Message:  In Acts 1 Jesus gathered his disciples before ascending to heaven and he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem. They were to wait there for the promise. To them the promise was the Messiah so they asked Jesus if this was the time he would restore the kingdom of Israel. He told them it was not for them to know the times that God has set. This promise was the Holy Spirit. This was a promise he had been preparing them for all along, but they had no point of reference to even comprehend what was coming. I think about this as Christians try to decipher the book of Revelation. We have prophecies and ideas about how these things will happen but none of us really knows how it will all come together. The important thing here was that they came together united in prayer. In their unity they chose the apostle that would replace Judas and their unity is what prepared them to receive the promise to come in the next chapter. Looking back a few chapters we see that this is exactly what Jesus was praying for before his crucifixion. He repeatedly prayed “let them be one as you and I are one.” He knew this would be necessary and this is what is necessary for us as the church today also. We pray for a lot of things but reading this was a huge reminder to me of the importance of unity. We can’t accomplish anything effective without it. We can all make tiny movements on our own but unified in God’s purpose we will be the force that he intended us to be. This challenges me to pray for unity beginning with the smaller circles I am in and expanding into the larger picture. This also challenges me to set aside anything that would hinder unity. A negative attitude, jealousy, judgment, personality differences etc. Today I choose to look for and intentionally celebrate and support what others are doing for the kingdom and I choose to pray for unity among us. This is what will catch the attention of the lost and this is what will accomplish what the church was intended to accomplish.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 30 had been sent back home to where he was staying in Ziglag with the Philistines. He was in Ziglag because he had fled from Saul’s pursuit, but now the Philistines were going to battle with Israel and the leaders didn’t trust that David wouldn’t turn against them in battle. David was upset that he was turned away and sent home, but when he got home he discovered it had been raided and burned. All of their wives, children and belongings had been plundered. David’s men were about to turn on him for this but he led them to go recover their things. They recovered absolutely everything and then some. As I read this I was thinking about how upset David was when he was rejected from fighting with the Philistines. He didn’t know at that moment that his home had been attacked, plundered and his wives had been kidnapped. If he had been fighting the battle against Israel he would have been gone for who knows how long. He wanted to be in one battle but he needed to be in another one. This made me wonder how many times I have found myself fighting the wrong battle. David took the ephod to inquire of God and God was with him. This reminds me of the importance of taking each decision to God. I may be headed for the wrong battle but God knows exactly where I need to be and he gives me favor to do what he has equipped me to do. It can be disappointing to be rejected from a task but that disappointment quickly fades when we realize that the rejection of one task leads us to a more critical task. If David hadn’t been rejected from the first battle he wouldn’t have recovered his wife and belongings in the other battle.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 28 Saul found himself at war with the Philistines again. This time the Philistines had recruited David to fight with them since he had been living among them in his escape from Saul’s pursuit of him. Saul was terrified to the point of shaking but when he tried to inquire of God he heard nothing because God had removed his hand from him. Saul became so desperate that he wanted to consult a medium. The problem with this was that Saul had ousted all of the mediums and mandated that consulting the dead was punishable by death. He disguised himself and asked the medium to consult Samuel. This terrified the medium and she knew the disguised man was Saul so she feared for her life. When Saul spoke to Samuel he complained that he was in serious trouble and God was not speaking to him. Samuel reminded him that God had taken the kingship from him and that by the next day he and his sons would be with him in death. What I found interesting about this was Saul’s desperation to be advised even though his track record showed that he didn’t follow it anyway. This was exactly why he was in this position. It seemed Saul wanted to hear the comfort of direction, but he also wanted to choose for himself how much of it he would follow. In the last incident he had been given very specific directions and even after he failed to follow them, he still somehow believed that he did follow them. He convinced himself and tried to convince Samuel that he obeyed but Samuel called him out on the disobedience. I feel like we do this too. We pray about our situations and God reveals to us in his word what we need to do. We do part of it and call it obedience, but then we wonder why God is silent or why things fell apart. We convince ourselves and even try to convince God that we aren’t walking in disobedience. This really makes me feel the need to evaluate some areas in my life where I might be walking in partial obedience but really I am just lying to myself.

