Download Media
Search results: 1947 matches Found
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Shifting Blame Doesn’t Strengthen
When the Lord strengthens His children, He does so by pointing to Himself rather than them.
Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!
~~~
Shifting blame does not strengthen you in the LORD.
You notice that the men in David’s camp put all their eyes on David, and think that he alone carries the guilt of the situation. And many times, this is the path that is recommended to us as well. Get it off your chest, and shift the blame.
The first thing I want us to notice is that David strengthened himself in the LORD. All capital letters used in LORD, which is God’s personal name that He gave to Israel as the name He was to be known by them—Yahweh. The name represents the eternal, covenantal, promise-keeping, never failing aspect of God Almighty.
God’s name is “I Am.” It is not “I Was,” or “I Will Be” because God does not change. We can put our full trust in God because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change. He is “I Am.” It is means that our God is eternal and completely self-sufficient, in need of no one, depending on no one.
This is the God that David is finding His strength in. The eternal, self-sufficient, promise-keeping God of the Israelites, the living God over all the earth.
Now why is this important to know? This is important to know so that we do not confuse being strengthened in the LORD with getting a pep talk from the LORD.
A pep talk causes you to look at yourself:
“You are great!”
“You deserve this!”
“Give yourself some grace!”
“Pour into your self”
All this self-care business is nauseating. I have literally seen full grown adults want to be praised and championed because they had their teeth brushed by 10am. It was like they had lit the Olympic Torch or something. You can read about men who are in process of “becoming the best versions of themselves.”
When the LORD strengthens His children, He does not point their attention to themselves, but rather to HIMSELF. We do not gain strength and courage and resolve and resiliency by looking in the mirror. WE gain it, “IN THE LORD.”
When we come to the LORD with are faced with ourselves, with our sin, but in the LORD we are reminded that HE is a forgiving God, and He is not backing away from His promises because HE is a covenantal God. He points us to Himself and says to find our strength in Him!
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 26, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:04:23 min.
00:04:23 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
When You Have No Strength
Grief alone will not provide strength, unless it leads to undivided alone time with God.
Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!
~~~
When you have no strength, you strengthen yourself in the LORD. The children’s song speaks volumes…”they are weak but He is strong.”
But how? That’s the real question isn’t it? How did David strengthen Himself in the LORD? What was His process? Because it’s not very helpful for us just to say, “He strengthened himself in the LORD, and you should too,” without knowing how he did that.
And I think our text, and this particular verse, is helpful to us on understanding how Strengthening yourself in the LORD does and does not happen.
HOW WE SEEK THE LORD’s STRENGTH:
Grieving, alone, does not strengthen you in the LORD.
We see in this text that the men, including David, grieved heavily.
This is not to see that grieving is not a part of the process, but grieving is not the whole process. Some people will tell you, “You just need to have a good cry…just a good rant session. Get it all out and then you will feel better.
But it’s not true. You are not changed by just grieving through a situation. The book of Psalms is filled with songs of Lament. Grief. The expression of pain, heartache, confusion fills the pages of the book of Psalms.
Psalm 12:1, 6 “Save O lORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak…(7) You O LORD will keep them (the poor); you will guard from this generation forever.”
Psalms 13:1, 5 “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?…But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”
In the Psalms of Lament, yes their is grief, but there is a turning to the LORD, a trusting in the LORD. The grief is a way of emptying you of all your strength, but there is no strength to replace it.
Thinking that grief alone will strengthen you is the same mistake we make when we say, “I just need to get away. I need a vacation. That will make everything better.”
This was my way of thinking for a long time until very recently that I realized that it is not the vacation that refreshes me but rather the undistracted, undisturbed time alone with the LORD.
So grief alone, just letting it out, getting it off your chest, is not what strengthened David.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 25, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:43 min.
00:03:43 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
The Last Thing I Needed, The First Thing This Morning
Even in the depths of our despair, we can strengthen ourselves in God.
Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!
~~~
The great country singer/songwriter Chris Stapleton wrote a song entitled “The Last Thing I Needed the First Thing This Was to Have You Walk Out on Me.” It’s a song that goes from bad to worse.
And so goes many country songs, right?
We all probably have our favorite sad country song where the story goes from bad to worse. And the reason is that we all can probably identify with that reality—life going from bad to worse. We know that pain.
Have you ever had a time in your life where the situation went from bad to worse?
I know you have. I know some of your stories. Some of the pain, heartache, and sadness.
In our text today, it goes from bad to worse.
“…the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb, and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength.”
The Amalekites were a group of people that David and his band had previously been raiding the previous 16 months. No doubt that the Amalekite men have timed their attack against Ziklag to be at the same time when David and his men were supposed to be at war with the Philistine army.
