Read: 1 Samuel 15:1-16:23; John 8:1-20; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 15:8-10
Saul was told by God to attack and completely destroy the Amalekites. There was nothing but evil about them and God wanted them off the face of the earth. Instead of killing all of them, he left the king alive and the best of their sheep and cattle. God was not pleased with Saul’s disobedience and sent Samuel to tell him.
Samuel found Saul erecting a monument of himself. When Samuel confronted Saul about keeping the best animals alive, Saul excused his actions by saying he let them live to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel told him that obeying the Lord is much better than a sacrifice of our own choosing. Rebellion is the same as witchcraft and arrogance was the same as idolatry. Since Saul had refused to obey God, then God had to relieve him of his office of king.
Saul was humiliated and sad, but he worried more about how the people would see him. He begged Samuel to go with him to make a sacrifice so it would look like Samuel still honored him. Saul was eaten up with insecurity and pride. He cared more about what the people thought than what God thought.
Samuel killed Agag, the Amalekite king then left for home where he grieved for Saul. God finally told him to stop grieving and go anoint the next king. He would find him in Bethlehem, the same place the angels found Jesus when he was young. This man had eight brothers and the one God was looking for was the youngest and he was not even invited to the party. It was David. He was out keeping the sheep and too young to be considered by his father, but his heavenly father knew his heart. David was brought in and anointed as the next king in front of his brothers. The Spirit of God came upon David, but an evil spirit came upon Saul. Saul’s advisors sent for a harp player and found David. Whenever Saul would go into one of his spells, David would come in and play and soothe his nerves. Saul loved David and made him his armor-bearer.
In John, they brought the woman caught in adultery. Where is the man? In the law they are both to be judged. They wanted Jesus to judge her. Instead he judged them. There is a verse in Jeremiah that says, “Cursed is anyone whose name is written in the dirt.”. I wonder if Jesus was writing their genealogies down. Anyway, when Jesus finished writing, all had left and Jesus told her that he wouldn’t condemn her either.
Jesus went back to the temple and proclaimed to be the light of the world. They challenged his statement because he only had one witness: himself. Their law demands that you have two witnesses. Jesus explained he did have two witnesses, him and his father. But, they would not understand that because they didn’t know his father.
Lord, we want to know you. We don’t just want to know about you, but we want to know you like Jesus knew you.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Monday, May 13, 2019
Mon.’s Devo - Fighting Our Battles
Read: 1 Samuel 13:23-14:52; John 7:30-53; Psalm 109:1-31; Proverbs 15:5-7
The battles of the Old Testament are given to us as lessons on spiritual warfare. Saul stands for the ways of man and Jonathan stands for the ways of God. Jonathan had to walk down a pass where on one side was a cliff called Bozez that stood to the north. The other was a cliff called Seneh and it stood toward the south. Bozez means “surpassing whiteness; glistening” which is a picture of God’s glory. It stood toward the north toward Mismash which means “a report which is heard” which stands for the Good News. The other cliff was called Seneh which means “thorny” which is another picture of the curse. It stood facing Geba which means “elevation” which stands for pride.
In every trial we face we have to walk down this pass. On one side is the Lord in all his glory wanting us to hear his Word of faith so we will not fear. On the other is the devil and he is loud and fearful. He wants us to play it “safe” and not step out into the unknown and stand against our fears. His reward is curses and defeat. He tells us that if we step out in faith we will lose our reputation and our position. He is a liar.
Jonathan walked down this pass and chose to believe that God could deliver them with 2 as well as he could with thousands. He was not depending on his own strength but the power of God. He and his armor bearer defeated 20 men after climbing a cliff.
Their courage and faith caused God to fight in their defense. God sent an earthquake and put panic in the hearts of the enemy so that they killed themselves. Jonathan’s courage spread to his own countrymen and they climbed out of their hiding places and fought also. People who had defected to the Philistines returned and fought for Israel.