Message:  In John 18 Judas led the soldiers to the garden to arrest Jesus. Jesus already knew what they were there for, but he asked them who they were looking for. When they told him they were looking for Jesus the Nazarene he said “I am he”. As he spoke those words the men stepped back and fell to the ground. Then he asked them again who they were looking for so they told him again “Jesus the Nazarene” He said “I told you I am he so if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” This was all to fulfill the things he had spoken earlier in prayer. It also seemed like an opportunity for these men to see for themselves who Jesus really was. This passage doesn’t tell us what they thought about when they were knocked to the ground by his power. It appears they just carried on with their business and arrested Jesus. These were soldiers so they had commands to follow and they did. After reading this I thought about all of the things I saw before I believed and how I carried on with my life in spite of it. Those moments were seeds planted and they didn’t change my direction at the time but they were reference points that I looked back on later as I began to recount many others. Jesus created reference points all over the place to be reflected on and remembered later. Many of them were things he intentionally said or did to fulfill prophecies that they all studied and knew. When people accumulate enough reference points they begin to connect the dots and see the picture that he has been drawing for them. Sometimes it’s hard to watch people collect reference points with seemingly no change of or response but one day they connect enough of those dots to see the picture. The reference points look very different for everyone but they all reveal an image of himself. What he uses is very personal because God is very relational. He knows our back story and he knows the thoughts we are thinking, the insecurities we wrestle with and the deep questions of our souls and he knows how to relate to us all on a very intimate level. When we try to explain some of our own reference points to other people they may not understand the miracle because it’s our miracle.  Today I pray for all of the people still collecting reference points. I pray that they would begin to connect the dots and see the picture of Jesus he is revealing to each heart in his own way.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 26 Saul came after David once again even after he repented the last time and promise he wouldn’t. I doubt this surprised David at all because he had been living through this cycle over and over again. When Saul camped with his 3000 “choice men” David and his men found that once again God had given them an opportunity to take out Saul. They were all asleep in a circle with Saul in the middle but God had caused a deep sleep to come over them so David and a few of his men were able to walk over to Saul and stand right over him as he slept. David’s servant wanted so badly to take him out in just one move but once again David stood form in his conviction that he would not be the one to take out Saul. This included his men acting on his behalf. David still respected the fact that God placed Saul and he believed that when it was time God would strike him down or he would die in battle. David took his spear and his water jug and hiked to a vantage point before calling out to them. The description of this vantage point suggests that David was standing on higher ground where he could see into the camp. It seems to ironic to be coincidental that David was standing on higher ground as he called out to them to show that once again, he had taken the higher ground and spared Saul’s life once again. Every time David did this he was showing Saul that thee fear, insecurity and the suspicion that he had towards David was wrong. Saul acknowledged this each time but he had always reverted back. I think it was important that Saul saw this and acknowledged it, but I think it was even more important that Saul’s men witnessed this as well. David was to become their king and they were going to devote their loyalty to him so this was such an important way to build trust. My take away from this is that it’s never a waste to take the higher ground. It doesn’t necessarily change our circumstances or the people around us just like not much changed with Saul. He was emotionally driven and even though he repeatedly acknowledged his error and the honor of David, he continuously repeated the same irrational behavior over and over again. Some people break the cycle eventually and taking the higher ground may have an influence on that, but most importantly the higher ground tests our own character and it shows ourselves and other people who we are. David was the most loyal and loved king. This didn’t happen by accident. David established himself before he had the authority so when he took the authority he walked in the honorable character he had intentionally developed.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 25 David went from sparing Saul’s life to almost slaughtering  a man along with his family and servants to avenge himself because he was hangry. Fortunately, one of the servants reported to the man’s wife and she was able to speak to David out of wisdom. She was also smart enough to do that with an offering of food! I’ve read this story lots of times and the focus always seems to be on the wisdom of Abigail. What I really picked up on today was that David had been standing his ground, on the run and protecting other people. He was literally being hunted so he was more emotionally vulnerable than ever. We are vulnerable when we are in the fight and this was no ordinary fight! Sometimes we are so faithful and so careful about certain situations that we don’t realize how much the pressure is affecting other areas. When we feel out of control