Eternal Blessing

29 And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
2 Samuel 7:29 (NLT)

The above is a part of David’s prayers after he established his throne. If you have read about David’s life in my 1 Samuel series, you will find that his life was a roller coaster. He had been through many ups and downs, trials and challenges in his life. He had tasted victory and fame. He had also suffered betrayal and had to run for his life. In the end, he became the king of Israel.

Throughout the Bible, we can read about godly people facing various challenges in their lives like the rest of us. The only difference is they did not give up their hopes and faith. They still believed that God was on their side and working behind the scenes to deliver them even though the physical situation around them said the opposite. So, don’t be surprise when you read about prophets or apostles living through tough times like poverty. Yes, godly people can live through tough times like poverty and sickness but God always delivers them. The Bible is clear about that.

19 The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
Psalm 34:19(NLT)

Do not be deceived by the lies of theology that says, since the apostles themselves had been poor, God’s promises on prosperity must be false. Theologians are the liars, not God. The truth is, those prophets and apostles were not exempted from troubles in their lives. At the same time, they were also not exempted from the promise in Psalm 34:19. Always remember that there are 2 parts in Psalm 34:19. After the first part happens, the second part must follow.

Let us get back to the prayer of David in 2 Samuel 7:29. My emphasis is at the end of the verse, “when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!” When God blesses us, his blessing is eternal. It lasts forever. The blessing of God has no expiry date. It is not a one time event.

How can this help us? This truth gives us hope especially at times when the situation around us looks bad. You may be in a very bad situation right now where there is no way out. You have tried every option and every way to find a solution to your problems but there isn’t any. You may even be convinced that you are doomed to failure. You may be facing with the prospect of losing everything you have and those you have worked very hard for.

If you happen to be in this situation, the above verse brings hope to you. The first thing you should do is to stop dwelling in your present seemingly impossible situation. Thinking and meditating on the bad situation will only make it stronger. Instead you should focus your attention on the good things that had happened to you in the past. Think of your past achievements and successes. There must be some success in your past. I don’t think anyone can have zero success in their past because no one can be that perfect.

When I mention the past success, it does not have to be big like winning a Nobel Prize or making a million dollars. It can be as simple as finishing primary school, staying alive for more than 20 years, able to get married, have children, getting healed from a fever, getting hold of a job, being able to squeeze into a bus this morning, etc. If you happen to have dropped out from school after one year of studies, then your success is the successful completion of one year in school. As you think of these successes, fill your heart with gratitude and sincerely thank God for blessing you. You got to convince yourself that those successes are the proof that God had been blessing you in the past. Your past record shows that you have been a recipient of God’s blessings. Since God’s blessing is eternal, you must still be a recipient of God’s blessings now!

The truth is you are still blessed by God. The situation may look very bad but that does not change the truth that you have the blessing of God in you. God is on your side and he is committed to overcome this bad situation for you. Your role is to fill your heart and mind with hope and peace. You need to live by faith that God has the right solution for you and he is on his way in executing it. It does not matter that you are unable to see the way out now. The only thing that matter is, you have the blessing of God with you. When God grants a blessing to his servant, it is an eternal blessing. If you are a Christian, you are not God’s servant. You are his child. If the servants of God can get eternal blessing, how much more for the sons and daughters of God?

God will certainly deliver you out of all your troubles. Your role is to believe.

The Danger Of Negative Thoughts And Feelings

23 So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life.
2 Samuel 6:23 (NLT)

I am back. Let me give you some update of myself. In her attempt to get me healed faster, my wife asked around for sinsehs who are able to cure Shingles. Sinsehs are the practitioners of traditional chinese medicine or TCM as we call it in Singapore. So, my wife asked the aunties (old women) in her office for information on a good sinseh and got one for me.

So, I went to one yesterday. To make the story short, here is the advice I got:

The only things I can eat are:
1. Bread with jam.
2. White rice or porridge with boiled vegetables.

In addition, the affected parts cannot touch water. So, I am not supposed to bathe until I am fully healed.

Do you think I will obey that? I told my wife that I will get healed but it is not because of this sinseh. I will be healed because of God and science. The conclusion of this experience is, when you are sick, visit a real doctor.

Enough about myself, let us continue with the story in 2 Samuel. After David got back the Ark, he organized a procession to bring it back to his palace.

12 Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration.
13 After the men who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.
14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment.
15 So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.
2 Samuel 6:12-15 (NLT)

It was basically a party. It was a celebration and the people were having fun. Everyone was having a good time except for one, Michal who was David’s first wife.

16 But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.
2 Samuel 6:16 (NLT)

The above verse says Michal was filled with contempt for David. It sounds very intense. She confronted David on his behavior. David in turn downplayed the event and said he would do it again if he wants to.

20 When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!”
21 David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord.
22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!”
2 Samuel 6:20-21 (NLT)

The chapter ends with something that happened to Michal on that day onwards.
23 So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life.
2 Samuel 6:23 (NLT)

Let us try to understand what exactly had happened and then learn something from it. It is not difficult to understand why there was a party. David had a close relationship with God. They were good friends. Bring back the Ark was a joyful occasion. So, David organized a party and everyone was having fun.

However, Michal was not happy with what she saw. Why not? In today’s description, Michal was a member of a non-charismatic church. The church she attended told her that charismatic churches are heretics. True Christians must not get involved in form of charismatic behavior especially if you are a king. So, when she saw her husband, the king behaving like a charismatic, she was very angry. It was not just an ordinary anger. The Bible tells us that she was filled with contempt. Her feelings must be very intense.

She had even confronted David and confronted him for behaving like a charismatic but she did not get the response she wanted. David still insisted in attending the charismatic church.

Somehow, she became barren and unable to have any child.

Let us look at why is this important. In those days, having children was very important for married women especially for the wives of a king. If you happen to be one of them, your luxurious lifestyle is basically guaranteed as long as the king you are married to is alive. What will happen after he dies? It depends on how are you related to the new king. If the new king happens to be the son of another wife of this present king, you may not have a very secure future in the palace. So, the best survival guide for a king’s wife is to bear him a son who will become his heir. Michal’s condition means she had no future in the palace. It was bad for her.

