April 15 - 1 Samuel 20:1-21:15 | Psalm 34

Good morning everyone,

You will remember from yesterday Saul is jealous of and determined to do away with, that is to say kill, a commander in his army, someone he vowed to protect and who just happens to be his son-in-law, that guy David and he has him in his cross hairs. However David found out about Saul’s plan and with the help of his wife made a hasty escape from his home to his friend Samuel’s in Ramah where Saul would send three waves of soldiers, then go himself, to capture David, but would be unsuccessful as God would, at least for the time being, change their hearts to one of prayer. This morning we pick up with David fleeing from Ramah to go find his best friend Jonathan to figure out “what’s up?” with his dad. David’s not only scared but confused and even questions Jonathan’s friendship. Jonathan reassures him and promises to find out what’s going on, if it was safe for David to go home but Jonathan want’s a promise in return; the promise being that when David became king he would not forget Jonathan, that he would show him unfailing kindness. In those days it was custom to kill off the king leaving the throne and all of his court in an effort to minimize treason, Jonathan was dealing for his life. David made the covenant with Jonathan and waited in the field to find out what Saul’s heart was.

On the second day of the New Moon feast when Saul found out that Jonathan had given David permission to not be there he went ballistic, even going so far as to throw a spear at his own son when he asked, “Why should David be put to death? What has he done?”, making it pretty clear that it would be an unhealthy decision for David to return. So it was that Jonathan, with a heavy heart, heads back out to the field to tell David the news. These boys were like brothers, they loved each other and it broke their hearts to have to say good-bye. What I do love here though, is the stone that David was to wait by was called Ezel which translates to “the rock that shows the way.” How appropriate, that David was waiting by “the rock that shows the way” for THE Rock to show him the way. Right?

David will now head on over to Nob where he will begin a series of poor choices. He will lie to the priest which he will live to regret and he will head on over to Gath a Philistine city carrying the sword of Goliath, who came from where? … that’s right, Gath. What was he thinking?? When he realizes he is in deep trouble he starts acting like a madman and the king says “get him out of here” Whew, dodged that bullet.

There’s a lot going on here. Once David had to say good-bye to his wife, his best friend, all his other friends, his job, everything that he was familiar with, basically tossed out of his life, he was in uncharted territory. Anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one or an unwanted divorce has been where David is here. It is terribly frightening, at best, and definitely an incredibly lonely road, but I believe in my heart that it is one of God’s “training fields” so to speak. We go through those times in our lives, those experiences, for many of reasons. They allow us to build our character, allow us to know how to help someone else get through the same thing, to blindly depend on God and His infinite wisdom and so much more. Ultimately, if we allow it, God will see us through the vastness of it all, leaving us relatively unscathed and much stronger for it. 

David was confused and making poor choices and even taking matters into his own hands rather than trusting in God; yet, he still maintained his love for God. We see this in Psalm 34, while David is captured and pretending to be insane he pens a poem which clearly shows his love for God, declaring he will lift God up, praise Him at all times.  I would suggest to you, and to me, that so should be our hearts be, at all times, in every situation, praising God. Amen?

I pray you have a super good day, to God be the glory!

God bless you all …

April 14 - 1 Samuel 17:32-19:17 | Psalm 59 | 1 Samuel 19:18-24

Good morning everyone,

We begin our reading this morning with David presenting his resume to Saul in an effort to convince him that though he may not be as big as Goliath he is confident he will have no trouble taking him down, after all rescuing sheep from the mouths of lion or bear was routine for this kid. Right? Finally Saul says, “Alright then, go, and the Lord be with you.” So go David does, stopping at the stream on his way to pick up five smooth stones and it is with only those and his sling that David goes before the giant Philistine. He listens to a bit of taunting and then lets one of the stones fly, nailing Goliath in the head, killing him. He then takes Goliath’s own sword to cut off his head, which seems pretty gross to me, but nonetheless that’s what he did and took it with him when Saul asked to see him. Seriously? Can you imagine carrying the head of anyone much less a giant of a man around with you? It couldn’t have been too bad though as Saul initially was most pleased with David and made him a high ranking officer in his army.