in one area, we often unknowingly take it out in another area. If we’re stressed about finances, we might take it out of the kids or kick the dog. If we’re stressed about work we might do really well in managing our behavior while at work but we might take it out on our spouse or even on a random stranger acting like a jerk. There was no question that the man David was about to kill was a jerk. The wife and the servant referred to him as “worthless” and said that nobody could speak to him. The request that David made was reasonable, but he was unwilling to listen. What I loved the most about this story is that Abigail talked him down by speaking to his future. She referred to him as if he were already king and took his mind back to the state it was in when he chose not to harm Saul. When David chose not to take matters in his own hands, God did something about it. The man had a seizure the next day and he died. God avenged David, and probably the wife and all of those servants. This reminds me of the importance of letting God fight my battles. It’s tempting to avenge ourselves when we feel we have been treated unfairly but God moves on our behalf when we leave it to him.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 24 Saul had learned of David’s location again so he took 3,000 of his best warriors and went looking for David and his men. Last we had read, David only had about 400 men with him so 3,000 seasoned warriors seems a bit excessive but it also testifies to the fact that David was a strong and very successful warrior. He was not to be tangled with! When Saul showed up to relieve himself in the very cave that David and his men were hiding in, it looked like an obvious confirmation that God was handing Saul over to David. In fact, the bible doesn’t tell us that he wasn’t handing Saul over.  I don’t believe David would have been wrong if he had killed Saul, but David was holding himself to a much higher standard. He wasn’t allowing Saul’s behavior to dictate his response. He certainly wasn’t timid or passive. He’s the same man that confronted a giant Philistine bully and took off his head for his irreverence to God. What made David exceptional is that he wasn’t fighting for himself. He was fully committed to the plan of God no matter what it was. He endured a lot of abuse and spent a lot of time fleeing from a man that he probably could have squashed like a bug. He respected and honored Saul even when he was out for his blood and acting like a lunatic simply because he recognized that Saul had been placed by God. Even though David knew that he had been chosen and anointed as king, he would not allow himself to act on that until God removed Saul himself. He was not about to make it happen by his own hand. Because of this standard, even Saul himself recognized that David was fit to be the king of Israel. Reading this made me think of times when I had an opportunity to capitalize on a situation. These aren’t always positional opportunities. Sometimes these opportunities are verbal arguments where I’m set up perfectly to take the upper hand, make someone look stupid or incompetent, or expose someone in their failure. Saul was pooping in a cave. It doesn’t get much more vulnerable than that! I’ve never faced that particular scenario before and I seriously doubt I ever will, but I have certainly had the opportunity to expose someone in their vulnerability. I haven’t always chosen the right response in the moment but I can see how David’s  higher standard and his humility shaped him as Israel’s most loved king and “the man after God’s own heart.” This is the kind of leader and influencer I want to be.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 23 Saul’s instability spiraled out of control and his insecurity fed his paranoia into a tunnel vision obsession over David. David went to fight a battle in spite of being pursued by Saul, yet when Saul found out where he was his only concern was using the battle to kill David. He chased David all over the wilderness but God didn’t allow Saul to take him out. In the middle of all this Jonathan renewed his covenant with David again. As I thought about this I thought about the incredible friendship between them. David was clearly marked by God for big things, but he was going through tremendous opposition. The opposition was so strong that anyone would have been tempted to question the legitimacy of it all. While David seemed to be trying to continue doing what he always did, he was being constantly watched and pursued. Instead of going into permanent hiding, he protected his parents and continued on. When I read about the renewed covenant with Jonathan I thought about how powerful that was. We all need someone to stand with us during opposition and having a loyal friend like Jonathan would have been life breathing. As I read this I thought of someone in my own life who has walked with me through so much opposition. She encouraged me, pushed me, cried with me and supported me through some of the hardest things I ever had to go through. We all need someone like this in our lives, and we should all BE this to someone else. Today I thank the Lord for this incredible friend and I ask God to help me be that kind of friend.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 22 David fled to a cave after he tried to flee to Gath from Nod. In chapter 21 he quickly realized that the Philistines knew who he was and how successful he had been in battle so he pretended to be insane in front of the king.  