Put yourself in the scene. You are excited to return home and hug your family, letting them know you won’t be committing treason. And when you cross over the hills and look down on your town, you see the smoke rising from the lot of land where your house used to be. But not just your house…all the houses. All the barns. You race down as fast as you can to see what and who has been salvaged, until you realize, your town is a ghost town. No one anywhere to be found. Why? Because they have all been taken hostage.
And so we have this scene. The men, once they discover that not only have their homes and livelihoods been taken from them, so have their loved ones. And they weep, and weep, and weep. Some of you know this exact kind of pain—weeping till you have no more strength, no more tears to cry. Not enough strength to pull yourself up from the ground.
From bad to worse.
“And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul.”
From bad, to worse, to even worse.
Someone, in their pain and misery, rises up, points a finger and a glare at David and says, “YOU! If it hadn’t been for you we wouldn’t be in this situation. You caused all of this! This happened because of your bright ideas. Because of your plans! We have lost our homes, our children, our families because of you.”
Have you been there? Have you been in that place where it seemed like all strength was gone? What did you do?
Maybe you just put your head down, stuff your emotions down deep and trudge along.
Maybe you drink yourself into a stupor.
Self-medicated
How about busyness—how many of you fill up your life with busyness so you won’t have to deal with the pain, or dive into the social media world thinking that will fix it?
How many of you put on a brave face in public but cry yourself to sleep at night?
What do you do when you have no more strength? AND, what will David do in such a place, in the midst of such a demoralizing, desperate situation? Will he try to run away like he did from Saul?
1 Samuel 30:6 “BUT DAVID STRENGTHENED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD.”
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 24, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:05:55 min.
00:05:55 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
He Walked Into The Darkness Of Death
Jesus, our perfect King, walked into the heart of death and darkness to release us from sin’s entrapment.
Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!
~~~
As we consider the life of David, we see he had missteps and made bad decisions, and needed to be rescued from his own sin and entrapment. So we still need a king; in fact we need an eternal King after God’s own heart.
And that is who we have in Jesus—the perfect King. He had no missteps and made no bad decisions. But He still needed rescue from sin’s entrapment of death, because as a perfect King, he was also the perfect atoning sacrifice, taking our sin upon Himself. He was held down into death by our sin. He was trapped in the clutches of death. Like Saul at the end of chapter 28, Jesus went away into the nighttime and darkness of death.
But like David, Jesus is released from sin’s entrapment early in the morning. Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Which proves Jesus as God’s choice for King, fulfilling all promises of a righteous and holy and glorious king.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 23, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:50 min.
00:01:50 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
An in-depth Bible study does not have to be reserved for scholars.
Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 22, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:07:23 min.
00:07:23 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
You Have His Song To Sing
God uses His people, the church, to spread the good word of His salvation.
~~~
We are to be cultivating our joy in God, with God’s people, to God’s world. The mission is spreading the message of God’s mercy to the world. We live in a world of misery and distress at every turn, people enslaved by their own sin, being abused by other’s sin…in every part of the world. There is not a part of this globe that hasn’t been touched and tortured by this. And yet, God is in process of executing His unstoppable plan and mission of gathering up His children, from far and wide, and He does it through His church—People who are trophies of his mercy and grace. You have a song to sing, a message to spread, a God of mercy to worship, and a King of glory to proclaim.
Last week I asked you to think about two people to pray for during the week. I encouraged you to let them know that you were praying for them and for you to ask them how you could pray specifically for them. Maybe some of them let you know some type of misery and distress they were suffering under. What a great opportunity to let them know of the mercy of God that He extends to His children in all sorts of surprising ways. Maybe it will open up conversations about whether they are God’s child, who has Jesus as their Savior/king.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 19, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:08 min.
00:02:08 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
The Plan Is Still In Effect
God has a plan that cannot be thwarted by any human being.
~~~
We do see God extending mercy in David’s time of distress and misery, but remember, there is something bigger going on than just God working in David’s life. God was working for the future of Israel and for us. 1 Samuel is all about having the right type of King over your life. Saul was not the right type of King, but he was exactly what the people had asked for.
In fact, there is an eerie comparison between Saul and Achish. Both kings benefitted from David’s military might. Both kings brought David close into their ranks. But Saul did not trust David, and was paranoid about him, when he had no reason to be. Achish, on the other hand, was fond of David and trusted David, when he had no reason to do such. And what we see from this comparison is that Saul is like the other kings of the nations, in that neither of them had any spiritual insight at all.
But David was a man after God’s own heart. And God is able to provide Israel with what they needed—not a king like the other nations, but a king sensitive to God and His word.
The Philistines could not thwart God’s mission of providing the right type of King for Israel. They could not keep David from being King of Israel, because God’s providence protected David and delivered David.
So we see that there is a plan, and God owns the plan, and runs the plan, and executes the plan, which should cause us, today, to be eager to join in God’s plan. God’s plan didn’t end with providing Israel a king. That was only part of it. God’s plan was to have His kingdom proclaimed throughout all the earth, to all peoples, in all times.
