David not only had the calling of being a king, he had to train others to succeed him. He failed twice in doing this, and the third time had some success with his son Solomon. As alcoholics anonymous tell us, the 12th step is always helping others to do what we her ourselves have done, […]
All of us struggle with their own failure. Unless we’re truly crazy! David had a huge moral failure when he killed one of his own soldiers and took his wife. When his own son Amnon had a similar failing, David did nothing. It seems as if he had not gotten over his own failure enough
One of the very highest moments for David was bringing the Ark of God to Jerusalem. He danced and celebrated, and sacrificed the whole journey; he made a big deal of it. Somebody needs to celebrate and value the contributions and calling of your friend. Can you help them see the beauty and goodness of
On Sunday, February 26, in both the Upstairs Gathering and the Downstairs Gathering, we’ll be making space to hear stories of what’s happened throughout the David series and the Prayer Challenge. Sharing what God has done, what you’re wrestling with, or other clarity that you’ve gained can be both encouraging for those who hear, but
What are the things that have been entrusted to your friend? Though David was a young teenager when he knew he had been chosen to be king, it wasn’t until his thirties that he came into the full responsibility of his calling. Likewise, it may take a long time before we feel we really are
One of the things that God does with all of us is to give us seasons, perhaps very long seasons, of doing things that he is giving us to do without enough resources to do them in a big way. One of the purposes of this time is to help us learn creativity with our
After David already had strong hints of what his future was to be about, and even had a good dose of early success, he was driven away by the jealousy of others into poverty and years of feeling fruitless. Has your friend, or is your friend, in a place in their life where they feel
We all have different ways and styles of friendship. But whether we are extroverts or introverts, there are those that are closest to us that we rely on most intimately for feedback about our lives, as well as those that we work with to achieve a common goal. David’s most intimate friend was Jonathan. He
It’s not that some kind of people are artists, the truth is that everyone is some kind of artist. It is also true that the way that we see good in the world – our artists eye – influences what we love to do. Shepherd-boy David became a king that would have many earmarks of
Think about your friend, and any struggles you know about that they have. David had his own struggles. He was constantly harassed by the dangers to his sheep. He had the struggle of staying warm and dry out in the fields. He had to endure physical hardship. But one day he heard the voice of
When David faced a huge challenge – a huge warrior was defying his God and his nation – the King gave him his armor. It was the best armor available, but the problem was that it didn’t fit David. David had to say no to this great piece of armor in order to find his
As you think about your friend today, can you recall any times of them taking risks in their life to do something they thought was worth doing? David took a risk to protect his sheep from a bear, and survived. It gave him confidence to do the same again, this time from a lion. His
Every tree begins from a small seed that bears little outward resemblance to the tree it will someday become. It’s usually difficult to tell much about a baby’s future from its personality at birth, as well. But not long afterwards, both saplings and toddlers demonstrate some of their uniqueness. Not long after I transplanted an