Apparently, they believed that mentally incapacitated people were cursed and they were afraid to touch them and get it on them. I couldn’t help but laugh at David’s brilliance, but I also realized how desperate an act this was. Now he was completely alone in a cave but it didn’t long for his family to hear and they joined him. Then more people joined him until there were more than 400 people who were desperate, in debt or disgruntled all rallying around David and they made him their leader. Meanwhile, king Saul was full of jealousy and rage and it made him more and more irrational. In his attempts to control, he was losing his influence but instead of rebuilding it he made things worse by making more irrational assumptions. His negativity was compounding like a vicious cycle of more negativity and irrationality until Saul was completely unstable. He had just found out that his son Jonathan had made a covenant with David and this only fueled his suspicions when his servant told him that the priest had sheltered David. In his irrationality he refused to hear the priest and when he ordered his servants to kill the priest and all his family, they refused and only the one who snitched was willing to do it. Saul still had the position of king but he had lost the favor of God and the loyalty of the people. The more he tried to oppose David, the more favor David gained. Although David had been anointed king and was gaining favor, he was still on the run. As I processed all of this I thought about the danger of trying to control and manipulate. For Saul this all began with his pride when he took matters into his own hands and made the priestly sacrifice. Then he disobeyed God by taking spoils that God told him to destroy because of his fear of the people. Pride and insecurity go hand, in hand and this is what destroyed Saul. This challenges me to examine the areas of my life where I’m allowing pride and insecurity to drive. Saul was his own worst enemy and he caused the very things he was fighting so hard to avoid. Looking back at my own past experiences I can see this very same dynamic.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 21 David had run away after Jonathan confirmed Saul’s intent to kill him. He ran away to see the priest Ahimelech in the city of Nob. Ahimelech seemed surprised to see David and when he asked, David lied to him telling him that he was on a secret mission from the king. They were probably really hungry from running and traveling and they wouldn’t have provisions for them in this situation. David asked Ahimelech for bread so he allowed them to eat the bread of presence as long as they were ceremonially clean. At this point the scripture doesn’t indicate whether or not David was telling the truth here or not but he told Ahimelech that they were clean. As I read this I thought about how sad it was that David was smart enough to run to the temple for help, but instead of asking for help he lied to the priest. This is what a lot of us do when we go to church but refuse to be honest about what’s really going on in our lives. We might even partake in consecrated things but if we aren’t honest we will be in the right place but we won’t get the help so desperately need. I think it’s also telling that he asked for a sword. He told Ahimelech that the king’s mission was so urgent that he forgot his sword. This probably looked suspicious but Ahimelech cooperated and gave it to him. For me this represented the times when revert to things that were successful in the past and we assume they will work for us again.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 20 David was aware that Saul had intentions to kill him. David’s best friend was Saul’s son Jonathan and they swore a covenant with each other to protect each other. They had a bond unlike any other and the bible says that Jonathan loved David more than he loved himself. This sounds odd but this description is not a romantic kind of love. It was a loyal kind like brothers. Both men had a lot at stake. David’s life was in the balance but so was Jonathan’s because of his loyalty to David. In fact, Jonathan’s entire life would be easier without this covenant. Not just for the obvious reasons that he would no longer be in danger, but also because if he played the part right, as Saul’s son he could potentially be the next king. Jonathan’s loyalty was not only unselfish, it was detrimental to him because that’s what real love looks like. It’s self-sacrificing for the good of others. Jonathan wasn’t just sacrificing himself because he was co-dependent or timid. He was a strong warrior but he knew that the man he was protecting was honorable and he had to know that David carried the favor and promise of God on his life. When he met David he was a successful warrior. He gave up his weapon and armor and gave it to David. I thought about how this translates to my own life. Often times we aren’t looking out for the better of someone else because we’re too busy trying to build our own selves. What if we spent our energy supporting and building the vision that God has promised someone else instead of promoting ourselves? I wonder what would happen if we took the position of Jonathan and protected the honor of someone else. Not for their glory, but because we recognize the mark and the calling of God on them.

Message: In 1 Samuel 19 Saul was being influenced by an “evil spirit from the Lord”. Let that one sink in. His jealousy enraged him and he ordered everyone to kill David. As king he had the power and authority to do it but David had the favor of God and of the people so even Saul’s own son and daughter worked against him. It’s a crazy story and it continued that the harder Saul was oppressed, the more favor and skill he received and the more skillful he became at many things.  You can look at this story and dwell on the hardships caused by a crazy man who wanted to kill him , or you can look at all of the favor and blessing that came from it. As this year progresses I have heard so many people curse the year 2020 for all of the hardships but we are receiving an outpouring of favor also. We have to pay attention and shift our focus to see that both are happening. I would rather have the favor of God any day!!