And that plan is still in effect.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 18, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:35 min.
00:02:35 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Heartbreaks And Hallelujahs
The Christian life is full of highs and lows, victories and defeats, but God is with us through it all.
~~~
What is the difference between David and Saul? Why does David receive mercy, and Saul receive judgment? The answer is a simple one—David’s relationship with God. David’s heart was soft and tender towards God. Saul’s heart was hardened against God. One was an apostate. The other was a backslider, who repented and was saved by the grace and mercy of God.
We are learning that the life of the Christian is not one of a continual rise to new spiritual heights, is it? The life of a Christian is full mountain peaks and valley dips, bumps and bruises, peace and storms, heartbreak and hallelujahs. And through it all, God’s mercy carries us.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 17, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:41 min.
00:01:41 min.
Day by Day Hacks
At War With Yourself
We often seek comfort and refuge in the things of the world instead of in God.
~~~
The last time we saw David, at the very beginning verses of chapter 28, he had been told that he would fight with the Philistine army against the Israelites, and he had just been promoted to be the bodyguard of Achish, ruler of a region of the Philistines. In chapter 29, we are snapped back to the scene with David. The location is Aphek, which, if you remember from chapter 4, is the location where the Philistines were camped when they captured the ark from the Israelites, which brought about the death of Eli, which leads the people of Israel to cry out, “Give us a king like the nations.”
All five of the Philistine rulers have gathered at Aphek to mobilize their troops and get ready to march for battle. What will David do? David has been in the Philistine camp for 16 months. He had navigated the situation pretty deftly, convincing the Philistines that he was on their side by saying he was raiding Israelite areas, but all the while actually raiding and destroying other people. And now, because of his deviousness, David is forced into a decision he does not want to make. David was being asked to fight against his kinsmen; against Jonathan, his best friend.
Isn’t that just the way we sometimes work, and isn’t that the temptation of sin? We oftentimes seek refuge and comfort and rest in the world, in sin, and then become friendly with it. “Hey, this isn’t so bad. This provides some relief, some comfort. My family is doing better. We are happier. Until you get to the point to where the world calls upon you to forsake your God. You realize you need to be rescued from your sin, but you are in so deep with it, that you don’t know what to do.
What is the old saying? Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to give. This is the case with David and his duplicitous life. He sought temporal salvation and safety from the world. He compromised.
He is like the Christian today who says he believes in Christ and generosity, but also wants the comforts of this life so he hoards his money.
David is like the mom who says she finds her identity in Christ, but spends her time comparing herself and trying to live up to all the virtual supermoms on social media.
What could possibly go wrong in this type of lifestyle? Well, what goes wrong is exactly what we see on this page of scripture. The two are at war with one another. So there are very real, down to earth, nitty gritty decisions to be made. What does it profit a man if he gains the world, and forfeits his life (Matthew 16:26)?
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 16, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:34 min.
00:03:34 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
Reading the Bible as a group is a good way to gain a deeper understanding.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 15, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:05:46 min.
00:05:46 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Behind The Scenes
There are moments in our lives that we can look at and see the hand of God at work.
~~~
One of the most exciting stories in scripture takes place in Judges 4. The Israelites are at war with Jabin, the King of Canaan. One of God’s fighting men, Barak, is chasing down the commander of Jabin’s army, Sisera. Sisera runs to a location and to a tent that he thinks is a safe refuge, and he asks the lady there, “Please give me a a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So the lady gave him some warm milk and a blanket and a place inside the tent to take a nap. But while he was napping, the woman, Jael, took a tent peg and drove it through Sisera’s temple, killing God’s enemy on the spot, literally.
In verse 23 of chapter 4, the text reads, “So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of of Canaan before the people of Israel.”
In another war story, the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, is at his wits end on what to do against the armies of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, who have come to invade the land of Judah. Jehoshaphat prays, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Then he receives a word from the prophet Jahaziel, who tells Jehoshaphat, “You will not need to fight this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD.”
When it came time to fight, Jehoshaphat sent out the praise team, and they began to sing praises to God.
The bible is full of stories like these, where the people look back on an event, and say, “That had to be God.” Sometimes the stories and narrators themselves provide the commentary we need to see that God was the one responsible for what took place. But then there are other times where the narrator is silent in that regard, letting the story itself provide us with the clues. Consider the book of Esther, where God is never mentioned. Are we to think that the story has nothing to do with God at all? Of Course not.
We have one such occasion in our text for study starting next Tuesday. God is only mentioned in passing by a pagan king. Otherwise, he is nowhere to be found in the text, but his fingerprints are all over the story.
And we can identify with that can’t we. Each follower of Christ here today, can look back over his or her life and see God working behind the scenes at different points and seasons in his/her life, to teach, to instruct, to remind, to warn.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 12, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:26 min.
