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Character
CountsBy Paul Chappell
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Sunday, May 20, 2012
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour
of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:11-13
We are in a battle in the Christian life. As someone
said, we travel to Heaven on a battleship, not a cruise
ship. And in the battle it is vital that we stand firm
and maintain our character. The devil knows that if he
can get us to let down our guard in even a small area,
it will not be long until he has free reign to go to
work in our lives. There are no small character
failures.
Oscar Wilde was a brilliant and much-praised writer
but also a greatly immoral man. Late in life as he
suffered the consequences of his lifestyle, he wrote: "I
grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure
where it pleased me, and passed on. I forgot that every
little action of the common day makes or unmakes
character, and that therefore what one has done in the
secret chamber, one has some day to cry aloud from the
house-top. I ceased to be lord over myself. I allowed
pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible
disgrace."
The devil is perfectly content to take small pieces
of ground. If you do not stand firm, you will find
yourself continually moving backward until you are
completely defeated. When the temptation comes, remember
the warning of Scripture, "Neither give place to the
devil"20 (Ephesians 4:27). Guard your character so
that he has no room to work in your life, and you will
be on the road to victory.
Today's Rooted Principle:
Stand fast and maintain your
character against temptation—both public and private,
and both large and small.
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Old Testament
Reading
1
Chronicles 10
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CHAPTER 10
1 Now the Philistines fought against
Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the
Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines followed hard after
Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew
Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of
Saul. 3 And the battle went sore against
Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the
archers. 4 Then said Saul to his
armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through
therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.
But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid.
So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 5 And
when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell
likewise on the sword, and died. 6 So Saul
died, and his three sons, and all his house died
together. 7 And when all the men of Israel
that were in the valley saw that they fled, and
that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook
their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and
dwelt in them.
8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when
the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found
Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. 9
And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and
his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines
round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to
the people. 10 And they put his armour in the
house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple
of Dagon. 11 And when all Jabeshgilead heard
all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12
They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body
of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to
Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh,
and fasted seven days. 13 So Saul died for
his transgression which he committed against the LORD,
even against the word of the LORD, which he kept
not, and also for asking counsel of one
that had a familiar spirit, to enquire
of it; 14 And enquired not of
the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom
unto David the son of Jesse.
CHAPTER 11
1 Then all Israel gathered themselves to
David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy
bone and thy flesh. 2 And moreover in time
past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that
leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy
God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel,
and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel.
3 Therefore came all the elders of Israel to
the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them
in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king
over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by
Samuel. 4 And David and all Israel went to
Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites
were, the inhabitants of the land. 5
And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt
not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of
Zion, which is the city of David. 6
And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first
shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah
went first up, and was chief. 7 And David
dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city
of David. 8 And he built the city round
about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired
the rest of the city. 9 So David waxed
greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was
with him.
10 These also are the chief of the
mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves
with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to
make him king, according to the word of the LORD
concerning Israel. 11 And this is the
number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an
Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his
spear against three hundred slain by him
at one time. 12 And after him was
Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was
one of the three mighties. 13 He was
with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were
gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of
ground full of barley; and the people fled from before
the Philistines. 14 And they set themselves
in the midst of that parcel, and delivered it,
and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved them
by a great deliverance. 15 Now three of the
thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the
cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines
encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16 And
David was then in the hold, and the Philistines'
garrison was then at Bethlehem. 17 And
David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink
of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at
the gate! 18 And the three brake through the
host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well
of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took
it, and brought it to David: but David
would not drink of it, but poured it out to the
LORD, 19 And said, My God forbid it me, that
I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these
men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with
the jeopardy of their lives they
brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These
things did these three mightiest. 20 And
Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three:
for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew
them, and had a name among the three.
21 Of the three, he was more honourable than
the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained
not to the first three. 22 Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel,
who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of
Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a
snowy day. 23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man
of great stature, five cubits high; and in the
Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam;
and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the
spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his
own spear. 24 These things did Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three
mighties. 25 Behold, he was honourable among
the thirty, but attained not to the first three:
and David set him over his guard. 26 Also the
valiant men of the armies were, Asahel the
brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
27 Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,
28 Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer
the Antothite, 29 Sibbecai the Hushathite,
Ilai the Ahohite, 30 Maharai the
Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,
31 Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah,
that pertained to the children of
Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, 32 Hurai
of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,
33 Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the
Shaalbonite, 34 The sons of Hashem the
Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite,
35 Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite,
Eliphal the son of Ur, 36 Hepher the
Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, 37 Hezro
the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, 38
Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Haggeri,
39 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite,
the armourbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
40 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
41 Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,
42 Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a
captain of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,
43 Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat
the Mithnite, 44 Uzzia the Ashterathite,
Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite,
45 Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his
brother, the Tizite, 46 Eliel the Mahavite,
and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and
Ithmah the Moabite, 47 Eliel, and Obed, and
Jasiel the Mesobaite.