Message: In 1 Samuel 18 David became a full-time servant to King Saul in the palace and Saul tried to offer David his daughters in marriage in the hopes of entrapping him. David didn’t carry an attitude of entitlement so Saul had to find other ways to try to kill him. He eventually put him in charge of 1000 men with the expectation he would be killed by the Philistines but literally everything Saul did to try to harm David came back to bite him because David not only excelled at everything he did, but he won the hearts and the favor of all the people and even Saul’s own son Jonathan loved him and made a covenant with him. The more Saul tried to harm him, the more God blessed him and gave him favor and success. David had been anointed king in secret but the favor of God was out in the open. He continued living a life of excellence and he won over the kingdom long before he officially took the throne. Not only that, he served the king that he would eventually replace with respect and honor even while Saul’s jealousy grew to hatred and he tried to kill David.

How does all of this apply to my life? For me the biggest take-away out of this is that David had every opportunity to get prideful and his pride would have destroyed him. Instead, David was humble and honorable no matter what Saul (literally) threw at him. He knew he would eventually take the throne, but he refused to look at Saul with disrespect and he honored him when nobody would have blamed him for retaliating. Because he chose not to take a position of entitlement, God was able to heap on the blessings. Most people probably didn’t know what kind of abuse David took from Saul, but God did and he gave him more favor and blessing than he could ever fathom. It’s so hard to do the right thing in the face of unjust behavior and abuse but God sees all of it. We are not honoring them for their abusive behavior, we choose to honor them because they are marked and chosen by God. When we really understand the power in this we won’t be able to mistreat them even when they mistreat us. David didn’t do this to earn the favor. He did it because it was right and God heaped on the favor.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 17 David showed up at the battle where Goliath was challenging Israel by defying God. The army of Israel was stuck because they were intimidated and paralyzed with fear. When David showed up and started asking questions his brothers were angry, they accused him of being prideful and they belittled him. David was undeterred and he got done what nobody else was willing to do. His years of being a shepherd prepared him for the fight and the disrespectful speech of a “gentile giant” motivated him. As I read this I thought of the many messages I’ve heard from this story over the years and many different angles. I’ve definitely heard some powerful messages but today as I read this I thought about the attitudes of everyone around David. We all want to put ourselves in the position of David and think about all of the evil people that didn’t believe in him. Today I challenged myself to see myself from the perspective of all of the naysayers. David brought provisions to his brothers under the instruction of his father and his brothers didn’t seem to have any issues with him until he started asking questions. The questions he was asking provoked them because he was motivated and they were paralyzed in their fear. They weren’t moving and they were about to be shown up by their little brother. Belittling David probably made them feel better about the fact that they were not doing anything. They needed to be believe in was an impossible fight in order to save their pride and justify their refusal to move. This made me think about some of the areas of my life that I have gotten stuck and refused to move in. The lies I have chosen to believe in order to support my lack of movement, and my attitude towards other people who have chosen to look past the appearance of impossibility. When we are unproductive we become critical towards productive people because our hearts are convicted and we are left without a real excuse. If we belittle or criticize the motivation of others it appeases the apathy in ourselves. I have definitely related to David plenty of times, but today I want to challenge myself in the areas where I have acted more like his brothers.

Message : In 1 Samuel15 Saul was given specific instructions to destroy the Amalekites for how they had treated Israel
when they came out of Egypt. God was very specific in what he told Saul to do and he wanted him to spare nothing and take nothing as spoil. Saul destroyed the Amalekites but he took King Agag captive instead of killing him. His troops took the best of all the cattle and spoils in the land but instead of telling them to destroy it all he said nothing. Samuel came to see Saul, but he was off making himself a tribute. When Samuel asked Paul if he had done what he was commanded Saul was dishonest and said that he had. When Samuel asked why he was hearing the sounds of livestock Saul changed his story and told him that he took the best of everything to give as a burnt offering and sacrifice to the Lord. He maintained his lie a few more times until he finally confessed that he was afraid of the people and chose not to appease the rather than to obey God. This is the moment that Saul lost the favor of God. As I thought about this I really felt conflicted at first because Saul had done most of what he was commanded. I wondered if it was a misunderstanding until I saw that he lied to cover his disobedience and then finally confessed that he caved because of his desire to gain the approval of his people. I thought about what that might look like in my own life. What areas have I been afraid to fully obey for fear of what friends, family and acquaintances might think. Samuel told Saul that his obedience was much more importance than a sacrifice and I wondered what “sacrifices” I had tried to offer in place of my obedience. This calls for hard examination and honesty. In order to stop lying to God Ialso have to stop lying to myself and stop offering God consolation prizes or “peace offerings” in place of my obedience.