Saul, who didn’t have anything to do with their victory had to get some control back so he ordered his men not to eat anything till they had totally won the war. Jonathan hadn’t heard his father say that or the curse he had put on anyone who did. He ate honey and was immediately strengthened. He was found out later but the people saved Jonathan and once again embarrassed Saul.
Saul was driven by insecurity, self-centeredness, control and pride. Jonathan was driven by a desire for God. This put them at odds all through their lives.
In John, Jesus was still at the Feast of Tabernacles. Every day the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam and draw a pitcher of water and bring it up to the altar and mix it with the wine and pour it on the altar. Siloam means “living water”. As they were doing this Jesus cried out, “if anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking. Whoever puts his trust in me, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being.” He was explaining the ritual they were doing. He was the living water sent to the world. This resonated in the spirits and hearts of many of the people, but made the religious leaders madder. They had to do something about Jesus once and for all. Even some of the priests could not come against Jesus because of the way he talked.
They went back to the fact that Jesus wasn’t from Bethlehem but from Galilee and the scriptures said nothing about a prophet coming from Galilee. This was Jesus’ little secret because he didn’t want them to figure it out in their minds but in their hearts. To believe in his required faith not reason.
Lord, help us to believe with our hearts and not our minds. Thank you that you are the living water that refreshes and gives life.
The battles of the Old Testament are given to us as lessons on spiritual warfare. Saul stands for the ways of man and Jonathan stands for the ways of God. Jonathan had to walk down a pass where on one side was a cliff called Bozez that stood to the north. The other was a cliff called Seneh and it stood toward the south. Bozez means “surpassing whiteness; glistening” which is a picture of God’s glory. It stood toward the north toward Mismash which means “a report which is heard” which stands for the Good News. The other cliff was called Seneh which means “thorny” which is another picture of the curse. It stood facing Geba which means “elevation” which stands for pride.
In every trial we face we have to walk down this pass. On one side is the Lord in all his glory wanting us to hear his Word of faith so we will not fear. On the other is the devil and he is loud and fearful. He wants us to play it “safe” and not step out into the unknown and stand against our fears. His reward is curses and defeat. He tells us that if we step out in faith we will lose our reputation and our position. He is a liar.
Jonathan walked down this pass and chose to believe that God could deliver them with 2 as well as he could with thousands. He was not depending on his own strength but the power of God. He and his armor bearer defeated 20 men after climbing a cliff.
Their courage and faith caused God to fight in their defense. God sent an earthquake and put panic in the hearts of the enemy so that they killed themselves. Jonathan’s courage spread to his own countrymen and they climbed out of their hiding places and fought also. People who had defected to the Philistines returned and fought for Israel.
Saul, who didn’t have anything to do with their victory had to get some control back so he ordered his men not to eat anything till they had totally won the war. Jonathan hadn’t heard his father say that or the curse he had put on anyone who did. He ate honey and was immediately strengthened. He was found out later but the people saved Jonathan and once again embarrassed Saul.
Saul was driven by insecurity, self-centeredness, control and pride. Jonathan was driven by a desire for God. This put them at odds all through their lives.
In John, Jesus was still at the Feast of Tabernacles. Every day the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam and draw a pitcher of water and bring it up to the altar and mix it with the wine and pour it on the altar. Siloam means “living water”. As they were doing this Jesus cried out, “if anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking. Whoever puts his trust in me, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being.” He was explaining the ritual they were doing. He was the living water sent to the world. This resonated in the spirits and hearts of many of the people, but made the religious leaders madder. They had to do something about Jesus once and for all. Even some of the priests could not come against Jesus because of the way he talked.
They went back to the fact that Jesus wasn’t from Bethlehem but from Galilee and the scriptures said nothing about a prophet coming from Galilee. This was Jesus’ little secret because he didn’t want them to figure it out in their minds but in their hearts. To believe in his required faith not reason.
