Jesus began to do and teach….

Started a new series on the book of Acts and so I thought I would share thoughts on some on what I have learned. 

Acts 1:1 says; The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach.  Thinking about verse 1, we see a key word for understanding the book of Acts and that is the word "began." Luke in the gospel dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach until after his resurrection and his ascension into heaven. The gospel of Luke ends with the ascension of Jesus into heaven and in Acts he starts just before the ascension of Jesus into heaven and moves forward. Luke shares that this was the beginning of the teaching ministry of Jesus. Jesus’s earthly ministry was just the beginning of the teaching and actions of Jesus.

I want you to understand what Luke says here. What Jesus did on the earth was only the beginning of His doing and teaching. The clear implication is Jesus had just started. Right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, He is not finished as we so often think, but is He is continuing. He is not done and not dead as some think but He is alive and He is present and He was and is and will continue to do and teach until His return. What is seen in the life of the Son of God in human flesh, is the sacrifice of Himself for our sin on the cross, His mighty resurrection and His ascension to the Father’s right hand and that is just the beginning. One of the main points of the book of Acts is that Jesus is not dead and done but He continues. The book of Acts is not just the Acts of the Apostles; but it is also The Acts of the Risen and Living Jesus. Jesus began doing and teaching and He will continue his doing and teaching until the Father sends Him back for the Church.

Let me explain it like this. Whatever Paul accomplished for the kingdom, it was Jesus doing and teaching. Paul in Romans 15:18-19 says: For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Note the same pair of words: Christ worked through me "by word and deed." Jesus is speaking and acting through Paul. He is alive and building His church. That is what the book of Acts is about and that is why it is relevant for us today. Jesus is still alive and He will always be alive! He is still speaking and working and building His church and saving souls. How is Jesus doing this? He is doing this through us and we need to avail ourselves to Him so he will work through us!

So are you availed to Christ?  What is Christ doing in you right now?

Chasing the Bus

We are now back to the time of year when our kids, grandkids, or friends kids go back to school. For me, when this time of year rolls around is when I get asked about a particular story that happened to me three years ago. Sometimes we need a good a laugh and we need to remember to not take ourselves too seriously and with that let me remind so and tell others for the first time – the story of the Pastor who chased the bus.

It was the first day of school and out third month here in Sedley. In the past I have worked at the church where our kids went to school and so that rode with me each day but now they were going to be riding the school bus. Mckayla was older so she walked over by the church and caught the bus without any problems and she would be getting off there. Wendy and I took Luke over there and he caught the bus and the drive said she would drop him off closer to our house – at the corner of Magnolia and First Street. I liked that idea – we did not have to walk as far.

The end of the day came and it was soon time for the bus to drop off Luke. Mckayla had already been dropped off and had gone in the house. Wendy and I standing where the bus driver told us to when we see a bus go flying past the church toward the Sedley Store. I thought it might have been Luke’s bus but was unsure. Wendy and I talked about it for a quick second and I said, “you stay here I will see if that was his bus ”. I began to briskly walk down First Street which turned into a light jog and by Dee and Dave’s Mushroom house I was in a full run. I get to the Sedley Store and as usual there were a group of men there. I asked them about the bus and I did it trying to not seem worried that Luke was on it and I believed did not know where to get off.

As I am talking to the men at the store another school bus comes from toward the Firehouse. It gets to us and Luke is sitting in one of the windows. He smiles at me and waves and I feel a sense of relief until the bus turns down Peachtree! I began to literally run after the bus. The bus stops and the Felt boys get off at their house. I had almost caught up to the bus at this point but then it takes off again. I kept running after the bus but was I was not in very good shape and slowing way down and the bus was way ahead.

At this point a church member pulls up in his truck. He was sitting with the group of men at the Sedley Store watching me run like a crazy man all over Sedley. He says to me “Preacher, can I give you a ride somewhere?” We talked for a second and decided that the bus most likely would circle around and end up at the church and so he brought me to the church. I get out and tell him thank you for the ride at which point the bus goes past me and stops right in front of Wendy. Luke gets off the bus like nothing ever happened. Me on the other hand was sweating profusely and was seriously winded from literally running all over town.

The moral of this story is – this preacher sometimes looks a bit crazy. Also though, if I would have just listened to the bus driver and trusted what she said, it would have saved me a whole lot of embarrassment and a whole lot of literally running around. The same is true for each of us and the Bible, if we would just listen to what the Bible tells us and trust what it is tell us; it will save us a whole lot of embarrassment and running around in life that we could avoid.

Have you ever chased a bus?

If nothing changes….