Why did she become this way? The only reason we can find is her intense negative feelings. She did not just dislike what she saw. She was filled with contempt. Being filled with contempt means her thoughts and feelings must be very negative. Her body was adversely affected by it. The result was, Michal could not give birth to any child.

In case anyone is wondering whether God was involved in this, let me make this clear. God will never give lung cancer to smokers. God will never give Aids to those who practice unprotected casual sex. God will never kill anyone who jumps from a tall building. God created the laws of nature to govern this universe for our prosperity. As long as we live in harmony with these laws, we will have good lives on earth. However, if we choose to abuse these laws, we will face the consequences. If you don’t believe this, try to smoke, practice unprotected casual sex or jump from tall building. You will know the results very soon.

This is the cause of Michal’s problems. She allowed her mind to be filled with contempt and she had to bear the consequences. The lesson for us here is, always guard our hearts and minds against contempt (negative thoughts and feelings).

Let me get this clear. We are living in the real world. In the real world nothing is perfect. Whatever ideal situation you can conceive in your mind, you will not see it in the real world. The question is, how will you respond? Do you intend to think negative each time something goes wrong in your life? If you do, your life is going to be very miserable. Not only that, you will create more negative events in your life.

When we think about something regardless of whether it is positive or negative, we are creating feelings. Our bodies respond to our feelings. When we feel good, we are sending instructions to our bodies to work at their best efficiency. We are effective telling our bodies to heal every wound, replace every damaged cells and work at their best. No wonder the Bible tells us that a cheerful heart is good medicine.

So, if you are sick right now, your only responsibility is to be happy. Do everything you can to be happy. I don’t care how bad or terminal your sickness is, the moment you flood your mind with good feelings, you disease will have no chance to stay in your body.

In contrast, if you choose to be negative, Michal will be your example.

In conclusion, be on guard. Guard your hearts and minds against negative thoughts and feelings. Be happy and joyful at all times. Your health, wealth and other well beings depend on it.

Why Must All True Christians Be Rich?

12 Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration.
2 Samuel 6:12 (NLT)

In this article I am going to share the latest revelation I received from God. Before that I would like to explain on some administrative changes in this blog. You may have noticed that I no longer accept any comments without prior approval. The reason behind this because in the past few days there was a heretic who posted many lies and slanders about me in this blog. As I was trying to answer those lies, a thought came to me. Why should I bother to answer those lies? This is my blog and I have full control over it. I posted a warning message to that heretic and since he did not repent, I ex-communicated him.

I have changed the setting in this blog. Only approved comments will be posted here. There are a few lessons I have learned in this incident, which I would like to share with you.

The first lesson is we can do to our minds what I have done to my blog. In this blog, I can publish whatever I want. When I receive comments from my readers I can choose which comments to approve or reject. I cannot prevent people from slandering me but I can prevent their slanders from appearing in my blog. Likewise, there are many negative things that can happen around you but you do not have to allow them to get into your thoughts. We can choose what we want to think. We can choose to think health even if we are physically sick. We can choose to think prosperity even if we are physically poor. We can choose to think joy and peace even if there are jerks out there who are saying bad things about us.

In the book “The Science Of Getting Rich”, Wallace Wattles described those who can think what they want to think despite the physical circumstances around them as “Master Mind”. I like this term. God did not give us our minds for us to be conformed to the world. God gave us our minds to change the world around us. As Christians we are called to be Master Minds.

The second lesson is Satan must be hurting very badly in order for him to send this heretic to hurl all types of abuses to me. I am greatly encouraged. In fact, I was getting bored in writing in this blog a few days ago. This heretic had effectively renewed my interest in continuing to proclaim the truth to the world. If you happen to face difficulties like persecution from the theologians, you should start to rejoice because this is the sign that your work is showing results. Satan is hurting. Your works is bearing fruits. You will get your rewards very soon. You must be determined to press on and never give up.

The third lesson is the Christian life is a process of continual growth. In the past, I allowed free comments from the worshippers of theology because I wanted to use them as proxies to Satan. Today I don’t need them anymore because I am convinced beyond doubt that my work in this blog is bearing fruits. So I terminated the services of these proxies. From this day forth, I shall not allow heretic comments in this blog. This is growth. The things that we need in the past may not be needed now. What we need not may not be needed in the future. We must be prepared to accept changes when they come. Change is necessary for our growth.

Let us begin with the revelation now. The revelation I received from God is based on above verse. In the earlier article, we have seen how the procession to bring the Ark back to the capital had ended up in a disaster. The Ark was then stored in somebody’s house at that area. The house belonged to a man called Obed-edom.

The next thing we know is everyone in that household got blessed. In a religious church, the word “bless” has no meaning at all. You can be poor and still call yourself blessed. However, in those days and culture being blessed means being rich. When you are blessed you are rich. This was what happened in Obed-edom’s house. Everyone in it got rich. Their riches were so obvious that the news of them had even reached the king. When King David heard about the blessings of Obed-edom’s household, he was convinced that God was no longer angry with him. Please note that David did not consult the priest or prophet about this. The blessing in Obed-edom’s household is the clearest proof that God is good.

This is the revelation from God. Christians who lived blessed lives are the greatest proof to the world that our God is good. When I said “blessed” I am referring to the Bible’s definition. I mean being rich in every area in our lives including financial riches. All Christians must be rich. All Christians must have a lot of money to become the testimony of God’s goodness.

The traditional message of Jesus died for your sins, is no longer effective to the sophisticated audience in the Information Age due to the abuses by the religious churches. If you are to go out to tell people that Jesus died for their sins, chances are no one will be surprised. They knew about this already and they are not impressed. Why? They know it is nothing more than a marketing ploy by religious churches. Religious churches have been using the message of salvation to convert people, get them into their churches only to fleece them of their money.

