5.19.14

1 Samuel 24:5-7 But then David's conscience began bothering him because he had cut off Saul's robe. "The lord knows I shouldn't have done that to my lord the king," he said to his men. "The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attack the Lord's anointed one, for The Lord himself has chosen him." So David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul.

My Thoughts

When I read this it brought Romans 13:1 to my remembrance, which says this, " Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God." David knew this, David knew that God puts people in power.  David's men had wanted him to kill Saul, David had only cut off a piece of Saul's robe and David knew that even that small act was wrong, David knew he needed to ask .god for forgiveness. 

We need to be very aware of this story and of Romans 13:1, it is God who puts people in power. Whether it is our president or our bosses at work. We need to honor the choice God has made and treat these people as God's anointed. Sometimes they may not see the anointed in them, but God has a plan and a purpose that we may never know and we are to respect that God knows. We are to respect the authority that God has placed above us.

I am often shocked and surprised at the people that post words and posters online agains our president. People that I know have read these very words... Every time it hurts my heart. I have been guilty myself, but once I read these words I knew that I must not make that mistake again. I have to guard my heart closely to make sure that I am very careful when I am frustrated. But I must, we must guard our hearts, our words and our post. We must remember God is in charge and we must respect that. 

I could not help but think that if we, all Americans stopped and prayed for our president, for our government what a difference those prayers would make. Prayers change things, prayers changes live vets for the better.  Grumbling and complaining, well that just puts off the blessings that God has waiting to pour out on us. Actually when we grumble and complain not only are we doing that against God, we are making the situation we are complaining about last longer. Our grumbling drags out our misery. Prayers on the other hand move things forward in the most perfect way, prayers put God into action and God knows what is best for all of us.

I challenge you that next time you are even tempted to grumble or complain about our government, that instead you send up a prayer. Be aware of how that one action changed you and how you feel in that moment. Then know that God did that to your heart, God brought on that peace. And of God can change your moment in such an amazing way, He can change the hearts of our leaders. 

5.15.14

1 Samuel 17:37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine! 

My Thoughts

David, who as a Shepard and had fought lions and bears, knew that it was not him who defeated the wild animals. David also knew that it would not be him who defeated the giant, Goliath. It was God with him who won the battles, and it was God who got credit for the victory. 

What we can learn from this is to see God in all our victories and blessings in our everyday lives. To know that God is our success, our strength, our provider, the One who looks over us and loves us. We can learn to give God the credit, to be aware of God in our lives. When we do this our confidence will grow, not in ourselves but in the One who provides for us and we will get better and better at relying on God. Then the more we rely on God the more He can entrust us with and the better our lives will become. Sure there will still be hardship and suffering along the way, even David, King David suffered hardships, but even those will be eaiser to bare with God as our strength.

David got his strength of heart from knowing God, from recognizing and remembering that God had been with Him. We can gather that same strength by being aware of God's presence in our lives, thanking Him and putting those many moments in our rememberence. When we do that we can draw courage to face life because we know that God is with us. 

5.14.14

1 Samuel 15:23a Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.

My Thoughts

This just made me acutely aware that we have to stay aware that all sin is sin. No matter how the world classifies sin, to God a sin, is a sin, is a sin. So we must be very careful of the most harmful kind of lie, the lie s we tell ourselves. We must not spend time convincing ourselves that any sin justified because of this reason or that reason. Instead we must talk to God and ourselves about how to do better the next time a similar situation arises. 

5.7.14

1 Samuel 2:9 He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. 

My Thoughts

No one will succeed by strength alone! I love this... We need God for success... We can't be strong enough, smart enough, wise enough, sweet enough, brave enough, the list can go on and on.... We need God in ever situation. God is who makes us what we are... if we walk with God, He will give us the tools we need to do what we need. We can go about life gathering what we thin are the necessary tools for success, but without God we can not succeed. My prayer each morning should be, "God today I want to be successful please step into my day and make that happen, In Jesus name, amen." 

5.10.13

1 Samuel 9:20b-22 And I (Samuel) and here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all of Israel's hopes.

Saul replied, "But I'm only form the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! way are you talking like this to me?"

 

My Thoughts

Gideon who fought with only 300 men and won great battles against thousands said the same when God picked him to lead His people.  What does this tell us?  Two things, first that nothing is impossible with God no matter who we are. 2. We are never to small to be used by God.  When God was with these men, they became great leaders.  When God is with us we can become anything that God will have us to be, God will make us able. When God does use us...it is so important that we give God all the glory!! Each day in our lives when good things happen, for us or through us, it is God's gift to us.  We need to remember this and send up praises and thanks for those wonderful things in our lives because wonderful always comes from God!

5.8.13

1 Samuel 2:25 If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party.  But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede?

 

My Thoughts

Look at that first line, "If someone sins against another person, God can meditate for the guilty party."  I loved this it made me smile. It made me realize that every single time someone had forgiven me a wrong, God was in that mediating for me!!  We give people too much credit and God too little credit.  I owe God so many thank you's for mediating for me so I could be forgiven!

 

Then after this was written God sent Jesus to mediate for us when we sin against God.  God loves us so much that He makes sure that we have a way to be forgiven! How special God treats us!! How wonderful that He has such forgiveness in His hearts for us!!  We are truly blessed!

5.15.12

1 Samuel 17:45-47 David replied to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies -- the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled.  Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head.  And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear.  This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us!"

My Thoughts

This day it was David's job to fight the Philistine.  That job for had been there in front of a whole army of men for 40 days...nobody had been about to muster up the courage to do it.  David though gave it to God... David didn't even attempt to do it on his own. He declared that it was God's battle and that God would win. He stepped up to show all the people there..and even us today... that when you gave it to God... no matter how big the problem was...that God could defeat the problem!

How many problems do we face where we sit back with the army...and wait and hope somebody else is strong enough to handle the problem?  How often do we try to just ignore a problem and hope it will go away? I do it a lot!!  What I should do is say... this battle is God's battle!!.. God can handle it...I give you all the glory God for taking care of this for me. I will step in and do my part God and I know that you will take over from there!! 

David knew that God would take over... after all God had been with him in the field with the sheep when he fought lions and bears... David had confidence that God was with him now facing the giant Philistine. When we start giving things to God..even the little things we think we can handle on our own...then we will start to see that God does take over... God does finish if we just ask Him to and we step in and get started. The more we do this..the more times we give something to God... the more our confidence builds in God and the more we are able to let go and let God..the more we are able to give up control...and the more successful we will be...not because we are able...but because we have learned that God is able!  David knew that God was able...David gave the Philistine to God. What do you need to give to God today??  I need to start out with just giving him the little things...so that when the big things come along it is automatic..it is my habit to let go and let God.

5.13.12

1 Samuel 14:24 Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, "Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening -- before I have full revenge on my enemies." So they ate nothing that day.

My Thoughts

Saul was hasty with his words... his son Jonathan was out of camp and missed what Saul said.  Saul almost had to put Jonathan, his on son to death for speaking in haste. Thankfully the men in camp respected and loved Jonathan and saved him. Saul didn't go to God before he spoke!

How often do our words, spoken in haste, effect our family, our friends, the people around us! Always probably!  We need to be careful of the worlds we speak, we need to seek God in all that we say.  Saul's words almost put Jonathan to death. Our words may not seem that drastict...but often the reverberate for years in some body's life.  Our words can change the course of a life and us not ever know it!! If our words of selfish or unkind... if they are words that tell somebody that can't because they are not good enough...we may just be the person that causes the death of a dream for somebody.  That dream may have been just the thing that would feed that person's family.

On the other hand...if we go to God and ask Him for help with our words... if our words are loving and kind..if they are generous and uplifting...if they are "you can" words.  Then maybe just maybe we can make a dream take root in somebody enough to grow.  Our words can change the course of some body's life for the good.  Our words are important and powerful... therefor they should never, ever be spoken in haste.

5.16.11

1 Samuel 18:14 David continued to succeed in everything he did, for the Lord was with him.

My Thoughts

We tend to go about seeking success in so many ways... we think if I do this... if I study that...if I work hard enough... those things are important! But the first and most important step to success is God.  If we spent as much effort studying what God wants from us... if we spent as much time talking to God as we do talking to people... we would keep God with us... and just as God made David successful in everything he did, God will make us successful in all that we do.  God always wants to be with us... He just gives us the choice. When we choose God above all else everything else follows.  Psalm 37:4  tells us Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  David did just that... David spent time with God... David talked to God all the time... David depended on God... David succeeded in everything he did.  We don't have to spend time seeking after the desires of our heart to have them... we just have to spend time seeking after God, then everything else will fall into place.  We make life and success complicated... God makes it simple. Trust and love God.  Just don't get discouraged by confusing simple with easy.  Our job is to keep our eyes and our hearts on God... then  we are in the right place for God to keep his eyes and his heart on us.

5.15.11

1 Samuel 17:37 "The Lord rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear and will rescue me from this Philistine!"

My Thoughts

I love this!... David drew from what God had done for him in the past to know what God would do for him in the future.  So many times when we face difficult situations we only see the "I cant's" we forget to go see the "God cans." David remembered what God had done for him.  He put these things in his heart. The were a part of who he would become if he depended on what God could do, not on what he could do. David became a King. The more we get to know God... the more we are able to give to God...and the more we aware we become of the things God does in our lives.  We need to place those things in our remembrance... because when we remember what God gets us through, what God does through us, what God accomplishes in our lives the more we are able to face.  When we become aware of what God can do through us we are more able to "Let go and let God." David was a Shepard who became King! ... what amazing thing could God do with us? We will never know if we don't take time to learn just what God can do.  Each day we need to give that day to God...and each night we need to put in our heart the things God did through us that day, the things God did for us that day. Then when we face our giant we can go into battle as confident as David.

5.13.11

1 Samuel 14:6b “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

My Thoughts

God can always, always, always defeat the enemy. Whether the enemy is many or few. When God sends us out to face the enemy He is with us every step of the way. When we wake up in the morning with that “I have already been defeated” feeling, that is the enemy attacking us. God is there… we just have to call out to God, give our day to Him, ask Him to help us accomplish what we need to accomplish. Actually we need to ask God what He wants us to accomplish that day. Then we need to trust in God that He has everything under control. When we give our day to God…and we live inside God’s will we put ourselves under the protection of God.

I picture like those old army formations where the soldiers get in the square… the shields out in front and on all sides… even on top with me right, slap, dab in the middles… we can move in all directions and I can stay all safe and secure even with arrows coming in my direction. But if I refuse to stay where I am told… if I move outside the protection…if I squeeze through all the people put in place to protect me… even for a moment I am in great danger of being hurt or even killed. But when I stay in the center of all those layers of soldiers I am tucked away safely.

Living in the will of God is like having layers of soldiers around us… When we read the Bible that puts one layer of safety around us…then when we pray that puts another layer of safety around us…. When we surround ourselves with godly people that adds another to our cube of safety…when we love others that puts another layer of safety around us. When God tells us to do something and we listen those layers of safety move with us, keeping out the danger. Even when we get close to the danger…even if we have to do battle that cube of safety keeps us, protects us. But if we decide to go on out on our own.. Even as we hear the holy spirit nudging us not to do so we leave the safety of that protection and risk so much. God is strong enough to win our battles!… even when it is just God and one person, God can always win. We just have to remember to put God in charge…to give it all to God. Then even when we find ourselves in a battle we can come out on the other side in victory.

5.13.10

1 Samuel 14:6b Jonathan said to his armor bearer. "Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!"

My Thoughts

God won Jonathan's battle that day!!...  and saved many men!!... Jonathan listened to God...did the things God asked and God was with Jonathan... when we spend time with God, listening to him, learning his word, doing what God ask of us, then he is with us in our daily battles... just like he was with Jonathan!!.... we need nobody on our side but God!!..... if you wake up today and it seem like a battle just to go to work... stop and talk to God... ask him to help you!!...  Matthew 7:7 Jesus says "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened." ... when we need God to help us...and that is always, we have to ask... God is polite he isn't going to intrude unless he is invited... we need to invite God into all parts of our life!!... just as Jonathan invited God into battle with him... Then nothing can hinder our progress because God is with us... fighting our battles for us!!.