Our church has just come through Revival Services earlier this week.  I know that some people love revivals and some people do not and that is fine – I am not out to change anyone’s opinion today..  In our services the speaker was excellent as he shared the word of God clearly, he was low pressure, presented in an interesting way, not long winded, and you could sense the Spirit of God when he spoke.  God really did a fantastic job through him and you could sense the Spirit in the services.

Each night when the speaker would close, he would give a three point invitation -  the first was salvation, the second was church membership, and the third was changing an area of life which depended on what he preached on in the service.  We had a few people come forward in the first couple of service for various reasons but the Spirit of God really opened the floodgates the last two nights of services.

The speaker spoke the next to last night on the need for repentance in the believers life.  He used this verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14 that most are very familiar with – and  if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  The phrase “turn from their evil ways”  means to repent which was the focus of the message and the message was powerful.  It was humbling at the end of the service that night for me to be praying with all people who were repenting and “turning from the their evil ways”.  It was an awesome time at the altar of the church.

He spoke the last night of the revival to families.  He asked that everyone sit with their family – we canceled our children’s program and had the kids in there.  It again was a powerful service with powerful songs and with a powerful message on the sin of David with Bathsheba – it was called “One look was all it took”.  At the end was the same three point invitation with the third point being for families to rededicate themselves back to God.  Again, it was honestly and truly humbling to have a full altar of  families together praying, seeking God, and rededicating themselves back to Him.  I had the privilege of praying with many of these families – it was humbling and powerful.

In all of the good that happened in those services – “if nothing changes, nothing changes”.  I pray that those who came forward begin to make the changes that the Lord laid of their hearts.  I pray that anytime the Lord puts something on any of our hearts to change – that we would do what He calls us to.  The sad thing to me is that many people talk all about changing their lives but never follow through with it.  They talk about changing but yet they do not do nothing that the Lord tells them for various reasons like – they feel they cannot, it is too hard, or simply fear.  Any way you cut it, they feel like they cannot make the change and so they do not and it is very sad.

I pray that all those who came forward and prayed and sought the Lord at the revival – make godly changes.  I pray all of us who have the Lord leading us to change – make the godly changes.  Let us make sure we are making the changes we need to make to be who the Lord wants us to be – no excuses.

Past, Present, and Future

In Psalm 22 – David writes his last song.  At the end of his last song he writes this in verses 47-51: : “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation, The God who executes vengeance for me, And brings down peoples under me, Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name. “He is a tower of deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.”

David here sings here of the God who secures and in whom he has found his security. The word “Therefore” in verse 50 calls is a call to look backward.  David examines the landscape of all the years that have passed in his life.  As he does, he sees the clear hand of God has led him, kept him and blessed him.  David sees that his past has been a time of absolute security found in Christ and the only insecurity came when David went astray from the path of God!

It would do us all good if we were to take just a minute to look back.  Look back to where you were when He found you.  Look back to how He saved you and changed your life.  Remember His power, His blessings and His miracles that have been showered down on you through the years.  Remember how He has strengthened and sustained you on so many occasions.  Remember them!

As David looks around He sees the hand of God still working in his life.  He was secured by God’s power in the past and knows that God still has him safely in his hand.  Regardless of what the day may bring, David knows that he is safe in God’s “tower of salvation”.  The past has been a showcase for God’s power in David’s life, but he also knows that regardless of what today may bring, God will keep him safe and secure as long as he stays on the path!

That same blessed assurance belongs to us as well.  Regardless of what the day may bring into your life or mine, we can rest assured that He will secure us as we read in great passages like Romans 8.  Thank God, we are the partakers of His divine destiny as we move through all the valleys, trials and burdens of our lives.  God works in our present, just as He has worked in our past. 

David also looked to the future and he saw God working in his life into eternity.  David knew that God would secure his future just as surely as He had secured his past and his present. We have that same hope!  God did not just work yesterday and He is not just working today but He is working in our futures.   What a blessing and what a hope we have because no matter what comes our way, we are in a permanent relationship with God if we have placed our faith and trust in Jesus! Trust him and stay on the path he has laid out for you.

Today let me ask you – what is one thing God has done in your past, what is is one thing God is doing now in your life, and what is one thing that you see God working on for your future?

Not my Righteousness but His

As I was studying for last weeks sermon I came across 2 Samuel 22 verses 21 through 25 which say: “The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.“For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God. “For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. “ I was also blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. “ Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.

The phrase in verse 21; According to the cleanness of my hands, is an interesting one. It is these words that are one reason why some believe David could only have sung this song before his sin with Bathsheba. Yet when the whole text or chapter is looked at it seems to indicate that David sang this towards the end of his life.  I really wondered about it and it how it fit with the end of his life and then it hit me.

