The Basis of God's Choice | Studies in the Life of David | Pastor Daniel Bracken

Hi, this is Pastor Daniel Bracken. You're listening to Kings Alaska Podcast. I hope the Word encourages you and you get a touch from God that brings transformation aand equips you to experience life with people, power and purpose. Thank you for joining us. Enjoy the Word.

Take your Bibles and turn to the Old Testament Book of First Samuel, the 16th chapter. I started the series that I've done a series on David before, but it's unfolding in a very different way for me as I go back through it. I think it was 10 plus years ago. And we're going to study the life of David. If you were here last Wednesday, I believe you were impacted as I was in the text we studied as an overview of the Life of David.

1st Samuel 16. We'll read here in a moment. Why would you study the life of David? Pastor well, let me say this. More is written in the life of David than any other Old Testament character.

His life fills more chapter in Scripture than anybody else, any other biblical figure. And really he's a model, except for the issue with Bathsheba. But you know what I love is that he's defined as a man after God's own heart. And yet he did crazy things just like you.

I mean, he lied, he did all kinds of things. And so we're going to look at his life and it's the second message in the series.

And God really has chosen him to be a witness or a model for people. And this is just a quick review.

Isaiah, chapter 55 Incline your ear and come to me, verse 3 here in your soul shall live I'll make you an everlasting covenant with you the sure mercies of David indeed I've given him as a witness to the people, a leader, a commander of the people. And the main text that we used last Wednesday was Psalm 78, verse 70 to 72, which is just such a beautiful picture of what God will do with anybody. I said God will do this with anybody. It is his desire. Ephesians says that we're chosen in him, chosen in God before the beginnings of the foundations of the world.

John 15 says that I've chosen, chosen you, selected you, appointed you to bear forth fruit and fruit that remain. Lift a hand to heaven and say, I'm chosen. Yeah, I'm chosen. Samuel 78 Psalm 78, verse 70. He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds from following the use it had young and he brought him to shepherd Jacob, his people, Israel, his inheritance.

So he shepherded them according the integrity of his heart. It's this incredible picture an, an overview really of David. And it was written by the psalmist, most likely after David had passed, or definitely towards the end of his life, that God chose him. God not only chose him, he took him. That's what God is doing with you right now.

He's going to take you and move you. He took Barnabas, took John Mark, who later wrote the book of Mark, as Peter's Emanue says. You know what Imagine says is someone who records the stories that are told. He was, he was like a ghost writer maybe, but it's a way to see that. And so he went from being rejected by the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts because he turned heel and was terrified and left the missions team.

And then Barnabas goes and, and takes him. They had this biblical argument, we're not taking him, he's a chicken. He abandoned the team. And then Barnabas, the son of encouragement. Aren't you glad for any.

Anybody gotten a Barnabas in your life? I, I've got many. Barnabas is in my life. Encourage me. And he said, no, he's going to do something for God.

In fact, I think that John Mark, his house is where they had the, the, was the upper room. They believe, believe that had the Last Supper there. And so Paul would have none of it. But, but Barnabas took. It's a, it's a covenant term.

Took John Mark back into the missions field. And he became so powerful that later on in the Apostle Paul's life, Paul said, send me John Mark. Send me Mark and have him bring the scrolls. What happened? He got matured.

He got healed. What all the meetings with Jesus Because John Mark saw, He saw the, the 4,000, the 5,000 fed. He saw the miracles of Jesus. He saw the dead rise. He, he saw the lame walk, the mute speak.

He saw all the miracles. He was there with Jesus through all of it. What all of those couldn't do in this young man was done by someone taking him in really. The bond of covenant, the word took is they. He took her to be his wife.

It's, it's covenant language and it's powerful. So God chose David. God took him. That's what I'm going to talk about tonight. Why did God take him?

What is the basis for God choosing David? And why won't God choose you? Or did he? Or is he trying to? Oh, he's trying to.

But you know, not everybody's going to move into a place of freedom and power and begin to be used by God in The way that he would desire. You know why that is? No, why? I'll tell you. Because they won't do really what David did not.

And he's not perfect. That's why I love, as a man after God's own heart, who totally blew it a number of times. All right, let's pray. Gracious. Awesome, Mighty God, thank you.

Now, in the second message of this series on David's life, the basis of God's choice. David, the shepherd anointed at Bethlehem. The basis of God's choice. Lord, speak to us out of the volume of your word and may we never be the same in Jesus name. Amen.

