A LORD WHO WON'T BE HINDERED

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash. Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the desert.

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash. One day Jonathan, son of Saul, said to the young man bearing his armor, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father.

Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez, and the other Seneh. One cliff stood to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

Jonathan said, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands."

So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. "Look!" said the Philistines. "The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in." The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson."

So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel." Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him.

The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack, Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

1 Samuel 13:16-23, 14:1-14

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

As chapter 13 of 1st Samuel ends, we find the Israelites at a disadvantage because the Philistines had taken control of all blacksmithing services, charging exorbitant prices for “sharpening plowshares and mattocks…forks and axes and…repointing goads”. And so Israel, “on the day of the battle”, was left with “not a soldier…(having) a sword or spear in his hand”. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had a suitable weapon and as we see in the opening verses of chapter 14, Jonathan, Saul’s son, puts his weapon to use.

For we read where he (Jonathan) said to the young man bearing his armor:

“Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side."

The armor bearer agreed to go but neither told anyone what they were doing or where they were going. This left the king Saul unaware as he stayed “on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron” with “six hundred men”.

Well, as Jonathan and his armor bearer traveled to the Philistine outpost, they came to a pass they needed to cross that had a cliff on each side, “one…(standing) to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba”. At the pass, we find Jonathan make an important statement to his armor bearer saying:

“Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."

To which the armor bearer replied:

“Do all that you have in mind…Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

And with that, they prepared to cross over but not before Jonathan shared his strategy with his accomplice:

“Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands."

And so the stage was set.

Jonathan and his armor bearer “showed themselves to the Philistine outpost” and got the attention of the soldiers there who issued the following challenge:

“Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson."

The Philistines soon found out they had it wrong. For it was Jonathan and his armor bearer who would be teaching lessons on this day. The scriptures tell us that Jonathan responded to the Philistine request by telling his armor bearer to “climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel."

And that’s what happened.

For we read where Jonathan and his armor bearer climbed up and attacked as the “Philistines fell before” them both. The end result was devastating for the Philistines for in the attack “some twenty men in an area of about half an acre” were killed. Truly, God had handed the Philistines into the hands of the two Israelites.

So what’s our takeaway from all this today?

The answer comes within Jonathan’s words about the Lord in verse 6, as he says this:

“Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."

Jonathan knew that he and the armor bearer would be outnumbered by the Philistines at the outpost and both could have faced certain death at the hands of a more superior opponent, and yet, they went forth boldly in faith and confidence because they knew they had something the Philistines didn’t. They had the God on their side…a Lord who can’t be hindered from saving when it’s His will to do so.

Indeed, we serve a Lord today who still can’t be hindered.

He can’t be hindered from providing.

He can’t be hindered from protecting.

He can’t be hindered from blessing.

He can’t be hindered from administering justice and discipline.

He can’t be hindered from loving.

And as we’re reminded in this passage, He can’t be hindered from saving.

The bottom line is that our God, the same God of ancient Israel, cannot be hindered from doing anything that he wants to do. He is unstoppable because He is God, absolutely sovereign and omnipotent…with no rival.

Jonathan believed that he could do anything as long as the Lord was with him because the Lord cannot be hindered from saving. And the Lord delivered, honoring his faith.

Later in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul also understood and knew the Lord he served, sharing that he could do all things through the strength of the Lord, the One who can empower believers so they might not be hindered by the difficulties of life (Philippians 4:13). Go back and read about Paul’s missionary ministry and you’ll see why he could write those words for he was delivered by the Lord time and time again as he labored for the cause of the Gospel.

Friends, let us never doubt or lose faith in the Lord’s ability to do anything in our lives as well, no matter the circumstances. For the scriptures assure us that nothing can hinder our Lord and this means that all things are possible in and through Him (Luke 1:37).

Thanks be to God for the hope and peace that comes within that truth.

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.

WAIT ON THE LORD

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

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

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

"What have you done?" asked Samuel.

Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

1 Samuel 13:1-15

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

Up to this point in 1st Samuel, all has seemed well with Saul, the first king selected by God to lead His people in Israel. But as we reach chapter 13, we shouldn’t forget the warnings that God gave the Israelites when they asked for a king in the first place…warnings that appeared to indicate that things with Saul wouldn’t turn out as well. As we can see in our passage, that happened.

