Christ promises to protect, empower, and motivate those who are obedient in the faith.   ~~~   Yesterday we learned that Jonathan trusted the word of God, and not the numbers. Today we see that he also understood the reality behind covenant. Notice what he says in verse 6—“Let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.” Earlier, he refers to the garrison as the garrison of the Philistines, so why does he here refer to them as “uncircumcised”? Well, to be uncircumcised meant that you did not have the sign of the covenant of God. You were not in relationship with God, which meant that you did not have the protection of God. But Jonathan was under the covenant of God, was walking with God, and could count on the protection of God. So Jonathan is pointing out to his servant that the Philistines have no promise from God and no protection of God, but they did! Seems like a good idea for followers of Christ to remember that we too have promises extended to us in Christ that protect us, empower us, and motivate us to the obedience of faith. Which promise are you depending on today?

You don’t have to keep trying to figure out life on your own. In fact, if you were never meant to.

Have you ever tried to justify something being okay?

How could I possibly consider it pure joy when I face trials?

We must be on guard against the devil's sneaking search for our weak spots.

We do not need odds to be in our favor to succeed when we are working for the Lord.   ~~~   Here is a line that needs to be highlighted in your bible, memorized in your mind, and carried in your heart. 1 Samuel 14:6—Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few. NOTHING CAN HINDER, OBSTRUCT, HAMSTRING, CRIPPLE, STOP, SLOW DOWN the LORD from saving by many or by few. Biblical faith leans on God’s word, not odds. Our story begins with Samuel leaving Saul. It’s important to note from our study of 1 Samuel 13 that there has been no repentance, no remorse, no confession on Saul’s part concerning his disobedience. He has only blamed other people for his disobedience and fear. As such, Samuel leaves Saul with no word from God. From there we learn that Saul’s men number around 600. Those are the men who have not hidden themselves in caves or tombs or wells. The Philistines, the enemy army, has set up camp in Michmash, just a few miles from Saul, and they are constantly raiding Saul and the surrounding areas. It is very reminiscent of Judges 6, where the Midianites were constantly raiding the people of Israel, and Gideon is hiding in a winepress. So there is the picture. 600 men in the army, many more men hiding in caves, against an army that is just jabbing them to pieces. Those are not very good odds. But the reality of the scene is even worse than that. Not only is the army of Saul outnumbered, they are also out resourced. At some point, the Philistines had not allowed the Israelites to get wind of the technology or the resources on how to forge weapons—swords and spears. The situation was so bad that the Israelites didn’t even have the resources to sharpen their own farm tools. So the army of Saul had no weapons. Not even make shift weapons. Nothing to fight with. So the Philistines were controlling the Israelites access to metal, and controlling somewhat their economy, and also controlling the roadways by freely going out to the pass of Michmash. Those are not very good odds. And this is the great tension of the text. Notice 13:22—“So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.” What in the world are the Israelites going to do? What in the world will King Saul do? That is the question. What will he do when he has no weaponry, no wealth, and no easy way to attack the Philistines? And it is against these odds that Jonathan, the son of scared Saul, says to his assistant, “Hey! Im tired of sitting around here. Let’s go spy out that garrison of Philistine soldiers. But let’s not tell anyone we are going.” No soldiers, no swords, no spears—let’s go start a fight! But you know what he does have? He does have the word of the LORD. Back in 1 Samuel 9:16 it says about Saul, “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” Jonathan has the promise of God that the Philistines will not prevail over the Israelites…that the Israelites will be delivered. Biblical faith says, “I don’t need the odds when I have the word of God. I have all the leverage I need when I lean on LORD commands.” Listen to me church, worldly odds will rarely, if ever be in our favor. But we have the word of the LORD.  

Have you ever used “I’ll be praying for you” as an excuse to do nothing?