Take your Bibles and turn with me back a chapter. This is First Samuel, chapter 15. Because here we see the basis of God's rejection. Because it's. It's good to understand what God rejects.

God rejects stuff. Cain and Abel brought offerings before the Lord. Abel was accepted. Cain was rejected. Why?

Because there's a prescribed way that you're to bring an offering. But he said, that's the Old Testament. Yes, that's true. But God does not change. He's the big theological word, immutable.

He doesn't change. So what you see in the Old Testament, his character is still on display and even more, more clearly through Jesus, fully God, fully man, the Father manifested in the earth. Is Jesus. Beautiful. The exact representation.

Colossians talks about that. Here's why Saul is rejected. We see the rejection of Saul, chapter 15, verse 23. For rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness. Oh, snap.

Got a bunch of warlocks here tonight.

I hope not.

All the children. Listen, if you're rebellious to your parents in the Lord, then that's. That's witchcraft. Can I get an amen from the children's department? Rebellion as a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.

He goes on to say, this is Samuel talking to Saul. Because you've rejected the word of the Lord. He, God has also rejected you from being king. So here's the moment. This is the context of God choosing David.

Why did God choose David? Because he needed a new king. In fact, some would say that Samuel, the great prophet, Hannah's son, none of his words fell to the ground. Many theologians say that Samuel was selected for the purpose of choosing David.

His purpose in life was to choose David. You know, as I get older and I'm going to go in and out of application, I'm going to teach this to you. We're going to move on. There's so much here and I, I doubt I'll get through all of the notes and everything I have. But the older I get, the more I realize that my life now is about raising up David's.

It's about choosing the next generation and seeing them raised up and elevated. And Samuel really is known for, yes, great prophet, but the greatest thing he did was anoint David. So the context of, of God's choosing David is the rejection of Saul.

And do you really see God's. You say his personality. You see, you see a character quality of God in this. Where. Well, let's go to the New Testament, First Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 28, and the basings of the world.

And the things which are despised, God has chosen. And the things that are not to bring to nothing. The things that are he chooses base things, humble things. He chooses those who seemingly can't do much. But then with him, come on, we have this treasure in earthen vessels.

Why? So that the excellency of his glory may be seen. God uses crackpots. Bump your neighbor and say, are you a crackpot? To go ahead.

He why does he do that? Why would he use a crackpot? Why would he. Why would he choose somebody? Because when God shows up through you, When God shows up through me.

When God uses imperfect people, he gets all the glory because most folks can find their hinder parts with two hands in a survey team. And so when they're able to do that, it's obvious that God is on the throne. And if you didn't catch that, it was King James language. Let's keep moving. God's rejection of Saul and the choice of David.

Now here's the. This is tough. He rejects Saul and there's lots of scriptures and you can read through that. First Samuel 15:23, and following, he rejected him. Look at, look at First Samuel 15:28.

And Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom from Israel, from of Israel, from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who's better than you. What a roast.

Pastor Karen, you might remember this, and I have to be careful not to go into the whole story.

She's like, please stop. I don't know what that means. But the Lord was dealing with me years ago, many, many years ago, where I had what I call a worldly ambition over my ministry and what God had called me to do. Well, what do you mean by that, worldly ambition? See, God doesn't choose based upon wealth or good looks or the lack thereof or education.

That's not how he chooses man, choose like that. So in my mind, all those years ago, I'm thinking to myself, you know, what? If I have to pastor a church of a hundred people, I'm going to quit and do something else, because I'm not doing that. And I knew it was wrong on one, on one hand, but I just felt that way. But, like, if it doesn't grow, then I'm not called and I'm going to quit.

Don't look at me like that. Some of you said that about your business, some of you said that about your marriage should just take your right hand with exceeding force and hit yourself upside the head. It's not. It's not of God. God wants you to have a blessed marriage, but don't you put conditions on how it should be.

You just serve God, love God with all your heart. And I had issues inside of me, an aspect of my identity that was placed in success of ministry. And some of you have that concerning, like, if you can't make a lot of money, then, then you're not going to be good for anything. Or, I mean, I don't know, you fill in the blank. What is it that defines sex success for you?

And so for me, I was thinking I have to have a large church, because otherwise, obviously, I'm not worth much. What a stupid thought.

DL Moody was asked by a pastor, and he had this largest church in the world. At one point he has asked by a pastor who said, pastor Moody, how can I pastor a church like yours? I want a large church like yours. And DL Moody said to him, how many people are in your church? He said, a hundred.