Lord, help us to believe with our hearts and not our minds. Thank you that you are the living water that refreshes and gives life.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Sun.’s Devo - Saul’s First Mistake
Read: 1 Samuel 12:1-13:22; John 7: 1-29; Psalm 108:1-13; Proverbs 15:4
Samuel was about to turn over the headship to Saul so he gathered the people together and reminded them that he hadn’t taken a cent of their money or behaved unrighteously. Everything he had done, he did as a servant to the people. This would be a stark contrast to what the kings would do in the future. Samuel made the people agree with him that he had ruled them fairly. He reminded them of their steps of rebellion and how it was their request to have a king. Samuel called down rain to prove that God was displeased with their request for a king. Samuel left them with a warning to follow the Lord only.
Saul had reigned over Israel only two years when he faced his first battle. He appointed an army of 3,000 men. He took 2,000 of them to the hill country of Bethel and Jonathan, Saul’s son, took 1,000 of them to Gibeah to guard their borders. Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba and killed its governor making the Philistines want to retaliate. Saul took the credit and told the people he had done it. The Philistines showed up with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and an enormous army.
Samuel had told Saul to wait for seven days and he would come and offer a sacrifice so they would have favor in the battle. Saul waited on the seventh day until the people were getting restless and leaving. Saul, impatiently offered the sacrifice himself. Immediately, Samuel showed up and asked Saul why he couldn’t wait. He explained that the people were leaving so he “forced” himself to offer it. Samuel was so upset with Saul. He told Saul that if he had waited, his kingdom would have been established forever but now it would be given to a man after God’s own heart. Saul was after the people’s heart.
By this time, Saul only had 600 men left in his army. He and Jonathan were the only ones with swords since the Philistines had ordered all of their metal workers to stop working and if they needed their plows sharpened they had to pay a Philistine. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how this battle ended.
In John, it was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast lasted for seven days. Jesus knew that the Judeans were out to kill him so he waited till the middle of the feast before he went to the temple and began to teach. The people had been talking about Jesus and the Judeans had been looking for him also…to kill him. When he started teaching and no one did anything the people wondered if the Judeans had had a change of heart and maybe they were contemplating him being the Messiah.
The thing that tripped them up was the fact that the prophets had said that no one would know where the Messiah came from and everyone knew that Jesus came from Galilee. He actually came from Bethlehem, but no one asked him. Jesus knew what they were thinking so he explained that they only thought they knew where he was from. He didn’t come on his own accord but was sent by someone they didn’t know.
Jesus cracks me up! He was not afraid to call a spade a spade. He was not afraid of man or his opinion. He was the exact opposite of Saul.
Lord, help us to be uncompromising to the truth in the spirit of love.
Samuel was about to turn over the headship to Saul so he gathered the people together and reminded them that he hadn’t taken a cent of their money or behaved unrighteously. Everything he had done, he did as a servant to the people. This would be a stark contrast to what the kings would do in the future. Samuel made the people agree with him that he had ruled them fairly. He reminded them of their steps of rebellion and how it was their request to have a king. Samuel called down rain to prove that God was displeased with their request for a king. Samuel left them with a warning to follow the Lord only.
Saul had reigned over Israel only two years when he faced his first battle. He appointed an army of 3,000 men. He took 2,000 of them to the hill country of Bethel and Jonathan, Saul’s son, took 1,000 of them to Gibeah to guard their borders. Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba and killed its governor making the Philistines want to retaliate. Saul took the credit and told the people he had done it. The Philistines showed up with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and an enormous army.
Samuel had told Saul to wait for seven days and he would come and offer a sacrifice so they would have favor in the battle. Saul waited on the seventh day until the people were getting restless and leaving. Saul, impatiently offered the sacrifice himself. Immediately, Samuel showed up and asked Saul why he couldn’t wait. He explained that the people were leaving so he “forced” himself to offer it. Samuel was so upset with Saul. He told Saul that if he had waited, his kingdom would have been established forever but now it would be given to a man after God’s own heart. Saul was after the people’s heart.
