Agape Devotions

READ : 2 Samuel 15-16/Proverbs 27 David has let God down with catastrophic sinning as king over Israel. His sinning had dramatically affected his ability to rule as he was no longer giving justice to the oppressed nor ruling in righteousness. His son Absalom had returned from exile without a shred of repentance and David had accepted him back. This is going to lead to another catastrophe in David’s life. Please pay attention to how David handled more failures in his life in these chapters. What would David do when his life was falling apart? What would David think of God? What would be David’s response? REFLECT : Absalom began by looking like royalty, riding around with a chariot, horses, and fifty men running behind him. He was acting like the king that Samuel warned about in 1 Samuel 8:11. As people would come to the king to make judgments about their disputes, he would tell them that there was no one set up to hear their cases. If he were a judge in the land then he would give them ...

READ : 2 Samuel 13-14 / Proverbs 26 Verse chosen for meditation: 2 Samuel 13:20-22 20 And her brother Absalom said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? Now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar lived, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom's house. 21 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry. 22 But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar. REFLECT The next six chapters focusses on Absalom’s story, which began with this painful read, the rape of his sister Tamar. Amnon, David’s eldest son, was lusting after his beautiful half-sister, Tamar (sister of Absalom, David’s 3 rd son), and plotted to conquer her. In the plot, Amnon faked illness and requested for David to send for Tamar to serve him. He made use of David’s love for him as the eldest son and indeed, David indulged him. When Amnon made his shameless intention...

  Read  2 Samuel 12, Proverbs 25 Verses for devotion - 2 Samuel 12:13-14, 19 to 20 13  David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.  14  Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 19  But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.”  20  Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Reflect 2 Samuel 12 taught us lessons about sin, consequences, forgiveness, and restoration. David sinned against God by committing adultery ...

Read   Read 2 Samuel 10 - 11; Proverbs 24: 23-34 Passage chosen for meditation: 2 Samuel 11   Reflect   This is a classic story of temptation and sin, committed by a godly man who is none other than David, a man whom God calls 'a man after my own heart'.   Bathsheba, the other protagonist in the story does not get off scot-free either, though the attention is trained at the man.   What then leads to sin? And where is God in all of this?   Relate   I don't think there's anyone reading this who can't relate to the story. So, we're not to point a finger at either David or Bathsheba, but to learn from their mistakes.   A number of articles have been written on the stages of sin. One of the best so far is found in Scriptures. James 1: 14 - 15 says it well: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fu...

 TEXT TO READ 2 SAMUEL 8, 9; PROVERBS 24 TEXT FOR REFLECTION 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” 2 SAMUEL 9:3, 7-8 REFLECT David was now king. King Saul, Jonathan, and all of King Saul's  sons had been killed in battle, and his armies routed by the Philistines. Saul's kingdom had come to an end. David had in turn reclaimed the lands taken by the Philistines and pushed the Philistines back. He was now the undisputed ruler of Judah. One of David's first acts as he came into his kingdom was to seek out su...

Read: 2 Samuel 5-7; Proverbs 23 No devotional today (Sunday)

Read: 2 Samuel 3-4; Proverbs 22.17-29 Verses chosen for mediation: 2 Samuel 4:9-12  9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity,  10 when one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.  11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?"  12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron. Reflect:  This is the second time the enemy of David presented to him what they thought was a favour. The first time was in 2 Samuel Chapter 1, when the Amalekite told David ...

READ : 2 Samuel 1-2/Proverbs 22:1-16 REFLECT :  The news of Saul’s death is critically connected to what we read in the first chapter of 2 Samuel. On the third day a man came to David from Saul’s camp. The third day is a frequent picture of deliverance in the scriptures. The death of Saul would be the deliverance of David. He came with his clothes torn and dust on his head. He reported to David that many of Israel’s army had died. Saul and his son Jonathan were also dead. David wanted to know how this man knew all these. He claimed that he was leaning on his spear when Saul called to him. Saul asked him to kill him because he was mortally wounded. So, believing that Saul could not live, the man killed Saul. He took his crown and his royal armlet, and brought them to David. Now this is interesting because his version of what happened did not match the account in 1 Samuel 31. The most reasonable reconciliation of this is that this man was lying. He was an Amalekite and therefore was ...

READ : Catch-up Day / Proverbs 21 Verse chosen for meditation: Proverbs 21:2-4 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,     but the Lord weighs the heart. 3 To do righteousness and justice     is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart,     the lamp of the wicked, are sin. REFLECT Proverbs may look like a mish mash of clever sayings, and it’s easy to skim through them, but one should meditate more on them to get the deeper messages. The proverbs address facets of life still prevalent today: Making a living, handling money, managing relationships, responding to poverty, struggles with sexuality, coping with difficulties and facing death, etc. It helps us understand what wisdom looks like and work out how to live appropriately in the normalcy of daily living. Each proverb should cause us to look deeply into our actions and values, contrast them with the light of God, and ad...

READ : Catch up day/ Proverbs 20 Verses chosen for meditation: Proverbs 20:9; 27 - Self-examination. 9  Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”? 27 The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. REFLECT While reading Proverbs as wise counsel and practical advises for living, they could also be thought-provoking statements of truth or conclusions, some of which are results of definitive actions and consequences. Nevertheless, not all conclusions are necessarily true all the time. For example, v.7: “The righteous who walks in his integrity – blessed are his children after him!”. I think we all recognise that not every child will grow up well, even though the parents are righteous. So, this is no guaranteed result. Therefore, proverbs are not commands nor promises of God (although some seems the same upon reading), but general wisdom with fitting sayings for various situations and godly living in a broken world. Looki...