Everywhere David went to fight the Lord was with him and he was quite victorious. The people loved David and so it happened one afternoon when David and company were returning from a battle women in the town came out with musical instruments singing and dancing to the words, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” This did not bode well with Saul, he was very angry they had given David more credit than him and then started trying to “off” David. Jonathan, the king’s son had become a very close friend to David and tried to appease the king but that only lasted a shot time and soon Saul sent men to David’s house to kill him. Michal, David’s wife would help him escape his home but before he left David sat down and wrote out a beautiful prayer, Psalm 59, to God. There is not enough room to write all that could be said about seeking God’s protection and guidance. Soon we’ll see that God answers his prayer and protects him from Saul’s men and Saul himself.

When David made his escape, because Samuel had always given him assurance, he fled to see him and tell him all of what was going on. Saul got wind of where David was and sent a group of men to capture him however when they got there and saw a group of prophets prophesying the Spirit of God came on them and they prophesied too. Saul sent men three times with the same result before he finally, in his anger.  decided to go and see what was going on ever there. When he got there we’re told the Spirit of the Lord came even on him, and he too prophesied, this time though it was no longer a confirmation of his ministry as before when he prophesied, no, this time God was running a block for David and though Saul was receptive to the Holly Spirit, his heart and his mind were still not changed, he was still far from loving God and thinking godly thoughts.

Our heart and it’s desires, dictates to a great extent how we live, for we do what we enjoy and we seek to destroy what we do not. In Proverbs 4:23 Solomon cautions us to guard our heart above everything. Make sure your affections push you in the right direction. Put boundaries on your affections and don't get sidetracked on detours that lead to sin. Keep your eyes on the the prize. Amen?

God bless you all, to God be the glory.

Have a great day …

April 13 - 1 Samuel15:1-17:31

Good morning everyone,

Well, as we begin reading this morning Saul is loosing it. His pride is taking over him and he is beginning to show disregard for what God has asked him to do. So God sends Samuel up to talk to him and basically say, “I love you, God loves you, now get it together”, then gives him the task of going down to fight the Amalekites, who you will remember gave them so much grief when Israel was on their way to the Promised Land. Saul’s instructions were to totally destroy them and their livestock but that’s not what he would do. Instead he spared king Agag along with the best livestock, and everything that was good and traveled to to Carmel where he had a monument set up in his honor.  As you may expect, the Lord was disappointed that Saul had not carried out His instructions and sent Samuel down to see him. When Samuel got there Saul says to him “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” Seriously?! This shows you how far he had fallen away from the Lord and when Samuel points out that he can hear the bleating and lowing of the livestock Saul plays the “blame game”, saying “Oh the soldiers did it.” And so it was that the spirit of the Lord left Samuel and an evil spirit would from then on forever torment him.

Now all of this totally broke Samuel’s heart, he not only loved Saul and had high hopes for him, but now he was not walking with the Lord and so he was mourning that loss when God said to him, “Come on, I want you to go anoint the guy who is going to be the next king.” So Samuel says “Okay” and travels to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse and in the presence of his brothers anointed David. It was from that day forward that the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

All the while up in the kings palace, the evil spirit is running rabid within Saul and he is getting more and more miserable within himself. One day one of his attendants says to him, “Hey I have heard of this kid, David, who plays really beautiful, soothing music on the lyre. Do you want to give it a try, you know, to help ease your torment?” It is here that  just want to say that, personally, whenever I am having a particularly grouchy time of it or under spiritual attack, I will put on worship and praise music and it always, always, always, without fail, calms my spirit. Just sayn’. Thank you Jesus!!! Anyway, the king agrees and sends for David and when David would play for Saul, it did bring him relief. The king said “hired”, so whenever needed, David would come in from tending his father’s flock of sheep and play for the king.

Chapter seventeen finds the Philistines assembled at Sokoh in Judah and the the Israelites faced off to them, camped in the Valley of Elah. The Philistines had a really big bully, I know you have all heard of him, called Goliath. He was approximately 9’ 9”, wore a bronze coat of scale armor weighing 200 lbs., and the tip of his spear weighed 25 lbs. This guy was big and strong and every day he would come out and torment Saul’s army. Well, one day while David was there delivering some bread and cheese to his brothers he witnesses Goliath taunting the Israelites and speaks up saying, “We shouldn’t let this guy goad and threaten us like that. What will be done for the guy who takes this giant down?” David’s brothers, basically tell him “Get lost, punk, we’re the soldiers here, go back to what you know … sheep.” However, tomorrow we will see who gets the last laugh as David makes a jaw dropping, sling of the stone and takes out the one they all feared.

