The Spirit Of The Lord

I Samuel 16: 13-14

Samuel anointed him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

--But--

The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.

When Saul disobeyed God, resulting in God rejecting him as king, God had Samuel anoint David to be the next king, even while Saul was still reigning.

So God took His Spirit away from Saul and gave Him to David, and allowed an evil spirit to torment Saul instead. This resulted in mental illness bordering on madness. 

David saw God take His Spirit away from Saul, and later prayed that God not take His Spirit away from him as well when he sinned (see Psalm 51:11). 

We don't need to have this worry today. Since Jesus has come, has died and risen and ascended to Heaven to send His Spirit at Pentecost; now we can trust His promise to be with us until the end of this whole Age, no matter what (Matthew 28:20). 

If we leave Him and turn to our own way, He will only let us go so far then draw us back to Himself again. If we continue in our self-will, and God does not turn us around, then we should question whether we really are His child, or if we just professed a religion. Religion cannot save. 

Jesus saves, by taking our place in death, individually, because we all deserve death. When we repent, admitting that we deserve death and believe that Jesus died our death on the Cross; then God accepts His payment for sin on our behalf and gives us His own Holy Spirit in our spirit. 

That is being "born again," or "born from above." We gain spiritual life, comparable to how we got physical life from our mother. (see John 3:1-18.) Then we don't have "religion," we have the relationship with God that makes Him our Father--we are His children. 

And God will never cause us to be "unborn" from His family, He will stay with us permanently. 

Praise God for all He is! For His wisdom, for His goodness, for His love, for His mercy and grace, for His wonderful Plan of the Ages, for His giving us His Word and protecting it through all the times of Man. 

Praise Him for His greatness, His majesty, His immensity. Praise Him for being our Source of everything that exists. 

Praise Him for executing His Plan through the choices of Men, to unfailingly bring the culmination to our World that He planned from before the beginning. 

Praise Him for calling His own out of the darkness and dispair of this World from every age, every Nation, every tribe and language, into His glorious Light, to transform us into His creatures of light. 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Obey

I Samuel 15: 22

And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."

Samuel is talking to King Saul, Israel's first king. God had told him to destroy all the people and all their possessions, including all the animals; but Saul had listened to his soldiers who wanted to keep some of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord. So Saul had disobeyed the Lord by only doing part of what he was told to do. 

This has a lesson for us, also. When we know what God wants us to do, but we do something else that seems like we're doing a favor for God; that is disobedience. God doesn't need favors from us, and He is the One Who sees the big picture. When He speaks, He says what He means and means what He says. 

God may have seen disease in these animals, as a result of the depraved and twisted kinds of worship these people gave to their idols. I don't know why else God would have commanded the complete destruction of one town, then told them they could have the cattle of another town. That's what would make sense to me, but that's my opinion. God knows why he says what He does, He doesn't answer to me, or any other person. He is God, we are not. We are simply to trust Him. Even if it doesn't make "sense" to us. 

Saul didn't have the trust in the Lord that God commanded, he listened to his men instead of valuing what God had clearly told him to do. So God rejected him as king over His people. 

This is very serious. Am I listening to what my Father is saying to me in His Word, or am I putting my own spin on it to be more palatable to my understanding? 

I want to have a clear understanding of what it is God wants of me as His child, so that I can obey Him confidently and cheerfully. I don't want to leave anything out of what is mine to do, and I don't want to add to it, either. 

O my Father, please help me to never fudge on what I know You want of me. Help me always to actually do what I know You want me to do, and be aware of anytime I may tend to add anything to Your will for me. 

Thank You so much, Father, for always meeting all my needs, and even some of my wants. Thank You that Your generosity comes from all Your riches in glory, and You delight in lavishing Your love upon me in so many ways. Teach me to be a channel, to pass on these blessings to others in need, to be a blessing to them, to draw them to You, the Source of everything. 

And I will praise Your Name forever! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Outward Appearance Versus The Heart

I Samuel 16: 7

But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as Man sees, for Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

God has sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem in order to anoint one of his sons to be the next king over Israel. When he saw Jesse's oldest son, Eliab, he was so impressive, Samuel thought this must surely be the one. But God told him otherwise, in this verse. 

