NO ONE GREATER

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!

They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

1 Samuel 5:1-5

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Chapter four of 1 Samuel documented two confrontations between the Israelites and Philistines and you may recall that after being soundly defeated by the Philistines in the first battle, the Israelites decided to send the ark of God ahead of their forces in the second fight, thinking the ark alone would bring them victory.

Well, you’ll remember that disaster followed as 30,000 Israelite foot soldiers were killed along with Eli’s two sons, the priests Hophni and Phinehas. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the Philistines also captured the ark of God and took it to their camp.

In today’s message from chapter 5, we pick up there as the Philistines begin to see that they should have left the ark alone.

Speaking of those Philistines, they were obviously feeling very confident after consecutive wins over Israel and it’s also obvious that they largely credited their gods for delivering the victories. To underscore this, we read where they decided to put their newly acquired ark of God in the temple of their chief god Dagon, setting it beside the idol. Once fearing the God of Israel, the Philistines now placed the ark of that God before their false god as if it had triumphed.

They were wrong.

For the scriptures tell us that “when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day”, they found their idol Dagon “fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!” And so not really thinking anything of this, we read where they “took Dagon and put him back in his place”.

But the next morning “when they rose”, they found the idol Dagon fallen again on its face “before the ark of the Lord” only this time “his head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold” with only his body remaining. God had told the people of Israel that there would be no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3) and in Dagon’s temple, we find Him making good on His Word, ensuring the false god was where it belonged,

And as we will soon see, He will have the Philistine people doing the same next.

Through all this, we clearly see that the Philistines erred by trying to place the one true God second to their false one. When it was all said and done, God ensured that He would be restored to His rightful place, sovereign above all things.

You know, sometimes we too make the same mistake as the Philistines, placing God second in our lives behind something else. We seem to be easily distracted by the things of life, so much so that we allow them to steal away our time and talent. And so as we are forced into constantly having to prioritize things, too often we don’t put the Lord first. Instead, we try and just fit Him in after we’ve dealt with other things. And when we put Him off, then we tend to just abandon Him altogether, exhausted from handling matter of life on any one day. Then, when we defer Him until the next day and the same thing happens, you can see where He is eventually completely squeezed out of our life because we have allowed too many things to take precedence over Him.

Maybe you can relate and if I’m honest, there have been times in my life when I know I got this wrong.

Now, think about how God must feel in regard to this kind of attitude. The God who has given us everything and only wants the best for us…the God who gave His Son as a living sacrifice for you and me so we might not perish from our sins but instead have the opportunity for eternal life…the Lord God Almighty who gave us His best first…deserves far better than us making Him second to anything.

Friends, it’s high time that we get our priorities straight in life or our God will do it instead. For if we don’t come before Him, humbly submitting ourselves to Him and His authority, then He will most certainly bring us there, just as He did Dagon, even if it means having to break us in some way. One way or another, we will bow before Him, giving Him the honor and respect He deserves.

Ultimately, we need to never lose sight that there is no entity greater than our God, the Maker of Heaven and earth, the Master over all created things. It’s high time He is revered and placed where He belongs in the order of life…always first and receiving the best His people can give…all of their first fruits…now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

LOSING FAITH...SURRENDERING HOPE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

That same day, a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.

Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?" The man hurried over to Eli, who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day."

Eli asked, "What happened, my son?" The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention.

She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel" - because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

1 Samuel 4:12-22

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we saw in yesterday’s message, the first part of 1 Samuel, chapter 4, covers two battles between the Israelites and the Philistines with Israel being soundly defeated both times while suffering heavy casualties, particularly in the second battle when 30,000 soldiers died along with Hophni and Phinehas, the two priests who were the sons of the high priest Eli. Additionally, the Philistines also captured the hallowed ark of God.

Well, as we pick up where we left off and look at the remaining verses of this chapter, we see the continued fallout from the major defeats suffered by Israel…and within that fallout, we witness what can happen to God believers when they allow themselves to lose faith.