You can cheat one man all the time. You can cheat all men at one time. However, you cannot cheat all men at all times. Religious churches have been trying to cheat all men at all times. They failed. The result is, everyone thinks the Gospel as nothing more than a marketing ploy for churches to get their money.

The second reason is the lie that comes from the theologians that says God is not interested in meeting our temporal needs like health and wealth. If the theologians are to be trusted then God must be a liar. He made so many promises on health and wealth in the Bible but he has no intention to honor them. According to the theologians God has no intention to give us health and wealth. All he cares about are whether we go to church, give money to the church, go for missions and obey all the rituals imposed on us.

Think about this. Do you want to be a Christian if the theologians are right? I will never want to be one.

It is crucial for us the true believers of Jesus Christ to tell the truth. However, the problem with direct words is we only have our words against the theologians. The theologians have centuries to perfect their art of lying. A well-trained theologian can lie with a straight face.

So, God’s solution is all his true believers to live in blessed lives. We must be rich in every area in our lives especially in our finances. Financial prosperity may be just a part of God’s overall blessings but it the most obvious of them all. When we are rich and have a lot of money, we are sending the loudest and clearest message to the world that our God is good. Our God is not the pervert and liar that has been propagated by the theologians. Our God does not want anyone to be sick or poor. He wants every one of us to be rich, healthy and live successful lives.

It is only when we are rich that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ can be revealed to the world.

It is only when we are rich that we can tell the world that our God is good.

It is only when we are rich that we can expose the true identity of the theologians who are nothing more than the descendents of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.

This is the revelation I receive from God.

The next question is how to be rich? You can start from reading the articles in this blog. Check it out from the Bible if you want. I have links to useful sources like free ebooks and online sermons. Please feel free to access them. The world needs Jesus. They will never trust Jesus if they continue to believe in the lies of theology. It is therefore crucial for us Christians to be rich in order to reveal the truth to the world. For Christians, getting rich is not an option. Getting rich is a responsibility to save souls.

The Blessing Of The Ark

11 The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.
2 Samuel 6:11 (NLT)

After David won his battle against the Philistines, he led his troops to Baalah of Judah to get the Ark of God, which the Philistines had seized and subsequently returned. The Ark was placed on a cart and moved back to the capital. There was a huge procession there. The Ark’s journey became a carnival. People were playing musical instruments and they had a lot of fun. Along the journey the oxen that was pulling the cart stumbled. The Ark was about to fall off the cart. So, a man called Uzzah who was assigned to take care of the Ark reached out his hands to steady the Ark in order to prevent it from falling to the ground. Disaster struck.

The Lord killed Uzzah instantly. The carnival stopped. David was very angry with the Lord for doing that. He even named that place to commemorate the event. Then, as he got back his senses, he became afraid. Obviously he did not want any more deaths in the journey. So, he cancelled the trip and placed the Ark at the nearest possible household. It happened to be the house of Obed-edom of Gath.

Let us stop here to review to lessons to be learned here.

I am sure the most pressing question here is why did the Lord kill Uzzah? What did Uzzah do wrong that deserve a death penalty? The oxen stumbled and Uzzah did his best to hold the Ark. Was that wrong?

In order for us to understand this, we will have to look at how the Ark was designed for transportation. Let us see what the Bible says.

14 Insert the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.
Exodus 24:14 (NLT)

God designed the Ark to be carried on the poles by the priests. That was how the Ark was carried from Moses to Joshua’s time. The Ark was never to be transported in a cart. The Philistines were the ones who used cart to carry the Ark back to Israel after they found out that the Ark caused a lot of troubles for them. They used the cart because they did not know Exodus 24:14. David did not have this excuse. Anyway, the Philistines did not die from it because there were no one at the cart to steady the Ark when they transported the Ark to Israel. David used the wrong way to transport the Ark and caused the death of Uzzah.

This means Uzzah did not die because he was evil. He died because he broke God’s law at that time. Is it fair? Put is this way. Anyone who jumps from the roof of a 50-storey building will fall and die. It does not matter whether this person is good or bad, man or woman, the color of the skin, religion, culture or any other factors. The law of gravity says anyone who falls from great height will die. It does not care for other factors like whether this person is good or bad. It is impersonal. Welcome to the real world.

This was how Uzzah died. It was not personal. Uzzah died because he had unintentionally broken God’s laws. God’s laws do not know the difference between intentional or unintentional violation. The law of gravity cannot tell the difference between those who jumped intentionally or unintentionally. This is why we have accidents. Not everyone who fell from height was committing suicide. Some were accidents.

The lesson for us here is, we should use common sense in our daily lives. The law of nature is impersonal. The way we use it will result in either good or bad in our lives. Just because you pray, read the Bible and listen to Jerry Savelle’s CDs a lot, it does not mean you should close your eyes when you cross the road. Of course, God is committed to protect you from harm. This is why he gives you common sense and your senses. When you see vehicles moving at your direction, don’t cross the road. Obey traffic rules. If there is a pedestrian overhead bridge or underpass, use it. These are God’s way of protecting you from being hit by a car.

It applies to every area of your lives. Use common sense to take advantage of God’s laws in your life. Common sense is a gift from God for our prosperity, health, long life and success in every are of our lives. Thank God for it.

The story does not end there. After David had decided to stop the journey, he decided to store the Ark at the nearest possible household, Obed-edom’s house. What happened to this family when the Ark was there?

11 The Ark of the Lord remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.
2 Samuel 6:11 (NLT)

The entire household was blessed. What does that mean? I came from a religious church where the word “bless” has no meaning. It is like “hi”, a form of greeting. Some theologians will tell you that sometimes God will bless you with poverty and sickness to teach you his grace. Are they right? Let us look at what the Bible says about blessings.

22 The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
Proverbs 10:22 (NLT)

This is another “dangerous” verse that theologians would love to erase from the Bible. The verse says when you are blessed by the Lord, you are rich and have no sorrow. So, when 2 Samuel 6:11 says the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his entire household, it means the entire household got rich. They had wealth flowing into them for the entire three months. I am sure all their neighbors would have wished they kept the Ark in the first place.

