Thurs.’s Devo - Have Faith

Read: 1 Samuel 18:5-19:24; John 8:31-59; Psalm 112:1-10; Proverbs 15:12-14
Jealousy is what moved Lucifer to rebel against God thus becoming Satan. We see that same emotion causing Saul to become obsessed with killing David. What was worse ,is that every plan he had to get rid of David only ended in promoting him. It was so obvious that God was driving David’s life and it scared Saul. He saw what he could have had if he had obeyed God.
Saul thought that his daughter Michal would be the one to bring David down. Saul had married wives from other nations who brought their own gods and idolatry and Michal was one of the offspring of one such union. She had her own gods and didn’t worship the Lord God. Surely, she would be David’s weakness. But, she protected David against her own father so that backfired also.
Saul hoped the Philistines would kill David, but he had success every time he went into a battle. The cards were stacked against Saul and there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even kill him in his own bedroom with a spear. David finally had to flee to Samuel, his only hope.
Saul eventually found out where David was hiding and sent men to bring him back. The Spirit of God would hit them and all they could do was to prophesy. Saul came and the same thing happened to him. Don’t say that God will do something to you against your will because it did it over and over in the Bible. He will never cause you to accept him beyond your will but he can do whatever he wants to with you. He is the potter and we are the clay.
In John, Jesus was still speaking with the unbelieving Pharisees and teachers of the law. The argument was over Jesus’ identity. They believed he was from Satan and he told them that he was from God and they were from Satan. They accused Jesus of lying and he accused them of the same. It was a stand-off, but some of these people actually believed after the resurrection. I’m sure they remembered arguing with God and had to be full of regret.
Satan will always challenge our identity and he is ruthless and mean. We have to know who we are and stand unwavering like Jesus did. Jesus never backed down or let them intimidate him. Our enemies are usually our thoughts and our emotions. We can talk to them just like Jesus talked to the religious leaders.
Thank you Father that we are your children and have every right to stand before you in righteousness because of the blood of Jesus. Help us to be bold and unwavering in our faith.