00:03:26 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Spread The Message That The King Has Come
Believers must let the people in our lives know that Jesus has come.
~~~
One last instruction for you, as we wind down 1 Samuel 28. Take note that someone, probably Samuel, Nathan and Gad, wrote this down so that others would know that God provides a better king. They wanted others to know.
I want you to think of at least two people, whether they be someone who doesn’t know Jesus as Savior and King, or whether they have made a profession of faith of having Jesus as their Savior and King but yet are struggling to see Him as such. Two people. Pray for them right now. Right now while I am talking, you can call their names out to God. Pray that God would open the eyes of their heart. Pray that God may grant them strength through His Spirit so that Christ would dwell in their hearts richly.
And then I want to challenge you to do this—send them a text that simply says, “I just wanted you to know I am praying for you today. Is there anything specific I can pray about?”
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 11, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:47 min.
00:01:47 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Stay Close To The King’s Word
We should be careful not to seek the benefits and blessings of God without trusting Him.
~~~
When the people did not like God’s instructions, they chanted, “Give us a king like the nations.” They minimized God’s word because it didn’t fit their agenda. It offended them. And then they received a king who made a habit of disregarding God’s word. When God spoke to him a word he did not like, Saul sought out other voices. Saul always sought the benefits of God, the gifts of God, but He never sought God. He didn’t trust God or His word.
And the original readers would have understood this, and its final outcome in I Samuel 28, where the most miserable words a man could hear are given to Saul—“The LORD has turned from you and become your enemy.”
But didn’t God turn away from Jesus as well? He did. He absolutely did. But don’t forget why. In that moment, Jesus was bearing your sin. Jesus was absorbing your punishment. Jesus was cursed on your behalf. And God turned His face away from Him, forsaking Him for a moment, so that God would turn His face towards you in blessing and pleasure for eternity.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 10, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:56 min.
00:01:56 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Judged By God
Sorcery and astrology are pagan practices forbidden by God.
~~~
In 1 Samuel 28:15 we have a conversation between dead Samuel and Saul. Now this scene makes us very curious about side issues, and can very easily take us away from the main focus of this text. But let me just address a few of those side issues to satisfy a bit of your curiosity concerning hearing from the dead. First, this is a forbidden practice for God’s people. God clearly forbids it Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27; and Deut. 18:10-11.
The use of mediums, sorcerers, necromancer (person who channels the dead) was prevalent in those days. Most pagan people and religions relied on their usage. And God never says that these people are without power. But God forbids them and calls their usage abominable and whoever uses them an abomination to the LORD.
So horoscopes, enneagrams, these sorts of things fall into these categories. Why? Because they take your mind and heart and trust off of the LORD and put it on an alternative spiritual option that is less than, that is opposed to the LORD.
So how is it then, that Samuel appears? Does this woman really have this power? Well, two things to think about. First, she screams when she sees Samuel, which leads me to believe this was something new to her. Either she was just a fake and was very surprised to have actually called up the dead, or there was something distinct about this appearance because, number 2, God was pushing and pulling the levers in this situation. God was calling the shots.
And what does Samuel say to Saul? He pronounces judgment, the same judgment for the same reasons as Samuel has done before, starting back in chapter 13, repeated in chapter 15.
Nothing new with Saul, right?
We cannot forget that this was a history lesson for that very first audience and for us. It was the people who rejected God as king over them, and wanted a king like the other nations. A king who was, on the outside, everything they desired, but on the inside, turned out to be a scared little man who had no real hope or confidence in the strength and power of God, no spiritual life, and never any repentance in his life.
Saul is in no way the King God’s people needed or we need. But here is the lesson for us. We cannot, we have no capacity to choose a fitting King for ourselves. We choose based on outward qualifications, and when we do that, we end up with someone who is fearful, a spiritual disaster, and then judged by God. This is like Eve choosing Cain to be King here.
We need God’s choice for King. We need Him to set a King over us! And that is who we have in Jesus! Jesus was not fearful of man! Jesus was perfectly spiritually mature at every turn and event in His life, always hearing from God the Father, and doing the work of God, always obedient, fulfilling all of the Law. But as the story plays, we read that He, too, was judged by God, and entered into the darkness of death, just like it is forebodingly foreshadowed for us about Saul in the last verse of chapter 28.
So why was Jesus judged by God? Because that was part of the gospel plan. Jesus was the only One who never should have been judged by the wrath of God, but He was also the only One who could be the perfect payment for sin, and be powerful enough to overcome the sin’s sting of death. You see, Saul was judged and then died for his sin. But Jesus was judged, died for your sin, and then resurrected, overcoming Satan, sin, and death.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 09, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:05:07 min.
00:05:07 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
It takes discipline to read through and study the Bible on a regular basis.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 08, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:07:42 min.
00:07:42 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
No King But Christ
As we look for leadership and authority, we should remember Christians have no King but Christ.
