list of articles #5

This article is an example from the Old Testament of someone changed into a different person by the Spirit of God. The time is about 1050 BC after the Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea (1446 BC), after the death of Moses and Joshua (1375 BC), and after the period of the Judges (1055 BC). Judges were individuals inspired by God to defeat the enemies of Israel when the prayers of a suffering people were answered. 

Israel wanted a king to rule over them instead of priests and prophets. The nation rejected God as the leader who established the Ten Commandments and the rules Moses received from God as the holy way to live. God listened to them and gave them a king even though the prophet Samuel warned them that society would change and loss of freedom would result. Samuel anointed Saul as king who became a different person. Editor notes about the passage below indicate that prophesying here appears to designate an ecstatic praising of God inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. 

1 Samuel 10:5-6 (NIV2011): The prophet Samuel is speaking. 5 “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

1 Samuel 10:9-11 (NIV2011): 9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 

I believe it is possible to become a different person: a different personality, a different temperament, different listening skills, different emotional stability, different financial outlook, and a different understanding of God as rock and shield with unfailing love. 

Becoming a different person today will also result in what I call the New Financial Nature which is a change in outlook and understanding of financial circumstances. If God can change Saul, He can change us. We can encourage and advance this change by prayer.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)
7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Do you want to become a different person?

King David was a man after God’s own heart (1Sam 13:14). He wrote many of the Psalms pouring his heart out with praise, thankfulness, mercy, redemption, and repentance. It is remarkable that God made an oath with David to become God’s everlasting kingdom. David’s life was filled family dysfunction, adultery, murder, undisciplined children, insecurity, and fighting. If God can accept David, He can accept us. 

2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NKJV)
12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."

Jesus was born from the Kingdom of David. The purpose of this article is to show that David’s life was filled with tragedy and sin. Our lives can be filled with tragedy and sin also. Nevertheless, God can still use us to accomplish His purposes if we follow David’s example of recognizing our sin, sincerely repenting of our sin, accepting God’s forgiveness, accepting removal of our guilt, and turning to a Godly life. Below are some examples of the troubles of David.

Saul, the first King of Israel, become jealous of David’s success in battles including the defeat of Goliath. God removed His spirit from Saul because of his disobedience causing Saul to fall into depression and at times becoming a madman. Saul with his soldiers attempted to kill David and pursued David for many years. David with his men lived in caves and forests under distress and harassment. Even though David had opportunities to kill Saul, he determined to not hurt the Lord’s anointed. Can you imagine being hunted? 

Another trouble of David was his lust after Bathsheba. He committed adultery and murdered her husband Uriah by putting him in the front battle lines. The prophet Nathan confronted David and pointed out this terrible sin. David repented and composed Psalm 51 of repentance. The baby from this sin died. God provided wives to David, the house of Israel and Judah, and would have given much more (2Sa 12:8). 

Psalm 51:1-2 (NKJV): 1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 

David’s first son Amnon by wife Ahinoam lusted after his half-sister Tamar by wife Maacah. After manipulation Amnon raped Tamar. Once the sexual desire was satisfied Amnon hated her and sent her away. Sending her away was a greater wrong because she would be accused of seduction and lost the special position as a virgin of the King. Tamar wanted marriage but Amnon refused. Although the rape was punishable by death, David did not discipline Amnon.

Later David’s son Absalom by wife Maacah murdered Amnon using servants just as David used others to kill Uriah. Absalom’s premeditated murder forced him to leave David’s Kingdom. So he left to live under his grandfather’s protection the King of Geshur.

Later Absalom gathered a following and rebelled against his father David who fled Jerusalem. Absalom set up a tent on the roof and slept in public with David’s concubines in broad daylight in contrast with David sleeping with Bathsheba in private. Absalom later died in battle against David’s men lead by the captain Joab.

These are a few stories about David showing a family of feud, manipulation, lust, and sin. 

Do we have some family disagreements, dysfunctions, and bad stories to tell? Do you believe that your family problems keep you away from God and His mercies? Have you ever thought that your special knowledge of family problems might be used to help others? If God can make a covenant with David knowing the troubles of his life, then God can surely use us.  

This article discusses the old self and the new self using the Bible passage from Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NASB)
22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

What is the old self? The passage mentions the former manner of living and lusts of deceit. Since we are all born in sin (Psalm 51:5) our natural disposition is sinful. We are unthankful, uncooperative, unkind, uninterested in others, unbelieving, untrustworthy, unrelenting, selfish, self-centered, jealous, and nasty. Even though we attempt to be civil, the motives of the heart are alienated from God and ignorant of God’s truth.

When we speak of lust, we immediately reference sexual lust. However the original understanding of the word means any passion of the heart including avarice, ambition, the love of pleasure, and gratification in any way. The heart by nature is under control of such desires. The idea of deceit is listed. This means that passions lead us astray and provide false promises. Nothing is more deceitful than the promised pleasures of this world, but in the end they eventually betray, are in vain and meaningless.

What is the new self?  When a person becomes a Christian, God gives him a completely new spiritual and moral capability that a mind apart from Christ could never achieve (1 Cor 2:9-16). Albert Barnes has some fitting comments. He writes that the change is so great, that there is no impropriety in speaking of one who has experienced it as "a new man." He has new feelings, principles, and desires. He has laid aside his old principles and practices, and, in everything that pertains to moral character, he is new. His body is indeed the same; the intellectual structure of his mind the same; but there has been a change in his principles and feelings which make him, in all the great purposes of life, a new being. Learn, that regeneration is not a trifling change.

The passage above mentions that the new self is made in the likeness of God created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. John MacArthur writes that righteousness relates to the Christian’s moral responsibility to his fellow man following the second table of the Ten Commandments. Holiness refers to his responsibility to God following the first table of the Ten Commandments.  

Since there is a dramatic change in moral principles and desires, think about the effects of these changes on personal financial matters. These changes are what I call the New Financial Nature.  

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