What this does is actually brings about this argument that this could be made and that is that David simply believed what the Prophet Nathan told him in 2 Samuel 12:13: The LORD also has put away your sin. David knew he was a forgiven man, and that the cleanness of his hands was because they were cleansed by God, not because they had never been dirtied. What I see David is saying his being clean is all about God and not about him. Remember that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him for righteousness.

Here is the strange thing with this and that is that some people think they are going to get into heaven on their righteousness, but the truth is that will not happen because of what Isaiah 64:6 says, our righteousness is like filthy rags. The only way we are going to make it to heaven is to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness because that is the only righteousness that will be accepted. So here David is talking about God’s righteousness that is now his righteousness because of his relationship with God. .

David also says here in these verses:  I have kept the ways of the LORD . . . I was also blameless before Him: David here is not claiming sinless perfection here but he speaks of his general righteousness and of his righteousness as it contrasts with the wickedness of his enemies. We can come to God in prayer we can claim the same things but not on the basis of our own righteousness, but again with the righteousness we have received from Jesus as 2 Corinthians 5:21 remind us: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Have you trusted in Christ for His righteousness? Do you still wrongly believe your righteousness has something do with getting to heaven? It is all God and not you – you need to trust in that.

More than we can handle?

As I return from vacation, let me share something that David writes in 2nd Samuel 22 verse 18 – “He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.   When I read this verse my mind went to what I hear a lot of people saying these days which is,“God will not give us more than we can handle.”  What we read here in this verse is that David’s enemies were too strong for him.  What I see is that God gave David more than he could handle with his enemies because they were too strong for him. You see I have a real problem with the idea that God will not give us more than we can handle because I think that God does give us more than we can handle. 

Let me explain my position on this:  many will automatically go to 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. When I read this verse I see it not saying God will not will not give us more than we can handle but I see it is saying that by ourselves the problems we face will be too much for us and that the only way we can endure problems that are too much for us is with Him. 

Many say that God will not give you more than you can handle but they never go to God  and they never really think about God except to add Him into their trite saying.    When it comes around to this idea again, my mind again goes to another verse because  the only way that we can make it through anything in life and through any problems is by abiding in Him.   Jesus said in John 15:5  - I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. That is how we can make it through – by abiding in Him!

Here is what I think about all this talk about God  not giving us more than we can handle.  You see, I wholeheartedly believe that God will give us more than we can bear on our own but not more than we can bear with Him. When you try to take on life’s problems and issues all  by yourself, you will fail, fall short, and really struggle. On the other hand, if you abide in Him and leave it all with Him – He will take it on his shoulders and you will be able to endure! Give it to Him and move forward allowing him to carry the weight of it all.

So yes God will give us more than we can handle alone but not more than we can bear if we abide in Him.

What are your thoughts?  Does God give us more than we can handle or not?

Stop and Consider

Last week while on vacation I read a book that really has me thinking and looking to the stars and sky.  I read a book by Matt Redman and Louie Giglio called Indescribable:  The Glory of God in the Beauty of the Universe.  In the book they have breath taking pictures from space but more than that they make great connections between the universe, astronomy, and God.  If you have opportunity it is a really good read. 

I wanted to share a quote from the book that has been rattling around my mind now for several days.  In Chapter 5 Matt Redman writes:

Here we stand in an age that is thirsting for wonder.  In our information-overloaded society, there seems to be no room left for mystery and fascination.  Yet just when were tempted to shrink God down to size – or kick Him out of the the equation all together – there in front of our eyes stands the wonder of His universe.  A great big, awe-inspiring reminder of just who we are dealing with.

Worship has no room for “know-it-alls.”  The soul who lives in the ordinary and mundane will rarely aspire to climb higher in praise.  And reverence for God will never flow freely from a heart that shrinks Him down to earthly proportions. God makes worshippers out of wonderers. – location 589 Kindle Fire.

I read that and then had to reread it.  I am guilty of shrinking God down to earthly proportions.  I have times when I see situations bigger than God who made this giant universe.  I have times when I live in the ordinary and I am satisfied with my level of praise of God when it falls far short of what it needs to be.  Then I also have times when I am reminded of how big and awe-inspiring the universe really is and I wonder at it and I worship the creator of it.

Alert Einstein said, “He …. who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is a good as dead”.    Job 37:14 says, “Stop and consider God’s wonder’s”.  Let us not be dead but let us stand in wonder and in awe at the Creator and all He has made and let us worship that creator – Jesus Christ.