~~~
Yesterday we took note of the foolishness of Saul, and we said it was nothing new. The entire narrative of Saul is filled with his ineptness at listening to and following the word of God. It is highlighted for us time and again. But why?
We cannot forget that this book was a history lesson for that very first audience and for us. It was the people who rejected God as king over them, and wanted a king like the other nations. A king who was, on the outside, everything they desired, but on the inside, turned out to be a scared little man who had no real hope or confidence in the strength and power of God, no spiritual maturity. And part of the lesson for that first audience, and for us is, be careful who you desire to lead you, and who you follow. What a great lesson for us in America as we head into a political campaign season. Remember, we have no king but Christ.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 05, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:36 min.
00:01:36 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
The Trouble With Slaughtering Prophets And Priests…
How self-seeking are our attempts to gain God’s ear?
~~~
In 1 Samuel 28 we learn that Saul tried to gain direction from the LORD through prayer, but the LORD refused to answer Saul.
In 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 we read that Saul consulted a medium, but did not seek guidance from the LORD. So is this a contradiction? Because 1 Samuel 28 seems to indicate that Saul did inquire of the LORD. So what gives?
I think there are two answers. One is that Saul did not consistently seek guidance from the LORD concerning these types of matters. The other answer is that Saul did not genuinely seek the LORD in this particular matter, or in any other matter. Saul’s purpose in seeking the LORD was to save his own skin, not to do the LORD’s will. He was interested in his own personal comfort. What could he do to get himself out of this jam?
No direct answer, no dream, no prophet came to speak (remember Samuel was dead, but there was a school of prophets). And no priests to consult. Why? Because Saul had them slaughtered back in chapter 22.
So what does Saul do? Since God will not answer Him in the way Saul wants to hear, or better yet, since Saul refuses to discern what the silence of God may mean, Saul seeks out a medium, a witch, a person who attempts to consult with the dead.
Do you see the spiritual foolishness that is going on? The absolute desperation being exhibited by Saul.
But once again, spiritual foolishness is nothing new with Saul.
And so we have to ask ourselves, how self-seeking are our attempts to gain God’s ear?
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 04, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:29 min.
00:02:29 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Breaking News
The Bible sometimes lists things out of chronological order to emphasize importance.
~~~
“This just in. We have breaking news to report.”
When you hear those words, when your tv show, or even the news itself, is interrupted to bring you “breaking news,” you better believe that the interruption is more important than what you were previously watching.
So it is with 1 Samuel 28. Right above verse 3, you could write in, “This just in, breaking news!” 1 Samuel 28 is an interruption into what we were studying in chapter 27. Chronologically speaking, what happens in chapter 28 actually takes place after 29, but the author deems it very important for us to know because he interrupts the flow of chapter 27 to tell us. And this is a bit strange because what we were studying in chapter 27 seemed pretty important. David had left the territory of Israel and entered and settled into Philistine country for a bit of safety and solace. And when we left that scene the Philistines were gearing up for a big war against the Israelites, David’s own people. We were waiting on the big resolution to that story, and that is when we heard the announcer say, “This just in.”
What could be of more importance than David having to decide if he was going to fight against his very own people? What could be more intense?
Well, you have two options. You can go read 1 Samuel 28 and find out for yourself. Or, you could do both. Or how about this—do both of those!
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 03, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:09 min.
00:02:09 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Our Rest Is Coming
Rest will come for all believers one day, but until then we find our strength in Jesus.
~~~
Sometimes being against the world grows tiresome? Makes you weary? You sometimes just want some rest?
There is a rest to be had. It is in Christ.
Listen to me very closely. Notice with me what David did in 1 Samuel 27. He ran from one enemy, into the land of another, all in the hopes of finding rest. You will not be able to run to a place on this earth that is free from the enemy’s outpost. He will find you. He will wage war. He doesn’t care if you are tired. He doesn’t care if you are lonely, or sad, or mad, or hurt. He has zero compassion for you, and he takes zero days off. He is constantly at work. So you cannot be led into the thinking of just “escaping” for a bit.
The only place of refuge is a person, and hiding yourself in Him. In Christ there is rest for your weary soul. And in Christ there is strength to continue to fight the enemy. We were redeemed to fight now and rest later. Our ultimate rest is coming. But now, in these last days, we fight in the strength of the Lord.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 02, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:01:52 min.
00:01:52 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
Memorization is an important part of daily Bible study.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Apr 01, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:27 min.
00:02:27 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Talk To Yourself...In The Right Way
We should avoid talking down to ourselves and discouraging ourselves.
~~~
Beware of being tired. Beware of self-talk.
The events of chapter 27—the moving away from the Promised Land into Philistine territory, the gaining of Ziklag, the raiding, the manipulating, the being caught in a trap, all begins with what David says to himself. He was led astray by his own self-talk. He talked himself and others away from God’s temple, away from God’s people, away from God’s worship.
