Have you had a no-good, very bad day? In today’s story, David thought that his life was going well, but things began to go very badly. David’s son Absolum killed his brother and then he attempted to take over as king. Can you imagine how David was feeling? Maybe you are having a bad day or a rough year. Listen to today’s episode of Reflect and Renew and learn how David refreshes himself and connects with God.Contributor: Our guest contributor, Deb, shares how this has been a tough year. Their family has faced financial struggles, health challenges, and another move. Maybe you can relate! But Deb shares with us a special verse that has helped to see her through this year and has given her comfort and hope.

Have you had a no-good, very bad day? In today’s story, David thought that his life was going well, but things began to go very badly. David’s son Absolum killed his brother and then he attempted to take over as king. Can you imagine how David was feeling? Maybe you are having a bad day or a rough year. Listen to today’s episode of Reflect and Renew and learn how David refreshes himself and connects with God.Contributor: Our guest contributor, Deb, shares how this has been a tough year. Their family has faced financial struggles, health challenges, and another move. Maybe you can relate! But Deb shares with us a special verse that has helped to see her through this year and has given her comfort and hope.

Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.

Starting with Jesus

Heather Bennett

Reflect and Renew January 2023

The Last Days of Saul

King at Last

King David

A Rebellious Son

Katie Chitwood

Building a House for God


The hardships of this last year as I look back have hidden gems. Gems of character development, of learning financial wisdom, humility, contentment. Welcome to Refresh and Renew. Hi, I'm Heather, and I'm so glad that you'll be joining me today. We will be learning and growing together in our walk with Jesus.

You will surely be encouraged and challenged as we study week by week and hear from the experiences of others. Have you ever had a no good, very bad day? That's how David was feeling in our lesson this week. It wasn't just a bad day, but the experience that David went through was taking a bad day to a whole new level. Check out her devotional this week at startingwithjesus.com renew where you will read about a story that Merle shares when her daughter not only had a bad day, but life just wasn't going well for her week after week.

David had settled into being a king and his enemies were conquered and life was going so well. Or maybe it wasn't. David's son Absalom had killed his half-brother Amnon and then fled the country. It wasn't until years later that Absalom was even allowed to return home. Upon his return, he started to obtain the favor of the people, his father's people, actually winning over enough of them that they were in favor of Absalom being the next king.

Absalom didn't wait for David to die, but instead he took matters into his own hands and within hours David finds himself and his followers fleeing for their lives. Can you imagine how David was feeling? Maybe you've actually experienced a family member turning on you. You can just see David fleeing for his life, becoming weary and exhausted. Yet in this time of darkness, did David lose hope?

The Bible says that David refreshes himself. Our Renew devotional brings out 2 points from this story. The first is the importance of refreshing ourselves in times of extreme stress. It's important to make sure that we eat a balanced diet, get the sleep that we need, and stay hydrated. We also want to listen to the wisdom of others.

We are to turn from temptation and go towards the light and be renewed. And secondly, sometimes bad things that happen to us are actually a direct result of a previous action. For David, he was reaping the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba. This week, Deb shares with us the experiences she's had over the past year. Between financial issues, health struggles, and a stressful move, it can feel completely overwhelming.

Listen as she shares a special Bible verse that has helped and encouraged her She'll also share the hidden gems that God has shown her through those trials and troubles Hi moms. It's been a rough year and a half mixed with financial issues, family issues, health struggles, another move, our eighth move in 9 years. And there have been very desperate and overwhelming moments this year. But a verse that has continually come to mind for me is found in Hebrews 13 5 and it says being content with what you have for he has said I will never under any circumstances desert you nor give you up nor leave you without support nor will I in any degree leave you helpless nor will I forsake or let you down or relax my hold on you assuredly not we live in a small space, and we're grateful to have somewhere to call home, But more than once this past year, I have longed for a home of our own and more space. It doesn't have to be extravagant, but somewhere I can conveniently cook for my family and not feel as tight.

Those doors didn't open. I've prayed and hoped and dreamed and prayed and then I'm brought to this verse. Being content with what you have, for he has said I will never leave you nor forsake you. God has been reminding me that The key to being content and to any tough situation is to know that Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me and having him in my life is everything that I need. In fact, the hardships of this last year as I look back have hidden gems.

Gems of character development, of learning financial wisdom, humility, contentment, trust in the Lord. Something I've done lately is play scripture songs on my phone. I love the fact that God's word is being sung into my heart and mind and filling my home. There is a power in his promises and sometimes when I'm discouraged, weary, overwhelmed, or too tired to sing, something I can easily do is turn on scripture songs and just let God sing into my soul the words of life that I need. It's hard to imagine having a day as rough as David's in the devotional, but I'm grateful that the same God that saw David through so long ago is faithful to see me through as well.

His promises are true for me today. In fact, I thought I would share some of the beautiful verses that David wrote when he was fleeing his very own son Absalom. O God, Thou art my God, early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary, because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee, thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches, because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul falleth with heart after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me. Psalm 63, 1 through 8. Moms out there, are you in the midst of a trial right now?

Maybe it's betrayal, discouragement, feeling beaten down by life's everyday battles. Do you see yourself somewhere in David's story? I just want to encourage the precious moms out there to rest in God's love today. To trust his loving kindness that is better than life. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you and if you are too tired to even sing, let God sing over you and to your heart.

Are you resting in God's arms today? Are you trusting in his loving kindness? Do you have something that helps you when you are experiencing trials? If so, would you be willing to write to us and share what has helped you? You can email us at renew at starting with Jesus dot com.

While you're at it, go ahead and let us know if you want the renewed devotional sent to your inbox. Each week you can study along with us and read the devotional for yourself as we dig deeper into our story. Our challenge this week is to sing. When you find yourself getting stressed, frustrated, or maybe your patience is completely gone, take a moment to sing. If you are stressed or anxious, Try singing a hymn like, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, " or a scripture song that helps you to rest in Him.

Singing will lighten our hearts. And don't forget to ask God each morning to help remind you to sing. Thanks so much for joining me today. Before we go, let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, as Christians, we know that we're going to experience hard or bad days, sometimes even multiple bad days.

Help us to take after David's example from this lesson today. Let us refresh ourselves, making sure that we rest, eat healthy, and hydrate ourselves properly. Lord, when we find ourselves having a bad day, impress our hearts with a song to lift our spirits. We thank you for loving us even when our days don't go as planned. Amen.

This podcast is sponsored by Starting With Jesus. To find out more about other programs or to find out the links that were shared in this podcast, just check out the description box below.

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Series

Reflect and Renew January 2023

A Rebellious Son

Description

Parent Series

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Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

The Last Days of Saul

15m

King at Last

11m

King David

8m

A Rebellious Son

9m

Building a House for God

12m

Sound Doctrine