And we can see a very basic principle here about people that is important to know and consider in our own lives: people make first impressions based on how they look, but what is in their hearts will determine if they are the kind of people we want to associate with. 

So often people with golden hearts are discounted by the World because their looks don't measure up to the World's standards. Maybe they're misshapen, or they're not as bright as the norm, or in some way they're different from the crowd. These are the ones who tend to slip through the cracks from being famous or honored. These are the ones who are more precious to the Lord.

And if we are going to be like our Father, doing life according to His ways, then we will befriend the ones who are not accepted by society. We will give them the respect every person deserves as being made in God's image, and loved by Him. (See James 2:1-13.)

And in doing this, we may experience the same side-lining by society, being judged by them by our associations. But if we're concerned with what our neighbors think, rather than how God sees, then we need to reorder our priorities by getting into the Word to learn to align our thinking processes with how God thinks. 

O my Father, please teach us how to see with Your eyes, how to think Your thoughts. Help us to see others' true character, to make friends with those who have made You their friend, and to have compassion on those who have not known Your ways yet. 

Keep us faithful to You, Father, according to Your Word and Your ways. And may our lives shine forth into the World with Your light, to draw the victims of our enemy out of the darkness that enslaves them. 

Help us to make Your other children our nearest friends, who will hold us accountable, and walk with us as we seek Your face. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Fully Accomplished

II Timothy 4: 17-18

But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. 
And the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Paul wrote this to Timothy from prison in Rome. 

His testimony was that God was protecting and delivering him, so that he could finish the task God had given to him: to preach Jesus to all the Gentiles in the whole known world of the time. Paul knew that his life would soon be over, and that he had finished that work (see vs. 6-8). 

Jesus had said that the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world, then the end would come (Matthew 24:14). So when Paul finished his course, and the Gospel was preached to the whole world, then why did Jesus not come then? 

God wanted Jesus as His Son to have "many brothers" (Romans 8:29); so I think that He wanted so many more brothers and sisters for His Son that He continued to let the World carry on, generation after generation, gathering more and more children into His Family from every tribe, every Nation, through all this time. 

Now that all the signs for the end of the World are present in this time right now, I think that when all people in all the Nations have heard, of whom many have not, then it really will be the end of this age of mankind, and Jesus will return in our lifetimes. 

But Paul also thought Christ's return would be in his lifetime. So I am in good company. But will God still delay the culmination of this World in order to grow His Family even larger? How many is "many"? 

Or maybe "all" the signs aren't present, and I missed some. Then God will continue to work His Plan for this World through our indvidual personal lives, and we must continue to carry on. 

Like Paul, the Lord will also stand with us to strengthen us, and deliver us from every evil attack, to bring us safely to His heavenly Kingdom. 

And He will receive all the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Wise And The Fool

Proverbs 1: 7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

What is the "fear of the Lord"? Is it being afraid of a stern, harsh Judge? 

Not at all. Only the wicked need to have that fear. Because we know God is a just Judge that will give each person what they deserve, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, because all their chances to turn to Him are gone.

The "fear of the Lord" is a reverential respect for His power and authority. And it brings the knowledge of His gentleness and mercy, His kindness and grace, His goodness and compassion. 

But fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Who is a "fool"? The jester in the colorful costume? When someone disdains wise counsel and decides for himself instead, this is foolish. And when he resents the consequences of his own choices, putting the blame on someone else, that's foolish, too. 

So the "fool" in the book of Proverbs is someone who is morally deficient, not being able to discern what's right from what's wrong and harmful. 

The Book of Proverbs contrasts mainly the wise person and the fool. It repeatedly links wisdom with understanding, and foolishness with lack of understanding. 

If we have wisdom, then we will understand the reality of the situation. If we don't understand, then we will see the situation in a twisted or distorted manner, which would rob us of the blessings we otherwise would have enjoyed.

Proverbs has 31 chapters, which lends very handily to reading a chapter each day, reading the book in a month, every month. 

Its practical wisdom will permeate our hearts if we familiarize ourselves with this book, immersing ourselves in it each month, reading it through 12 times in a year. 