Now, we have already seen earlier indications of confusion and despair from the elders of the people of Israel as well as the people they led as they wondered how the losses to the Philistines could have happened. In fact, we see where they even begin to question their standing with God after things didn’t go well.

Of course, as we discussed previously, things could have turned out very differently if the Israelite elders and people had consulted God before they entered into conflict to make sure that it was His will for them to fight. It would have been the only way they could have guaranteed they were doing the right thing but all that was moot because they chose to make their own decisions with disastrous results.

Going back to our scripture passage for today, we read where a “Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head”. Once in Shiloh, he reported the bad news of what had happened in the battle and this news caused the town’s people to send up a cry. This cry got the attention of the high priest Eli who was “sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God”. The scriptures tell us that he was now “ninety-eight years old” with eyesight so bad that “he could not see”. He asked aloud:

"What is the meaning of this uproar?"

This prompted the Benjamite man to come to him (Eli) and give this report:

"I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day."

And after Eli asked what happened in the battle, the man told him this:

“Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."

We read where Eli didn’t take the news well for as soon as he heard it, he “fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate”, breaking his neck and dying when the ark of God was mentioned. Of special interest here, we should note that it was the news of the ark’s capture that troubled Eli more than the loss of his sons. Perhaps this is because he knew the Lord had told him it would happen and so the surprise wasn’t as great as the news regarding the ark.

And so Eli was dead and I find it a bit fascinating that a man who had dedicated so much of his life to faithfully serving the Lord in His temple would all of a sudden lose his faith to the point of reacting the way he did and dying in the process. Rather than going to God immediately and inquiring about what His plan was moving forward, Eli just allowed himself to be consumed by the negative circumstances presented to him. It reminds us that he was just as imperfect as other prominent figures we read about in the Bible…and just as imperfect as we are today.

Well after all this, the scriptures introduce us to Eli’s “daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas” who “was pregnant and near the time of delivery”. She too received bad news when “she heard…that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead”. The heartbreaking report caused her to go into a fatal labor with great pain before she gave birth and although the woman attending to her tried to comfort her despair by telling her she had delivered a son, Phinehas’ wife “did not respond or pay any attention”. We do read though that she named her son Ichabod before she died, a name that literally means no glory. She underscored the naming by saying:

“The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

She had lost her husband and father in law and now she was dying as well. All of it caused her to lose faith and hope along with it.

All of this taken in whole raises one serious question we all need to ponder:

How should we handle tragedy when it happens in our lives?

You see, I think we all can agree that it’s easy to be faithful when everything goes right in life. In fact, there would be little need for faith if our lives were perfectly trouble-free.

With this, we know that it’s in times of trial that our faith is tested and as we persevere through trouble, we find the Lord taking our faith and refining it…removing impurities and fortifying us so we might grow strong enough to overcome our challenges.

As we see with Eli and Phinehas’ wife, one’s inability to properly cope with tragedy can sometimes be fatal. For when we place our hope in anything other than the Lord, we run the risk of losing the thing we hope in, whether a possession or a person, and finding our faith gone with it.

I feel this is why people have such a difficult time handling the loss of a loved one for they have placed all their faith, hope, and trust in someone who can and will perish…and when that person dies, a void is left in the heart…a void that can only be filled by the Lord. Frankly, it would have been so much easier if the Lord had just been there in the first place.

Our Savior Jesus did some teaching that reinforces this within His famous Sermon on the Mount. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, we find Him saying this:

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” v.21

How should we apply this as Christian believers?

I think Jesus is trying to remind us to make Him the one and only true Treasure in life for all things are by and through Him…the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). And when we make Jesus our Treasure then we find ourselves ever in Him and His Holy Spirit, empowered to handle any and all situations, whether good or bad, with an unwavering faith and unmovable hope.