David replaced the word of God with his own words.
David had previously been told by Jonathan, his trusted friend, and by Abigail, a faithful servant, that he would reign as king over Israel. But instead of holding on to those words of grace from God, David spoke to himself, not what the eyes of faith could see, but only what human perspective could discern. And he walked away from God’s designed place into the enemy territory.
It seems to me that anytime you are consistently walking away from the worship of God, away from God’s people, you are walking into temptation’s trap.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 29, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:02 min.
00:02:02 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Be On Guard Against The Temptation To Quit
When we are most tired of our struggle, we must be aware of the temptation to quit.
~~~
Several years ago our family went snow-skiing. And one of my favorite things as a father was to ski with my kids, who had never been btw, down a pretty significant slope, and then when we got to a stopping point or to the bottom of the hill, to turn them around and have them look at what they had just conquered. And then say with excitement in my voice, “You want to do it again?”
Sometimes the answer, after having looked at the scale of the accomplishment, sometimes the answer was, “No! Absolutely not!”
In the actual event of the skiing there is adrenaline. But once you get finished, and you look back towards what you just did, you recognize the magnitude of it, and don’t think that you have it in you. Adrenaline is gone and fear rises, and incapacitates you, even though you were just successful.
This seems to be the possible case with David. There was a great victory. And now looking back at what is left of that victory, namely that Saul was not repentant at all, which left David still on the run, the prospecting of keeping up the fight wore him down. More exile, more running. This has been going on for years now, 8-10 perhaps. And it is not just David, it is David’s 600 men, compared to 3000 choice men of Saul.
And then we are told that it is not just David’s mighty men, but also wives and children, including two of David’s own wives.
David is the leader. He is responsible not just for their safety, but those wives and children. And food! Where do you find food? A band of warrior men might put up with the life of exile and hiding, fighting, midnight escapes, daring raids, but not the wives and the children.
And David has been at this for years! When will it let up, settle down?
I can’t imagine the pressure, the mental exhaustion, the spiritual fatigue David must have been under, the longing for peace and quiet, stability and ease.
And it is at that point that we need to be aware of temptation.
It was at that point that Jesus warned his disciples, “Take heed, watch, lest you enter into temptation.” Do you know what the temptation was in that situation? It was sleep. The temptation to rest and sleep in such an important time of their lives. They were afraid. Jesus had just told them that he was leaving. Judas had just walked out. Tensions were high!
It could be very easy for us to look at a passage like this, without giving it much thought, and just say, “David just should have trusted God more,” without giving any thought to the stress, pressure, turmoil, ache in his life.
Many of you can identify with David right here, can’t you? When will this end? You have been fighting against the enemy, you have even been having victories, learning spiritual truths, but things in your life just don’t seem to change or be advancing at all, and you just want a vacation from it. Let’s just stop the rollercoaster because you want off of it.
And it is at that point that you must be on guard against temptation.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 28, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:04:21 min.
00:04:21 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Is Your Soul Tired?
We must be aware of our own tiredness so that we encourage ourselves rather than running.
~~~
Without even realizing it, we can slip into the sneaky clutches of sin. Sin is real, and can be real sneaky. So what must I do in my fight against the sneakiness, deceptive nature of sin?
In 1 Samuel, we are given a glimpse into the sneakiness of sin. Not every story in the Bible is a story of victory. Many times we are given stories of what not to do. And we learn that even though David is a man after God’s own heart, he is still a man of flesh. He is not our hero. He can’t be. Sin snuck up on him in the most appetizing of ways, and he succumbed.
This text is a bit of a cliffhanger. The story here is interrupted in chapter 28 with an episode of Saul’s depravity, and we do not read of a resolution to David’s dilemma here in chapter 27 until chapter 29. But all of that is done by the narrator in hopes of adding a sense of excitement for us as the reader and to make us lean in and give thought to all that is going on. Leaning in would be very good for us at this point. We would do well to pay attention to this text, because I promise you, that just as sin snuck up on David, sin is crouching at your door. Sin is taking note right now to see if you are taking notes right now.
So if you will, work with me to recognize two actions you must take in your fight and struggle against sin.
What can I do in my Struggle Against Sin?
Beware of being tired.
And it is this question that is most interesting to us today as we consider 1 Samuel 27. In chapter 26 David had just bagged a physical and spiritual victory. He had successfully entered into Saul’s camp while they slept, not giving into temptation to kill him, but yet taking Saul’s spear and canteen, as a demonstration that Saul’s life was not well protected at all. David had just preached a convicting sermon to Saul telling him he needed to repent or else he would be found on the wrong side of God’s judgment.
But then in the opening line of chapter 27, David says that he is probably going to die by the sword of Saul. What is going on?
David is all kinds of tired that he just wants to escape from the fight.
We must be aware of when our soul is tired so that we can know how to encourage ourselves, and not try to run and hide.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 27, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:21 min.
