Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 24:1-31.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 24:3 (NIV) 
3  With the help of Zadok a descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelech a descendant of Ithamar, David separated them into divisions for their appointed order of ministering.

1 Chronicles 24:19 (NIV) 
19  This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

On verses 1-19:  Here we are given a list of the names of the priests and their families who led the Israelites in worship.  The priests were divided into 24 teams and each team was to serve two weeks per year.  During the remainder of the year the members of that team would be serving the community and teaching God’s Word. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 22:2-19.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 22:2-4 (NIV) 
2  So David gave orders to assemble the aliens living in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God. 
3  He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed. 
4  He also provided more cedar logs than could be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to David.

On verses 2-4:  Here we see King David making preparations for the building of the temple.  As part of this, King David appoints some of the aliens (i.e. foreigners) living in Israel to be stonecutters and to prepare dressed stones for building the temple. 

Likewise, in the same chapter where Peter calls us royal priests and stones that God is using to build His house, we are also called “aliens and strangers in the world” (1 Peter 2:11). The kind of people Jesus uses to build His church are “the aliens” among us – i.e. those of us who don’t live as if earth is our final home, but who realize that our real home is in heaven and that we are but strangers in this world, living for a kingdom that is not of this world.  When you have the mindset that heaven is our home, you won’t get too attached to the material things of this world, and as such you can more easily be used by the Lord to build His church.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 21:1-17.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 21:1-6 (NIV) 
1  Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. 
2  So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.” 
3  But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” 
4  The king’s word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. 
5  Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. 
6  But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him.

On verses 1-6:  King David decides to count the number of fighting soldiers in his army, and God is not pleased with this.  You might ask, “What’s the big deal about counting soldiers?”  There is nothing wrong with counting numbers per se.  But where David sinned was in why he wanted to count numbers.   David’s sin was that he was placing his hope more in the number of people fighting for him than in the Lord who was fighting for him. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 19:1-19.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 19:6-7 (NIV) 
6  When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David’s nostrils, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maacah and Zobah. 
7  They hired thirty-two thousand chariots and charioteers, as well as the king of Maacah with his troops, who came and camped near Medeba, while the Ammonites were mustered from their towns and moved out for battle.

On verses 1-8, 16-19:  David tries to show kindness and sympathy to Hanun king of the Ammonites after hearing about the death of Hanun’s father Nahash.  But Hanun, influenced by his commanders, is suspicious of David’s act of kindness.  He repays David’s kindness with great disrespect, humiliating the messengers David sent (v4-5).  Knowing he has angered David, Hanun forms an alliance with other kingdoms like Aram, Zobah and Maakah (v6-7).  David sends out his army in full force and scores a decisive victory over Hanun and this newly formed alliance soundly (v8-19). 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 17:16-27.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 17:16 (NIV) 
16  Then King David went in and sat before the LORD… 

On verse 16a:   After God spoke amazing promises to David in verses 1-15, notice David’s reaction: first, he sits before the Lord.  Often I find that the most powerful thing I can do is to sit before the Lord, to be still in His presence.  Sitting before the Lord is my power position.  It’s where I most often sense the Holy Spirit speaking to me.  It’s where I process and digest the words He has spoken to me.  It’s where I recalibrate my heart and mind.   When I’m lost, confused, frustrated or hurting, I sit.  It’s where I experience His presence and peace.   Do you want to develop a deeper, closer relationship with the Holy Spirit?  Take the time to sit before the Lord often.

1 Chronicles 17:16 (NIV) 
16  Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 

On verse 16b-22:  The second thing David does in response to God’s Word is he humbles himself before God.  David did not come to God with a sense of entitlement as if God owed him, nor did David well up with pride in himself. Rather, David recognized that the reason he and his nation could receive such amazing promises was all because of God’s undeserved mercy and grace.  Like David, when you hear God’s Word, have a humble attitude.