Moving On!

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed
Lesson Six

Dear Thursday Class:

Wow, what a day! We completed the Deeper Still course, had lunch, and watched a bonus DVD to complete a great year of Bible Study. We finished well! Our prayer team prayed throughout this course and this year's studies that each one of you would receive a "rhema" word, a specific word from the Lord that you can apply to your life. Bible Study is NOT about information - it's about TRANSFORMATION. This transformation should lead us all to a closer and more holy walk with God - SANCTIFICATION.

As we discussed in class, this maturing is difficult because the flesh screams out and demands what it sees, hears, and touches. Like King David, when we arrive at the top, we are most vulnerable to the seductions of the world. Chuck Swindoll said it best in his biography of David: ( p. 141, "A Man of Passion and Destiny: David")

3 Lasting Lessons Learned at David's Expense

1. Prosperity and ease are perilous times, not merely blessings.

2. Gross sin is a culmination of a process, not a sudden act.

3. Confession and repentance help heal a wound, but they will never erase all of the scars.

So, with hindsight, let's look at King David's life. What would you say were the highlights of his life? Perhaps the slaying of Goliath? Or maybe becoming king over Israel? Or his vast military accomplishments? I would also have to mention becoming the father of the wisest king of all times - Solomon, and also, the purchase of the land and the preparation of the greatest temple of all times. Yet, do we realize that both of the accolades came out of situations of sin and failure from David's life? God can take our messed up and sinful situations and make masterpieces when we hit the dirt with repentant hearts and lay ourselves at his feet. Look at this precious verse below recorded toward the end of David's life:1 Kings 1:48 –David is speaking

The king has also said thus, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.”


David, who had really messed up – once with Bathsheba ( 2 Sam 11) and another major time in ( 2 Sam 28) when he took a census of the people and God had told him not to, was at the end of his life having the privilege of seeing his son, Solomon, fulfill God’s plan for his life. What an awesome way to finish – being allowed the opportunity to see your child fulfill God’s plan for their life.

But the best is yet for you to be aware of – David – a liar, adulterer, manipulator, murderer, a transgressor of what God had explicitly told him not to do - finishes well. David repented and is known for having a heart that chased God. So, let’s look at what God has done “asah” ( to make something out of what is already there – see Ps 126) with David’s mess. Think with me, who is Solomon’s mother? Bathsheba. What did David have to do as a result of his disobedient counting in 2 Sam 28? – He had to go to the threshing floor of Araunah and buy it to offer a sacrifice to God to stop the plague that had come upon the people. What is the significance of this property? It is the site of where Solomon would build the temple.(2 Chr 3:1)

WOW! God took David’s two Big Failures and made good come out of them. Listen, that is what He will do for you too. Give Him your burdens and cares. And better yet, give Him your mess. Seek His wisdom. A side note in my inductive study bible says this: "To have knowledge is to have information about something. To have wisdom is to have the ability to apply knowledge to daily life." That is what God's wisdom from above is - a capacity to discern and judge.

Listen, I am an ordinary messed up gal that God has chosen to use despite both my ADD and my sinful strong willed messes:

I have been arrested

I have dried my cat in the dryer

I have gotten into the back seat before when there was no one else there to drive

I have had 2 wrecks within 30 minutes

I have worn 2 different colored shoes on several occasions.

I have worn clothes inside out without knowing it until I got home.

I have been hurt so deeply that I have curled up into a corner of my house.

I have tasted the sting of death and survived it.

I have broken someone's heart because I would not face the truth.

I have walked away from God's best and ended up in my own "Chapter 11's."

I am no different than King David - my messes had consequences,

BUT GOD... yes, Mary Alice, I agree, these are two of the greatest words of the Bible - But God has time and time again made masterpieces out of my messes! Though I must live with the consequences of those actions, I can know that one day as I stand before the Father, He will not see nor recall my sin, for it is as far as the east is to the west. What He will though look at is what did I do with the giftings and abilities that He gave me. How did I steward over them and use them for the Kingdom of God? The question is, "Have we moved on past the messes of our lives? Are we striving to finish well or are we still dealing with the same old sin over and over again? David moved on! Matt's sermon speaks about this moving on we must do if we are truly mature in Christ.

Here are the notes from Matt Chandler's sermon on May 2, 2010: Stewards of Mystery http://northway.thevillagechurch.net/sermons

These are my paraphrased notes: (Colossians 1:24-28)

Paul is a steward of the mystery - which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. Paul knows it is NOT about us working on ourselves, cleaning up our act and pit - we must move on past our sin, receive the grace, moving on and becoming a steward of that grace. We have a responsibility to help disciple others as we go through our everyday lives.

1. Christianity is NOT about being consumed with our own sin and its clean up.

2. Christianity is NOT just about a destination. We were saved to go forth and proclaim the gospel.

3. Christianity is NOT about a certain group of people. Abraham was from Iraq, Ur of the Chaldea's. The Jews and the messianic line have several Gentiles within it. The Gentiles were fully grafted in with the birth of the church in Acts. It is Not about a certain people group.

4. Christianity is NOT about a certain place. God is no longer in a box or on a certain piece of ground. He is ever present within us. Holiness is NOT geographical. It is Christ in you - the hope of glory.


Matt said we have sugar-coated the WORD; got them saved, cute, and coming, but there is nothing there that truly satisfies or matures these new believers. We draw them in saying "Jesus is cool, He's one of us!" We are cool, but we are NOT holy.

Christianity IS about Holiness lived out in Maturing Believers as they go about their everyday lives, proclaiming the gospel, warning others of God's justice, but also giving His grace, and declaring and supporting the teachings of Christ.

Now, as we go this summer, may we move forward, and be holy as He is Holy, proclaiming Him to an unholy world, living out our faith before them. Please pray for Matt and keep up with his health at: http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/


In The Redeemer's Name, Yeshua,