The second half of 1 Samuel 12 is very meaningful, deeply convicting, and greatly encouraging for our walk with Christ. Here’s today’s sermon video on the passage from the church in Cluj, Romania. English with Romanian translation.

Forgiven and
Set Free to Serve
the Savior
(part 1)

A Walk of Faith Devotional by Dave Bunnell

On the night before the crucifixion, Peter had failed Jesus as badly as one can fail Him. Would it be possible for God to ever use Peter again? Let’s look at that sorrowful night through Peter’s eyes, and see if God was at work in Peter’s life even during Peter’s time of disobedience. Through this, we will learn a wonderful and almost unbelievable attribute of God:
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”

As the apostles were about to leave the upper room and head for Gethsemane, Peter’s heart was filled with pride in what he would accomplish for the Lord. “Even if everyone else here falls away from you,” he told Jesus, “I will stick with you, even in prison or in death.”
When we are prideful, God is forced to humble us, because we are useless to Him when we’re trying to accomplish good things in our own strength. He “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” So Jesus was going to have to let Peter suffer defeat, so that he could be humbled. So that he could learn that his own heart was wicked and deceitful, and that there was nothing good in him but God.
The Bible tells us that as the last supper was being celebrated, Satan was there, and that he was conversing with Jesus. Satan wanted the apostles. Jesus addressed Simon Peter on the subject, “Simon,” He said, “Satan has asked to have you all, that he may sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you.” (In the Greek, the “you” in the first sentence spoken to Simon is plural, referring to all the apostles.)
Because of the hardness of Judas’ heart, Jesus let Satan have him. But Jesus knew of Peter’s desire to serve Him. He knew it was real. He knew He just had to get Peter’s “self” out of the way for the promise of making “Simon” into “Peter” to come true. The pride had to be dealt with, and Peter had to be allowed to suffer defeat in his Christian walk. So that he could be restored. (Are you struggling with a sin that has control of you? Do you complain to God that you aren’t receiving deliverance? Perhaps there is a problem with pride that God is dealing with in you. Perhaps He has to let you suffer defeat, until you learn to depend on Him and not on yourself to find victory. Pray about the possibility, and let God speak.)
Jesus already knew how Peter would be restored after his fall, and how he would then be more useful to God, and thus more powerful than he had ever even dreamed of being. Walking on water was going to seem like a small miracle 54 days or so later at Pentecost. But Peter’s own small dreams and pride would have to be done away with first.
Peter’s fall was already set in motion. The omniscient prophecy of Christ had already been made. “Before the crow of the rooster, you will say you don’t even know Me three times.” But Jesus was also already prophesying and setting in motion Peter’s restoration to service. “When you return,” Jesus told Peter, “strengthen your brothers.” When we fail God, it saddens God, but does not take Him by surprise. And He knows how to restore us, before we fall in the first place. Are you struggling with the pain of a recent fall? Jesus wants you to return to intimate fellowship with Him, and allow His strength and power in you to be a force of strengthening your brothers.
Let’s go back to that night in the upper room.
In Peter’s pride, he made another mistake. He misinterpreted the word of the Lord — something we will all be capable of doing when we try to make the Bible tell us what we want to hear. Don’t torture the scriptures until they confess to what you want them to say. If you read God’s word and think it’s instructing you to do something un-Christlike, assume that you’re misinterpreting it, as Peter was about to do when He thought Jesus was telling him to do something ungodly.
Luke’s gospel records the last words of Jesus before leaving the upper room, which Peter would misunderstand. “He who has no moneybag, let him take it, and likewise a sack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment to buy one. For I say to you that this which is written about Me is about to be accomplished: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’”
Jesus was telling His disciples, using symbolism, that the world was about to treat Him as a criminal. The attire of a robber is a sword and a moneybag. Jesus was telling them that as He went to the cross, they needed to be ready to identify with Him in being falsely accused by the world. “It’s more important than the clothes on your back to be known from now on as My followers,” He was saying, “so if you don’t have a sword, sell your garments to buy one.”
Peter misunderstood. So when he faced the temptation to refuse to identify with Christ, he would fall. Peter heard the word of the Lord through fleshly, prideful ears. He determined it to mean that he should get a literal sword and be ready to fight–and that’s just what he did.
Next came the familiar scene in Gethsemane. Three times, Jesus pleaded with Peter and the others to pray, and three times they refused, falling asleep. Three opportunities for prayer were ignored, so Peter would three times fail his Lord.
Then they come. A crowd of the religious leaders and a mob of Roman soldiers, armed with swords and clubs to take Jesus away. And Peter, in his pride, makes the dumbest mistake of his life. He pulls out his sword to fight a spiritual battle in the flesh. His anger flares and his fear causes his adrenaline to rush, as he commits a great sin against one of the few innocent people in the crowd. Swinging his sword at the servant of the high priest, Peter slices off his ear.
What if Jesus hadn’t intervened at that point? What would have been the consequences of Peter’s sin? I submit that four very bad results of Peter’s sin were on the way.
First, he was leading others into the same path of sin. One of the gospel accounts tells us that the other disciples were then asking Jesus, “Is now the time when we take our swords and fight?” Others were being called to sin by Peter’s sinful actions.
Second, Peter’s testimony for the Lord was being ruined. Jesus was a man of peace, and His disciple was becoming an insurrectionist and a man of war. He was committing an act of violence, and the world would rightly judge him.
Third, Peter was interfering with the sovereign and expressed will of God. Jesus had told them repeatedly that He must go to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of sinners to be crucified. Peter’s sin was fighting against God’s plan and against what Jesus had told them He was to do. So Jesus asked him then, “Shall I not take the cup that is before Me?” Peter’s flesh-driven battle against evil was actually interfering with the impending salvation of the cross.
Fourth, Peter was placing his own life at risk without God’s permission to do so, and so he was threatening the fulfillment of the promise of everything Christ had said He would do through Peter. Without God’s intervention, Peter had mere seconds to live. The Roman soldiers would have mercilessly bludgeoned him with clubs and cut off his head, along with the other apostles.
But none of these four terrible consequences actually happened. Because the mercy of God intervened in three wonderful ways that show us how God deals with us, too, in the aftermath of our greatest failures.