For as Saul was encamped at Micmash near the hill country of Bethel with two thousand men from Israel, his son, Jonathan, attacked a Philistine outpost at Geba…an act that angered the Philistines who “assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore”. In response to this, we see where Saul sends word to the Israelites that a battle is soon to happen, summoning all the Israelites to join him at Gilgal. Ironically, we read where the Philistines assembled at Micmash, where Saul had just departed.

So the battle lines were drawn and the sheer number of Philistine troops resulted in panic among the Israelite troops. The scriptures tell us that some of the Israelites “hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns” while others “crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead”. Meanwhile, “Saul remained at Gilgal” and “all the troops with him were quaking with fear”.

Indeed, the situation wasn’t looking good for the people of Israel but note one important thing here. No on Israelite, including their king, ever turned to God for guidance or help. Instead, we see a major flaw in Saul’s character emerge as he decides to rely on his own wisdom instead of seeking the Lord’s…and in doing so, he would suffer extreme consequences for his actions.

You know, it would be very easy for someone to read this turn in Saul’s life and judge him for it but perhaps we should stop before doing so and consider how often we make the same mistake as he did.

For how often do we, when situations in life tend to get difficult, turn away from seeking God and His guidance and/or assistance in the midst of our hardships and instead try and assume control over the situations ourselves. Essentially, we conscientiously sideline the Lord as if we can do better on our own without Him, particularly when He doesn’t act in a timely fashion that is to our liking. In our humanity, we don’t like to wait and so we allow the enemy to take advantage of our impatience, leading us to sin against the God who has the power and ability to handle anything and everything we will ever go through.

At its core, it really is an absolutely foolish choice if we really think about it.

Well, thankfully God has blessed us with several scriptures passages which address this matter of waiting on the Lord. Let’s use them to break down Saul’s actions at the end of this passage and, in doing so, hopefully learn from the Word so to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

1. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

As the Philistines assembled and prepared for their assault on Israel, Saul waited at Gilgal for Samuel. You’ll recall that Samuel had told him to go there and wait seven days, at which time Samuel would arrive and tell Saul what to do (1 Samuel 10:8).

Now given that Samuel was a prophet, we know that he spoke messages from God Himself. And so when Samuel told Saul to wait for seven days so to receive instructions on what to do, Samuel was essentially telling Israel’s king to wait so to hear what the Lord wanted him to do.

And so Saul “waited seven days…but Samuel did not come to Gilgal” on that last day before Saul began to get impatient. His “men began to scatter” and Saul started to feel like things were beginning to unravel as he faced a threatening, enemy force. And so rather than go to God and ask what he should do, he takes matters into his own hands, demanding that the “burnt offering and the fellowship offerings” be brought to him. He would then offer “up the burnt offering” himself.

Through his actions, we can see Saul showing that he wasn’t very strong nor willing to “take heart and wait for the Lord”. He felt that by acting on his own accord, he could solve the issue at hand and lead the Israelites to victory himself. After all, he was the king of Israel but as will see, his arrogance and pride would lead to his downfall.

Like him, we will also find ourselves failing and falling every time we decide to not wait for the Lord in the midst of any circumstances we may find ourselves in.

2. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in His word, I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

Going back to our passage, we read that “just as (Saul) finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him”. Sensing something was amiss, we see Samuel asking Saul:

“What have you done?"

Immediately, Saul tries to justify his actions to Samuel saying:

“When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."

As we see, his reasoning did not set well with Samuel who told Saul that he had acted foolishly because he had not “kept the command the Lord gave (him)”. Indeed, Saul allowed his anxiety to get the best of him, causing him to not wait on the Lord. And as we look closer at this passage, we see where Israel’s king made a second error as well…for he failed to place his hope in the Word of the Lord. If he had, then he would have waited for Samuel to come and tell him what he should do…which as we have covered was really what God wanted him to do.

Friends, we need to give attention to where Saul went wrong here and resolve to never stop placing our hope in God’s word for it’s there that we find the strength and power to persevere through life in faith, able to carry on through whatever difficulties we go through. There is no doubt that His word instructs us, guides us, comforts us, and empowers us to make it through whatever life brings our way…and helps us to wait on the Lord to act in His perfect time and in His perfect way.

3. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18b

So Saul had chosen to not trust in the Lord nor place his hope in God’s word.

Going back to our passage for today, we see where he now would face the consequences for his actions because the scriptures make it clear that He (the Lord) is a “God of justice”. We read where Samuel passes the following sentence on Saul for his wrongs, a sentence imposed by God Himself.