He said, that ought to be enough to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For when I heard all of those things, but it didn't really affect me in a way that the Lord wanted me changed. And without telling you the whole story, I'm prepared to preach on a Sunday morning. I've got my message. I'm driving from Palmer.

I used to live in Palmer, and at the course of the lights on the Palmer Wasilla Highway, God changed my message and showed me that I had issues that needed healing. And he told me that I was like a Saul, that I didn't hew agag and I wasn't obeying his word. I mean, I got taken to pieces and I'd love to go find that message again. But that's why Saul is rejected. He had a word from the Lord to wait, to sacrifice, and he did not obey.

He was tall, he was strapping, he was good Looking. He was head and shoulders above everybody else. And before you start throwing darts at Saul, he was the first one to create a standing army. I mean, the guy had giftings. He had incredible skill and anointing.

Until he lost the anointing. And by the way, you can lose the anointing. The anointing, by simple definition, tonight is God's ability to do what he called you to do. It's God's empowerment by the Spirit to do what he called you to do. Anointing.

Not annoying anointing. Come on, lift a hand to heaven and say, oh God, I want to be anointed by you. Yes, you do. And it doesn't mean you're in full time ministry or a preacher or a worship leader. It can mean that, but it doesn't mean that God.

God is, wants to put his spirit on you to fulfill your God given divine purpose in the earth. There's kings and priests and he uses, he uses all of us if we'll let him. He wants to choose you tonight. Let me tell you how you don't get selected. Be filled with rebellion and do what Saul did.

He rejected the word of the Lord. He did it his own ways. I did it my. Yeah, you're an idiot. That's the stupidest song in the history of the world.

I did it my way New York.

No offense, Minister Toby. Wherever you're at, God's purpose has come to pass. But here's the thing. God's rejection of Saul and choice of David was clear and decisive and, and final. There was no turning it around.

And yet he chooses David. We're going to see, well, why he rejected Saul. Why? Because he was rebellious. Because he didn't obey the Word.

Why did he choose David? Well, the opposite of that. And we'll look at it in just a moment. Little boy out in the shepherd field. And he chooses David.

And we're going to look at Samuel and how he goes and he anoints him at Bethlehem again. Last week on Wednesday was an overview. This is a little bit digging a little bit deeper here for the next 20 minutes.

And what's amazing to me is that he's chosen, but it takes 14 years for 14. Everybody say 14. So God's chosen you, but you got to wait a few years to get to Africa maybe.

Did we miss God? How come we didn't get to Africa sooner? How come, how come I didn't move into, you know, the next, I don't know, fill in the blank.

Sometimes it's us, sometimes it's God figuring out which that is, is. Is really important. God is behind. Listen. God is at work.

Come on, say God's at work. God's at work behind the scenes. Yes. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't. I'm just going to tell you.

He's always at work. He does not sleep. He does not slumber. He's going to fulfill what he said he's going to do. And you might not see things moving the way that you want to move.

You want it to move. 14 years. Saul. Saul of Tarsus. 14 years.

Go to Philippians, chapter 2, verse 13.

And I love this, so I want to fulfill God's plan. Here's what I found. I found that this is so. It's just comforting and profound. Philippians 2, verse 13.

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do, for his good pleasure. I'm going to read the Amplified version. Classic. Amplified classic. For it is not your strength, but God who is effectively at work in you.

Come on, someone say God's at work in me, both to will and to work. That is strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and ability to fulfill your purpose. For his good pleasure. He calls New Niv, New International. He calls us to will and act according to his good pleasure.

So literally, one of the ways that God leads you, if you'll just have your heart tuned rightly before him, like David at this particular time in his life when he's chosen the basis of God's choice. We're going to see in David the rejection by the Lord. We see him, Saul, the base of God's choices. He had his. He had his heart, right?

And God will. If you have your heart, right, if you're serving him on. Yeah, you've got weakness, you've got some challenges. But you're here tonight. Some of you.

Some of you are going to come in a little bit later.

You're here tonight. You're desiring God to speak to you. You came to hear this message. That's a move of God. That's a miracle.

You could be watching Days of the Idiots online right now. You're here. You're like, lord, speak to me, God. I. I know maybe you came to get a date. And I. I think that can also be good.

Long as it's not your only motivation.

You came to hear from God, to hear from his word, to worship him, to love him, to receive prayer, to pray, to have fellowship. That's amazing. And even in the midst of that, do you know that God can Cause you to will. He'll turn in you a will, a desire to move a particular direction. You might get an idea tonight that is going to give you breakthrough for the next 10 years.