How blessed was Obed-edom and his entire household? They were so rich that even the king heard about it.

12 Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration.
2 Samuel 6:12 (NLT)

This tells us that Obed-edom’s blessings are not limited to spiritual alone. The blessings must be so obvious that even King David who lived far away knew about it.

The lesson for us here is, God always wants to bless us. The Ark represents the presence of the Lord. If you are a Christian, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You are the Ark. Every believer is an Ark of God. If Obed-edom could get rich by being close to the Ark, why not us Christians when we are the Ark ourselves. We should be blessed. We should be rich. We should be so rich that even the head of state will get notice of us. This is God’s will for our destiny on earth. The blessing of the Ark is on you. Will you obey him?

Go Forward

9 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”
The Lord replied to David, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly hand them over to you.”
2 Samuel 5:9 (NLT)

After David had taken over Jerusalem, the Philistines began to take him seriously. They viewed him as a threat. So, they mobilize their forces to capture him before he became too strong for them. Please note that these were the people who managed to scare Saul into defeat. When Saul faced them in battle, he was so scared that he was already defeated from within. His battle was literally one sided. The Israelites ran and the Philistines chased. Saul lost his life in that battle.

The same Philistines army attacked again. Could David face this challenge? He asked the Lord. The Lord’s answer was very clear, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly hand them over to you.” The Lord wanted David to go forward and face his challenge. This is the same for you and me.

What will you do when you face a problem too big for you to overcome? Will you ask the Lord? When you do, he will always tell you to go ahead. Why? God knows about your problems even before it comes to you. He could have stopped it the moment it begun but he didn’t. Why not? Is he a pervert who loves to see us suffer?

That is the view of theologians. If you ask a theologian or a religious pastor, he or she will tell you that God gives us troubles or “allows” us to face troubles because he wants to test us, strengthen our faith or any form of theological nonsense. They tried to present God as the source of our problems but you have read the articles from this blog, you will realize that theology is nothing more than a lie from the pit of hell.

The truth is, God is not a pervert. He will never create troubles for us. He will never make us poor or sick for his glory. God is glorified when we are rich, healthy and successful. Why then will he not stop our troubles when they first appear? This way, we will never face any trouble in our lives.

There can only be 2 reasons for this:
1. God knows that we have what it takes to overcome that problem. He has given us everything we need to do it and he truly believes in us.
2. He plans to use that problem to piggyback more blessings to us. In other words, this problem will make us richer.

Knowing the above, we should be filled with hope each time we encounter any impossible situations in our lives. The fact that the “impossible” situation exists simply proves it is not that impossible or God would not have allowed it to happen in the first place. This was what happened for the godly people in the Bible. Each time they faced a challenging situation, they always emerge victorious and ended up better off than before they faced their problems. Therefore, problems can be good for us but not in the way the theologians put it.

That was what David did when he was confronted with the mighty Philistine force.

20 So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The Lord did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”).
21 The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his men confiscated them.
2 Samuel 5:20-21 (NLT)

I like the term place Baal-perazim, which means “the Lord who bursts through”. The Lord always bursts through for us if we are willing to obey him. Whatever problem you are facing right now, the Lord is always burst through for you. If you can believe this, your “impossible” situation is as good as over. This is a guarantee from the integrity of God.

As for David, he has won impressively but that was not all. The Philistines regrouped and attacked for the second time. David asked the Lord again but he got a slightly different answer.

22 But after a while the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
23 And again David asked the Lord what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” the Lord replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees.
24 When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, be on the alert! That will be the signal that the Lord is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.”
25 So David did what the Lord commanded, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
2 Samuel 5:22-25 (NLT)

This time, the Lord gave David a strategy, which was a shortcut to victory. Do not attack from the front. Hit the enemies from behind. The Lord even gave him a signal to tell him when to attack. David obeyed and won again.

What can we learn from the second battle with the Philistines? God knows how to do his job. Whatever you want to achieve in life, seek God first and he will tell you the best way to achieve them. If you aim to get your first million dollars in five years time, why not ask God about it? He may have to way for you to get that million in one year instead of five. You would have saved four years of work.

In conclusion, God is on your side. He is with you to help you to overcome all the troubles that are in your way. Not only that he knows all the shortcuts that will help you to achieve your dreams with minimum effort, minimum costs and shortest possible time. Listen to him. You will not regret it.

Who Is On Your Side?

10 And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him.
2 Samuel 5:10 (NLT)

After the death of Ishbosheth, all the tribe leaders agreed to elect David as their king. David became the king of the whole Israel. The first thing he did is to capture the city of Jerusalem. At that time, Jerusalem was occupied by a race called the Jebusites. If you look as the past records, these Jebusites did not create much problems for the Israelites like the Philistines or Moabites. This tells us that the Jebusites were not truly a huge and powerful nation. Yet they were able to resist the Israelites from the time of Joshua until the death of Ishbosheth. Why is that so? It seems that their strength came from the strategic location of the city itself.

Let us look at how they boasted.

6 David then led his men to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of the land who were living there. The Jebusites taunted David, saying, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For the Jebusites thought they were safe.
2 Samuel 5:6 (NLT)

You can read that the Jebusites were not boasting of their powerful army because they had none. When they told David that even the blind and lame could keep him out, they must be referring to their location that could make them so secure that even the blind and lame were able to resist David’s forces.

If you look at the geography of Jerusalem, it is not too difficult to understand why. Jerusalem was on a hill. It is on higher ground. Such a position was very strong especially in the pre-gunpowder warfare. However, there is also a weakness for such hill fortress. Their enemies can surround them to cut off their food and water supplies. The Jebusites had prepared for this scenario. They must have stocked up their food supply. As for water, they had a water tunnel to supply water to their city in the event of a prolonged siege.

Ironically, David turned the Jebusites’ strength against them.