O my Father, Thank You for this Book among all the Books of the Bible. Thank You for the practical counsel it provides for getting along with our fellow humans in the World. Please clarify Your Truth in our minds, so that we will be able to see and understand how Your ways are so far above our ways, and follow Your path in our thinking processes and living our lives. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Unformed Substance

Psalm 139: 15-16

My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the Earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

This is from the same Psalm as yesterday. David had insight that people even today lack. Not everything that is legal is right.

David acknowledges here that God sees us before we're born, while we're growing in our mother's womb. God sees our "unformed substance" and already has planned out our lives, writing every day we are to live "in Thy book." 

Every child that is conceived is another person, who God sees and cares for, from the moment of conception. That moment, the father's and the mother's DNA join to form a new person, different from every other person. 

This "foetus" or "fetus" (the Latin word for "offspring" or "baby") is similar to both parents, but different from either one. And twins are different from each other, even when they're identical. 

Each member of Mankind is a unique individual. "When God made you, He broke the mold!" is a saying I heard as a child. It's true, though, God made each one of us as a unique Creation, God loves a variety. We are all the same race, the human race, so we can be categorized into groups with similarities, but every member of each group also has differences from the others. 

We are all made in the image of God, in His likeness; and in that distinction, each person is to be respected, loved, and honored as valuable. Each of us is of tremendously great worth, even the worst criminal. Every person is offered that great Salvation that not even the best of us deserves. "The ground is level at the foot of the Cross." No one has any easier or harder choice than any one else to choose Him. We all need to humble ourselves before Him, admit that we deserve to die, and let His death be our own. 

I think those who think that they are righteous have a more difficult time turning around their thinking processes, because their pride gets in their way. But when God calls them to faith, they also know that they need Christ.

No one is exempt from this need, because, unlike Jesus, we are all born of Adam, and have that damage in our DNA that pollutes everything we do, even our very best altruisms. 

O my Father, thank You for all You have done for all of us! Thank You that You are calling people to Yourself from every Nation, from every part of the world, from every ethnic group, from every economic strata. Thank You that You are no respecter of persons, but You made us all and You value us all, and You have already met all of our needs, for both now and forever.

Please continue to call Your chosen to Yourself. I don't understand why You don't save everyone, but I know You know best. I know that those who refuse You don't want any part of You, and You will never force Yourself on them. So they will experience the consequences of their own choices, to spend eternity away from Your Presence.

I do hope that my humble writings will be clear to those who don't yet have God's Holy Spirit living in them to teach them the Truth, so they will repent and come to You, Father, as You draw them.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Searched Me And Known Me

Psalm 139: 1-3

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou hast understood my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. 

David knew God. He had such a close relationship with the Lord God that he was able to express in his music so many details of Who our God is. 

I am impressed by David's openness with God. Acknowledging how God knows every detail of his personal day-by-day living kept him from sin, from anything that would put a barrier between him and God. 

Only when he wasn't acutely aware of His presence did he even consider taking matters into his own hands, like when he was upset that a wealthy man would refuse to help him in return for protection of his flocks, in I Samuel 25, when he was about to attack Nabal and his wife Abigail reminded David of God's care (v. 26). 

David appreciated Abigail's faith that gave her boldness to confront him, and when she became a widow he took care of her by making her his wife. 

I know that God also knows me that intimately. He knows when I rest and when I am active. He knows when I am at home or away somewhere. He knows when I'm eating and when I'm napping. He knows what I'm going to think about before the thought comes into my mind! Only God can do that, because only He is God.

O my Father, thank You for Who You are! Thank You that I need not be afraid of You knowing me that deeply and thoroughly, because You are Love. I trust You to always sift my every day to strain out everything that the World, the devil and my own flesh would throw into my path, to lead me past it and guide me around it. And when I stumble, Father, You lift me up by the hand, so that I will not utterly fall. 

Thank You for including me in Your great Plan of the Ages, to give me a small role in the unfolding of Your Grand Agenda. Continue to lead and guide me, Father, so that I will not wander to the right or to the left, but step every step firmly and confidently in the path You have determined I will walk. 

And let me me a conduit through which Your love and grace and blessings flow to others. Let Your light shine through me into the darkness of this World. And use me to bring many others to Yourself. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!