First, Samuel tells Saul what could have been.

For had Israel’s first king simply trusted in God, waiting for His Word’s of instruction to come, then the Lord would have “established (Saul’s) kingdom over Israel for all time”. That wasn’t going to happen now because Saul failed to wait and his error would cost him authority over the entire kingdom of Israel.

We read where Samuel tells Saul that his “kingdom will not endure” because “the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people”, all because Saul hadn’t “kept the Lord's command." Through the dismissal of Saul, we find the Lord showing is that He wouldn’t tolerate someone who decides to lead His people without Him. Saul had chosen to separate himself from God and so now God was going to turn His favor away, transferring it to another man who was after His heart…a man we know as David.

My brothers and sister, this passage provides us a stern warning for we should never lose sight that we serve a God of justice…a God who will discipline us as a father might discipline his child when they error. After all, He is our Heavenly Father.

Saul lost his kingdom because he failed to wait on the Lord and place his hope in His word. We can expect consequences as well if we do likewise so my prayer today is that we’ll never lose our patience while allowing the Lord to do His mighty, amazing work in our lives. May we persevere through times of trouble, waiting in faith for Him to reveal His power and goodness to us, no matter what.

To that end, His Word assures us that “Blessed are all who wait for Him” so let’s be a people who continuously stay blessed by the One who grants every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

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.

MADE TO BE GOD'S OWN

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

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

Then Samuel said to the people, "It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt. Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your fathers.

"After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God; so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and the king of Moab, who fought against them. They cried out to the Lord and said, 'We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.' Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely."

"But when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us' - even though the Lord your God was your King. Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against His commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God - good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers."

"Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king."

Then Samuel called upon the Lord, and that same day, the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel. The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."

"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of His great name the Lord will not reject His people, because the Lord was pleased to make you His own. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

1 Samuel 12:6-25

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

How often do we forget about all the good things God has done for us in life?

You know, we’re human at our core and so sometimes we allow our life’s circumstances to overwhelm us to the point when we feel helpless and hopeless, too often forgetting how much God has blessed and delivered us through prior difficulties. And with this, it never hurts to be reminded by someone about how great the Lord has really been…so we can refocus and reassure ourselves on His power to deliver us in the present and future.

In our scripture passage for today as we continue studying the twelfth chapter of 1 Samuel, we’re reminded how Israel forgot that God had displayed His greatness through their lives and in the lives of their ancestors. Indeed, the Lord had ruled and reigned over mankind as the King of Kings since the dawn of creation and throughout that time, we see in the Old Testament where He had especially cared for the Israelites, His chosen people, during their history. And yet despite this, the people of Israel demanded that a human king would lead them…even though they already had the greatest King they could ever hope for. The bottom line is that the Israelites turned their backs on God’s leadership to be led by a mere man…and Samuel wasn't about to allow them to forget it.

And so as we see in our verses for today, Samuel spends a lot of time reminding the people of Israel just how much God had done for their forefathers and them as He performed many mighty, righteous acts.

But the people of God quickly became disobedient and turned away from Him, just as the people were doing in the latter days of Samuel’s life. Beginning with the deliverance of the Israelites from Pharaoh and Egypt's oppression and their subsequent arrival in the Promised Land, Samuel underscores how the ancient people of Israel had turned away from God, conveying essentially that nothing had changed in present times. He reminds the Israelites that their relatives "forgot the Lord their God" and, as a result, suffered the consequences for it as "He sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them". It was while in the grips of that enslavement that the people "cried out to the Lord” saying:

“We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.”

And with that, with the people of Israel now turned back toward God in faith, He delivered them from the hands of their enemies, sending Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel” – all who were appointed judges over Israel – “to their rescue."

At that point, you would have thought Israel would have learned their lesson but they didn't.

For as "Nahash, king of the Ammonites was moving against" Israel, they went to Samuel and requested a king to rule over them, "even though the Lord…was (their) King.” And so a king they received as God chose Saul and placed him in rule over Israel, something that didn’t change His (the Lord’s) expectations for His people for their were still required to "fear the Lord and serve and obey Him", not rebelling "against his commands". Basically, all would be fine for Israel if the people and their king followed God in every way but if the reverted back to the past sins of disobedience, especially as it regarded the worship of false gods and idols, then God's hand would be against them "as it was against (their) fathers."