What I loved about what we read on David today is that what a difference perspective and fear can make. In many intimidating situations I, like the Israelites, will stand back, weigh the odds and wait for the time of, if not an assured victory, then one where the casualties will be the fewest, the rewards greatest. However, my husband, on the other hand, is more of a David. He will boldly walk into any situation blindly and yes sometimes foolishly, believing he can take it on and a lot of the time goes on to claim “mission accomplished”. I often find myself wishing I were more like that. What’s most important with each scenario though, is that we listen for God’s voice and be obedient to His direction, because when do it is then that we will begin to see more clearly and be more effective in the battles God send us out to. Amen?

Have a great day to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

April 12 - 1 Chronicles 9:35-39 | 1 Samuel 13:1-23 | 1 Samuel 14:1-52

Good morning everyone,

This morning as we begin our reading we find Saul taking credit for an attack Jonathan had just successfully initiated and carried out against the Philistine outpost. Saul is now waiting in Gilgal on Samuel who had asked him to delay, for seven days, before engaging in war again. With several thousand Philistines and their charioteers assembled to fight against Israel, Saul’s men are begin to get restless. Saul recognizes their anxiety and decides to take things in to his own hands so instead of waiting for Samuel to return, Saul assumes the role of priest and makes a sacrifice of a burnt offering himself, his thinking is that now they could do battle. Not a good choice. While he was doing the right thing by making a sacrifice before going into war, he did it in the wrong way. Not only had he disregarded what Samuel had instructed him to do but it was totally against God’s law and no sooner had he finished the sacrifice when Samuel comes strolling into the camp and asked him “What have you done?” While Saul blamed it on his men, Samuel exclaimed, “How foolish!” and walked away broken hearted.

In chapter fourteen, while out and about, Jonathan says to his armor-bearer “let’s go over to the Philistine outpost and see “what’s sup”. The armor-bearer is all down with that and off they go. When they get there, Jonathan wants to be sure that they are in God’s will so he tells the armor-bearer that if the Philistines invite them up then they will know God wants them to attack, if not then they are outta there. Well, the Philistines do invite them up, taunting them, and we’re told Jonathan and the armor-bearer make their way to them using their hands and feet and in the first attack Jonathan and the armor-bearer take out some twenty men. Then though the fun begins, the Philistines are all blown away, in a state of panic because only two men were able to wipe out so many, and in their confusion start slaughtering each other. 

Meanwhile back at Gibeah, Saul’s lookouts notice all the commotion going on, tell Saul and he instructs his army to take up and chase after Philistines telling them “Cursed be anyone who eats before he has revenge on the enemy.” Jonathan had not heard this though and while he was in the woods took a bite of honey when he came upon a hive and was refreshed.  However, this was not the case with the Israelite army. The day after they had struck down the Philistines they were dead dog tired and beyond hungry, so it was they attacked the plunder, pouncing on the sheep, cattle and calves, eating them with blood in them, and as you know, that was against God’s law. When Saul heard this, he refused to see that it was him who had driven them to exhaustion blaming their behavior on someone in the camp, saying they had sinned. Jonathan stepped up and said it was true, he had eaten he was not suppose to and he must die. Saul, his own dad, didn’t want to look bad so he said, “indeed you must.” What?? That is nuts! But the people stepped up and wouldn’t let that happen and so Saul turned his attention to fighting the enemies of Israel.

How often has our pride kept us from admitting when we are wrong or from doing what is right. Saul had made a foolish oath, perhaps never thinking it would come down to him having to take the life of his son and his pride would not allow him to admit his mistake. Instead of being like Saul, friends, I would encourage you to humble yourself and be more interested in doing what is right than in looking good. Make sense? Proverbs 11:2 says “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Amen?

Have a really good day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

April 11 - 1 Samuel 9:1-12:25

Good morning everyone,

This morning we read about Saul, a guy who sets out in search of some of his dad’s missing donkeys and will find himself appointed king. You’ll remember that Samuel was getting old and the people had gone to him requesting that he appoint a king for them, you know, like all the other lands had. So Samuel prayed to God and was told that the next day someone would come  into town and he would be king. And so it was, the next day Saul, a righteous Israelite, who was big, a head taller that anyone else, and strong, rode into town in quest of information on his father’s donkeys. When Samuel saw him the Lord told Samuel, “ This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.” So Samuel spoke to Saul asked him to stay with him so that he could give Saul a message from God.