8 On the day of the attack, David said to his troops, “I hate those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites. Whoever attacks them should strike by going into the city through the water tunnel.” That is the origin of the saying, “The blind and the lame may not enter the house.”
2 Samuel 5:8 (NLT)

He used the water tunnel to get into the city. In other words, David had turned his enemies’ strength into an advantage for him to take over the city. From that day onwards, Jerusalem became the City of David. David became more powerful because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him.

10 And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him.
2 Samuel 5:10 (NLT)

Let us stop here and review the lessons to be learned.

The first lesson here is your enemies’ strength could also be their weakness. You may be facing a huge problem right now. The problem looks huge and powerful. It looks invincible and cannot be defeated. You have looked at every corner to find its weakness but failed. What are you going to do now? I would like to suggest something. Have you look at its strength? It is possible that in your attempt to find its weakness, you have avoided looking at its strength because you do not think you can take advantage of it. However, it is also possible that your enemy is so secure in his strength that this strength of his become his weakness, just like the Jebusites.

The Jebusites must have thought of their water tunnel as their powerful weapon that has helped them to outlast their enemies when they laid siege on the city. That water tunnel was their strength. However, they were so confident of their position that they failed to see it as a potential means for their enemies to seep in. They lost their city from this oversight.

This also means that we need to guard our strengths as well. Most of the time, we are so confident of our strength that we do not pay much attention to it. We should start to revise our strengths regularly to fix up the gaps in them. Do not be like the Jebusites where their greatest strength had become their weakness where their enemies managed to exploit.

The second lesson here is to know that as long as God is on your side, you cannot fail. You will win. Your destiny is to overcome every trouble that comes your way. David became more and more powerful because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies was with him. If God could do that for David, he can do the same for you and me. No matter what problems you are facing now, you have God on your side. He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. You can overcome all your problems because God is on your side. You can only become more and more powerful because the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is with you.

If you have a problem with sickness, you will recover from it and become healthy. If you are poor, you will be exceedingly and abundantly rich. Whatever problem you face, you will overcome it because God is with you. The question here is, are you willing to obey and believe in him? David became powerful because he put his trust in God and obeyed him. If we are willing to do the same, we will be powerful as well. We will overcome every problem that comes to our way. Health, wealth and success will be at our disposal, in Jesus’ name.

The Mentality Of Scarcity

9 But David said to Recab and Baanah, “The Lord, who saves me from all my enemies, is my witness.
10 Someone once told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ thinking he was bringing me good news. But I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That’s the reward I gave him for his news!
11 How much more should I reward evil men who have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Shouldn’t I hold you responsible for his blood and rid the earth of you?”
12 So David ordered his young men to kill them, and they did. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies beside the pool in Hebron. Then they took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
2 Samuel 4:9-12 (NLT)

After Abner was killed, his former boss King Ishbosheth became more fearful. He became weaker and weaker. Even his own people began to feel insecure of their future with him. Among them were Recab and Baanah, the brothers who served as the commanders of Ishbosheth’s raiding parties.

One day the brothers decided to take a proactive step to secure a better future. They wanted to follow Abner’s footsteps in switching to David’s side. Before they left, they wanted to bring a gift for David to secure his favor. The killed King Ishbosheth, chopped off his head and presented it to David in hope that they would be rewarded. Unfortunately, they did not do their homework.

David had executed the man who brought him Saul’s head in Ziklag. Why would he spare those who killed Saul’s son? He got them killed and buried King Ishbosheth in dignity.

In this article, we shall study the story of the brothers Recab and Baanah, find out what went wrong and learn to avoid similar outcome.

First of all, we need to realize that the brothers are not exceptionally evil. They were just normal people like you and me. They wanted a good and secure future for themselves. Unfortunately, the company they worked in was not doing well. This company was about to go bankrupt. So, it made good sense for them to apply for jobs in the other one that was doing well. This is a good thing to do.

They were not the first guys who thought of defecting. Abner did that and he had a good future until he was murdered. David treated defectors well. If the brothers were to cross over, they would have a fresh start toward a great future. Unfortunately, they did something extra. They thought David would be extra happy if they brought him Ishbosheth’s head. It was a bad move on their part. They did not do enough research on their prospective boss. If they did, they could have known what David did at Ziglag. This mistake cost them their lives. While David wanted to be the king, he did not want to ascend to his throne through murder.

Why did the brothers want to kill their former boss? Could they not just leave professionally like Abner? The answer lies in their insecurity. They must have been afraid that David might have rejected them. They wanted to be extra sure and they did that by killing David’s rival. This is basically why people resorted to evil acts like killing, cheating and stealing.

Why do you think people resorted to crimes in the first place? Do you think they don’t know that what they do is wrong? Do you think you can reduce the crime rate by telling people that crime is wrong? There was once in America that a parents’ group was trying to pressure schools to put up the 10 Commandments in the their premises. What do you think they hope to achieve from such efforts? Will there be lesser murders when you stick “Thou shalt not commit murder” everywhere?

My message here is, people do not do evil because they do not know what they do is evil. They do evil because they are desperate. Of course there are some exceptions here. Some people commit crimes for the thrill of it but most do that because they could not see any way out. There are people who had resorted to killing, stealing, cheating and in prostitution not because they like to do those things. They do those because they could not see any way else they could do to survive. They need to have the money to buy food, get shelters and provide for their family. Their problem is in their mentality of scarcity.

Those who are living under the bondage of the mentality of scarcity cannot see the opportunities of prosperity around them. All they can see is poverty. There is no way out. They got desperate and are willing to do anything to put food on the table. If you ask them, their standard answer is they have no choice. Their purpose of life is to survive by any means. They became easy prey for the devil, which will exploit them and make them do anything he wants.

This is basically the root cause for all the crimes that has been happening in this world. The operation motto is “I have no choice.”

Now that we know the cause, it is time to look at the solution. There is only one solution to the mentality of scarcity. It is the mentality of abundance. The mentality of abundance works the opposite way from the mentality of scarcity. The mentality of abundance says there is wealth all around us. We are entitled to unlimited wealth in this world and the world to come. All we need to do is to cause it to manifest physically and we do that through our faith.

