I’m going to recap a little here, as this piece will also be featured on the Be Fierce App soon, and I need to set it up a little bit for that. Check out that app though, there’s daily Devotionals, blogs like this one, podcasts, and much more!
Two of my biggest bible heroes are David and Solomon. This father-son duo accounted for some serious kingdom growth, wisdom, and prosperity. We’ve got the book of Psalms, Proverbs, and Songs of Songs directly from them. Not to mention that the lives they led produced some of the most encouraging and inspiring stories of the whole bible. The men around David were strengthened by his unwavering pursuit of God’s heart. Solomon’s subjects were secure knowing they had a king with direct God-given wisdom. And the entire kingdom was better off for their pursuit. Let’s take a look at their last exchange in 1 Kings Chapter 2:1-12. This is the chapter where David is on his deathbed, and he calls in Solomon to deliver some parting words. This is one of my favorite passages in the entire bible. David gives his son some final words of encouragement, and exhortation. He also lets Solomon know about some unfinished business, and gives him the thumbs up to handle it. David then reminds Solomon of what the stakes are; in this case a massive promise of God is riding on Solomon’s behavior while on the throne….
“…that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’” 1 Kings 2:4
In other words, “No pressure son, but we’ve got a lot riding on this. This whole thing of being a king is not just about you. Think about what it took for us to get here, and think about what can happen after you’re gone. The Lord has given us a pretty sweet promise here, lets try not to just forget about that in our first trial run here. Now go get ’em.” So what does Solomon go do after that? He immediately takes up the baton and falls right in step with David. He took care of the loose ends right away, with the promise in mind. He asks for wisdom from the Lord, and is given it, plus wealth and honor. It says that everyone in his kingdom lived under their own vine and their own fig tree. I’m not a historian, but I’m pretty sure that means that there was prosperity in all the land, there was no lack. Then Solomon gets to work building this temple that David longed to build, and he completes it. In other words, he is about his father’s business.
Among other things, I think this highlights a different paradigm for us. In today’s world, especially if you are in America, there’s this individuality that we all seem to crave. Individual expression, being unique, singing our own song, etc. I’m not mad at that. But I think we may have lost some of the corporate perspective (corporate in this sense meaning the group or the whole). There’s a lot of that in the Old Testament, and this is a prime example. The promise that God made to David here was a multi-generational promise. All the way down to Jesus Christ himself, in fact! So what we can take from this is that our actions don’t just effect us. Your faithfulness, righteous acts and life of praise doesn’t just effect you! You’re paving the road for you sons and your daughters. You might be teeing up your great-great-grand kids. And you might be already be walking in the fulfilled promises that the Lord made to those who came before you.
This topic always gives me goosebumps. When I think about who came before me, and what they plowed through, the battles the fought and victories they won, I’m just so thankful. My pastor, Steve Gray, has a great story on this. He talks about walking into his first church years ago, and seeing the original old wooden floors there. Then when Revival was poured out on this church and congregation soon after, he often wondered to himself, “who was it that laid on these old wooden floors and prayed for God to move here? And now here it is.” See, that story is part of my legacy, because now I’m a part of that church. I am walking in the move of God that other got on their hands and knees and cried out to God for. Now I think about the prayers of my heart today, and who will be walking in the manifestation of them 100 years from now. Selah….
The biggest takeaway I have from studying David and Solomon is that we can be both of them. We can be a David, who’s heart is so on FIRE in the pursuit of God that He uses us to advance the entire Kingdom. And we can also be a Solomon, who doesn’t waste a second after David passes before he begins to reign with justice and truth, and uphold the Kingdom values that his dad fought for. A friend of mine named Paul says we need to walk in the posture of a son, long after we become a father. And how sweet that will be. The Word says a dream fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12)! To that point, when you’re done with this piece here, do yourself a favor and check out 2nd Chronicles 6:12-42. This is where Solomon dedicated the temple that he built to the Lord. Quite a moment, because that’s really what David was fighting for the whole time anyway. But Solomon is the one to finally fulfill that dream. And boy, does God show up big that day! Think about that the next time you have an obstacle to overcome or a challenge to navigate.