By this time, Saul only had 600 men left in his army. He and Jonathan were the only ones with swords since the Philistines had ordered all of their metal workers to stop working and if they needed their plows sharpened they had to pay a Philistine. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how this battle ended.
In John, it was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast lasted for seven days. Jesus knew that the Judeans were out to kill him so he waited till the middle of the feast before he went to the temple and began to teach. The people had been talking about Jesus and the Judeans had been looking for him also…to kill him. When he started teaching and no one did anything the people wondered if the Judeans had had a change of heart and maybe they were contemplating him being the Messiah.
The thing that tripped them up was the fact that the prophets had said that no one would know where the Messiah came from and everyone knew that Jesus came from Galilee. He actually came from Bethlehem, but no one asked him. Jesus knew what they were thinking so he explained that they only thought they knew where he was from. He didn’t come on his own accord but was sent by someone they didn’t know.
Jesus cracks me up! He was not afraid to call a spade a spade. He was not afraid of man or his opinion. He was the exact opposite of Saul.
Lord, help us to be uncompromising to the truth in the spirit of love.
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Mon.’s Devo - Saul’s Trip Down Memory Lane
Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15; John 6:43-71; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 15:1-3
Saul stayed at Samuel’s house for the night and in the morning before he left, Samuel took Saul aside and anointed him with a flask of oil and kissed him. He told him that he was anointing him to be leader over Israel. Then he told him exactly what was going to happen to him on the way home. He would meet two men near Rachel’s tomb who would tell him that his donkey’s had been found but his father was worried about him. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin of which Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin. She was buried on the entrance to Bethlehem. So Rachel’s tomb was the birthplace of Saul’s roots.
Then by the great tree at Tabor he would meet three men on their way to Bethel to worship. The great tree was a well-know landmark or a high place where people worshipped. These three men were carrying three goats, three loaves of bread, and a skin of wine. They would offer Saul two of their loaves of bread and he was to take them. (Mt. Tabor was the place of the transformation where Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah in Matthew.)
Next, he was to go to Gibeah, a Philistine outpost, and meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments. They would be prophesying and he would get a new heart and prophesy with them. Gibeah was Saul’s birthplace and the place where the horrible act was done to the concubine that caused the tribe of Benjamin to almost become extinct. So, Saul was entering his hometown when he started prophesying and the people wondered how he could prophecy since they knew his father was not a prophet.
It is like God took Saul through events that would remind him of the history of his tribe and how important his roots were to God.
Samuel had told Saul to wait home for seven days then Samuel would come to him and tell him what to do next. Everything happened as Samuel said. When Samuel returned after seven days, he came to tell the people who would be their leader. Saul hid and they had to go find him.
Later, the Ammonites came up against the people of Jabesh-Gilead and told them that the only way they would be allowed to live would be to cut out their right eye and serve them. When Saul found out, he did what the man had done to his concubine’s body except he did it to an ox. He cut it up in pieces and sent it out to the tribes saying if they didn’t come and fight he would do that to their oxen. Thirty-three thousand men showed up to fight. They slaughtered the Ammonites and that was when the people accepted Saul as their leader.
In John, Jesus told them to stop grumbling over what he was saying. He reminded them of scripture that said the people would be taught by God. He was fulfilling that in their day and offering them eternal life - something that no one had been able to offer them before now. The manna in Moses’ day couldn’t offer eternal life, but the true bread of heaven - Jesus, could. Then Jesus said that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood they would not have eternity. This lost him a lot of followers. They couldn’t grasp this spiritually, they were only seeing it carnally.
Jesus asked his own disciples if they would leave him also and they said, no… but one would.
Lord may we give thanks to you for your unfailing love and the wonderful things you have done for us.