Chapter ten begins with Samuel anointing Saul with oil, Saul was to be the king of Israel. Samuel called all the Israelites together and told them God had chosen Saul to be their king and while we read the people shouted “Long live the King!” as with any political move we will also read that some scoundrels would question his ability but I love how it says “Saul ignored them.” That’s right! Friends we do so much better in all that we do if we do not listen to the negative talk of the naysayers, right?

Chapter eleven has Saul working out in the field plowing away. Now, isn’t that the first place you picture a king when you think about what he is doing? Anyway he gets message that the people of Jabesh-gilead are being threatened, they are actually in big trouble. When Saul hears this the Spirit of the Lord falls down upon him and he became quite angry. He takes the oxen he is working with, cuts them into pieces and sent them with messengers throughout Israel, basically telling the people “step up  to fight this battle with me or you will become like the ox”. I love how devoted Saul was to his fellow Israelites, how quick he was to come to their aid even though they had chose to stay on the other side of the river when everyone else crossed. Saul would march all night and his army would grow to be 300,000 strong. They would see victory and Saul would give glory to God. 

At first Saul was a King they could be proud of, a man they could look up to but in the days to come we will see that his leadership abilities were not as they first appeared to be. He was impulsive and had a tendency to over step his bounds but ultimately it was jealousy that drove him mad, but I am getting ahead of myself.

In chapter twelve Samuel gives his farewell speech, after pointing out that he had always acted with honesty and integrity he summarizes the history of Israel. He then takes the opportunity to tell them how he really feels about them wanting a king, how wicked and ungrateful they have acted; then went on to say that, however, if that’s their choice then so be it. He also tells them that poor choice alone is not enough to separate them from God, it will be only if they refuse to listen to God, abandon God’s laws, worship idols and things of that nature that God’s heavy hand would be on them in the same way as their ancestors. Then Samuel tells them he is going to have the Lord rain down on them so they could realize how wicked that had been in asking for a king. Storms were unlikely there at that time of the year, so when it thundered with lightening and pouring rain the people were terrified. Samuel reassured them though, that all would be well if they would not abandon God.

Like everyone else in the world we are going to make poor choices but as Christians we have the privilege of knowing that no matter what really wrong choice we make, God is always right there to pick us up, dust us off, tell us He loves us and send us back out into the world ready to take on another day. Our God loves us so much. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  I think we can all agree that Israel made a lot of mistakes. But does God cast them off or tell them He’s done with them? No. He says “I know the plans I have for you.” If you are His, you can be sure that God has plans for you. Amen?

I pray you have a very good day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all…

April 10 - 1 Samuel 4:12-8:22

Good morning everyone,

As we begin our reading this morning Israel has gone out to fight had taken a terrible beating from the Philistines. The elders were confused as to why the Lord had allowed this and thought it would be a good idea to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant out of Shiloh to where they were camped so that God could go with them. Their thought being this would save them from the hands of their enemies, but that would not happen. The Philistines got wind of this and they were very afraid of the gods (I love that, “the gods” shows their mentality) they’d heard had devastated Egypt years before.Their leaders instructed the troops to fight hard or they would become subject to the Israelites, and so it was that they did fight hard, slaughtering the Israelites, killing Eli’s two sons in the process and they stole the ark of God which would prove to be a very bad idea. When Eli heard that the ark had been captured he fell, broke his neck and died the same day as his sons, just as the prophet said he would.

All did not go well for the Philistines with the ark in their possession. They first took it to Ashdod and put it in the temple of Dagon right next to a statue of the guy who was half fish and half man and considered to be the father of Baal. The next morning when the went into the temple they found Dagon on his face before the ark of the Lord. The stood him upright but again the following morning he had fallen on his face, however this time his hands and his head had broken off but the Philistines didn’t recognize this as a problem.

It wasn’t until, “the Lord’s hand was heavy on them”, bringing devastation in the city through some type of plague affecting them with tumors and death, that they thought to remove the ark. It went from city to city, where each would suffer the same epidemic until finally they get a clue and decide it might be a good idea to be rid of it. So they send the ark of the Lord along with some gold rats and models of tumors in a cart hitched with two cows back to the Israelites where some people of Beth Shemesh, while harvesting their fields, saw it coming. From there it was sent to the town of Kiriath Jearim where Eleazar was consecrated and put in charge of its care.Then all the people, we’re told, turned back to the Lord.