23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
Mark 11:23 (NLT)

Believe and you shall receive. God has made this world with abundance of resources for all of us. There is more than enough for every one. God wants us to be rich and he will make sure of it. There is no need to resort to crimes or any other form of evil to meet our needs. He is able to give us exceedingly and abundantly above all than we dare to ask or hope for. Our role is to ask and hope. We are to use our faith in bringing riches into our lives.

The bottom line is to faith. When you face any problem, do not focus on it. Focusing in your problems will only make them big. Focus on God. Focus on building up your faith to overcome every problem that comes your way. You have to convince yourself that he who is in you is greater than he who is in this world. You have to keep yourself in the mentality of abundance. Once you do that, all your problems will eventually fade away. This is the power of faith.

The Price Of Fear

38 Then King David said to his officials, “Don’t you realize that a great commander has fallen today in Israel?
39 And even though I am the anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah—Joab and Abishai—are too strong for me to control. So may the Lord repay these evil men for their evil deeds.”
2 Samuel 3:38-39 (NLT)

After Abner had fallen out with his former boss, he joined David. David replied by demanding his first wife back. This demand was relayed to King Ishbosheth and the king was too weak to say no. So, David got his first wife back. Meanwhile, Abner started his campaign to build support for David from the elders of Israel.

17 Meanwhile, Abner had consulted with the elders of Israel. “For some time now,” he told them, “you have wanted to make David your king.
18 Now is the time! For the Lord has said, ‘I have chosen David to save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and from all their other enemies.’”
19 Abner also spoke with the men of Benjamin. Then he went to Hebron to tell David that all the people of Israel and Benjamin had agreed to support him.
20 When Abner and twenty of his men came to Hebron, David entertained them with a great feast.
21 Then Abner said to David, “Let me go and call an assembly of all Israel to support my lord the king. They will make a covenant with you to make you their king, and you will rule over everything your heart desires.” So David sent Abner safely on his way.
2 Samuel 3:17-21 (NLT)

As a result of Abner’s efforts, David’s political support base grew to a higher level. At that time David had both military and political advantage over his rival. When Abner went to David, he was received warmly by David. Abner pledged his loyalty and promised to assemble the entire Israel to declare their support to David as their king.

Unfortunately, Joab arrived after Abner left. Joab was still bearing grudges against Abner for killing his brother in the earlier battle. Joab wanted to kill Abner. When Joab got the news that David had received Abner warmly, he stormed into David’s presence.

24 Joab rushed to the king and demanded, “What have you done? What do you mean by letting Abner get away?
25 You know perfectly well that he came to spy on you and find out everything you’re doing!”
2 Samuel 3:24-25 (NLT)

It does not sound very respectful. This tells us that Joab had become arrogant. Then Joab did the unthinkable. He killed Abner. When David got the news, he was saddened by it and declared a national mourn over Abner’s death.

28 When David heard about it, he declared, “I vow by the Lord that I and my kingdom are forever innocent of this crime against Abner son of Ner.
29 Joab and his family are the guilty ones. May the family of Joab be cursed in every generation with a man who has open sores or leprosy or who walks on crutches or dies by the sword or begs for food!”
30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because Abner had killed their brother Asahel at the battle of Gibeon.

David Mourns Abner’s Death

31 Then David said to Joab and all those who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on burlap. Mourn for Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the procession to the grave.
32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king and all the people wept at his graveside.
33 Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner:
“Should Abner have died as fools die?
34 Your hands were not bound;
your feet were not chained.
No, you were murdered—
the victim of a wicked plot.”
All the people wept again for Abner.
35 David had refused to eat anything on the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to eat. But David had made a vow, saying, “May God strike me and even kill me if I eat anything before sundown.”
36 This pleased the people very much. In fact, everything the king did pleased them!
37 So everyone in Judah and all Israel understood that David was not responsible for Abner’s murder.
2 Samuel 3:28-37 (NLT)

David had succeeded in achieving some damage control. He had done everything he could to make it clear that he was not involved in the murder of Abner, except for one thing. He did not punish Joab. Why not?

38 Then King David said to his officials, “Don’t you realize that a great commander has fallen today in Israel?
39 And even though I am the anointed king, these two sons of Zeruiah—Joab and Abishai—are too strong for me to control. So may the Lord repay these evil men for their evil deeds.”
2 Samuel 3:38-39 (NLT)

It seems that Joab and his brother were too strong for him. Is that true? If you read further, you will learn that David’s son Solomon killed Joab when he took over the throne. Think about this. How could Joab (who was supposed to be too strong for an established king like David), be easily killed by Solomon when Solomon was just a new king?

Let us analyze this situation further. Joab was nothing like Abner. Joab was not the one who held David’s kingdom together. David had the direct support from the people of Judah and then the rest of Israel, thanks to Abner. The people’s support and loyalty was for David and not Joab. Joab was nothing more than a military commander. Even if Joab commanded the loyalty of the army, he could never have brought his army with him everywhere he went. All David had to do was to summon Joab to his palace and kill him there. The problem would have been solved.

Obviously, the idea of Joab being too strong is nothing more than a mental bondage in the mind of David. This mental bondage resulted in fear. Fear paralyzes people into inaction. Fortunately for David, Joab did not cause anymore problem for him until he died. Then Joab tried to be a kingmaker by electing his choice to be the king. He was killed by Solomon when the latter ascended the throne. It seems that Solomon did not share his father’s view that Joab was too strong for him to control.

The lesson for us to learn here is fear. What is fear and how can we overcome it? We shall study deeper into it in this article.

Fear is nothing more than an emotional response to a bad event that has not happen yet. If a lion is charging at you, you will feel the fear as long as you have not been attacked. If the lion is to kill you, you will not have any fear anymore because you are dead by then. No matter what you are afraid of right now, that thing is only a speculation. It does not exist right now. It only exists in your mind. That thing that we fear gets its power from us, in particular our thoughts.