CHAPTER 12
1 Now these are they that came to
David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because
of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the
mighty men, helpers of the war. 2 They
were armed with bows, and could use both the
right hand and the left in hurling stones and
shooting arrows out of a bow, even of
Saul's brethren of Benjamin. 3 The chief
was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the
Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth;
and Berachah, and Jehu the Antothite, 4 And
Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty,
and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and
Johanan, and Josabad the Gederathite, 5
Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and
Shephatiah the Haruphite, 6 Elkanah, and
Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the
Korhites, 7 And Joelah, and Zebadiah, the
sons of Jeroham of Gedor. 8 And of the
Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the
hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of
war fit for the battle, that could handle shield
and buckler, whose faces were like the
faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes
upon the mountains; 9 Ezer the first, Obadiah
the second, Eliab the third, 10 Mishmannah
the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth, 11 Attai the
sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12 Johanan the
eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 13 Jeremiah the
tenth, Machbanai the eleventh. 14 These
were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host:
one of the least was over an hundred, and the
greatest over a thousand. 15 These are
they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it
had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all
them of the valleys, both toward the east,
and toward the west. 16 And there came of the
children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.
17 And David went out to meet them, and
answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably
unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you:
but if ye be come to betray me to
mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in
mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon,
and rebuke it. 18 Then the spirit came
upon Amasai, who was chief of the
captains, and he said, Thine
are we, David, and on thy side, thou son
of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace
be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee.
Then David received them, and made them captains of the
band. 19 And there fell some of
Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines
against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for
the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him
away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul to
the jeopardy of our heads.
20 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of
Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael,
and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, captains of the
thousands that were of Manasseh. 21
And they helped David against the band of
the rovers: for they were all
mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.
22 For at that time day by day there
came to David to help him, until it was a
great host, like the host of God.
23 And these are the numbers of the
bands that were ready armed to the war,
and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom
of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD.
24 The children of Judah that bare shield and
spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready
armed to the war. 25 Of the children of
Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand
and one hundred. 26 Of the children of Levi
four thousand and six hundred. 27 And
Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and
with him were three thousand and seven hundred;
28 And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour,
and of his father's house twenty and two captains.
29 And of the children of Benjamin, the
kindred of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the
greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of
Saul. 30 And of the children of Ephraim
twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valour,
famous throughout the house of their fathers.
31 And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen
thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make
David king. 32 And of the children of
Issachar, which were men that had
understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to
do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all
their brethren were at their commandment.
33 Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle,
expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty
thousand, which could keep rank: they were
not of double heart. 34 And of Naphtali a
thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear
thirty and seven thousand. 35 And of the
Danites expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six
hundred. 36 And of Asher, such as went forth
to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. 37
And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites, and
the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all
manner of instruments of war for the battle, an hundred
and twenty thousand. 38 All these men of war,
that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to
Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the
rest also of Israel were of one heart to make
David king. 39 And there they were with David
three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had
prepared for them. 40 Moreover they that were
nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and
Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on
mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of
figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and
oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was
joy in Israel.
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New Testament
Reading
John
6:45 |
45 It is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father,
save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I
am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a
man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat
of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread
that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the
life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore
strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give
us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I
will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As
the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from
heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead:
he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as
he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when
they had heard this, said, This is an hard
saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew
in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said
unto them, Doth this offend you? 62
What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up
where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that
quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and
they are life. 64 But there are some
of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who
should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it
were given unto him of my Father. 66 From
that time many of his disciples went back, and
walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus
unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we
go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69
And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered
them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot
the son of Simon: for he it was that
should betray him, being one of the
twelve.
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Proverb of the
Day
Proverbs
20 |
1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink
is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is
not wise. 2 The fear of a king is as
the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to
anger sinneth against his own soul. 3
It is an honour for a man to cease from
strife: but every fool will be meddling. 4
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold;
therefore shall he beg in harvest, and
have nothing. 5 Counsel in the heart
of man is like deep water; but a man of
understanding will draw it out. 6 Most men
will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful
man who can find? 7 The just man
walketh in his integrity: his children are
blessed after him. 8 A king that sitteth in
the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his
eyes. 9 Who can say, I have made my heart
clean, I am pure from my sin? 10 Divers
weights, and divers measures, both of them
are alike abomination to the LORD. 11
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work
be pure, and whether it be right.
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the
LORD hath made even both of them. 13 Love not
sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes,
and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
14 It is naught, it
is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone
his way, then he boasteth. 15 There is gold,
and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge
are a precious jewel. 16 Take his
garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a
pledge of him for a strange woman. 17 Bread
of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his
mouth shall be filled with gravel. 18
Every purpose is established by counsel: and with
good advice make war. 19 He that goeth about
as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore
meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother,
his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
21 An inheritance may be gotten
hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not
be blessed. 22 Say not thou, I will
recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he
shall save thee. 23 Divers weights are
an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance
is not good. 24 Man's goings
are of the LORD; how can a man then understand
his own way? 25 It is a snare
to the man who devoureth that which
is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and
bringeth the wheel over them. 27 The spirit
of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all
the inward parts of the belly. 28 Mercy and
truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by
mercy. 29 The glory of young men is
their strength: and the beauty of old men is the
gray head. 30 The blueness of a wound
cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward
parts of the
belly.
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