David and Abigail

I'm reading through the Bible in a year for 2011.  I took a friend's suggestion to have the daily passage sent to my email through oneyearbibleonline.com.  I'm happy to report that I have not missed a day with this method!  That may just be a sad statement on how much time I spend on my computer, but at least I'm reading the Bible!

Today's passage included the story of David and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25.  I think this is one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  For those not familiar, here's a quick recap.

David and his army of outcasts from Israel are hiding from King Saul in the wilderness.  They're hungry and so they send a request to Nabal, a rich man shearing his sheep, to let them share in the time of feasting which accompanies the sheep-shearing. They consider this a return of a good deed, since they protected Nabal's shepherds and flocks from marauders while they were grazing near their hideout.

Nabal refuses, insulting David and his men in the process.  David becomes angry and sets out with 400 of his men to take revenge and wipe out Nabal and every male who works for him.

Meanwhile, Nabal's shepherds who overheard the exchange, tell Nabal's wife, Abigail, what happened and implore her to do something to avert disaster.  She wisely loads up donkeys with provisions and gifts and heads out herself to intercept David. When she encounters him on the way to their estate, she bows at his feet, saying:

“Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The LORD your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the LORD’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the LORD has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant.” 

Abigail spoke with respect and with wisdom.  She knew David would regret this revengeful action if he carried it out.  She skillfully turned his attention back to the LORD and his purpose for David's life without causing offense. She also expressed faith in God's word that David would someday be king, even though the circumstances didn't look like it at the time.  She was God's instrument to turn David away from a wrongful action and David recognized it. 

I am impressed with her character, her faith in a difficult circumstance, and her skillful appeal to the future king.  Lord, grant me the grace to be like Abigail.

Voice Ministries, Elkhart, IN

My daughter, Jackie, and I have the privilege of visiting Voice Ministries in Elkhart, IN, for two weeks.  Voice is a group of ministries that includes a 12+hr/day prayer & worship room, a food bank that feeds 500-700 households a week, a Tuesday night interchurch community worship gathering, healing & prophetic teams, a Theophostic inner healing ministry, and a Sunday morning fellowship.  I love sitting in the prayer room and soaking in the presence of the Lord as the singers and instrumentalists continually worship, interspersed with readings of Scripture and intercessory prayer.  If you want a taste of it, here's a link to a live feed from the Kansas City IHOP (International House of Prayer), a parent organization to this one.

Somebody referred to this place as a spiritual "hospital".  Here's what they say about themselves:

Voice began in the mid 90s as a “meeting place” for those who were burnt out, tired, messed up and needed something different and refreshing. What people found was a vibrant bunch of passionate worshippers and messages of hope and healing and encouragement. It was, as many would come to say, “a cool drink of water in a dry land.” 

We are not a typical ministry. We don’t care about a name or numbers, we just know that God has put us here, in the middle of Michiana, to be a VOICE. A Voice of hope. A Voice of healing. A Voice of worship. A Voice that shouts the message that all of this is about Jesus, and that Jesus is coming back!

We are staying at what they call "the camp", which is really a private estate that was turned into something like a retreat center.  This was the original location of the IHOP, International House of Prayer, so it's a special place. Much prayer and worship has gone up from this location.

I am enjoying the peaceful grounds and especially the daffodils beginning to sprout everywhere, a nice change from the still snow-covered ground in Cascade.

I went out and sat in this gazebo for a while today.  It overlooks a creek.

The stately oak trees have not yet sprouted foliage for spring.  I marveled at one clump of leaves (left of center above) that has held on all winter and was not budging even today in a pretty brisk wind.