Saul stayed at Samuel’s house for the night and in the morning before he left, Samuel took Saul aside and anointed him with a flask of oil and kissed him. He told him that he was anointing him to be leader over Israel. Then he told him exactly what was going to happen to him on the way home. He would meet two men near Rachel’s tomb who would tell him that his donkey’s had been found but his father was worried about him. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin of which Saul was a member of the tribe of Benjamin. She was buried on the entrance to Bethlehem. So Rachel’s tomb was the birthplace of Saul’s roots.
Then by the great tree at Tabor he would meet three men on their way to Bethel to worship. The great tree was a well-know landmark or a high place where people worshipped. These three men were carrying three goats, three loaves of bread, and a skin of wine. They would offer Saul two of their loaves of bread and he was to take them. (Mt. Tabor was the place of the transformation where Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah in Matthew.)
Next, he was to go to Gibeah, a Philistine outpost, and meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments. They would be prophesying and he would get a new heart and prophesy with them. Gibeah was Saul’s birthplace and the place where the horrible act was done to the concubine that caused the tribe of Benjamin to almost become extinct. So, Saul was entering his hometown when he started prophesying and the people wondered how he could prophecy since they knew his father was not a prophet.
It is like God took Saul through events that would remind him of the history of his tribe and how important his roots were to God.
Samuel had told Saul to wait home for seven days then Samuel would come to him and tell him what to do next. Everything happened as Samuel said. When Samuel returned after seven days, he came to tell the people who would be their leader. Saul hid and they had to go find him.
Later, the Ammonites came up against the people of Jabesh-Gilead and told them that the only way they would be allowed to live would be to cut out their right eye and serve them. When Saul found out, he did what the man had done to his concubine’s body except he did it to an ox. He cut it up in pieces and sent it out to the tribes saying if they didn’t come and fight he would do that to their oxen. Thirty-three thousand men showed up to fight. They slaughtered the Ammonites and that was when the people accepted Saul as their leader.
In John, Jesus told them to stop grumbling over what he was saying. He reminded them of scripture that said the people would be taught by God. He was fulfilling that in their day and offering them eternal life - something that no one had been able to offer them before now. The manna in Moses’ day couldn’t offer eternal life, but the true bread of heaven - Jesus, could. Then Jesus said that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood they would not have eternity. This lost him a lot of followers. They couldn’t grasp this spiritually, they were only seeing it carnally.
Jesus asked his own disciples if they would leave him also and they said, no… but one would.
Lord may we give thanks to you for your unfailing love and the wonderful things you have done for us.
Friday, May 10, 2019
Fri.’s Devo. God is Past Finding Out
Read: 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35
Samuel’s sons were just like Eli’s. They used their father’s reputation and ministry for their own gain. I don’t think it was that Eli and Samuel were such bad parents as much as Eli and Samuel had to plow the road so their sons could walk on it. Instead of them being grateful, they turned to entitlement. Every generation needs to have to fight for something. If they grow up in an era of ease then they tend to become bored, entitled and ungrateful. I think it is important that we dedicate our children to the Lord like Hannah. We also need to let them go through hard things without rescuing them. They have to learn to depend on the Lord. If they only depend on us, they will expect us to rescue them out of the things they get themselves into even when they are adults.
Back to the story…the people wanted a king. God had wanted to be their king, but since they had rejected God, God told Samuel to tell them He would give them a king. But, he told Samuel to tell them what a king would do to them. He told them all the personal things they would have to sacrifice for this king: their sons, daughters, land, money, food, etc. Once they realize how oppressive a king could be and they cry out to God, he said he would not answer them.
They still wanted a king so he could lead them into battle and fight their battles for them. All they could think about was how they would look to other nations with a king and what he would do for them. They never counted the cost.
God gave them a king named Saul which means “people’s choice”. He looked like a king: tall, strong and handsome. He had one big fault: he cared what people thought. He had insecurities in who he was and where he came from. He couldn’t understand that through God he could do anything.