It’s my prayer for you today that you get to be as impactful as David, and as faithful as Solomon when it comes to your family and the kingdom. That you would walk with the anointing of a father to establish, and the posture of a son to accept and carry on. Think about those who have been Davids in your own life. How can you be a Solomon to them? Think about the people who are coming after you, whether that’s your own children, or the leaders in your church who are coming on behind you. Do you still have some fight left in you to move the Kingdom forward for them? Men, if you ask God to help you with this I promise he will, just he did for Solomon. Be Fierce today!
This is really cool to me, because I personally feel like Solomon all the time. I don’t mean that I have unequaled wisdom and wealth incomparable to anyone in all the earth. What I’m saying is that I know where I’ve come from. I really appreciate the men and women who have come before me and brought the Butler name to this point. Sometime I have to ask myself, how in the world am I so blessed to be where I am, to be when I am, and to be with whom I be. I think about my mentors and the way we even got connected. I think about my church, and the years of plowing before I even got there. The shoulders that make up the floor that I stand on didn’t just get there. There was the sub-floor, the basement, and foundation that was all put together for a purpose, so I wouldn’t have to fight those battles. In fact, the biggest roadblock I see is the one I look at in the mirror. And that guy still makes for a formidable opponent! But my point is, I’ve had Davids in my life that did some fighting before I was around. I’m not sure they could have done a much better job teeing me up, and I don’t want to walk around just wasting that! I’m pretty Solomon would give me an amen right there, because he lived this out!
Another example would be the classic story of Joseph. This guy had older 11 brothers, and he was constantly telling his Father, Jacob, the bad things his brothers were doing (Genesis 37:2). It goes on to say that Joseph had some dreams that seemed to depict his brothers bowing to him. And then he had a big mouth about it! So they threw the guy in a pit, and sold him as a slave! Well, if you keep reading, Joseph ends up becoming one of the most powerful men in all of Egypt because he makes a series of choices after that. And he has mercy on his brothers when he has every chance to get revenge on them. So which one do you want to choose to be, Joseph or one of his brothers?
Lets take a look at David first. David’s childhood was spent out in the fields. He was out there preparing for the life he was going to lead. Some people know about the Lion and the Bear that David slayed out in the fields while protecting his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-35). So when that infamous moment of contention came, and he heard Goliath’s taunts across the valley, he was prepared and had some wins under his belt already, right? The others in the army, including Saul the King, doubted his ability based on their human reasoning, thinking perhaps he was not strong enough, he wasn’t battle tested, he wasn’t used to fighting. Of course, he proved these ideas wrong. But I submit that, in the fields with the sheep, he was also prepared in a different way than anyone thought of. And it has less to do with where he was, and more to do with where he wasn’t….
David wasn’t in the army with the other guys, comparing themselves to each other. He wasn’t around the constant competition with the other soldiers. He wasn’t there looking for plunder after each battle. He wasn’t exposed to the other guys making crude remarks. Yeah, they were the armies of the living God, but they were still men, right? I don’t think there has been a large group of men assembled in the history of groups of men assembling that didn’t have some crass jokes and trash talk going on. But David wasn’t there. And I think that’s why David reacted the way he did when he heard Goliath defying the Isrealites. His value system was still lined up right, he was after God’s own heart, not after his own glory and benefit. So his reaction is immediate, fierce and righteous!
So David’s life was poured out expanding the kingdom. Unifying the tribes. Bringing order where there was none. Destroying the enemies of the living God. People looked to him for hope and to lead them in battle, and to handle matters of the kingdom. But really they looked for him to follow Yaweh, which he did. And I think that is an amazing feat, to maintain that pure hunger despite being lifted up to the throne that way. If he had only been thinking about his time on the throne, it may not have been the case. See, I think David knew a little something about Legacy. I think he knew something about posterity, and who would come after him. He wasn’t just thinking about his current situation, he was conscious of the fact that the kingdom would continue on after he was gone. And as we will talk about later in the second chapter, he was conscious of the specific Promise that God had made him about Legacy. So he was willing to do what he needed to do, and he didn’t want to hold back because of the cost to himself. He even went out of his way to pay when things were offered to him because of the throne he sat on….
different paths. And in those early years of adulthood, I was sometimes frustrated with her choices. Many times I would think about her from my own perspective, and be critical of her life, based on what I was trying to do with my own. 