Part 2 coming soon

Lessons on the power of God for victory in battles, the fear of the Lord, and humility in leadership are found in the amazing story of 1 Samuel 11. Sermon video here in English with Romanian translation.

1 Samuel 10 – God speaks to a king, and a kingdom. Sermon in English with Romanian translation. https://youtu.be/uyNyDePJOYY

Video message on 1 Samuel 9, with applications from the teaching of these two verses from elsewhere:

Proverbs 16:9 – A man plans his own way, but the Lord orders his steps.

Romans: 8:28 – We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, the ones who are called according to His purpose. In English with Romanian translation. https://youtu.be/QslLvfZx6Go

An Announcement and a Battle. Sermon on Mark 1:9-13, in English with Romanian translation. From the church in Cluj, Romania Sunday Jan. 17, 2021.

https://youtu.be/JoxNZSDugVg

The text for this upcoming Sunday’s message from Mark 1.

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Today’s sermon from the church is the first of a series studying each passage through the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament. From the church in Cluj, Romania, in English with Romanian translation.

The “God Vaccine”

A Walk of Faith Christmas Devotional by Dave Bunnell, written over 20 years ago, but perhaps more timely for today.

“These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
–Matthew 15:8-9

In the last several weeks, you may have gone to get a flu shot, to vaccinate yourself against getting the flu this season. It’s interesting how they make a flu vaccine, and how it works. You see, the flu vaccine is essentially an altered strand of the previous year’s flu virus.
When this harmless strand is injected into your body, it triggers your immune system, in effect training it to know what to look for, so that when you are exposed to the flu virus this year, your body will recognize and reject it before it infects you. In simplest terms, the flu shot gives you a little bit of something that looks to your body like the flu, in order to keep you from getting the real thing.
But did you know that in this season of the year, there’s another thing people are unwittingly “vaccinated” against? Unfortunately, they’re being vaccinated against an “infection” they need to have in order to live.
Here’s how it happens: They go to church and celebrate Christmas. They take communion and sing carols about the birth of Christ. They watch Christmas plays and listen to messages about the Christ child. They give and receive presents and cards. They pray with great sincerity about “peace on Earth.” They shake hands with people, smiling and wishing them a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” They don’t realize they’re injecting themselves with that little bit of something that looks like a relationship with God that keeps them from getting the real thing.
Jesus warned against that kind of worship that people are so prone to at Christmas and Easter. He warned us that God isn’t impressed by lips that sing His praises if they come from a heart He hasn’t been allowed to utterly change.
My friends, you don’t want to get a “God vaccine” this Christmas. Don’t let mere religion immunize you against a relationship with Jesus Christ. Get the real thing, if you haven’t already. Get a relationship with God, that guarantees you eternal life with Him in heaven.
It’s not about going through the motions of religion, at Christmastime or anytime. Following traditions and teachings of mere men is worshiping God in vain, Jesus said. In vain. Worthless. Of no value. Such worship will gain you absolutely nothing for eternity.
The Good News of Christmas, though, is that it doesn’t have to be that way; because “the real thing” is God’s Christmas gift to you. And this gift is not like the “free gifts” the world offers, where you get something for “free, when you buy . . . .” I’m talking about a real gift that is truly free: The gift of salvation from your sins and everlasting joy in heaven. It costs you nothing, because Jesus has already paid for it so that He could give it to you. The blood He shed on the cross is your gift certificate, purchasing your eternal peace with a holy God.