My brothers and sister, this is amazing good news for us to remember as we live this thing called life…that we can do all things (and this includes handling all things) through Christ Jesus who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). If Paul could feel that way while in Roman imprisonment, we can do likewise within our circumstances.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ALWAYS SEEK AND NEVER ASSUME

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 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 upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

When the ark of the Lord's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?"

When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.”

“Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!"

So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

1 Samuel 4:2-11

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we enter the fourth chapter of 1st Samuel, we see where the relative peacefulness enjoyed by the nation of Israel comes to an end. For we read where the Israelites enter into battle with an adversary they will fight over and over again. That opponent was the Philistines.

In the first encounter in this chapter, the scriptures show us that things didn’t go well for Israel for we read where they were “defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield”, a magnitude of loss that threw the Israelites into a state of distressed confusion.

We know this because when the Israelite fighting forces who survived the Philistine onslaught returned to camp and reported what happened, we find the elders of Israel wondering:

“Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines?”

Of note here, we don’t see where the leaders of Israel ever consulted the Lord before deciding to enter into battle. They just took it upon themselves to do it and now, after the fact, we see the elders pondering why their God wasn’t with them in the war with the Philistines.

Perhaps you would think that the elders would have figured out how they erred but they didn’t for we see where they tried to figure things out on their own, coming up with a new strategy, feeling that they were routed by the Philistines because the “ark of the Lord's covenant” was not with them in the fight. And so we read where the elders ordered the ark to be brought from Shiloh and it was, escorted by Eli’s two priestly sons, Hophni and Phinehas. You’ll remember that the fate of these two men was already sealed in doom by the Lord, a promised punishment for their wickedness, and so you can almost anticipate the disaster that was about to happen again.

Unfortunately, the Israelites didn’t sense any danger, quite the opposite honestly. For the scriptures tell us that when the ark arrived, the people “raised such a great shout that the ground shook”. Such was the seismic impact of their shout that it gained the attention of the Philistines who “learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the (Israelite) camp”.

How did the Philistines respond to this?

Well, we can see where the news brought a great deal of anxiety and fear because the Philistine people were well aware of the consequences that came when Israel’s God was fighting for them. This was the same God who “struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert”.

And so the question lingering in the mind of the Philistines was:

Are we next?

Well, they could have been if it was God’s will but in this instance, it wasn’t their time because the Lord wasn’t done disciplining His own people.

And so, we see where the fear of the Philistines didn’t last long for the scriptures tell us their soldiers pulled together and exhorted one another saying:

“Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!"

And with that, boy did they ever fight, defeating the Israelites worse than the first time. We read where the Israelite “slaughter was very great” as “thirty thousand foot soldiers” were killed as well as Eli's two sons, just as God had promised. Adding insult to injury, we also see where the Israelites lost their beloved, holy ark of God as well after the Philistines captured it and took it to their camp.

So what went wrong for Israel in this passage?

I believe they simply assumed that God was everywhere that the ark was. Or in other words, they felt they had control of God’s presence by placing the ark where they wanted it…in this case, the middle of the Philistine battle they fought without first seeking God’s guidance. This Israelite assumption ended up being a very fatal one…a tragic lesson learned with great loss attached to it.

In my view, there are two distinct lessons we can learn from the Israelite mistakes highlighted in this passage.

First, we should never move forward into any venture without first turning to God and seeking His will and guidance. We should always ask how He wants us to handle out life situations and circumstances…and then do what He commands with the utmost obedience.

Israel’s problem was that they dove into battle not even knowing if it was what God wanted and unfortunately, many Israelites died needlessly. This underscores how bad things can and will happen to us in life when we willfully decide to not seek God’s direction before we do things.

Secondly, we should never assume that God is confined to any one object or place. In other words, God isn’t under our control so that we can place Him where we want Him to be.

The bottom line is that God will always be where He wants to be and no one dictates these terms to Him.