Message: In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan, the son of king Saul separated from the rest of the army and pursued the Philistines. He fully believed that God could deliver Israel with a few men or with many. He made a plan with his armor bearer and told him they would move according to the response from God. He watched and moved accordingly and sure enough, God not only gave the 2 men victory over the Philistine army, but they were completely destroyed and this caused fear and confusion to consume them so that they fought against each other. Some of Israel’s men who had previously gone MIA suddenly came out of hiding and joined the fight. Israel fought hard to the point of exhaustion but were unable to renew their energy because Saul had made them swear an oath that none of them would taste food until all of his enemies were destroyed. Jonathan had unknowingly broken the vow by eating some honey so they were no longer winning, his life was subject to the curse Saul had spoken and instead of having the strength they needed to finish the battle they were unable to continue.
I have definitely made some stupid vows in my life but as I read this I tried to think of it in different terms. Saul sabotaged himself and his army by making a rash oath. Oaths were not something to be broken because they carried a curse. We may not make oaths like that one but we definitely set internal and emotional vows when we feel vulnerable, and those vows often sabotage our lives and keep us from moving forward. Things like “I’ll never do THAT again” or “I’ll never trust these types of people” or “I’ll never get married”…There are so many things we promise internally out of pain and vulnerability and we may not put it all together when we repeatedly find ourselves exhausted and defeated but we are the ones who set ourselves up for failure. This chapter reminds me of the importance of my thought life and my attitude towards pain. We’re all tempted to think stupid vows in the heat of emotion, but we need to take thoughts like that and dismantle them so that they don’t take hold internally. No matter how angry, hurt or defeated we feel in the moment, we need to understand that our responses affect our ability to move forward in healthy ways. I can’t possibly remember every internal vow I’ve made in my life but I’m asking God to reveal to me the ones that I have allowed to sabotage my life and hold me back.

Message: In 1 Samuel 13 we read about the fall of Saul. Saul had a constant battle with the Philistines and despite the large military presence he had established they found themselves in trouble and Saul was losing men. Not because of battle but because circumstances looked different, their morale was low and they were fearful. Saul felt the pressure mount as his soldiers were abandoning him and when the prophet Samuel was taking longer than the appointed time to show up and make the sacrifice for God’s favor, Saul’s desperation made him impatient, and his impatience made him foolish. Every Israelite knew that only a Levite priest was allowed to make sacrifices, let alone go into the holy place, but Saul went in there himself and made the sacrifice. Just as he finished Samuel showed up and told him that this had cost him the blessing God would have given him to establish his throne permanently. As I thought about this I wondered how many decisions I have taken into my own hands because of fear and desperation. I can think of a handful of them both large and small, and I wonder how close I was on some of those challenges to see how God would have turned it. Obviously it’s not wise to dwell on that, but it does help to consider how that all worked out (or not) so that I don’t repeat foolish behavior. It’s also important to note that this was beyond impatience. Saul violated the holy place by placing himself where he didn’t belong and the irony was that he did in the hopes of gaining God’s favor. This is where we are tempted to overlook the disobedience in favor of the intended desire. I used to get frustrated watching Disney TV shows where a teenager deliberately disobeyed their parents, got into a bad situation but it eventually worked out and the disobedience was overlooked because they were trying to do something nice or helpful. Man excuses disobedience and glorifies emotional desires. We assume that because we see it that way God will too. This is why we so often hear people say “Well God knows my heart” as if God is on board with their disobedience in favor of their emotional decision. Reading this I am reminded that although I am thankful for the grace of God, I need to honor Him with my obedience.