The more you think about it, the more fearful you will get. Therefore, the solution is to replace the negative thought that inspires fear with a positive thought that inspires faith. Is it that simple? Of course it is. This is what engineering is all about. Engineers make things simple for people to understand and apply them into their lives.

Let me give you an example to illustrate this point.

We are in the beginning of a global recession right now. Many businesses are closing down and employees are being retrenched. You read news about retrenchment everyday. You are very fearful because the company you work in is not doing well and it may consider retrenchment. When they do, you might be among those who will get retrenched. What will happen then? When you get retrenched, you will not have any income. How are you going to pay for your family’s daily expenses? How are you going to pay for your house mortgage? How are you going to pay for your utilities bills? How are you going to pay for your children education?

The more you think about the above, the more fearful you will get. You will be focused on the retrenchment that has not happened yet. What will happen? You are creating an inner reality that you will be retrenched. If you focus intensely to this inner reality, you will cause your outer reality to change to conform to it. In other words, you will get retrenched. Your retrenchment happens because you made it happen through your inner reality. You will get retrenchment because you think retrenchment. Your worst fear will happen because you give it the power to happen through your thoughts.

The solution here is to renew our minds. In the above example, you must focus on positive thoughts. If the news make you fearful, don’t read the news. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Read the Bible and other positive books. Read the articles in this blog. I write all the articles here with the intention of creating positive mindsets. When we are positive, we are creating our own inner realities that are better than the realities outside us. If we focus intensely on them, our outer realities will change and conform to our inner realities. Think rich and you will be rich. This law always works even in a recession.

Some may ask, “What if I still get retrenched after I think positive?” The answer is to continue to think positive and move forward. Retrenchment is not the end of the world. Not everyone became poorer after they got retrenched. Some people found new jobs or set up new business after they got retrenched. They ended up getting richer. As they look back, they are even grateful for the retrenchment that they experienced.

God has decreed in his Word that you are to prosper exceedingly and abundantly in every area in your life. Recession has no power to stop this decree. Our God is greater than the worst recession that can ever happen. He who is in us is greater than he who is in this world. So, whether you are in a job, just got retrenched, in a business or in any situation, this truth does not change. God has given you everything you need to prosper exceedingly and abundantly in every area in your life. You have what it takes to be successful. The recession outside you has no power to stop that. This is the ultimate truth. Are you going to believe in it?

The choice is yours. Is your Joab too powerful for you to control?

The Price Of Stupidity And Insecurity

8 Abner was furious. “Am I some Judean dog to be kicked around like this?” he shouted. “After all I have done for your father, Saul, and his family and friends by not handing you over to David, is this my reward—that you find fault with me about this woman?
9 May God strike me and even kill me if I don’t do everything I can to help David get what the Lord has promised him!
10 I’m going to take Saul’s kingdom and give it to David. I will establish the throne of David over Israel as well as Judah, all the way from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.”
11 Ishbosheth didn’t dare say another word because he was afraid of what Abner might do.
2 Samuel 3:8-11 (NLT)

After the death of Saul, Israel plunged into a civil war. The tribe of Judah broke ranks with the rest by electing David as their king, while the rest remained within the dynasty of Saul. King David, the rising star in the Israel politics grew stronger by the day while the existing dynasty under King Ishbosheth became weaker.

In fact the entire kingdom of King Ishbosheth was held together by one man, Abner. Without Abner, the entire dynasty of Saul or what remains of it could not even exist at that time. In other words, the existence of King Ishbosheth’s kingdom was dependent on Abner alone. The wisest thing King Ishbosheth could do at that time was to keep Abner happy if he still wanted to be king. Unfortunately, this king did not have this wisdom. He did something dumb.

7 One day Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, accused Abner of sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, a woman named Rizpah, daughter of Aiah.
2 Samuel 3:7 (NLT)

Abner’s response was recorded in 2 Samuel 3:8-10 as shown above. He quitted and joined David. The kingdom of Ishbosheth was as good as gone. Ishbosheth lost his kingdom due to pure stupidity.

If you have read 1 Samuel, you will find that Ishbosheth was not the first guy who made this mistake. His father, Saul did the same. After God had rejected Saul as the king of Israel, Saul was practically on his own. The anointing of God had left Saul and went to David. Fortunately for Saul, he had David working for him. David was extremely loyal to Saul. He risked his life and fought hard to keep the enemies away from Israel’s borders, thus keeping Saul’s kingdom secure.

However, instead of feeling grateful for having such a loyal and capable commander like David, Saul chose to feel jealous of David. He even wanted to kill David. At last, he managed to get rid of David. His kingdom went downhill from then on. Without a capable army commander like David, Saul’s army was defeated and he himself was killed. His jealousy had caused him to remove the only man who could have kept his throne secure.

It seemed like Ishbosheth did not learn from his father’s mistake. The only difference here was Abner was not as patient to Ishbosheth as David to Saul. Abner quitted his job the moment Ishbosheth said something stupid.

What had caused Saul and Ishbosheth made such dumb mistakes as to remove the vital men who could have kept their throne secure? The common factor here is insecurity. Both were insecure men. They went through their lives with the feeling that they could be toppled and lost their throne at any time. They both had capable men working for them. Saul had David and Ishbosheth had Abner working for them but they removed these men. The results were history. They lost their kingdom.

The lesson for us here is not to allow the feeling of insecurity to dominate our minds. We must constantly remind ourselves that God is always on our side. No matter how bad the situation looks like, we must always remember that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. We can live life confidently and with positive expectation for good things to come into our lives. You have to use your faith if you want to have good things coming to your life. The moment you give heed to doubts, insecurity will come. Once your mind is dominated by insecurity, you will not be able to think straight. You are going to make a lot of wrong decisions and ended up worst off. Therefore, we must guard our hearts at all time. Never allow fear and insecurity to take root in it.

When you see other people more successful than you are, do not feel jealous. God is rich enough to prosper every one of us without having to take away blessing from one to give to another. Just because someone else got rich, it does not mean that there are lesser riches on earth for you. There is no limit on the amount of riches God can bless us with. God does not need to take away riches from A to give to B.