Why? Because you're here. You're. He's working in you. You're desiring to will and then to act.

He chooses you, and in doing that, he brings about his plan for your life. I. When I first came to Jesus, I thought, how in God's name am I going to fulfill God's purpose? I'm like, I felt as dumb as a box of rocks. I had wasted a many, many years.

Pastor Chris was one of the superheroes for me, along with Pastor Brian, Dr. Morocco, and a bunch of other OG guys. I had no idea we were the same age. I thought you were much older. Because I was. My.

My development was arrested. And that's all jokes aside, my development was arrested when I. When I rebelled and went into the world. I was frozen at about 17 till I came to Jesus. And they found.

They found especially, and I'll use a big word to go over the heads of kids, they found that people that are. That are active. Can I just say it that way, outside of the covenant of marriage, their emotions get frozen right at that time when they begin to be active. And for people who are with many, they found that there's many that are psychotic as a result. You know why?

There's a bunch of people in there.

Lift your hands to heaven and say, oh, Jesus, help everybody.

So I came in and I looked to these men. I thought, I want to be like that. I saw Dr. Morocco. I said, I want to do something like that. And I just thought, in my heart, it's impossible.

And then what happened to me is I got so touched by God. I saw the same thing with Pastor Karen, and I've seen it with countless others. I've saw them just. Just begin to love God. Just begin to love the Lord.

I remember seeing the capos being raised up. You're on the sound board and you just. You just love God. You couldn't wait to. I mean, before you had all the little bambinos, all you did was love God with all your heart.

I remember when we. When you came on staff, and I remember the salary and all of that and deceased. You said, doesn't matter. I'm like, what do you mean? He said, it doesn't matter.

I'm just here to do it. And that's what you've been doing ever since then. When you love God with all your heart, he will fulfill. He'll bring you, he'll move you sovereignly move you. When you're loving him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and strength.

That is the basis for God's choice. Not whether you're educated or you have money. None of those things. You came from a long line of blue blooded silver spoon. No, no.

So Saul is rejected, David is selected. But even in the selection, it takes a little while for it to come to pass. Samuel goes on to Bethlehem. Look at 1st Samuel 16, verse 1.

First Samuel 16, verse 1. For the Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul? I, I can't get that out of my spirit. I don't have it fully developed. But the idea is that God's not mourning anymore, so move on.

So God's not mourning anymore and Samuel is. Samuel is not in alignment with the plan of the Lord. He's still like, gosh, I thought he was the guy who should have picked him. I mean, we picked him together. I mean he's still grieving and the Lord's like, I'm done, bro.

Sometimes you got to let some people go. Blessed subtraction.

Seeing I've rejected him from reigning over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and go. Come on, say that with me. Fill your horn with oil and go. This is First Samuel, chapter one, verse one.

I'm sending you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have provided. Listen closely to this. I have provided myself. Who's he? Provided myself.

A king from among his sons.

So who's the king for?

For the Lord. That's what he says. And he says that in a bunch of other places too. Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears, he'll kill me.

And the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I've come to sacrifice to the Lord. So he's. He's undercover. Verse 3. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do.

You shall anoint for me. He's going to anoint for who? For himself. God's going to an. Samuel's going to anoint for God.

I've chosen a king for myself. I'm going to anoint for me the one I named you. I think it's amazing to me, this desire that God has he sought for himself. A man after his own heart. For Samuel 13, 14, I provided myself a king among his son, his sons.

I just read it. For Samuel 16. I shall anoint for me. He's repeatedly using specific language of how he's Concerned about having a leader. Listen close, I might have lost you.

So just tune in a little bit here. He's looking for people who have a heart like David. And when you study what his heart is like, you realize what we need to be like. It's a picture of a heart that's steadfast towards the Lord. David was like love sick for God.

And you see throughout the Scriptures that David knew it.

Psalm chapter, Psalm 4, verse 3. But I know that the Lord has set apart for himself him who is godly. He's writing it, talking about himself. He set me apart. And you look through the different Scriptures and you look through the Psalms and you see that David's identity is in the fact that God loves him.

That's amazing that my identity was not in that for the longest time. It was in, let's build a great church. You know, when that got killed, when Saul died in me, then the church grew. Let me say this. You're never going to move into everything that God has until the Saul and you dies.