Message:  In 1 Samuel 11 Samuel was letting the people know that requesting a king for themselves was evil in God’s sight. He reminded them of all the times God rescued them from Egypt and other bad situations. He reminded them how they strayed back into rebellion each time, but each time they would call on Him He would rescue them again. Samuel told the people that although this was not God’s intended choice for them that God will do as they requested but they needed to understand that the consequences of that decision will be theirs to endure. He told the that as long as the people followed after God, their leader would too, but if the people rebelled, their king would rebel also and his rebellion would cause them anguish. As I read this I thought of all the things in life that we can choose. If we choose those things over God they have the potential to cause us harm but if we choose things under God’s order and authority he will bless them. Some of us have done things out of proper order. Relationships resulted in children born outside of marriage, or even a spouse or a job chosen outside of the timing and direction of God. This chapter reminds us that though there will likely be some difficult consequences for those decisions, but when we surrender it all to him he will bless us as we follow after him. He can’t bless sin, but he picks us up where we are and makes something beautiful out of it in spite of our past misdirection. Some beautiful things came into my life that were literally born out of choices I made outside of God’s plan and he is so gracious to bless and flourish them.

Message: In 1 Samuel 11 Saul has returned home after being anointed as king. He didn’t tell his uncle about his encounter and he had hidden himself when Samuel came to present him as king. He seemed to be trying to blend back in with his normal routine when an Ammonite man named Nahash came to threaten Israel. The people tried to negotiate with him and he agreed to let them discuss it for 7 days but his alternative plan wasn’t great. He gave them the choice to either let them kill Israel or gouge out one eye and live as their servants. When Saul caught wind of this the Spirit of God rose up in him and he gathered men and devised a strategic war plan. God was with them and they were successful so after that Saul felt confident leading, and those who had been skeptical accepted his leadership. What I took from this was that Saul didn’t know what to do with the anointing on his life until his path was filled with purpose. His confidence came in the very moment that it became necessary to take action for something bigger than himself. When he stepped out in confidence God was with him, when the people saw that God was with him they were with him too. I really believe this is how God confirms things in us too. We were all called to serve God’s purpose but if we don’t know what it is we will hide in the shadows. When we find ourselves in the middle of our purpose our confidence increases because we find ourselves fighting for something bigger than ourselves. When people see God working through us they begin to trust us too. The most important part is that we don’t ever stop our awe of fulfilling God’s purpose. As soon as we start trying to fulfill ourselves we run into trouble. Saul ran into trouble later on, but at this point he was humble before God and God was moving and working in him and through him.

Message: In 1 Samuel 10 Saul was anointed as king and then given instructions to go to certain places. He was told what he would find and what to do when he found each thing. As he followed each of the instructions they led to the next thing he had been told and each thing came to pass exactly as Samuel had spoken. When he had fulfilled each of the instructions he began to prophesy with the prophets (also as Samuel had said he would) and God changed his heart. As I thought about this whole sequence of events I realized the significance of the fact that he took each step and walked it out in both faith and obedience. After he obeyed it all God changed his heart. Sometimes I think we are waiting on a heart change in order to obey God, but God is requiring our obedience. As we obey him our heart changes towards people and situations. I thought about this for a minute and kind of laughed at how true this has been in my life. Some of the hardest obedience moments happened when I was emotionally driven and extremely resistant. God has prompted me to obey him with an attitude change long before I felt like doing it. In fact, I felt myself kicking and screaming all the way through it until that beautiful moment where my heart finally followed after the act of obedience. In this story Saul was so changed that everyone who knew him took notice and heard about it. They asked “Is Saul among the prophets?”. He was doing things he had never done before and it was not unnoticed. In spite of all of this, Saul didn’t tell his uncle what was going on and when the prophet came to present him as king he was found hiding in the supplies. This is such another interesting statement. We don’t know why was hiding. We can only speculate but we really don’t know why he was hiding. Maybe he felt overwhelmed or underqualified. Whatever the reason, I think we can all relate to times we have hidden from the calling of God for any of those reasons. Fear of failure, fear of success, feeling unqualified, unprepared or inadequate, fear of what our families will think. Whatever the reason may be we can all relate to hiding.