Disposable Relationships?

We live in a world that treats relationships as though they were disposable. The Bible teaches us something different. It teaches us restoration. -----------------------   MORE From Pastor Tom: 24Today.org TomWhitesel.com 24TODAY PODCAST FACEBOOK 24Today YouTube Interviews   SHOW NOTES:   David did some awful things, yet was know as a man after God’s own heart.    Note: David was the king of Israel.   You and I have the tendency to "keep score". And when we look at Davids life, it seems as though his “score” was pretty low. So we say… how could a man with so many bad grades be “after God’s heart”?   We believe that if our moral score card looks good and we have not been sinning as much… then God would naturally think that we are a person “after His own heart."   It is true that how we live is a response to what is going on in our heart.   Yet, “a man after God’s own heart” is a statement of God saying… "regardless of behavior, this is a person who really does LOVE me. I know without a doubt that they long to have a good relationship with me and they really are trying to love me and get things together.”   David truly did love God.    Psalm 70:2 - May those who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.  (NIV version of The Bible)   Note: It was common in that day for a king to have many enemies. There were always people who were wanting to kill the king so that they could become king.   Key ideas of Psalm 70:2) May they be put to shame (feel bad about what they are planning) May they feel confusion (maybe this isn’t such a good idea) May they turn back (BE TURNED BACK TO WHAT?)   Psalm 70:3 - May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” turn back because of their shame. (NIV version of The Bible)   “Aha! Aha!” meant… “May you go to H _ _ _"! Literally in the Hebrew culture of that day… "May you go to a very warm place; may you boil in oil!”   May they be turned back to relationship with David and be restored to friendship with him. May that relationship be restored.   I think that he is talking about people that knew him and loved him but now have turned on him. But David is hoping that the hearts of these people would soften. He was desiring that they could become friends again.   This is the tender side of David. The part that God was speaking of when He refers to David as "a man after God’s heart.”   David wasn't willing to write off the relationship. He was asking God to do something in their heart. He was praying that God would help them feel guilt and shame so that it would lead to restoration of a relationship.   Is there someone in your life who has hurt you, harmed you? Maybe they have even said… “may you go to a very warm place!”   A person who is in a love relationship with God is a person who says… “God, I am asking you to help their heart to change. No so I can prove I was right. But so that they might turn back to me. I am already turning to them. I want this relationship to be right again.”   Our prayer should not be: “God get them.” But it should be: “God change them."