In John, we see the crowd who Jesus had miraculously fed looking for Jesus. They knew he didn’t get in the boat with the disciples but somehow, he was on the other side of the lake. They took boats over to the other side and asked Jesus how he got there. Instead of telling them that he walked across the water, he told them that their hearts were all wrong. They weren’t looking for him because he had done the impossible, but because he had fed them. He told them that they needed to hunger for spiritual things more than natural.
Next, they wanted Jesus to work a miraculous sign like Moses did when he rained manna from heaven. Jesus corrected them and said that Moses didn’t give that manna but God did. What happened in Moses’ day was a picture of their day. Jesus was the true manna sent from heaven to sustain them. They couldn’t understand because they couldn’t figure it out with their own reasoning. Man’s reasoning fights the spirit of God. God is past finding out; it takes total faith to believe.
Lord, help us to believe the impossible even if it messes with our understanding.
Samuel’s sons were just like Eli’s. They used their father’s reputation and ministry for their own gain. I don’t think it was that Eli and Samuel were such bad parents as much as Eli and Samuel had to plow the road so their sons could walk on it. Instead of them being grateful, they turned to entitlement. Every generation needs to have to fight for something. If they grow up in an era of ease then they tend to become bored, entitled and ungrateful. I think it is important that we dedicate our children to the Lord like Hannah. We also need to let them go through hard things without rescuing them. They have to learn to depend on the Lord. If they only depend on us, they will expect us to rescue them out of the things they get themselves into even when they are adults.
Back to the story…the people wanted a king. God had wanted to be their king, but since they had rejected God, God told Samuel to tell them He would give them a king. But, he told Samuel to tell them what a king would do to them. He told them all the personal things they would have to sacrifice for this king: their sons, daughters, land, money, food, etc. Once they realize how oppressive a king could be and they cry out to God, he said he would not answer them.
They still wanted a king so he could lead them into battle and fight their battles for them. All they could think about was how they would look to other nations with a king and what he would do for them. They never counted the cost.
God gave them a king named Saul which means “people’s choice”. He looked like a king: tall, strong and handsome. He had one big fault: he cared what people thought. He had insecurities in who he was and where he came from. He couldn’t understand that through God he could do anything.
In John, we see the crowd who Jesus had miraculously fed looking for Jesus. They knew he didn’t get in the boat with the disciples but somehow, he was on the other side of the lake. They took boats over to the other side and asked Jesus how he got there. Instead of telling them that he walked across the water, he told them that their hearts were all wrong. They weren’t looking for him because he had done the impossible, but because he had fed them. He told them that they needed to hunger for spiritual things more than natural.
Next, they wanted Jesus to work a miraculous sign like Moses did when he rained manna from heaven. Jesus corrected them and said that Moses didn’t give that manna but God did. What happened in Moses’ day was a picture of their day. Jesus was the true manna sent from heaven to sustain them. They couldn’t understand because they couldn’t figure it out with their own reasoning. Man’s reasoning fights the spirit of God. God is past finding out; it takes total faith to believe.
Lord, help us to believe the impossible even if it messes with our understanding.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Thurs.’s Devo- The God of Help
Read: 1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33
The Philistines had taken the ark and placed it in their temple, in Ashdod right next to Dagon, the fish god. Every night God and the spirit of Dagon would have a war and Dagon always lost. The last night God made his point and beat Dagon up so badly he decapitated him and took off his hands and once again he was found on the ground. The people finally realized that the ark was no match for Dagon. Also, all the people were being plagued with tumors in their groin and rats. They connected the dots and decided it was time to get rid of the ark.
They sent it to Gath and the same thing happened so they sent the ark to Ekron. Everywhere the ark went brought panic and tumors. The people of Ekron devised a plan to send the ark back to the Israelites. They offered guilt offerings of 5 golden tumors and 5 golden rats. - one for each city the ark had visited. They took two mother cows who had just had calves and separated them. The ark was put on a cart and tied to the mother cows. If the cows took the road to Israel, they would know that the plagues were because of the ark. This would take a miracle because mother cows would naturally go crazy getting back to their calves. Also, how would a cow know the way to Israel except he was lead by the Holy Spirit?