As we look at the nation of Israel in this passage, they had this backwards. They figured God was in the ark and therefore would be wherever they posited it. Unfortunately, they discovered the hard way that they couldn’t just place the Lord where they wanted and had they only asked God in the first place if He would be with them in the fight, they would have known His full intentions.

Friends, we need to always remember that it is God who ordains and prescribes all things, not us. He has been, is, and will always be in control but if we try and take charge, He will let us just to show us how much we can make a mess of our lives when we try to take over. I know I can relate to this and maybe you can as well.

And so to keep from learning the hard way, to keep us out of trouble, let us see that we only need to seek the Lord always…every second of every minute of every hour of every day, trusting and knowing that He will always lead us right to where he wants us to be so to do just what He wants us to do.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

MAKE THE LORD'S WORD YOUR WORD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of His words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word. And Samuel's word came to all Israel.

1 Samuel 3:19-21, 4:1

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Earlier in 1 Samuel, chapter 3, we found the young Samuel coming to know and listen to the voice of the Lord who shared with him the judgment that was coming on Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. We also learned that the Lord’s Word had not yet been revealed to Samuel as he served in the temple under Eli’s guidance (3:7).

Well, as we see in the closing verses of chapter 3 and the opening verse of chapter 4, things were about to change drastically as Samuel grew stronger in his relationship with God.

This shift begins when we see that the Lord didn’t just appear to Samuel on occasions when He wanted to have him give a message to someone but was with him (Samuel) at all times as he continued to grow up, helping him become stronger and stronger in His Word and way. This led to God ensuring that everything Samuel said was in truth…that “none of his words” would “fall to the ground”. This was because the words that Samuel spoke were really the Lord’s Words…and given that He is perfectly true, any words spoken that He provided would be perfectly true as well.

So what was the end result of this?

We see in the scriptures where Samuel gained credibility and respect among the Israelite people as “all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized” that he was “attested as a prophet of the Lord”. This was because “the Lord continued to appear at Shiloh”, revealing “Himself to Samuel through His Word”.

And so in turn, Samuel's word, which was really the Lord’s Word, came to all of Israel.

In this passage, we see what can happen when anyone decides to fully commit themselves to the Lord and His calling. For when we, as Christian believers, offer ourselves up to Him as a living sacrifice, just as His Son Jesus did, we choose to surrender everything over to His will…all our actions, our goals, our plans, our words, and our thoughts.

Or put in simpler terms, our lives.

In turn then, everything that we are is of the Lord. We become one with Him…body, mind, heart, and soul. And this leads to Him revealing Himself through our lives, allowing us to gain credibility and respect among others because everything we do, say, or think is done in the perfect truth and righteousness of the Lord.

Indeed, there’s beauty found in allowing the Lord to dictate all that you do…and this includes making our words His words.

Are you doing this today? Have you set yourself aside so to allow the Lord to fully show Himself through the way you live?

If so, then you’re reveling in the joy that comes from serving Him with every fiber of your being, producing acts of service that bless others in a special and edifying way…the way that Jesus blessed others during His ministry…a way that supports the Great Commission which He gave us with the command to make disciples of all nations.

If you’re reading this today and you haven’t dedicated yourself to make the Lord’s Word your word, why not do it today?

For rest assured that He is waiting and longing to be in a close relationship with you, fully revealing Himself and ready to guide you in His Spirit and truth. He so wants to make it so that none of your words fall to the ground, like Samuel, and ultimately to make you respected among your peers so that they might see you as unique and set apart as every part of you is fully in harmony with Him.

Today and every day, let’s give thanks that we serve a Lord who desires to fully invest Himself in us so to help us live the best life imaginable, now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOOD IN HIS EYES

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And the Lord said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. At that time, I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family — from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"

Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son."

Samuel answered, "Here I am."

"What was it He said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He told you."

So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes."