Any thoughts on the quote?  Do you stop and wonder at what God has made?

Forgive, Forget, and Free

Let us pick up in 2nd Samuel chapter 19 verse 19 which is where we left off in the last post as we are talking about forgivingness.  This guy Shimei who has done some pretty bad things to David in the past has come to him and is seeking forgiveness.

Let us look on to verse 19: 19 So he said to the king, “Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart. 20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

What we see here is that Shimei has a three-fold plea to present to the king: do not hold me guilty, do not remember and as a matter of fact, put it completely out of your mind. Think about it, those are exactly the same three things we want from the Lord when we come to Him with our sin. We say, Lord, do not hold me guilty, or in other words, forgive me for what I have done. We say Lord, do not remember it or please forget what I have done. And we say Lord; put it out of Your mind, so I can be free me for the future to live differently. When you really think about it, these are exactly the things we get from the Lord. God forgives so we can push forward and make a difference in life for Him! Let us forgive freely!

Here is what we do though: we allow the evil one to bring the garbage back in our lives and render us ineffective. When the past, quarrels with the present, there is no future – you are stuck. Forget the past failures so that you can have a future! Paul tells us in Philippians to forget the things in the past! You have been freed so get on with the rest of your life, and realize that God in His marvelous grace is has forgiven you! So experience the forgiveness that is there. We need to be like Shimei saying, “Please forgive, forget, and free me for the future.” God will do it – if you ask with a repentant heart – He will free you!

We see here that Shimei does acknowledge his sin. Part of being forgiven is the acknowledgment of our sin. If you are too prideful to acknowledge your sin then you will be too prideful to gain the forgiveness you desperately seek and the peace that comes with it.

Why does he say the “house of Joseph”? Joseph was a great forgiver, because remember that his brothers sold him into Egypt as a slave. They thought they were going to really get it from Joseph when years later they realized that he was alive had the power to save their lives. What did Joseph say when he was asked about what happened at all those years earlier? “You thought up evil against me, God meant it for good to bring about the saving of many people today.” He is using Joseph to plead for forgiveness. Shimei desires forgiveness for what he has done.

Some people have a better capacity to forgive than others – how is yours?  What are some things that keep you from forgiving others?

Full Forgiveness?

In some of the previous posts we were looking at 2nd Samuel 19 and due to a busy schedule and some other life events I was unable to get back to it for a few weeks but now let us check out where we left off.  Please look with me at 2^nd Samuel 19, starting in verse 16 we will discover how David is going to deal with some people from his past that show up: ¹⁶ Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

I do not know if anyone remembers or knows who  this guy Shimei is but he is the guy back in 2nd Samuel chapter 16 that came out and was throwing rocks, cursing, and kicking dirt at David when David was on the run for his life. He is the guy who claimed that David was a worthless man and a man of bloodshed. Shimei could easily had lost his life that day because David’s man Abishai wanted to kill him but David let him live. Even after that Shimei followed him for quite a ways throwing rocks, throwing insults, and kicking dirt on David and his men. He is quite the character and he is back to see David.

Let us look on: ¹⁷ There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king.

What we see is that Shimei is not alone when he comes and when he comes he is rushing to see the king because he needs to make things right. He does not come alone because he is probably afraid of what will happen when he sees the king. So who does he bring along? Ziba who is another character from David’s past. Ziba is Saul’s servant that was responsible to Mephibosheth, the handicapped son of Jonathan, who was eating at the king David’s table. This guy Ziba was also responsible to farm all of Saul’s land for Mephibosheth. When we last saw Ziba, he had come with a great gift for David when he was on the run for his life. As a result of this gift, David gives all the land to Ziba that he was farming for Mephibosheth because Ziba lied about Mephibosheth by saying that “He is staying back in Jerusalem hoping to get to become king.” So you have Shimei and Ziba showing up to see the king but it is really Shimei who really needs to see the king because of what has happened in the past.

So what do we see that happens: ¹⁸ Then they kept crossing the ford to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan.

What we see that happens here is that Shimei gets over on the east bank of the river and he fell prostrate before the king. He is preparing himself to cry out for mercy, grace, and forgiveness because of his past interaction with David.

Here is a key point that I want you to see and that is  the power of forgiveness and the ability to forgive – although not perfectly as I will talk about in a  later post – but what you will see is forgiveness – an example for all of us. You see the Bible is a whole book on forgiveness. We are called in the pages of the Bible again and again to forgive because we have been forgiven. So today is a challenge to all to forgive others. What we need to see and realize is the freedom that comes to us when we forgive others.