00:03:21 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
The Warning You Must Hear
The life of Jesus is the only offering necessary to make us right with God.
~~~
In our study of 1 Samuel 26, we have come to the point to where David sneaks up on King Saul’s bodyguard, Abner, and wakes him up. Saul entrusts himself to Abner; Abner entrusts himself to Saul, but God made them both fall into a deep sleep so that they are confronted by God’s chosen one.
David takes Saul’s spear (power and protection) and also his water jug (provision) so that once again Saul is left powerless against David, and God.
Then David extends the grace of the gospel—repent and return to God.
“Saul, is it possible that God is trying to get you to see your hard-heartedness? Your greed? Your paranoia? If that be the case, then repent! Turn from your pride and selfishness, and turn to God!”
If that is not the case, Saul, then it must be men who have convinced you to chase me down, and if that is the case, may they be cursed.
Either way, if Saul does not heed this warning, then he ends up in a cursed camp.
And this part of the story is for some of you today, who have lived as if you are the masters of your own fate, the kings of your own souls. Heed the warning. You are in a dangerous camp today. You are not as protected as you think you are. God’s everlasting judgment will sneak upon you, in all your so-called safety, and take from you your protection and life. That is the siren call we hear in this story.
Just as David and Abner snuck into that camp, and took Saul’s spear and water jug, signs of power, authority, protection, and life, so too will God take from you those things, and then you will be left exposed and utterly vulnerable.
What offering do you have to present in order to make peace with God? My friend, the offering has been made. That is the glory of the good news that God delivers to us in Christ. It is just as we said earlier—Jesus on the cross is the offering. You have nothing you can bring that will please God, that will atone for or erase your sinfulness. You need a perfect sacrifice, and that is why Jesus came, God in the flesh, to be the sacrifice for all those who would find their hope, their everlasting treasure in him. And the gifts of Christ are peace with God, forgiveness of sin, the indwelling of the Spirit. Would you come to Him today? Would you forsake your sinfulness and land in the arms of Christ today? Come to Him in faith, in belief, that His life, death, resurrection, is the complete and sufficient atoning sacrifice that you are in desperate need of. Come to Him as the King of your life!
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 26, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:51 min.
00:03:51 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
Once we understand what a Bible text is saying and how we should respond, we can look at application.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 25, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:40 min.
00:02:40 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
How Flexible Are You?
Circumstance should not determine our values, and our convictions should not be subject to change.
~~~
I have been in the midst of several counseling sessions, where I have heard with my own two ears a husband or wife say, “I know that leaving my spouse is what the Lord wants me to do,” even though they know clearly it goes against God’s very own word. What is their basis? Their basis for morality is their own personal situation. They are not happy. They are not getting what they want. It’s not going their way. So they want out.
To live upon conviction of God’s word requires the will of man that has been redeemed by Christ to be yielded to Christ.
“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place…A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.”
G.K. Chesterton, in Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 65. (https://bible.org/illustration/misplaced-humility)
We no longer tend to be people who live by conviction, but by preference so long as the situation is favorable. But as soon as the situation gets difficult, uncomfortable, not to my liking, we often times discover that we what we thought was a conviction is merely a preference.
We see in 1 Samuel 26 that David grew in his trust in God’s word and ability do justice. He does not let circumstance determine his values. His convictions are not subject to change, here at least, based on ease of opportunity.
I wonder, how flexible are your principles?
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 22, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:13 min.
00:02:13 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
He Protected THE KING
All of God’s providential work was for the purpose of Jesus becoming our King.
~~~
We clearly see that God was moving in and around David’s life, to bring him as King, for the sake of the Israel.
And the providential ways God has been doing this is through conviction of sin in I Samuel 24, the confrontation of a woman in chapter 25, and now, in chapter 26, through a sanctified heart.
But I want us to stop right here and think for just a moment, because this is not the only time God has moved in providential ways in order to protect a soon to be King so that God’s people may have something better. In fact, God acting in this way sets the stage for His doing the same thing in grander fashion for great purposes in the fullness of time. In the bigger story is the story of God’s acting and moving in history in order to protect His chosen One so that He could be provided not just to Israel as a King, but to us as God’s best gift to us. Jesus is the absolute best gift the church could ever receive and cling to.
And so as we read the opening chapters of the gospel story in Matthew, we find Joseph was kept from divorcing Mary by the providence of God; we read about a decree that would go out form Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered, which would land Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem when it was time for her to give birth, so that former prophecy would be fulfilled. We read in Matthew about wise men from the East, who followed a star! And then, when you think about the wise men, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod to tell him where the baby born King of the Jews was located. And then right after that, Joseph was told in a dream to take the baby Jesus into Egypt in order to avoid Herod’s ghastly slaughter.