The first “Christmas tree” ever was cut down, and its boards were made into a cross. On it, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, hung and bled and died for only one reason. It wasn’t to set an example for you. It wasn’t to inspire you. It wasn’t to found a religion for you to follow. It was to completely pay the debt you owe God for breaking His perfect laws.

Jesus absorbed all of the punishment you deserve for your sins, and rose again from the dead to give you eternal life. All you must do is believe that, and you will be saved.
Redeem your “gift certificate” from Christ today, right where you are. Tell Jesus you know you have sinned against Him. Tell Him you believe that He died in your place, being punished for your sins. Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins. Tell Him you’re trusting Him to give you now the gift of eternal life in heaven.
If you do that, then you can truly celebrate Christmas, with a new heart, given to you by Christ Himself. You will no longer be vaccinated from the truth that sets you free. You’ll have the real thing. And you’ll wonder how you made it through so many Christmases without it.

Why Bethlehem?

A Walk of Faith Christmas Devotional by Dave Bunnell

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
–Micah 5:2

That little town of Bethlehem, though insignificant in the world’s eyes, had been very significant to Biblical history, even for centuries before our precious Savior was born there.
The lineage of Christ could trace its family ties to Bethlehem as far back as the book of Genesis, for it was where Israel’s patriarch Jacob buried his wife Rachel.
When Ruth the Moabitess was brought to Israel to make Naomi’s God her own, it was in Bethlehem that she lived with her new husband Boaz, and it was there that they bore the child who would be an ancestor of Christ.
The family line was still in Bethlehem when Jesus’ ancestor David, a shepherd who would be king, watched over the flocks of his father.
David would later lead his armies against the pagan Philistines, who were establishing a stronghold over Bethlehem. Then he longed for a refreshing drink from Bethlehem’s well, and one of his “mighty men,” who was from Bethlehem, joined some others in a quest that brought him that water.
Then came the dark years. The kingdom of Israel was divided. In that moment of time, when it seemed least likely that God could bring forth His promised Redeemer from Israel, God’s prophet Micah declared that Bethlehem would be on the map again, in a way so special that generations to follow would almost forget the tiny village’s significance in Old Testament times. The previous events of Bethlehem would pale in comparison.
Because this little town of Bethlehem would be the location of the birth of the Christ child, who had existed from eternity past. Yes, the events that would change our world forever would all begin in Bethlehem. And when you look at the history of this little town, you’ll see that God couldn’t have chosen a better place.
This little village that was populated by shepherds who raised flocks for the temple sacrifices would be the birth place of the Lamb who would bring those sacrifices to their final fruition, sacrificing Himself to take away the sins of the world.
Like David, this Child of Bethlehem would be a trustworthy Shepherd for the flocks of His Father and a King whose throne in Jerusalem would be established forever.
Like Boaz, this Child of Bethlehem would be the Redeemer who purchased for Himself people of faith in Him from all nations.
It was important for the Christ child to be born in Bethlehem. So when the proper time arrived, God would take the reins of world history, working through a powerful Roman emperor who thought he was thinking for himself, just to arrange for Mary to be brought back to that little town.
There, in a poor humble stable, she would bring forth her firstborn Son, and lay Him in a manger. The eternal God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the All-Powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe, would become a baby and sleep that first night on a bed of hay in Bethlehem.
“Come to Bethlehem and see Him…. Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King!”