What happens to a person when they do not forgive? As I see it, it creates a spiral downward in their life. This spiral works for not forgiving others or self. First there is the offense. If it is not forgiven, then resentment builds up. This will then festers until you get hatred and that will quickly develop into a grudge. This will then finally lead you to be eaten up with the thoughts of revenge which will make you a miserable person on the inside and on the outside. Failure to forgive others and yourself creates a cancer that will eat away at your soul and will change you into a bitter, mean, and hateful person that people will not want to be around. When you live this way, you always play into the hand of the devil, anytime that you delay forgiveness and forgiving someone, including self, you play into the hand of the devil. Is this the way you wish to live – a bitter, mean, or angry person that no one really wants to be around? If not then you need to start forgiving freely!

Now there are three types of forgiveness that all fall short of the forgiveness that is described in the Bible. First of all, there is conditional forgiveness – I’ll forgive you but don’t you dare ever do it again or I will take my forgiveness away. Then there is partial forgiveness – I forgive you but don’t think I’ll ever forget it. Then the third one is delayed forgiveness – I will forgive you someday but it hurts too much to do it now but I will forgive you someday.  Here is the thing; all of these types fall short of the forgiveness that the Bible teaches. God expects of us that we forgive, we forget, and we free the offender.

Here is the truth with that and that is we almost always fall short of biblical forgiveness but that should never keep it from being the goal we go hard after. We need to be seeking to forgive and forgive fully and completely.

Any thoughts on forgiveness today?  Any thoughts on what I have posted?

The Quandary

So what we have seen in the last couple of posts from 2nd Samuel 19 is that Judah and Israel have themselves in a quandary in that Absalom is dead and they have run David off, so how is Israel and Judah going to get out of this mess that they find themselves in? Well, David is going to help them, let us look here in verse 11 and following: 11 Then King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? 12 You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13 Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more also, if you will not be commander of the army before me continually in place of Joab.’” 14 Thus he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” 15 The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to bring the king across the Jordan.

The first thing David does is makes sure that Judah is with the rest of Israel in wanting him to come back. Israel has decided they want David back as king but Judah has been quiet on the issue which is strange. This is like winning a landslide victory and losing your home state. Judah is his home tribe and he has not heard anything from them on him being king. Everyone but Judah has declared their desire for David to return to the throne. You have to wonder, why not Judah? Maybe they were afraid, because they had been forefront in Absalom’s rebellion. Regardless, David shows his humility and forgiveness as he tells them he does not want to do this without them. Talk about forgiveness and humility – this is such a great example for us all. Do you live with forgiveness and humility like this? We all should!

David calls on his two friends who are priests, Abiathar and Zadok. These two are good friend and David sends word to them and says, “Why haven’t I heard from you? I’m sure not going to come back without you all being involved in this.” So he is helping by getting everyone on board before he steps back into leadership of the whole country. He is not rushing into anything – again a great example for us – how are you at being patient and allowing things to develop?

The next thing David did was to replace Joab with Amasa. Amasa is the guy that led the battle against David because he was the leader of Absalom’s or Israel forces. He is also David’s cousin and from Judah. He is taking over as the command of the army with a track record of one loss, no victories. The guy he is replacing, Joab, had a string of victories over thirty years and it appears he never lost a war. Joab is a seasoned military genius and has just finished winning the biggest battle of all which was giving back David the kingdom. Now you have David replacing him with the guy he beat. It seems so strange. We have to ask, why is David doing this? I believe that most likely, David has by this time heard the whole story of how Absalom died and that Joab thrust the spears that killed his son so he is demoting him. I do not believe that to be the only reason because I think it also a political move in that it was to offer a gesture of reconciliation to the former supporters of Absalom in Judah.

The results are seen in verse 14: Thus he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants. What you will see with this move will be short term positives but some long term negatives, but for now it does though bring David back to control of the country.

Again remember that David wisely does not try to take the kingdom by force but rather waits until he is asked to return. He had already had to face a rebellion and he knew that if the people did not of their own free will ask him to again reign over them as king, that any attempt to force them would only result in a further rebellion. By waiting until he was asked to reign again as king, David acted as a type of Christ figure. Jesus will not force His rule over any person against their will. People have to ask the Lord to come into their life before He will come and rule over them and be their Lord. We have to by our own free will allow Jesus to rule in our lives. Have you allowed it? If you have – have you pushed him off the thrown and started living life selfishly again? Allow Jesus on the throne or to come back to the throne of your life! It will change your life!

Have you ever found yourself in a quandary like this?  How did you get out of it?  What do you think of David replacing Joab with Amasa?