That is exactly what happened. They went straight to Israel and entered the field in Beth Shemesh while they were harvesting their wheat. That tells me it was the time of Pentecost. How appropriate that the Spirit of God in the box would come back on that season. The people foolishly opened the ark and took the things out to worship them. Over 50,000 of them were struck down by God because they handled the holy things of God so thoughtlessly.
The ark was taken to Kiriath Jearim to be taken care of by Abimadab. It stayed there for 20 years while Israel repented and turned back to the Lord. They met at Mizpah to have Samuel sacrifice and pray for their sins. The Philistines heard they were all at Mizpah and came to attack them. The people of Israel told Samuel to keep sacrificing because God was their only hope. Because they put God above their own safety, God took care of them. He roared from heaven and put the Philistines in such a panic that they ran. The people of Israel were able to chase them and defeat them.
Samuel erected a stone to memorialize the fact that God was now their help. Samuel was Israel’s prophet and judge. He traveled the land but his home was in Ramah.
In John, Jesus did two huge miracles. He fed 5,000 Israelites with five small barley loaves and two small fish. When everyone was finished there were 12 baskets left over. Then he sent his disciples across the lake to the Gentile side. Halfway across they encountered a huge storm. Jesus came walking on the water and when he stepped into their boat, the storm stopped and they were immediately on the other side.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that there is no obstacle that he can’t overcome. If he has to create more food, he can do that. If he needs to calm our storms, he can do that. None of these were a process but an instant in time. God is going to do these kind of miracles through us. We just need to believe.
Lord, help us to reach out and believe the impossible. You are so ready to act on our behalf to show your glory to the world.
The Philistines had taken the ark and placed it in their temple, in Ashdod right next to Dagon, the fish god. Every night God and the spirit of Dagon would have a war and Dagon always lost. The last night God made his point and beat Dagon up so badly he decapitated him and took off his hands and once again he was found on the ground. The people finally realized that the ark was no match for Dagon. Also, all the people were being plagued with tumors in their groin and rats. They connected the dots and decided it was time to get rid of the ark.
They sent it to Gath and the same thing happened so they sent the ark to Ekron. Everywhere the ark went brought panic and tumors. The people of Ekron devised a plan to send the ark back to the Israelites. They offered guilt offerings of 5 golden tumors and 5 golden rats. - one for each city the ark had visited. They took two mother cows who had just had calves and separated them. The ark was put on a cart and tied to the mother cows. If the cows took the road to Israel, they would know that the plagues were because of the ark. This would take a miracle because mother cows would naturally go crazy getting back to their calves. Also, how would a cow know the way to Israel except he was lead by the Holy Spirit?
That is exactly what happened. They went straight to Israel and entered the field in Beth Shemesh while they were harvesting their wheat. That tells me it was the time of Pentecost. How appropriate that the Spirit of God in the box would come back on that season. The people foolishly opened the ark and took the things out to worship them. Over 50,000 of them were struck down by God because they handled the holy things of God so thoughtlessly.
The ark was taken to Kiriath Jearim to be taken care of by Abimadab. It stayed there for 20 years while Israel repented and turned back to the Lord. They met at Mizpah to have Samuel sacrifice and pray for their sins. The Philistines heard they were all at Mizpah and came to attack them. The people of Israel told Samuel to keep sacrificing because God was their only hope. Because they put God above their own safety, God took care of them. He roared from heaven and put the Philistines in such a panic that they ran. The people of Israel were able to chase them and defeat them.
Samuel erected a stone to memorialize the fact that God was now their help. Samuel was Israel’s prophet and judge. He traveled the land but his home was in Ramah.
