A Devotional:
David - A Man after God's Own Heart
"Determined To Do It Right!"

 

A Man After God's Own Heart:

David's rise to power was a long, slow process with many strange twists and turns. Yet through it all, we see God's hand upon David overall. As we see in various studies, David is described as "a man after God's own heart." In spite of some negative circumstances and decisions on David's part, God's Word described him that way. We often see how we, as humans on this earth, often make decisions and judgments regarding people based on what we see. However, God sees the bigger picture. God sees and knows what we cannot possibly see or know, many times. So as we trust and pray as to God's hand upon an individual, or seemingly lack of it at times, we need to keep in mind that our view upon others must always be redemptive. It must always be with eternal results in mind. It is a faith and trust in God's will upon one's heart and life in a way that we cannot possibly know. We see external and present-day fruits in one's lifestyle. God sees the heart. God sees ahead as to what a man, woman, boy or girl can become. We are warned not to become judgmental. We are to be faithful and redemptive in our outreach toward others. The results are clearly in God's hands. He is the Almighty! He is all-powerful! He always has been. He always will be. Count on it!

In Acts 13:22, we read, "After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ " After all of those strange twists and turns in David's life, yet we see where God knew that in the depths of David's heart, his ultimate desire was to really please God. Did he always do so? No. There were obvious failures in David's lifestyle. Some were major blunders, to say the least. Yet ultimately, the Word reveals that David, really sought to be a man after God's own heart. You may have had some major blunders in your own heart and lifestyle. Are they truly behind you? Are you now seeking God with all your heart? Are you yielded to being the kind of dedicated Christian that the Holy Spirit can guide, shape and mold into what the Lord would have each of us to be?

Defeat in a race comes from finishing poorly or perhaps just giving up. If you're reading this, you are still in the race. You are not a quitter. The Lord isn't finished with you yet. You're still a candidate for the grand prize! You're still heading for the finish line and the checkered flag at the end of life's journey. That doesn't mean that there aren't failures along the line. But when we find that we're down, we don't stay there. We, as Christians, need to deal with what needs to be dealt with. We need to admit our failures to the Lord. But once we've done so, we need to get over it, whatever that failure may be. We need to pick ourselves back up and get back in the race, no matter what that failure may be! Often a racer saves his best spurt of energy to make the final run for the finish line. If you and I are truly guys and gals after God's own heart, as we need to be to finish well, we will finish victoriously. As we prove faithful as men, women, boys and girls "after God's own heart," then we can be assured of finishing well. We, too, will hear those precious words, as seen in Matthew 25:23, " ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’"

1. What does the Bible say regarding this subject?
2. What does the Bible say to me (How does it speak to my own heart?)
3. What am I going to do with what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me in personally applying it in my own heart and daily lifestyle?

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Since December 18, 2004

Scripture quoted is from the: New International Version (NIV)
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