1 Samuel 3:11-18

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the opening verses of this chapter, we found God calling for young Samuel while he was trying to sleep but he didn’t recognize His voice instead thinking it was Eli. It took Samuel going to the priest three times before Eli figured out what was happening and so he told Samuel what to say if the Lord called a fourth time. You’ll remember he was to tell God that he was His servant and was listening.

So what did God want to tell Samuel?

In today’s passage, we learn the answer to that question for as Samuel listens, the Lord tells him that He was about to do something in Israel that would “make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle”.

What was He about to do?

God made it clear that He was about to “carry out against Eli everything” that He had “spoke against his family — from beginning to end”, carrying out His promise to “judge (Eli’s) family forever because of the sin he knew about after Eli’s sons had “made themselves contemptible” and “he (Eli) failed to restrain them”. To underscore the seriousness of the judgment He was delivering, the Lord added that there would never be atonement for Eli’s family “by sacrifice or offering”.

And with that, the Lord finished speaking.

Now, we should see where this left the young Samuel in a real quandary for he had just received news of a terrible judgment that the Lord was going to bring on Eli and his family. We read where the weight of bearing this bad news left Samuel “afraid to tell Eli the vision” as the next day dawned but what he didn’t know was that Eli already knew about what the Lord was going to do, having received the same message about punishment earlier (1 Samuel 2:27-36).

So when Eli called for Samuel and asked, “What was it He said to you?", Samuel must have given him an indication that he didn’t want to share it because we find Eli following up his question with a demand saying:

“Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He told you."

And so “Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him” while making Eli aware of the judgment and after hearing a repeat of what he had been told before, Eli made a remarkable statement saying:

“He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

Eli knew that he and his sons had failed to carry out their important responsibilities and therefore accepted accountability, submitting to the Lord and the consequences that were coming, trusting in the Lord’s ability to know what was best.

You know, I’m not sure too many people would have handled this the same way, understanding that God’s penalty was deserved and accepting fate. Perhaps a lot of people would have tried to convince the Lord that they really hadn’t done the wrong or maybe try and make the case that His judgment was excessive and unjust. Still others might become angry with God and curse Him for holding them responsible for their sins.

As we go back to Eli, he surely could have sulked and complained that it should have been his sons punished and not him. After all, weren’t they the ones who had disobediently violated the priestly duties assigned to them by God? Why not just punish them? And what about all the years of service he (Eli) had rendered to the Lord in the temple? Shouldn’t that be taken into consideration in some way so to gain some form of pardon?

But Eli did none of this. Instead, he submitted to the Lord’s judgment…to what was God saw as “good in His eyes”.

So what exactly is good in the Lord’s eyes?

Simply put, the answer is anything the Lord does because all His actions are perfectly good, including His discipline. His will is flawless and there’s no question that He has a will for everyone and everything. When it comes right down to it, God’s will dictates the way our lives go.

Let’s examine a couple of examples from the Bible where God’s will was done in the way of acts that were good in His eyes.

First, let’s start at the beginning of creation and see where things were good in His sight right from the very start.

For in Genesis, chapter 1, we read about God’s creative work and see where the scriptures say over and over again that He saw that it was good. Indeed, all things that were created started out good because God created everything that way. This truth is affirmed by Paul’s words to Timothy when he writes this:

“For everything God created is good…” 1 Timothy 4:4

And so, we are created good and in God’s own image but after the great fall in Eden’s garden, the bad of sin infected God’s perfectly good creation and every single person born from Adam and Eve (and we all trace back to them) was afflicted in a way that would ever seek to draw people away from the goodness God created in us. Indeed, sin seeks to make us wicked and carry us away from God’s will which in turn, diverts us from doing what is “good in His eyes”. Consider these words from Paul’s letter to Titus:

“To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” 1:15-16

Eli’s sons had allowed themselves to be corrupted by their sinfulness and thus their actions showed they denied Him. They became “detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good” and the same thing will happen to us if we allow sin to get a foothold in our hearts and minds.