You could have a worldly ambition, but you, God wants you to have a heart like David. Just be excited by the fact that he chose you, that you love him and he loves you.

I remember all those years ago, and Pastor Chris would be leading worship and we'd have these amazing services. I would literally go home and weep and cry in my house for God's presence and power. And there was numerous times that I danced with him. And I don't mean like, I don't mean that kind. That just seemed wrong.

I just seemed weird. I mean, I don't even think that was out back then.

I think it was something like this. It wasn't like that either.

I literally had the experience of dancing with the Lord. I'd have worship music on and I felt like he would hold me like a father. And I would weep and I would hold him and I would be healed. I didn't care if I ever got elevated. I didn't care if I was ever a pastor.

I didn't care if I had another dollar. I didn't care about anything. All I cared was, I'm glad I'm not going to hell. He loves me oh, he loves me oh, the joy that floods my soul. I know you know that one.

Something happened and now it touched me and made me whole.

That's all David cared about, playing his little harp. I love you, Lord. He was rejected by his parents. He's rejected by his father. He's rejected by his brothers.

And you see that. You see as he comes, Samuel comes. He goes to Bethlehem. Look at verse four.

So Samuel went and did what the Lord said. That's good. You should always do what the Lord said. He went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled.

How come? Because this is a major, major man of God. Weather patterns changed, Samuel, and they're. They're. They're terrified.

I think maybe they. Their conscience were both by something. Maybe, you know, people who can't. Who don't really receive forgiveness and don't really know what Jesus has done. They don't really worship.

Not the way he wants us to. You can't worship freely if your conscience is bothering you. If your conscience is bothering you and you're afraid that you've done something wrong. You don't have a reckless abandon before God. You're just not that way.

You've got yours. A secret sin, my precious.

You've got your. You've got your secret sim. Not you. You know people.

And so you. You know, you come to church, but then you're hiding this thing. You have this little leprosy in there, and you're afraid to bring it because you'll be rejected. Or maybe you want to listen. That's why Jesus was crucified and died.

And you've gotta. You've gotta come and get rid of all of that. And then you. You. You just become a.

A worshiper in spirit and the truth. The Father is seeking such. You would worship him in spirit and in truth. And that's one God chose David. God wants to choose you.

Are you. Are you like that? Are you like these elders? Oh, no. Gonna call me out?

I love prophecy. I love the gift of prophecy.

But you'd be surprised at how many people don't wanna come when there's a real prophet in town. They just be like, I think I'll go to the next service. Because they're afraid of what might be exposed. They say to him, do you come peaceably? And he said, peaceably.

They're like, I've come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and he invited them to the sacrifice. Go to verse chapter six. So it was when they came, they looked.

And he looked at Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed is before me.

But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance, at his physical stature, because I've refused him. Why would God refuse him? Is because he must have some aspect of Saul in him. There must be something within him that is not pure like David. There must be something of witchcraft, if rebellion.

There must be something in him that God has rejected. He's not chosen. Even though he looks like he's the man, he is not the man.

For the Lord does not see as man sees. Oh my gosh. Get this down. You see, this is the Old Testament. Yes, a New Testament to the Lord does not see as man sees.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. It's one of the most important statements in all of scripture. People measure themselves by externals. God does not measure you. Man.

Can you hear me right now? God does not measure you by externals. He doesn't measure you about your success of how big your church is, Pastor, or how small it is or how much money you have or how much money you don't have. He doesn't measure about how strapping you are and you're totally ripped. Or now that you're on peptides, man, you look good.

It has nothing to do with any of that. It has everything to do with the corazon. That's Spanish for heart.

Can I get an amen? That's what he's looking at tonight. So how is your heart? The basis of God's choice is the heart.

Keep your heart for out of it flows the issues of life, gifting, achievement. Don't ever pick somebody based on gifting alone. Always pick based on heart responses, humility and a love for God and his word. That's what you pick. Listen, you could come in here brain dead and if you just be faithful and love God with all your heart, he will give you brains.

I am. I'm a testimony of that. I, Dr. Morocco. Pastor Chris, you've heard it many times. Dr. Morocco would be preaching.

He said, one of my staff came in and he was brain damaged.

So for years I'm thinking, who, who is he talking about? And I thought, it's not Pastor Chris. He's super smart. Pastor. Pastor Bryant.

Well, well, Pastor Steve, maybe now it's time. Who. Who's the brain damaged staff pastor? No, literally, I couldn't figure it out. Totally blind.