The other part of this is that, once you realize you are a hero, I think your personal standards of integrity have to go up. Your awareness of character has to be increased. The apostle Paul said to his protege Timothy “…be prepared in season and out of season…” – 2 Timothy 4:2. I think this puts a positive pressure on you and I to be about it all the time. Man, I don’t want some other guy to have an excuse to falter because I chose the easy route when I thought no one would notice! No thanks! I’d venture to say that if you’ve connected with any of this, you probably feel the same way.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul knows what real heroes are all about, and explains it well in the book of Hebrews. Chapter 10:24 says “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” In the next chapter he fires off a huge list of people that were considered heroes to his audience. Then in Chapter 12, he talks about how we should be inspired by these heroes to decide to “set aside everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” Paul points us to Jesus and adds him to the top of that list of heroes.
where some crazy guy bursts into my church to try to hurt people. He’s got wild hair and wilder eyes, carrying some kind of weapon. The look on his face says he ain’t here to play nice. Somehow he makes it past the security team and sprints for the front row with the worst of intentions. But in that scene, I’m in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to save the day with an epic body slam or a well-placed pistol round. And of course, the baddest girl I know is standing right there to see it. And I’m the hero….Don’t act like you haven’t had a similar episode play in your head. Just go look at any group of young boys playing around in the backyard and it won’t take long for this theme to show up in their game of good guys vs bad guys. 
I just finished reading a book about Eternity that really changed my perspective on life. Among other things, it talked about how the way you spend eternity will depend on how you conduct your life here on Earth, after salvation. At a certain part of the book, it references Matthew 25:40…
physical ailments that are obvious. From all outward appearances, he shouldn’t be homeless. But he is not a pleasant guy, I’ll put it that way. You see, many times I see a homeless person who is clearly struggling with some issues that make it challenging for them to take care of themselves. Other times perhaps they’ve got some mental/spiritual battles to fight. I have sympathy there for them. Sometimes they are self-imposed challenges with substance abuse or what-have-you. But what AJ struggles with is a serious case of BAD-ITUDE! His attitude is generally that everybody owes him something, and he’s mad at you and me and everyone, all of the time. No need for seasoning, he’s already salty. Even though he’s clearly fully capable of producing for himself, he does not. And then he turns around and expects you and I to do that for him. I ain’t about that type of life, so in the past I’ve been very intentional about NOT giving him a darn thing. Which does not make him like me any better, ha! But when the Lord hit me with that verse I couldn’t ignore it. I knew my heart was a maybe little off the mark, and that the description I just gave might not be the full story….
They have daily devotionals that are pushed out via their app, to which I’ve had the honor of contributing in the past. Themed, Fierce Generosity, the challenge that day was to give something to someone. I was like “Okay, Lord, I hear ya.” I had a $5 bill on me, and I went to where I know AJ usually is. Sure enough, he ambled into the Starbucks about 10 minutes after I got there. Gave him the $5 and prayed, “Lord, I did it. Not sure where this is going but I was obedient to you.”
dollars, relationships. All about identity. So how about the guy who drives by AJ on the street in his luxury clothes in a luxury Rolls, to a house full of stuff and a heart full of nothing. He might seem to have it all but has just been following someone else’s plan. He might be trying to find his identity in that stuff, but its not working!. He might be just as miserable driving over the bridge as the guy who’s living underneath it! He might be screaming on the inside, quietly desperate because everything he has is not filling the void. Both are the least, because neither knows his own who, how, and why! The least of these…
A little throwback action here today. This was actually my first ever attempt at some original writing. It came on the heels of a pretty interesting experience I put myself through last spring. I decided to go on a 90 day dating “fast.” And not because I was dating so much that I needed a fast, as one person speculated jokingly. In fact I didn’t really call it a fast at the beginning. I just prayed for wisdom on how long of a break I should take, and I heard 90 days. You see, I had just ended a short relationship, and thought it might be wise to hit “reset” on my heart. Turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done. I’m by no means a “relationship blogger” but I did think this would have some value for someone out there.