You see, under the influence of sin, we lose our ability to do anything good in the Lord’s eyes. And this can lead to Him deciding that judgment is necessary to get our attention, turn us away from our transgressions, and return to Him and His goodness. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings God can give to us is His correction to get us back on course. He doesn’t give up on us but rather seeks to get us back on track, even if punishment is needed to help us turn from iniquity and return to the His favor.

A key factor in all this, in the needed conviction and then direction to renew our hearts, minds and souls, is the work of the Holy Spirit who ever seeks to lead us back to live as Jesus did. Going back to Titus, we find Paul sharing this:

“At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” 3:3-8

Indeed, we were all lost and doomed to destruction from the sin that afflicted us and sought to draw us away from God, our Maker. But then Jesus came to bring hope to a hopeless people…all by the grace of the Lord and His love for us.

So why did God do this?

Why did He send and sacrifice His only Son to suffer and die on the cross for us…sinners who needed a Savior in order to be saved from Hell and gain the sure hope of eternal life in Heaven?

The answer is simple.

Because it was good in His eyes…and thanks be to Him that it was.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

HEARING THE LORD'S VOICE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the Word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, "Here I am." And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

Again the Lord called, "Samuel!"

And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if He calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'"

So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"

Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

And the Lord said to Samuel…

1 Samuel 3:1-11a

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Unlike Eli’s wicked sons, Samuel grew up as a servant of the Lord and ministered to Him under Eli’s guidance.

In our passage today, we read where “the Word of the Lord was rare” in those times and “there were not many visions”. This provides an important backdrop for our scripture passage today and helps us better understand how “Samuel did not yet know the Lord” because “the Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him”.

As we will see, that was about to change.

For we read where one night as Eli and Samuel were settling down at the end of the day and lying in the temple under the glow of the “lamp of God”, the Lord entered the scene and called to Samuel who thinking it was Eli goes to him saying:

“Here I am; you called me."

Surprised because he hadn’t called Samuel, Eli at first must have thought that Samuel was having a dream, replying:

“I did not call; go back and lie down."

And so Samuel did, only to have the same thing happen…not just once but twice. And in both subsequent instances, he went back to Eli, certain that it must have been him calling as he couldn’t see anyone else. It was only after Samuel’s third visit that we see Eli finally figure out what was happening and so he gave Samuel the following instructions:

"Go and lie down, and if He calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'"

And so Samuel did exactly what Eli told him to do and when the Lord called for Samuel the fourth time, he asked God to speak because he (Samuel), the Lord’s servant, was listening. With this, we see the Lord begin to speak to Samuel directly, a conversation we’ll look at in tomorrow’s message.

But for today, I want to zoom in on the matter of the Lord speaking to us because He continues to do so each and every day. When He speaks, some will recognize Him and be ready to communicate, eager to receive His Word and will. But sadly, there are others who don’t know the Lord and aren’t interested in knowing Him. They willingly choose to not have a relationship with Him and so when He tries to call them, they tune Him out of their lives.

Thank goodness that Samuel had Eli to help him understand what was happening that night, helping Samuel to open the doors of communication with the Lord he served. Believers today carry the same responsibility but their tasking is directly from Jesus as commanded in the Great Commission. Every day, their chief goal is to actively seek to make disciples of all nations. For when we are actively seeking to make disciples, we are actively seeking to connect people to the Lord through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. And after that connection happens, the Lord takes over, ever providing instruction and guidance.

As you read this today, where do you find yourself?

Are you like Samuel, hearing the Lord’s call but unable to recognize that it is Him calling you?

Or are you like Eli, able to discern when God is speaking and always ready and able to help others connect with Him when they might have trouble perceiving the Lord’s voice?

Whether we are like Samuel or Eli, one thing is certain…the Lord is calling His people who should always be listening for His voice. Let us open our ears, our hearts, and our minds to receive Him while giving thanks that our Maker and Master loves us so very much and longs to have a personal relationship with us…now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.