Now, Samuel could have just stopped there in making his point but he didn’t because God had more to say, words that would place an exclamation mark on what was already said.

For the scriptures show us how Samuel informed Israel that the Lord was about to do a great thing before their eyes. And after reminding everyone that it was the wheat harvest, Samuel called on the Lord to "send thunder and rain" so that the people would "realize what an evil thing (they) did in the eyes of the Lord when (they) asked for a king."

So Samuel did as he said he would do, calling upon the Lord and we read where "that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain".

What was the end result of this miraculous display?

We find it in our passage where we read this:

All the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel and said, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."

Here we see where the Israelites literally feared for their lives and they should have over the sinful way they had conducted themselves, finally coming to the understanding of their position before a God who hates sin and doesn't take lightly to being placed second in life, especially since He and He alone created it.

Before we close, we need to make sure we don’t miss what happens at the end of chapter 12 for it’s there that we learn much more about the almighty, powerful God of Israel…the Lord God Almighty. For in the midst of the people's fear, we find Samuel reassuring them with these words:

"Do not be afraid…You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of His great name the Lord will not reject His people, because the Lord was pleased to make you His own...But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."

Do not be afraid.

We have heard these very words spoken before by God Himself when He was seeking to comfort His people, especially in the first chapter of Joshua as he and the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan to capture Canaan, the land He had promised them. Here, we find Samuel using the words for the same purpose, not glossing over Israel's wrongs by any means, but telling them that redemption could be gained because they served a loving, caring, merciful God…the God who would not reject them…the God who was pleased to make them His own. All the people of Israel had to do was turn from their wicked ways…to not turn from the Lord but instead to serve Him with all their heart. In order to do this, they had to refuse worshipping the useless idols of the Canaanites for God had commanded and demanded that there would be no other gods before Him.

So as long as Israel feared the Lord, served Him faithfully with all their heart, and ever kept in mind all He had done for them, the people of Israel would find themselves in His favor. However, if they refused to abandon their evil ways, then they would be swept away…and unfortunately, as we go through the Old Testament from here, we’ll see where this indeed does happen as the nation of Israel fails and falls. This is because they persisted in doing evil and as a result were “swept away”, the Northern Kingdom to Assyria and the Southern to Babylon.

Through it all, one thing they could never say is that they weren’t given a chance to change and be the people God wanted them to be.

As we seek to apply this scripture to our own lives, we’re reminded how we were created in God's own image on the sixth day, a day that He saw was good. (Genesis 1:27) In other words, the Lord was pleased to make us His own and after the great fall in Eden’s garden, he was unwilling to see us perish in our sin and so He, out of the depths of His great mercy and grace, made the way to redemption by sacrificing His only Son Jesus for us to pay the price for our sins. Thus, anyone who would simply believe in Jesus would gain the promise of life everlasting where they would be able to abide with God forever…all because He was pleased to make us His own.

Friends, let us never take this amazing gift for granted as Christian believers today, intentionally choosing to live our lives with an attitude of gratitude, ever showing God our appreciation for all that He has done, all He is doing, and all He is yet to do. We should be always ready to testify to His goodness and share the good news of the Gospel, fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission calling. For if we truly commit ourselves to doing this, we will show the Lord that we are pleased to be His own, not just for now but 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.

STRIVING FOR INNOCENCE

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.

Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."

"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

Samuel said to them, "The Lord is witness against you, and also His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand."

"He is witness," they said.

1 Samuel 12:1-5

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

At the end of 1 Samuel, chapter 11, you’ll remember that Saul was reaffirmed as Israel’s first king at a celebration in Gilgal. All the Israelites acknowledged him as the one God had chosen to lead His people.

As we chapter 12 opens, we see where Samuel, the former judge who led Israel, takes center stage in what becomes a farewell address. Through his words, we are reminded of how he spent a lifetime of service to the Lord and, in doing so, he gained an important benefit…the benefit of innocence.

We know this because Samuel presented his life for prosecution by the very people he led. For after he reminds the people that he listened to their call for a king by going before the Lord, leading to Saul’s selection, Samuel begins to summarize the way he conducted himself as their leader.

First, we read where he refreshes their memory as to how long he had been in a position of leadership over them, reminding them that he was their “leader from (his) youth” up to the very day that he was speaking to them…a very long time indeed since Samuel was now “old and gray”.