So finally, and this is like, you know, this is probably 10 years ago now, been in this thing almost 30. So finally I asked Dr. Morocco, hey, Pastor Morocco, you know that staff person that you're talking about that came in brain damage? She goes, yeah.

He said. I said, well, who is that? He says, it's you. I'm like, I wasn't brain damaged. He says, yeah, you were.

And Pastor Brian is about 10ft away, eavesdropping. And he turns and says, yeah, you were brain damage. Dane Bramaged. No matter what the condition you come here with, if you will love God, learn to love His Word, learn to obey His Word and not be put other things and try to prop yourself up of how you get the accolades of man. No, but you will love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength.

He will renew you, he will heal you, he will raise you up. That is the basis of God's choice. The basis of God's choice is the heart has nothing to do with anything else.

Come on, lift your hands and say thank you Jesus.

God measures by internals, not externals. Heart responses, intentions. David's understanding of God's heart was formed by understanding his choice. And it was revealed to him over the course of his lifetime. Go to Ephesians chapter one.

So God. God rejects Saul, but he accepts David. And in the New Testament he wants to. He wants everyone to be like a David. If I could say it that way.

He's choosing everybody. He's. He's looking for everybody. Everybody is able to in Christ get anointed and become someone whose heart is after God. Everyone can, not everyone will.

But everyone can. And everyone's invited. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4. Just as he chose us in him before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, so that's true. He, come on, raise a hand to heaven and say he chose me.

He chose me in him. Say he chose me in Him. He chose me in him. To do what? To be holy, to be blameless, to live the this God life, To walk this journey like a David, if you will.

Not everybody will do it. And as a result some will even reject to the point of going to hell over it. Others will, will take half hearted steps and make it to heaven, perhaps because they believed on Jesus. But when they get there, they, they'll suffer loss and they realize why didn't I just live for God with all my heart and all the things that cloud our understanding and vie for our affection and our attention. So he chose us Ephesians 1 and 4 in him before the foundations of the world.

That we should be holy and blameless before him in love. That's eternally true. Come on, somebody say that's eternally true. It's eternally true. But you don't enter that.

Listen close, read my white lips right now. You don't enter into that reality until you kill your Saul.

I won't kill my soul. Just want to do the way I want to do it. Let me know how that works out for you before the judgment seat. Ain't no judgment. Only people going to hell go to judgment.

Yeah, you don't even know the word. Paul said, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. What is that? The terror of the Lord. There's a motivation of the.

Of the judgment seat of Christ and the end time. This is a test. You're in a test. You're in an internship. The motivation of living for God, that.

That having your heart set for another age, living for another age ought to motivate you to live for God now. And in doing so, you get the blessings now as well. Life and life to the full. Life abundant. Why settle, C.S.

lewis? And I'm going to paraphrase it, but it's. It's. I'll be relatively close, but it gets a picture. We're like a little boy who sits in the mud and makes castles and pretends that he's on a great vacation in these castles by the sea, when all the while is offered a real vacation and real castles and houses that we didn't build and vineyards that we didn't plan.

And he settles for the mud that is exactly like we are. And God is offering us a heart. He's choosing us. The basis of God's choice is a heart for God. And that is why God chose David.

That's why God chose you. Pastor Chris. We must dial back and understand that. That that's where we need to be.

Dom David saw himself as God's beloved. Psalm 60, verse 5. He saw himself as the apple of God's eye. Psalm 17, verse 8. He saw himself, saw himself as the one in whom God delighted.

Psalm 18, verse 19. As. As one treated with gentleness by God. Psalm 18, verse 35. Identity and God for the New Testament believer, there's over 100 scriptures of your identity.

And until like identity based on. On. On Christ and based on His Word, not on your externals, man. It is a torturous thing to base your life on your current success. When you'll base it on God's word, everyone can be successful.

It's. It's based on heart responses to the Lord. And then here's the thing. If you learn to live that way and put away the rejection and hue a gag, what will happen is he will come upon you with power and you'll find yourself willing and acting according to his good purpose. And before you know it you'll be writing plays and productions that travel all over the world.

You'll be writing music, or you'll be. You'll be singing hymns, or you'll be leading a business that impacts the world. Or. Or you'll be parenting children that are going to be the next world changers. God will use you.

But you must deal with the likes of this.

And if you're irritated at me right now, it's because you, you are the mean, ugly hearted one, not me. How do you know? Just ask Pastor Karen. She'll tell you. Isn't that right, Pastor Karen?

Amen. Amen.

