Walking Supernaturally
in a
Fallen World
This page deals with...
How to lay down
Offense.
Learning from David's Choice
2 Samuel 7:1-2
The Bible says,
Now it came to pass
when King David
was dwelling in his house,
and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
that the king said to Nathan the prophet,
“See now, I dwell in a house of cedar,
but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”
Beth says,
Let's step back, and I will add these comments:
King David had been living in a beautiful palace.
David was grateful to God for all God had given him.
Continuing with Beth's background comments:
~
One day as David was looking out
at the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant,
his thoughts
came bursting out of his mouth to Nathan the prophet
who was standing nearby,
"I live in a house of cedar
(a house of grandeur and privilege)
and God lives in a tent."
David's heart was filled with a desire
to build a magnificent house for God.
The more David thought about it,
the more excited he became.
He began to picture
the ornate, awe-inspiring building abundantly decorated
with gold.
As David was speaking to Nathan the prophet
about building a house for God,
Nathan got excited along with David.
Yet...
Later in the evening, God spoke to Nathan and told him that David would not be the one to build the temple.
God told Nathan to go and give a lengthy message to David. that included the news that David would not build the temple.
The entire message is written in 2 Samuel 7:4-17.
Summary so far...
It appeared that
David had a Fabulous Idea
and then
God said, "No."
~ ~ ~
God shut the door on David's idea.
A Personal Note:
Sometimes I pray to God and ask that
my thoughts and ideas
on a situation or topic, etc.
won't get set in concrete in my mind -
if
God does not want me to do it.
I know that
if
I get enthusiastic about some great thing
with great ideas attached
and I start making plans
and I get my emotions all excited,
then,
it is much harder to hear God saying "No."
And after hearing
"No,"
then there is the difficult task
of having to lay down all my plans and ideas and instead
try to be happy towards God's will.
I just would rather
God shut my ideas and plans down early in my thought process.
BUT
if
God doesn't,
then I sometimes wrestle with offense against God.
Offense |
![]() |
I sometimes get my ideas so stirred up
inside myself
that I yearn to convince God to do it my way.
Back to David...
When David heard the message that Nathan gave him, it would have been normal for David to feel let down and disappointed.
It would have been an opportune time for David to pick up some hurt or self-pity or anger or other-type offense toward God. David could have let it influence his relationship with God.
You and I have occasions almost every day to pick up offense.
Sometimes offenses that we harbor -
g-r-o-w
and turn into bitterness and resentment.
Offense is one of the
main
monsters
we deal with.
And many times we make friends with
the monster of offense
instead of running it out of our life.
God wants us to be aware
when
offense
is
creeping into our relationship with God and with people.
Back
to
David
Instead of accepting ANY kind of offense,
or
ANY kind of negative choice,
David chose humility.
He humbly received the news that he was not to build the temple. Then David immediately focused on God's good promises for him.
The Bible is full of God's good promises for us to focus on.
Nathan gave David
a promise from God
that his kingly dynasty would be a forever one.
We probably have a more complete understanding
of this promise than
David did.
We understand that David's family line
would come to include Messiah Jesus.
And that
during the millennium,
Jesus
will sit on the throne
in Jerusalem
and rule the world.
And David will also rule in an honorable position with Jesus.
The point I want to highlight is that
David rejoiced in the good gifts of God.
And
when
we feel
tempted
to hold offense against God,
we can choose to go through an exhaustive checklist
of the good things God has done for us
AND
the good inheritance
that he has promised to us in heaven.
Also,
David did not take offense
at the idea that
his son would one day build the temple.
*
In fact,
David joyfully
and tirelessly
spent the rest of his life
accumulating things for the temple
and
making plans for the temple
to help his son Solomon to later build the temple.
David let go of his plans and picked up God's plans.
~
David was walking supernaturally in this area of his life.
~
Below is a picture that reminds us of
David's enthusiasm as he praised God in words and with dance.
Do you
help those who get what you want?
?
Do you help or encourage them
with a happy attitude?
?
That can be tough.
Anyone
can respond naturally.
It is natural and human to get offended.
Yet -
God wants to teach us to
live
a SUPERNATURAL life
where
we transcend offense and live for the glory of God.
John the Baptist
appears to have had
struggles with
offense.
Luke 7:18-23
tells us that while
John the Baptist
was sitting in prison,
he began to have doubts
and
wondered if Jesus really WAS the Messiah.
*
John found it hard to believe that
Jesus would leave him in prison to suffer so greatly.
*
So John sent messengers to ask Jesus.
Jesus replied that,
Yes, he was the Messiah. And Jesus told John
to be careful
not to take
offense
against God and his plan.
Offense is a tough monster.
John had to fight it. We have to fight it.
*
We need to be keenly
aware
that
the devil and his demonic cohorts
will be setting us up
to become offended toward God,
offended toward others,
tempted toward all kinds of sin choices,
tempted to embrace emotions such as
anger or self-pity,
and
tempted to grow weary in well doing, etc.
We need to intentionally walk with God daily.
We must
daily
put God on the throne of our heart,
- - or - -
we will one day find that
we have many things such as
earthly treasures -
earthly emotions -
and any number of things -
that are
ruling our heart and directing our life.
I urge you
to consider,
sharing
this Bible lesson
with your beloved children and teens.
They need to hear about
the dangers of offense and ways to fight against it.
-
If you feel comfortable,
pray about perhaps sharing an example
of how you have struggled in this area.
And note that we have pages on this site about
The devil
Angels
The Trinity
Etc.
On our Bible devotion page.
I plan on doing a
Part 2
that deals with offense toward people.
And note:
When thinking about walking supernaturally,
consider our forgiveness pages
Note:
Putting on the Full Armor of God
afresh and anew
helps give us strength for the day.
*
Consider our
Powerful Full Armor of God pages
Use this link - Here
Jump to the top of Walking Supernaturally
Walking supernaturally is posted in June 2024.
Newest Page:
Prayers for Couples to pray together
New Page:
Armor Prayer
for Daily Walking with Jesus
New Page:
Psalm 37 - Receiving the Desires of your heart
Prayers for Emotionally Wounded Friends or Family
*
We have devotions for each of the psalms:
Bible Devotions
and
Making Life Better Articles
Explaining How to Get to Heaven
Overcoming Sabotage in your family
an audio presentation
Click here for Links to ALL our marriage pages
Men and women keep score differently
*
AND:
* *
* *
* *
Ecclesiastes Made Easy - Insights for Success in Life
Our summer Newsletter
went out
June 20.
**
Sign up below for
our
newsletter
which is called
The Inspirational Life
- -
- -
Daily Inspiration: Worship & Prayer
- -
- -
- -
Life-changing prayer for fathers
- -
- -
Links to All our Full Armor of God Prayers
an audio Presentation by Beth
Songs for Children for church and home
- -
- -
How to
Create a Great Relationship with Yourself
- -
- -
Links to all our pages on the Psalms