up,” to be something 
evaluated, quantified, or systematized. A little thing called spontaneity began to return to my life. And, as my friend Brandi will tell you, it was sorely needed! During this time I also began to connect with a group of young pastors and ministers, ALL of whom are creative types. It started to rub off on me. And I had the realization that by developing creative expression, we can open up creative pursuits. That’s a whole dimension of life in which I am just now testing (you’re reading this, my first attempt!). Someone said your vibe attracts your tribe. Well, I can’t wait to see the tribe of life-loving people I vibe with.
A lot of my inspiration for this topic comes from a series of novels that are written around the story of King David and his Mighty Men. It’s technically a fictional novel but it follows with scriptures about these warriors and their exploits. The books just expands the scriptures and takes the creative liberty to fill in the story with their personalities, relationships with each other, their flaws as men, etc. The series is called the Lion of War Series, by a guy named Cliff Graham. I highly recommend picking these books up, especially if you’re a guy. Very well written and lots of bloody battles, so the pure entertainment value is top notch. On top of that, if you also care about scripture, 1st and 2nd Samuel will come alive, and I promise you’ll have much a deeper perspective of the stuff that went down. I read 1st and 2nd Samuel before I read these fictional books, which helped me keep the main facts straight and appreciate the creative input.
the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. I think we can know this much more vividly with David than with most people recorded in the Bible because of all the Psalms he recorded. When I first started reading the bible, and Psalms specifically, I remember thinking “Wow this Psalm is the exact cry of my heart! These are the words I’ve been looking for to express myself and my heart for God, but also my frustrations, fears and failures.” That’s because David already walked this path! The guy had been there, done that! Of course, he lived in the Old Testament times, and the faith walk was a little different than it is now. But you understand what I mean.
Lion of War becoming a film. On the cover was a bow and arrow, except the bow was comprised of angel wings. I saw it and thought, that’s it! It looked cool, yeah, but the the meaning behind praise and arrows is what I want my story to be. The kind of stuff I want on my tombstone. After about 3 years of wanting it done, I finally pulled the trigger in November 2017. I had an artist make a similar image for me, and put it on my back. Not gonna go back and forth about tattoos here in this piece, there’s a lot of opinions out there. I went ahead and avoided the lower back region ;). Got it on the back of my right shoulder, pictured here. Might be my last, might be the first of many, we shall see!
Fired up about this little nugget that I picked up on a few days back. Came to me in 3 different parts. Typically when I get something like this, I’ll get just the main points, but then have to dig deeper to fill in the details. Or in this case, the different pieces were already there, but the connection between them was not obvious. I feel like that’s a way to describe the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is just having the information. Wisdom is understanding how the information applies and relates to other information.That’s part of the process though, digging through it all until you find the connections. When I added up the pieces here, it turned out to be a really good way to get rid of this little thing called comparison. But let me walk you through this the same way I received it.
God! The “test” or temptation is speaks of is always about who your heart is loyal to, no matter what the circumstances of the temptation look like. Will you choose to honor Him or gratify your flesh? That’s what temptation is about, I believe. That means when the choice is made to Honor him, it’s an act of praise. You’ve chosen to reflect Him well here on earth when you had the option not to. Now, combine that with the first point, and this led to the real light bulb.
whatever victory looks like in your life, it’s your very own handcrafted gift to God. You can say, “Look, God, I had this heart that was broken and flawed, and all I could do was choose to love you through the ups and downs that I went through. From that, I made you this beautiful story that praises you, in a way that no one else’s story can. Here you go. Love, Me.” That’ll change your outlook on trials and temptations! Instead of thinking, “man I wish this was easier, I wish this wasn’t happening,” we could think “Sweet, I’m about to win back the Glory of God right here! I’m about to write a new part of the story!”
Word of the Well 