Don't look at his. Don't look at his appearance. The Lord told Samuel. Don't look at his performance, his skills. You know, it's amazing.

If your heart's right with God, he'll give you skills. He'll help you.

So God's method of choosing is totally different than ours. He esteems unknown people and unknown places. Places for his purposes. If their heart is right, aren't you glad that he pulls out the heart of stone and he puts in a heart of flesh? You must not choose people that have talent.

What are you saying? I'm telling you that God is looking for David's. And I think he's found some right here in Wasilla. And wherever you were sitting, if this is stirring in your heart, God's talking to you right now. Let go of your Saul ways.

Let go of your rebellion and argument and accusation against God.

Was talking to someone who was angry at God. I said, you better stop that. You don't understand. No, no, no, no. You don't understand.

Because if you start getting angry at God, one, you don't really know Him. You don't understand His Word. And you're going to find yourself in a place far from him, angry, shaking your fist. And you might actually miss heaven. You might abort God's plan quickly.

Get over the fact that God is good. Get over the fact that. That you don't understand. And understand this, that God is good. He is loving.

He is kind. He is merciful. And you don't understand everything. And neither do I. And when we get to heaven, we will know, even as we are fully known.

And there is a mystery about God. But you must settle it. That the Lord is good. The Lord is good. He's kind.

He's long suffering and he's patient. And he looks to you to put his power on you. He wants to choose you. He wants to select you. He's waiting for you to turn your heart, heart.

Proverbs 21:1. He holds the heart of the king and he turns it like a watercourse.

Go to verse 12 of 1st Samuel 16.

So that all of these. To set this up. All of the seven brothers of Jesse come.

Samuel picks another Saul type figure. Strapping lad, strong. This surely must be him. Man looks with the outward appearance. God looks at the.

God looks at the.

Is there anybody else? And I. I shared a little bit about this on Wednesday. Yeah, those had. Yeah, it's Davey. Davey, he's weird.

He does his play harp and sing crazy songs.

They said, bring him. He says, bring him. Bring him here. First Samuel 16:12. Wrapping this up for tonight.

Keys, please. So he sent him and he brought him in. Now, he was ruddy, which is another word for being redhead. Any redheads? Come on.

Yeah. If I had hair, I would want red hair. David, I believe, had red hair. He had a complexion like yours. Awesome.

All the carrot tops said hallelujah.

Carrot top's not bad. It's an affectionate term. He was ruddy. He was. With bright eyes.

You know what gives you bright eyes? Those who look to him are radiant. That's why he had bright eyes. He had bright eyes. Not because he was eating lamb chops.

He had bright eyes because he was walking with the Lord and his heart was right. He was good looking. I like that. He's good looking. And the Lord said, arise and anoint him, for this is the one.

And Samuel took a horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Many times. When God puts his power on you, when your heart's right and you. You tune into the purposes of God, he'll put power on you in front of a bunch of people that'll be jealous. They won't like you.

They wonder why it's not them. They'll get irritated. When God anoints you like a David, you're not so popular amongst your. Your siblings, even not so popular amongst your peers. God puts his power on you, starts using you.

And he anoints him as the next king over all of Israel in the midst of his brothers. And listen closely. And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. The spirit of the Lord.

It's the anointing that breaks the yoke, not gifting. It's the spirit of the Lord that sets people free. He wants to put his power on you like he did David.

He wants to put his face looking. He's looking for leaders. God is looking for leaders like that. Not looking for People that not looking for people who want recognition. Listen, if you're all anointed, but then you're striving for recognition, you've blown it.

So I've got all this gifting I've practiced. Good. I'm glad you practice. You trained yourself. Wonderful is God is the one who elevates.

I've told the stories in my own life how I thought I'd be selected. And they didn't select me, they picked somebody else. And I went into a depression. I should have gotten a key right then that I had something wrong on the inside. I had a performance orientation which I talked to my staff about.

A performance orientation is that the greater you perform, the more love you have. Most people listen close and I'm. I'm wrapping it up. At least I'm. This is like my second wrap up.

Most people, most Christians are legalists.

Let me try this side. Most Christians are legalists. Let me define that. A legalist is someone who does all the things that. That a heart loving Christian in right relationship with God should do, but they do it for all the wrong reasons.

A legalist will fast. Someone who's a legalist reads the word. Someone who's a legalist goes to church. Maybe praise does all of that tithes does all the stuff they should do. But their motivation is very different than, than the way we should be motivated.

