me Close to You
Donnie McClurkin
Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I'm Your friend
You are my desire
And no one else will do…
You're all I want
You're all I've ever needed…
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 – Help us, Jesus, to obey you in
all things.
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