I just came back from visiting my family and church in Niteroi, Brazil. It was a very good time and I was invited to bring a message while I was there. The message will be published in Portuguese but here is the summary:
When you look at what Saul and David went through in their lives, one thing becomes evident: It is never about making mistakes. Both David and Saul sinned, but it will always be about our response to the work of the Holy Spirit. David broke his heart to the Word of correction from Nathan, while Saul never opened up to receive what was said to him by Samuel (1 Samuel 13:8-13; 1 Samuel 15:1-26; 2 Samuel 12: 1-13; Psalm 51: 10-17).
The reality is that we are humans and we will always fail at some point in our lives. God doesn’t want us to be perfect. What He wants us to do is to take responsibility for our response when we make mistakes. We can always control how we are going to respond. It is our responsibility.
This Word takes away the condemnation for our actions and mistakes and puts the focus where it must be: we can control how we respond when the Lord speaks to us.
We take the responsibility for our responses. In our hearts, there will be a new response to the Word of truth. If our hearts are open and broken when we hear the truth, we will be set free.