Their motivation is to do it to get love, to get acceptance, to get the approval of man and to get the approval of God. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a great bondage. What God wants you, he wants. What he wants me to do is he wants us to. Yes.

Fast. Yes. Pray. Yes. Love him.

Yes. Witness, sing, worship, do all of that. But not because we're trying to earn love, but from the place that we already have it. Go on. Romans talks about that David was selected.

He was chosen. The basis of the choice for David was he at a heart like that.

Oh God, forgive us for where we've been, Sauls. Oh God, we want to be like that. We want to be like David in that way. Holy Spirit, come. Come upon this company, come upon this congregation.

Let your. The basis of your choice, which is a heart for God, let it, let it come upon every one of us. Let us cultivate that. Let us guard over our heart for out of it flows the issues of life. May we be anxious for nothing, not strive to earn or grasp like the people of the world.

We are not the people of the world. Forgive us for where we've had an overlay looking for the acceptance of a leader or a father or a mother or brother or a sister. We're accepted because of what you've done. We're accepted because you took our sin. That is the basis for our acceptance, our security and our significance.

You died in our place and we have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Vessels cleansed from the former things now used for noble purposes.

Put your hand on your heart and just talk to God all across this place.

It's the plumb line. You know what a plumb line is? It shows what's level or straight. It's a plumb line of God's word. Drop the plumb line of God's word.

Where is your heart? Tonight I've seen so many people stuck relationships.

Seen women constantly going back to Tarzan who beats them. Kind of a self fulfilling prophecy because they don't see themselves the way that the Lord sees them. They see themselves as not worth anything. And then they go and partner up with some Tarzan who affirms their false identity by treating them like they're trash. And that affirms to them that they really aren't worth anything else but that.

And it's this wicked cycle. You know how that breaks? That breaks by coming to understand, ma'. Am. And it's also with men by coming to understand who you are.

And when you understand who you are, you're not going to let anybody abuse you. I don't let anybody come and I don't, I don't allow abusers in my life. I was one 40 years ago. I don't allow them. I don't allow hyper drama.

I don't allow abuse. I don't allow somebody just rip me. I mean you don't want, especially my inner circle, we don't do that. We don't say things like I hate you, I'm getting divorced. You're so stupid.

You just like you just, oh, I wish you were. We don't say any of that nonsense. That's devil language. We speak life to each other and we speak life over ourselves. I had to stare in a mirror for months on end, months on end.

And I thought it was weird until I read about John G. Lake. And John G. Lake would look at get dressed up in a suit, not my Indian shirt. He wore something else no doubt. Look himself in the eyes and he would say, there's a God man standing in front of this mirror. And everywhere I go, God goes.

I'm God's chosen vessel. You know, he'd say something like that. I used to look Myself in my baby blues and say, you're washed and cleansed from your sin. I'd instantly go look down and be like, oh, you. That's the truth of God's word.

But in my heart, I didn't feel it. I'd start speaking things over myself. God loves you. I'd force myself. I did this craziness in a mirror.

It's affirmation. I think you get a little weird with that. But I was renewing my mind and I come to understand that God really loves me. You know what's the greatest thing in my life? That.

That is the greatest thing. Oh, he loves me. He's in love with me. I'm his favorite one. Oh, it's amazing.

It's amazing to walk with God. It's amazing to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be redeemed, to have your name written in Lamb's book of life. Not that you have power to cast out devils. Jesus said, don't rejoice in that. Rejoice in the fact that your name is written in the it's identity.

You've got to get your identity in God. You gotta ask God to take your heart and change that thing. You gotta ask him to change it. So many hurts and so many pains and so much affliction. Come on, stand up on your feet.

Come on up. So much that you've gone through and it's. It's caused your heart to be dissipated. I know I'm talking to hundreds of people tonight. You say, pastor, you're preaching to me.

I want my heart changed. If that's you, get out of your seat and come to the front quickly. Come quickly, come. God's choosing people. He's selecting David's, he's selecting his people.

And he tells it on the basis of choice. It's amazing when you get that right, how you'll begin to see tremendous fruit. This church never really grew until that got healed in me. And it's not going to stop growing. It's his church going to keep reaching people.

My identity set already.

I'm a son of Almighty God. And then whether people come or don't, and my identity is not based in that. My identity is based in him.

Well, I hope you were encouraged by God's word. Thank you again for listening to Kings Alaska podcast. God bless you. For more great content, go to kcalaska.com and may God's face shine upon you and give you peace.