When we get into the life of Jesus, we discover that all the kingdoms of the world were offered to him by Satan, if he would only take a shortcut. “Don’t take the way of the cross Jesus, take this shortcut, and the result will be the same!” But no. God protected him, and empowered Jesus to trust God’s word. We read several times where either the people wanted to take Jesus in the moment and make him king right then, but he slips away, OR we read about the crowds wanting to throw him off a cliff, but He slips away. All of this is God’s providential working in the life of Jesus so that Jesus could ascend to the throne by way of the cross.
And then think with me for just a moment. Think about how God must have had to restrain the angels as they peered over the balcony of heaven watching him be beaten and crucified. Think about how God must have had to encourage and console them as they laid Jesus in the tomb. How he must have had to stay their tears from flooding heaven. All of it was God’s providence and power, pushing, pulling, protecting, providing, so that His people would have the best gift, the best King.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 20, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:03:42 min.
00:03:42 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
What Kind Of Gift-Giver Are You?
God gives gifts greater than we can understand or that we would choose for ourselves.
~~~
How would the people to which you give gifts rate your gift-giving abilities? Would they say, “He is so thoughtful and knows me so well?” Or is it more like, “He is so interesting in the gifts he gives?”
There have been one or two times when I knocked it out of the park with my gift-giving. And then there are times when I can see the confused look in my wife’s face.
But no matter if you are a great gift-giver, or an “interesting” gift-giver, usually, with gifts, we want to give a gift that will make the life of the receiver better in some way. Or we want to get them a better something of what they already have—a new watch with better features, a better this or better that, socks with no holes, a better scope for their rifle.
Well, what we have been studying in 1 Samuel is that in the Israelites quest for someone to lead them as a king, God is able and willing to provide them with something better…something better than what they had chosen for themselves. But for us as a reader is that we have been getting a behind the scenes view of some things that were taking place. And we have been given this view so that we would see that God, by His divine providence, provides Israel a better King. We see that God gives better gifts. God is the best gift-giver of all time. And He has done the same thing in our time. We need a better king than we can provide. We need a better king than ourself. We need a better king than fame, or popularity, or money, or power. And God gives us that in Jesus Christ. He is the better King.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 19, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:18 min.
00:02:18 min.
Day by Day Hacks
Day By Day Hacks
We should observe what love response each Bible passage evokes from us.
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 18, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:21 min.
00:02:21 min.
Day by Day - 1 Samuel
Do You Have Any Thank-You Cards Lying Around?
We should recognize the providence of God in our lives as He makes us more like Christ.
~~~
I wonder if there are some people that you need to write a letter to, or go to, and thank them for their wisdom in your life, how they have kept you from sin, or how they have helped pull you out of sin. How they have helped you on this road of sanctification that we journey.
We see David doing something akin to this in 1 Samuel 25, when Abigail shares wisdom with him. He rejoices over God. He rejoices over God’s servant and God’s wisdom displayed in her, he rejoices over the word she brought him.
As we think about this time of year, I remember another story of seemingly supposed justice stayed. Joseph, it seemed, had every cultural right to put Mary to shame. But God’s providence intervened, didn’t it? It wasn’t an Abigail who showed up, but it was an angel of the LORD. And that angel worked on Joseph’s heart so that God’s people would have a completely, righteous king.
This King was mistreated, but he constantly gave Himself to God, submitting to God’s plan to offer us something better—redemption in Christ, and holiness in this life.
For those who belong to Christ, redemption is secured. But God is continually doing a work of sanctification in our lives, the work of making us look more and more like His son. He is doing that work in you, believer. How are you responding?
Are you recognizing his providence? Repenting of your sin? Rejoicing over the word brought into your life, even though it be a difficult word?
By: Clif Johnson
(Lifeword)
(Lifeword)
Aired on
Mar 15, 2024
Show
Day by Day
Duration
00:02:50 min.
00:02:50 min.
Lifeword Shows
Click show name below for all episodes- A daily word of encouragement (301)
- ASafePlaceOnline.com (18)
- Best Day Ever (59)
- Bible Tidbits (27)
- Classics Bible Study (554)
- Creation Science (4)
- Day by Day (1947)
- Doc Talks with Dr. Brian Sheppard (8)
- Evening Show Live (2)
- FamilyLife Today (617)
- Got Questions? ASL Series (2)
- Harvest Gleaner Hour (1026)
- Jesus To You (1)
- Lifeword (3)
- Lifeword Stories (11)
- MDWK Encouragement (13)
- Mental Health Minutes (22)
- MXtv (1)
- MXTV (Mission X Media) (22)
- Outdoors with Shaun Merrell (61)
- Reach America (1822)
- Refocus Monday (14)
- She Laughs Conference (2)
- Spirit Word (200)
- Storybook Homes (25)
- Tailgate Talks (137)
- The Lori Cline Show (621)
- The Word (2)
- Theology For Your Thursday (12)
- TheRaineys.org (39)