In chapter eight we read that Samuel has grown old and his sons had not followed in his footsteps and were dishonest men. The elders of Israel approached Samuel and want him to appoint a king to govern them, “just like the other nations have.” Oh what a sad day that must have been for Samuel, while Israel had always had prophets, priests and judges God had always been their King, but he did not lash out at them, instead he went and had a chat with God who told him to give them what they want. So Samuel went to the people and tried to tell them how it would not be a good idea to have a king, painting a pretty accurate picture of how a king would lay claim to their land, property and even the daughters but they refused to listen insisting they wanted a king. Samuel took this back to the Lord and again the Lord said, “alrighty then, give them what they want” (a little paraphrasing). 

How many times do we think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. It was not so much that the Israelites wanted a King that was the problem but more the “why” they wanted a king. They were a people who were called to be separate from the others, God’s chosen, and they did not appreciate that at all. At times we are like that too, I think. We let other people’s behavior, attitudes and values direct our lives so that we can fit in or feel accepted or just keep up with the Jones’. You know? We make rock stars our heroes and movie stars our role models when the only example for our lives should be The Rock. Beware friends, when we start looking with desire at the way non-believers live it can only lead to spiritual disaster for us. I would encourage you to let God decide what’s best for you, for us, in our lives. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize, the King of Kings our Rock our Salvation because God always gives his best to those who choose to let Him lead the way. Isaiah 58:11 says The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.You will be like a well-watered garden,like a spring whose waters never fail.” I love the peace and comfort that offers.  Amen?

I pray you have a great day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …

April 9 - Samuel 1:9-4:11

Good morning everyone,

This morning we begin or reading with Hannah in the temple praying to God for a child. Eli the priest observes her there, her lips moving while she is fervently in prayer and assumes she is drunk and calls her out on that. Oh no! she exclaims, explaining to him she had not drank any wine or beer, that she is merely desperate for a baby boy and tells him of the vow she has made to God to turn the baby over to Him if only He would answer her plea positively. Eli answered her by telling her to go in peace, and encouraged her with a blessing. Though Hannah had no real proof her longing for a child would at last come to be, she chose to have faith and believe in what Eli had said to her.

Hanna does, in fact, have a baby boy, names him Samuel and when he is weaned at three years old, takes him back to the temple where after sacrificing a bull she once more has a conversation with Eli reminding him of who she was and presents Samuel to him, giving him back to the Lord, to be in His service all the days of his life.

In chapter two we read the beautiful poetic poem of praise Hannah prayed to God for the opportunity to have had, if even for a short time in her home, Samuel. Please notice though, if you will, Hannah couldn’t resist the less than kind references to Peninnah. Have you ever been in a public prayer setting and heard someone praying in a way to get someone to do something, or perhaps a way of letting you know what is going on in someone else's life in the name of prayer. It could sound something like “Oh Lord please help so and so not be so angry with their spouse for cheating on them.” When really all that need to be said was, “Be with so and so during this hard time in their life, protect them from the attacks of the enemy.” Make sense?

Samuel will grow to be a prophet and the Lord begins talking to him at a time when messages from the Lord were quite rare and visions uncommon. Having said that, one night while Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, the Lord called “Samuel”. Up he jumped thinking it was Eli who was by now nearly blind, in need of assistance. But Eli said it wasn’t him who called Samuel and told him to go lie back down. The Lord called Samuel again and again, and each time he went to Eli looking to help him, each time being told Eli had not called him until after the third time when it dawned on Eli what was going on and told Samuel to say “Speak, for your servant is listening.” the next time he heard his name called. Samuel did just that and God spoke to him about how Eli’s sons were messed up and judgement was coming to Eli and his family. Eli later asked Samuel what the voice had said to him and Samuel, bless his heart, did not want to say for fear of hurting Eli’s feelings, he did however tell him. The lord continued to reveal himself to Samuel through His word at Shilo and we’re told all Israel recognized Samuel as a prophet of the Lord.

In our world today, God typically speaks to us through the voice of our conscience, Bible verses, feelings, and even the positive urgings of other people, but do we listen? Do we slow down enough to even hear? If so, how do you, how do I respond when the Holy Spirit prompts us? Hopefully with patience and love. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of peace, who is gentle and kind. Isaiah 55:12 says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.” Let us take a lesson from Samuel and always deliver even the most difficult of messages God sends us out with in humility and kindness. Amen?

I pray you all have a great day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …