1 Samuel 4-5; Galatians 4; Psalms 77

“And Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark or the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies” 1 Sam. 4:1-3 NIV

The Israelites believed that the ark itself was their source of power. They expected it to protect them from their enemies. When the ark was captured, they thought Israel’s glory was gone and that God had deserted them. They believed that the ark would bring them victory, but when they trusted God for the victory they always won.

What am I putting my trust in?

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:4-7 NIV

I am God’s child. I am an heir.

“I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.” Psalms 77:1-4 NIV

Sometimes disappointment creeps in and it’s hard to not give up hope. I can cry out to him like David. He is near to me in my doubts. I remember His past faithfulness.

“Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalms 77:10-12 NIV

Dear Father, Thank you that even when I feel far from you, you are close. Thank you that your presence and power does not dwell in anything that can be taken from me. I have nothing to fear. In You, I already have the victory. You are holy. I praise you. Amen.

Amy(amyctanner)

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Galatians 4:12-6:18; Ephesians 1:1-14

My favourite chapter in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 3. In particular, a time to sow and a time to reap. What joy to read that here.

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. – Galatians 6:7-8 MSG

When I think about my life at work, in the church or at home, it is up to me to create a culture of honour. I can determine that and the joy of having followers subscribe to it is real. It starts with me making the decision, the choice, of treating those I am with with dignity and honour. With that comes a flow of peace and revelation from God.

Each time a follower of Jesus makes the decision to honour their leaders, they prevent the name of God from being blasphemed. When leaders honour, they create room for God’s will. In the absence of honour, there is strife and should I dare say, evil. That is why I choose honour.

When it comes to honour, I think most do not know there is a reward for honouring. Sometimes when the other person is not a follower of Jesus we think we have the freedom of not honouring them. The journey towards dishonouring them has begun under the guise of spirituality. I am encouraged to honour all leaders and in doing so, God will use my attitude of honour to reward me. I have also found that when those in leadership choose to touch His anointed, they will pay the cost for doing so.

Pride is usually the cause of dishonour as some see their giftedness as superior to the culture of honour.

I know my wife thinks I am wasting my time honouring those who do not seem to be worthy of it. There is nothing vain about sowing to the Spirit and studying to live for God, seeking to obey His will. I choose not to sow to my flesh – why would I want to harvest that? I live to seek to honour God and walking with the Spirit.

Father, thank you for reminding me again the power of the principle of sowing and reaping. May I sow in my choices to live for You and to enjoy my alone time with You. I look forward to reaping You as I spend eternity with You.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

Exodus 4-6; Galatians 6

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. ³ For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Galatians 6:2-3 ESV

We need each other. God did not create us to live in isolation, but in partnership with other believers. Bearing burdens, gently rebuking those in sin, sharing together the truths of God’s word, doing good every opportunity we find.

Sometimes I might rely too heavily on those around me. Seeking affirmation, encouragement, a shared workload. Sometimes I just feel the need to know someone has my back. Therefore, I can easily relate to Moses when called to go before Pharaoh and he immediately pulls out every excuse he can think of.

I’m afraid of snakes (Exodus 4:3)

“I am not eloquent . . . I am slow of speech and of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)

“please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13)

God does not let him off that easily. Logically, He tried simply equipping Moses to do the job himself, but even with those displays of power at his disposal, Moses needed someone physically standing by him before he could muster the courage to return to Pharaoh’s presence.

And, God also gave him a staff. That staff that I’m sure meant so much to him throughout his lifetime, not because it was special in and of itself, but because of the Giver. I wonder if he ever thought of the ways God used that simple stick and was encouraged that God just might be able to use him, too.

There were rough days ahead for Moses. Rejection, delays, stress, mountains of responsibility, discouragement, and loss. The Hebrews had their burdens multiplied and when the weight of it all seemed unbearable, God was enough.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do . . . ” (Exodus 6:1 ESV)

Sometimes, God provides all we need. Miraculous displays, people to help us in the work, a tool to get the job done. And still, the one thing we seek (Freedom, in the case of the Hebrew nation) remains elusive. They were brought very low. Waited for decades. And when there could be no doubt that only God could change their situation, He stepped in and they saw what He could do.

In the meantime, God calls us to bear each other’s burdens, lift each other up, look for every opportunity to do good to each other, and not grow weary in the waiting.

⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9 ESV

Father God, thank you that You are always enough. You give me all I need and even the faith to wait for Your timing comes from you. Help me not grow weary in the task ahead and not neglect lifting up those around me that might be even wearier than I am. Thank you for the rich promises of your word to anchor my hope on everyday. In Jesus name, Amen.

Erin (6intow)

Exodus 28; John 7; Proverbs 4; Galatians 3

Distracted driving! This is a term that has come to the forefront in the past few years. Thanks to technology, we can communicate with any one at any time. This has created quite an issue with drivers and become dangerous. For myself, I can remember being tired and driving home from work with glazed eyes just staring ahead. Once I got home, I wasn’t even sure how I got there. I have missed turns because I was having a conversation and not paying attention. Sometimes I really, really struggle to resist looking at my phone because someone texted me while I was driving. I am sorry to admit I have, on occasion, given in and tried to read and drive. That is not only dangerous to me, but it is also dangerous for anyone around me. I need to keep my eyes focused on the road before me at all times and be aware of my surroundings. This knowledge creates wisdom.

²⁰ My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
²² for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
²⁴ Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
²⁶ Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil. (Prov. 4:20-27)

Solomon has been credited with writing most of the proverbs. He is also known as the man who asked God for wisdom. (1 Kings 3:9). The dictionary defines wisdom as “knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it” (Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary). These words are a warning for our protection.  Pay attention! Remember my words, keep them in your heart, for your very life is at stake!

First, Solomon tells us to guard our hearts for everything flows from it. How true is that statement! I have let my heart make decisions for me that turned out to cause so much pain in my life. I have had to learn when it is okay to share it and when I must guard it. I need to watch what I say and speak loving, kind words—not words considered acceptable by the rest of the world. These words not only hurt my heart, they hurt the heart of our God.

I learned the hard way what happens when you do not keep your eyes on the path before you. I followed my heart into a situation that took me away from God. I took my eyes off Jesus! It seemed the right choice at the time, but God showed me that someone was taking advantage of my compassionate heart and I was being manipulated into doing something I thought was the loving thing to do. I looked away for an instant and paid the price–it led me straight into sin. Have you ever noticed that when you are driving and you look away, the car steers where your eyes are directed? We are not to turn to the right or the left but follow the path before us. We cannot let ourselves be distracted.

³⁶ “Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: holy to the Lord. ³⁷ Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the Lord. (Ex. 28:36-38) NIV

Jesus paid much too high a price for us to not listen to his words, his wisdom, which comes from his Father. Because of him, we have the Holy Spirit in us. Because of him, we have “HOLY TO THE LORD” written on our souls—not our foreheads. We do not need a priest to bear our guilt, Jesus did it on a cross. It was the greatest gift of all time. Because of him, we are acceptable to the LORD.

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:28-29)

Lord Jesus, thank you for leaving us your wisdom. Thank you for the example you lived before the eyes of the disciples that has been passed down to us. Because of you, we are heirs to a great promise and a great future. We must keep our eyes focused on you at all times looking neither to the right or the left so we will not be distracted. Help us to guard our hearts, for streams of living water flow from within us as it says in John 7. Let it flow from us to the places you want it to go. I pray this in your precious name, Amen.

Cindy (gardnlady)

 

1 Samuel 6-8; Galatians 5; Psalm 72

I’ve heard a saying that what you focus on, you get more of it.

Dear God, give me a kingdom focus.

² The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the Lord had abandoned them.
³ Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord (1 Samuel 7:2-4, NLT).

Last year I wrote down some goals in hopes to bring order and direction to my life. I had been going in too many directions, saying yes to too many people, that I didn’t really make progress in anything, in fact my efforts to make others happy took me away from the people and things God gave me to steward. When I narrowed my focus, it gave me the filter I needed to make my steps intentional. When I took my eyes off that focus, there was no shortage of requests and demands eager to distract me from the tasks that most needed my attention.

The Israelites went some time maintaining their focus on God and enjoying peace and protection. But when the backdrop began to change, they started to lose their focus and placed it elsewhere. Again.

As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. ² Joel and Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. ³ But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. ⁵ “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

⁶ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. ⁷ “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. ⁸ Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. ⁹ Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:1-9, NLT. Emphasis added.).

Samuel warns them about what life will be like under a king’s rule. And their response?

^“18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. ²⁰ “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle” (1 Samuel 8:18-20, NLT).

Even so. We want to be like the nations around us.

Even so. Would I trade God’s peace and protection so that I could resemble the world around me? So that I could make others happy and throw myself off course of what matters and what God has called me to do?

¹⁶ So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. ¹⁷ The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. ¹⁸ But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things (Galatians 5:16-23, NLT)!

Lord, help me to keep my eyes focused on you and your kingdom. I want to be directed by the Spirit and bear good fruit. Sometimes life’s backdrop changes, but you remain sovereign through all time.

Courtney (66books365)