Thurs.’s Devo - David is Made King

Read: 2 Samuel 1:1-2:11; John 12:20-50; Psalm 118:19-29; Proverbs 15:27 David fought the Amalekites and was the victor. He recovered everything that had been stolen from him and got his family returned to him alive and well. He and his men brought home more spoil than they could keep for themselves. Saul, on the other hand, lost his battle with the Philistines and lost his life and the life of his sons. *** An Amalekite that was at the battle Saul fought in came to David with the news of Saul and Jonathan’s death and took credit for killing Saul. He was expecting a reward but got killed instead. *** David mourned for the death of Saul and Jonathan and wrote a song which he taught to his men. God told David to move back to Judah and live in Hebron which means “communion”. Finally, he would be able to commune with his own people and live among them. They anointed David the king over Judah. *** Meanwhile, Abner, Saul’s army commander put Ishbosheth, Saul’s son as the king over the land of Israel. So Isbosheth ruled Israel from Mahanaim and David ruled Judah from Hebron for seven and a half years. *** In John, some Greeks who had come to the Passover celebration wanted to meet Jesus. They were from Jerusalem. It makes me wonder if that was a sign to Jesus that his time was up. It would be his disciples’ mandate to bring the good news to the Greeks, Romans and the uttermost parts of the earth. *** Jesus told the crowd that it was time for him to enter into his glory. He told them that to follow him they would also have to give up everything. His prayer was that his life would bring glory to his father. God spoke from heaven and answered him. God said that he had already brought glory to his name and he would do it again. Some heard it as a voice and others as thunder. (Those who had ears to hear could hear it clearly.) *** Jesus told them that the voice they heard was for their benefit. From the time he died, it would be a time of judging the world and casting Satan out as the ruler of the world. As Satan is being exposed, Jesus will become greater and greater and will draw people to him. We are seeing this accelerate in our day. *** The people asked Jesus, if the Messiah is to live forever, how can he say he is about to die? Jesus explained that his light on the earth was about to be put out so they must put their trust in his light before it is put out. If they walked in his light, the darkness would not overtake them. *** Many could not see that Jesus was the light of the world, but many did. Even some of the Jewish leaders believed that Jesus was the Messiah but for fear of losing their position, they kept quiet. *** Jesus explained once again that if they trust in him, they are trusting in God because they are one. He came to show them the light because everyone will be judged for what they did with the light that was shown to them. *** Lord, may we embrace your light and walk in it. May our light shine so bright that others would want to come and walk in the light also.