Next, Samuel essentially places himself on trial with the Israelites serving as his jury. The scriptures tell us how he dared the people of Israel to bring a charge of wrongdoing against him saying:

“Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."

Note here that Samuel was pretty much asking for anyone to speak up and against him if he had done anything wrong against those he had led…and he did so not just in their presence but in the presence of the Lord as well. Of interest, you may remember that the Israelite people had already been pre-warned about what was going to happen if they went through with their request to have a king. In essence, they were assured to suffer all the injustices they didn’t suffer under Samuel’s rule.

Well, we see how no one blamed Samuel for the people responded to his request for accusations by saying:

"You have not cheated or oppressed us…You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

With this determination of innocence, we could have found Samuel asking sarcastically:

“If I was so great, why did you want to get rid of me and have a king instead?”

But Samuel didn’t do this. Instead, we find him sealing their profession of his innocence by saying the following:

“The Lord is witness against you, and also His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand."

And they confirmed their decision by replying:

"He is witness."

Now, we know Samuel wasn’t perfectly righteous because no mere human being has ever been, And so while he may have been seen as blameless in the way he led Israel, he was still a sinner nonetheless…just like you and me. And yet, there was something that distinguished Samuel…something that helped him lead in a way that left a positive impression on the Israelites. For Samuel allowed God to take the lead, dictating what he did and this is what led him to gain the well respected reputation he held with Israel’s people.

This leads me to wonder how we would fare in life if we carried ourselves as Samuel did. Consider these hypotheticals:

You’re together with your family for the holidays. Everyone is in a room together and you stand up before them, asking if you had ever wronged anyone there. This includes whether you adequately kept in touch with them, if you ever had gossiped or spread rumors about any of them, or if you had ever mistreated any of them in any way, shape, or form. Basically, you’re seeing whether or not someone has a charge to bring against you.

How do you think that would go?

Or maybe you’re in your workplace and a meeting is going on with your boss. Everyone is present and at the meeting’s end, you ask to address everyone.

Given permission, you stand before them and ask if anyone has a charge to bring against you…any charge of wrongdoing that you might have committed against any of them. You want to know if they have seen you as always being a team player, willing to do whatever was needed to ensure they (your co-workers) succeeded. You also are curious if you had ever let them down when they were depending on you to carry your part of the load. Finally, you’re interested in knowing if you had ever backstabbed any of them.

What would the verdict look like if they spoke freely about their experience with you?

I could probably go on and on with scenarios like this but you get the point. Too often, we don’t go about living with a concern how others might view us and as Christians, this is a dangerous mindset to adopt. For as believers in Jesus, we should always be conscientious about how people see us conducting ourselves, ever wanting them to see Jesus in what we do. After all, Christ is at the core of being a Christian. He is to be the One who is supposed to define our identity.

Samuel lived his life for God and so his life reflected His Lord and his leadership actions were righteous and just, witnessed and affirmed by the Israelite people.

Friends, we can only pray that we might have the same experience as Samuel if we presented ourselves in front of anyone or any group of people we have been associated with…with them declaring us as right and righteous with God as their witness.

How do we get there?

We follow Samuel’s lead and put Jesus first in all areas of our life, striving to live as He did without compromise and fully surrendering to the leading of the Holy Spirit who will keep us walking within God will and way.

Before you think this is impossible, remember these words from the Apostle Paul, written in his letter to the Philippians:

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” 4:13

Indeed, there’s nothing impossible for us to accomplish if we simply rely on the strength and power of Christ and that includes living in a way that would have others declare our innocence from any wrongdoing.

Today and every day, let us commit and strive to do just that.

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.

MODELING GOD

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In Christ, Mark

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

The people then said to Samuel, "Who was it that asked, 'Shall Saul reign over us?' Bring these men to us and we will put them to death."

But Saul said, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel."

Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship."

So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

1 Samuel 11:12-15

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

When Saul was selected king of Israel by casting lots in the presence of the twelve tribes, we saw where his appointment was met with mixed reactions.

Some of the people traveled with him to his home, labeled as “valiant men whose hearts God had touched”. Others however were against Saul and were considered troublemakers for asking how Saul could ever save Israel, no doubt looking down on him because he came from Benjamin, the least of the tribes of Israel, and if that wasn’t enough, he also came from the least clan within that tribe. The scriptures tell us that these men who spoke out against Israel’s first king “despised him and brought him no gifts”.