Once you have truly believed in this truth, you will not be jealous of anyone who appears to be more blessed or capable than you are. In fact, you should hang out with those who are more blessed and capable than you are. This is a good way to improve. When you hang out with them, you will be able to find out how they think and talk. Such characteristics will eventually rub off to you and you too will achieve the same success as they are.

If you happen to have someone smarter working for you, don’t feel jealous of them. Develop them and give them more opportunities to advance their career. Their success will look good on you. You will be seen as a people developer. This is a good way to climb up the corporate ladder. Companies are not only looking for people who can do their work but also those who can develop others to maximize their potential. So, you can still be very successful even if you are not the smartest person around.

Let us look at the latest President of the United States. President Obama has been busy choosing people to join his administrative team. Who are those you think he will choose or has chosen? If the President is a very insecure man, he would have chosen those who are less capable than him so that he will always appear as the smartest man in the team. What will happen then? He will have a very weak and incompetent team. He will not be able to solve problems efficiently and the entire United States will degrade.

However, if he is secure in himself, he will choose people who are smarter than him. Thus, he will have a very strong and capable team. He will be able to solve a lot of problems. The United States of America will move a greater height. So, if anyone is to ask me, on whether the United States is able to overcome its current problems, I will say it depends on the inner strength of her new president. As long as the President is secure in himself, the average Americans will have a great future.

In conclusion, do not allow the feelings of insecurity and jealousy to dominate your mind. They are bad for your future.

Do Not Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

22 Again Abner shouted to him, “Get away from here! I don’t want to kill you. How could I ever face your brother Joab again?”
23 But Asahel refused to turn back, so Abner thrust the butt end of his spear through Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He stumbled to the ground and died there. And everyone who came by that spot stopped and stood still when they saw Asahel lying there.
2 Samuel 2:22-23 (NLT)

We shall continue from the previous story. After the news of Saul’s death has spread to the entire Israel, the people of Judah appointed David as their king. At the same time, the remaining forces of Saul, lead by his army commander, Abner appointed Saul’s son Ishbosheth to be the king of Israel. The civil war has begun.

One day, David’s forces lead by Joab confronted Ishbosheth’s forces lead by Abner. Both Joab and Abner agreed to send out representatives to fight each other. The result was one sided. Abner had lost. A fierce battle followed where Abner and his forces had to flee.

On Joab’s side, Asahel who is Joab’s brother had the ability to run very fast. So he pursued Abner to the best of his ability. When he got near, Abner saw him and advised him to stay away from him. Why did he say that? Abner did not want to kill Asahel because he did not want to jeopardize his relationship with Joab. I suspect both Abner and Joab had great respect for each other. They were not enemies to start with. They just happened to work for different political parties.

Unfortunately, Asahel did not listen to Abner. Asahel had managed to catch up with Abner. However he did not have the firepower to follow up. He was defeated and killed by Abner. Asahel had bitten off more than he could chew.

This is the lesson for us today. Let us look at Asahel’s story. He joined his brother in a battle. He was on the winning side. He was successful. His enemies had flee before him. Asahel had another natural advantage. He could run fast. This was a great asset at that time. He pursued his opponents. Why would he do that? Obviously, he was trying to score more points. He wanted his victory to be greater. Imagine what would have happen to him if he managed to capture Abner, the center of power of Israel’s army. Without Abner, Saul’s dynasty was as good as gone. Asahel’s career would have shot upward. Success and prosperity would be at his disposal.

So, we are looking at something good here. Asahel was capitalising on an opportunity to advance himself. He was a high flyer. However, he missed one important point. He had the ability to out-run Abner but he did not had the firepower to defeat the latter. At one point, he was even advised by Abner to stay away but he did not listen. He must have been too blinded by his initial success that he wanted more of it. He got arrogant and failed to realize that he did not have the ability to fight Abner. He got killed.

The lesson for us here is, success can be fatal if we fail to keep control over ourselves. All of us want success in our chosen field. We strive for success. The more success we have, the more we want. We want to move to the higher level. There is nothing wrong with such desire. This is growth. God expects us to advance from victory to victory. This is the true life God wants us to have.

However, we should not be blinded by success in our pursuit for more. Let me give you an example.

God has given you a great idea for a restaurant. You worked on it and build a restaurant. You worked hard and finally your restaurant became a success. You became famous and made a lot of money out of it. You wanted more success and proceeded to open more branches of your restaurant. You used up all the money you have accumulated and borrowed heavily to fund your new branches because you want to set up those branches fast. You have got everything planned out and expect success.

Unfortunately, the economic recession wiped out everything you owned. You have lost all your money and still owe the banks a lot of money. Your success had become a failure.

So, what went wrong? The initial idea was great. You managed to build up your business and made a lot of money. However, that success had made you arrogant. You thought that if it worked once, it must work every time. You took more risk and borrowed a lot of money to multiply that success. In doing so, you are stretching your resources too thin. You have used up those reserves that could have sustained you when times got tough. A downturn in the economic condition wiped you out.

Does this mean you should not expand your business? Of course, not. You should expand your business but you should do it at a sustainable rate. Do not over stretch yourself. Make sure your expansion does not dry up the reserves you will need when times get bad. A successful business is a business that can stay alive in all times, good and bad.

In Asahel’s case, he won his battle. When Abner flee, Asahel chased after him. The Bible tells us that Asahel could run the fastest. This means he must have out distanced his teammates. He was all alone. He was a single man chasing after a fleeing army with his teammates far behind him. However, a fleeing army is still an army. When Asahel caught up with Abner, he was facing a superior force and Asahel was no Rambo. He lost his life. The real killer of Asahel was not Abner. It was his own arrogance that has killed him.

In conclusion, success is good. We should go for more and more success. This is growth. However, we should not bite off more than we can chew. We should not allow our earlier success to blind our senses and make us arrogant. If we do so, we may find ourselves in the same situation as Asahel who won the battle but lost his life.