In John, Jesus did two huge miracles. He fed 5,000 Israelites with five small barley loaves and two small fish. When everyone was finished there were 12 baskets left over. Then he sent his disciples across the lake to the Gentile side. Halfway across they encountered a huge storm. Jesus came walking on the water and when he stepped into their boat, the storm stopped and they were immediately on the other side.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that there is no obstacle that he can’t overcome. If he has to create more food, he can do that. If he needs to calm our storms, he can do that. None of these were a process but an instant in time. God is going to do these kind of miracles through us. We just need to believe.
Lord, help us to reach out and believe the impossible. You are so ready to act on our behalf to show your glory to the world.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Tues.’s Devo - God’s Judgment and His Mercy
Read: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31
As Eli grew older his natural eyes grew dimmer but Samuels’ spiritual eyes were seeing clearer and clearer. Samuel began hearing God’s voice at a very early age. Eli had to tell him he was hearing God’s voice and mentor him to be a prophet. His first word from the Lord was against Israel and Eli’s house. He told him again the same word we read yesterday. God was coming to judge the sins of Eli’s family and the fact that he refused to discipline his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. There was no offering that could atone for the sins they had done.
Samuel’s fame spread throughout Israel as a prophet and that he spoke the Word of the Lord. What he said about Israel became true as they went to fight against the Philistines. Israel didn’t fare well the first day so they decided to take the ark with them on the second day. This scared the Philistines to terror, but instead of being the “good luck charm” the Israelites thought the ark would be, they lost very badly that day and the ark was captured by the Philistines. Hophni and Phinehas were killed on the battle field. A messenger came and told Eli the news of his sons and the ark. When he heard about the ark being captured, he had a heart attack and died. Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and when she heard the news, she went into premature labor and delivered a son. She named him Ichabod because the glory had left Israel. Ichabod means “inglorious; there is no glory).
God is very merciful but once his mercy is refused over and over, he has to judge. It was time to judge and nothing could save Israel, not even the ark.
Jesus was still talking to the religious leaders in John. He told them that he came with two witnesses that testified who he was. One was John the Baptist and the other was the things he did. He only did what God told him to do so his miracles testified that he was from God. They studied the Torah to no end yet missed that the Torah testified of Jesus. Even Moses would one day stand in judgement against them that they had the truth but refused to see it because their love for praise blinded them.
Lord, help us to be aware of what you are doing in our day and rejoice because our redemption is drawing near!
As Eli grew older his natural eyes grew dimmer but Samuels’ spiritual eyes were seeing clearer and clearer. Samuel began hearing God’s voice at a very early age. Eli had to tell him he was hearing God’s voice and mentor him to be a prophet. His first word from the Lord was against Israel and Eli’s house. He told him again the same word we read yesterday. God was coming to judge the sins of Eli’s family and the fact that he refused to discipline his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. There was no offering that could atone for the sins they had done.
Samuel’s fame spread throughout Israel as a prophet and that he spoke the Word of the Lord. What he said about Israel became true as they went to fight against the Philistines. Israel didn’t fare well the first day so they decided to take the ark with them on the second day. This scared the Philistines to terror, but instead of being the “good luck charm” the Israelites thought the ark would be, they lost very badly that day and the ark was captured by the Philistines. Hophni and Phinehas were killed on the battle field. A messenger came and told Eli the news of his sons and the ark. When he heard about the ark being captured, he had a heart attack and died. Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and when she heard the news, she went into premature labor and delivered a son. She named him Ichabod because the glory had left Israel. Ichabod means “inglorious; there is no glory).
God is very merciful but once his mercy is refused over and over, he has to judge. It was time to judge and nothing could save Israel, not even the ark.
Jesus was still talking to the religious leaders in John. He told them that he came with two witnesses that testified who he was. One was John the Baptist and the other was the things he did. He only did what God told him to do so his miracles testified that he was from God. They studied the Torah to no end yet missed that the Torah testified of Jesus. Even Moses would one day stand in judgement against them that they had the truth but refused to see it because their love for praise blinded them.
Lord, help us to be aware of what you are doing in our day and rejoice because our redemption is drawing near!
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