Well, in the first part of 1 Samuel, chapter 11, we saw where Saul succeeded in saving the people of Jabesh Gilead who were besieged by the dangerous Ammonite, Nahash. You’ll recall that he (Nahash) wanted to gouge out the right eye of every person in Jabesh Gilead but allowed the people there a week’s worth of time at their request to try and seek help before falling into suffering.

And so desperate for someone to come to their rescue, the people of Jabesh Gilead sent messengers to Gibeah and found a deliverer in the person of their newly appointed king who rallied all of Israel and soundly defeated the Ammonites. Early on, Saul indeed showed the Israelites that he could save them, doing so by using the power of the Lord that was upon him.

Well, following the victory over the Ammonites, those who supported Saul all along took action against his detractors, bringing a demand to Samuel that they be brought forward and be put to death. But note here the mercy of Saul who used his authority to have the final say on the matter, announcing this:

“No one shall be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel."

His words were followed by another gathering at Gilgal to reaffirm his kingship and then cap it off with a grand celebration. And this time, we get the sense that all of the Israelites were firmly behind the chosen king because we don’t read about anyone speaking out against him or questioning his ability to lead the nation.

Overall in this chapter, we see how Saul used his positional power first to rescue and save the people of Jabesh Gilead from the Ammonites and then to pardon those who had opposed him prior to the battle. In doing so, we see him modeling two important qualities of God…qualities that believers should model as well.

First, Saul was victorious because he was open to receiving God’s power...a power that allowed him and his men to conquer the Ammonites and rescue the people of Jabesh Gilead. Saul acknowledged as much himself when he addressed the Israelite people, refusing to take credit for the win himself but instead giving all the honor and glory to the Lord.

Today, God is ready to anyone who places their trust in Him to also accomplish great things in His name. We live in a world where three-fourths of the population are non-Christian and that tells us that seventy-five percent need rescued from the penalty of Hell, lost because they either don’t know Jesus or have rejected Him in the past and need to pivot from that posture.

Into this scene comes Satan, the great opposer of our Lord, the true King of the world. So as believers work to fulfill the Great Commission calling to make disciples of all nations, the devil is trying to counter that effort and keep people on the path of destruction and ruin. He is ever working to destroy every good and perfect thing God is trying to accomplish.

The good news is that Christians aren’t in the fight alone. Like Saul, the Lord provides His power to help gain the victory over the enemy. Ultimately, He brings the triumph, using us as instruments of His will and way who are empowered to carry out His purposes. Therefore, He deserves all the credit, glory, and praise.

Going back to Saul, the second thing he did that modeled a quality of God was when we find him showing mercy, grace and pardon to those who had wronged him. We should keep in mind that he didn’t need to do that. He was the king and he could have easily just agreed with the people who wanted to execute his opposition. No one would have questioned him doing so. But when one is in the Spirit of the Lord, they don’t act or reason as people of the world do. Rather, they think with the same mind of God because they allow Him to shape all that they do…which will always run counter with the ways of the world.

There’s one important point I want to touch on here because the Israelites who were calling for the death of Saul’s adversaries did so while conveniently forgetting that they weren’t perfect either. The truth be told, they were just as much sinners as those who first despised Saul…and were just as much in need of the Lord’s mercy, grace and pardon.

You know, we behave like this sometimes as well, losing sight of how we’re as sinful as anyone else while we too easily pass judgment on others. What we find is that it’s a lot easier to criticize someone else than it is to look in the mirror, be totally honest with ourselves, and see just how flawed we are. And the Lord sees it, no matter how well we try and hide it from others or deny it ourselves. He fully knows spiritually wicked we are at times and how we choose to rebel against His will and way for our lives.

We do this despite the fact that God holds the power and authority to strike any of us dead at any moment, executing us for not remaining loyal to Him, the King of all Kings and Lord of all lords. But God typically spares us, doesn’t He? Like a Father will discipline His children out of love while trying to teach them the right way to behave, so too does our Heavenly Father correct us while showing what true compassion and forgiveness look like.

My brothers and sister, thanks be to God for His Word today for in and through it we’ve learned the way to be victorious in whatever the Lord calls us to do. For as we go forth to carry out His will, we do so with His power and strength as well as the need to carry out His work with the same measure of mercy, grace, and love that He showed when saving us through His Son Jesus…the Son who rescued us from death and the penalty of Hell so to bring salvation and the sure hope and promise of Heaven.

What a privilege we have to model our God to others!

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.