Parents must teach their children to pursue and love God with all their hearts.   ~~~   Parents, what are you diligently teaching your children? Think about it. Let’s look first at the definition of diligently. To do anything in a diligent manner is to do so persistently, not carelessly. There is ongoing focus and intentionality with doing something diligently. Some dads are diligent in teaching their children to hunt. Their dad taught them. His dad taught him and it’s been passed down. Some of you have recipes from your great great grandmother. Those ingredients and steps when mixed and mastered just right, deliver dishes that have been enjoyed and diligently passed down for generations. Many of you want your children to LOVE sports or LOVE knitting or LOVE and appreciate woodworking, gardening, music or art. I begin thinking of how I spend my time with my children. What’s my focus. What are our conversations centered mostly around? What am I diligently teaching them? Did you know that God cares greatly about what you teach your children? In fact, He made it very clear early on in scripture what we are to be diligent about, when it comes to what we pass down. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. This command of God was not to be taken lightly then and it is not to be taken lightly today. When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22, “which is the greatest commandment in the law”, this is what he quoted. LOVE God with ALL you are. Give Him your heart, your soul and live that OUT with all your strength! Diligently TEACH this to your children. Can you teach your children to LOVE hunting without GOING hunting? NO. Can you teach your children to LOVE those treasured recipes without cooking them and letting them taste the goodness? NO. Can you teach your children to LOVE God with ALL they are and how they live their life and how they LOVE others without DOING IT YOURSELF, diligently? NO. Talk about the goodness of God in the morning. Share about the grace, provision and blessings of God when you sit, walk, lie down or rise up. Bind these words on your hand and your head. Write them on your walls, your doors and your gates. It should be crystal clear to your children what is the most important thing they need to know and taste and see on a DAILY basis from you and that is to love the Lord their God with all their heart and all their soul and all their strength. If anything has gotten in the way of that teaching, then you’ve placed something above God. That’s the truth. A life of worship is what God calls and commands us all to. Our heart, soul, mind, strength, time, talent, treasure, dreams, gifts and abilities should display to our children, our neighbors and the world that our life is not our own, but lived for God and God alone. I’m Lori Cline.

If we expect God to move, then we should walk in anticipation of that move.   ~~~   In 1792, in a sermon preached in a Baptist meeting, William Carey urged his fellow pastors and brothers in Christ to enter the mission field, to support the cause of missions with their money and members. From that sermon came the famous line, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” That sermon is sometimes referred to as the “Deathless Sermon” because it sparked a missions movement that has not ceased to exist. Carey is known as the father of the modern day missions movement, not only lending his voice to promote this movement, but his very life. Just within a year of delivering that sermon, Carey was aboard a dutch ship sailing in secret to Eastern India, along with his wife, his son, and a doctor. What was he doing? He was expecting great things from God, and attempting great things from God. The work in India was anything but easy. Carey started learning the Bengali language, started translating the Bible into Bengali, and preaching to small groups. Seven years later he had his first convert. Carey’s words and life would inspire other missionaries like Adoniram Judson, Hudson Tayler, and David Livingstone. All of this because He believed, he expected God to keep His word of doing great things in the world. What do you expect from God, and then what do you attempt in light of that expectation? With just a quick glance at the daily structures of our lives and what we attempt in the world, it would appear that some us don’t expect much from God. If that is so, we find our selves at odds with many faithful people of the Bible, including the main character of our passage for study over the next few days, Jonathan, King Saul’s son. So join us tomorrow as he begin to look at his attempts.

Are you starting fires with your tongue?

To walk with the Lord, we must realize that He wants to have a relationship with us.

The call for faithfulness in our lives is only possible because of Jesus.   ~~~   Jesus made it clear that not one stroke of the pen that was written in law would go unfulfilled. He made it clear that He did not come into the world to push aside the law, to shirk the law, or to forsake God’s word, but to fulfill it. Jesus said that he only speaks the words His father gives to him and only does the works His father tells him to do. Jesus never turns from the word of God to the left or to the right. This is why you see over and over in Matthew, particularly at the beginning, “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets.” This take the idea of fulfillment even further. Even in events that Jesus had no control over since he was a baby, Matthew is showing us that all of His life fulfilled the word of God. And then at the end of Jesus’s life, in that great high priestly prayer, Jesus prays, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” So what are we to say to this? Hooray for Jesus? Good for him? No. Why this is so important for us to see is because our faithfulness to God’s word stems from Christ’s faithfulness. We can trust Christ wherever He may lead us because He is always faithful to God’s word. Whatever He says, we can be certain that it is the will and word of God. And the call for our own faithfulness in this life is only possible of the faithfulness of Christ in me, through me.   even when friends scatter even when enemies gather   Because Jesus was faithful to God’s word, and fearless of His enemy, He went all the way to the cross, the ultimate battle scene. And on that cross, He was slaughtered for my sin, for your sin. All the stored up wrath of God against me, against every believer, was unleashed upon Jesus, and He died. He had finished the work the Father gave him to do. And because Jesus was completely and perfectly faithful to that work, He was raised from the dead, proving himself more powerful than sin, satan, and death. AND has been given all authority as the forever King. His blessing will never be cut off; His throne will never be usurped. His rule will never come to an end. Why would you seek out any other King? Why would we ask for and follow a Saul, when Jesus is being offered to you. No doubt, you need a king. And no doubt, many kings will try to reign on the throne of your heart. But there is only One who has been faithful, who is fearless, and who will reign forever. Seek Him, trust Him, and you will never have to run to the comfort of fox holes again. But because of Him you can be faithful, and fearless, and reign with Him forever.

Believers should invest in the lives of the broken and needy.

To truly be found, we must first see that we are indeed lost.   ~~~   We don’t like to think of ourselves as poor and needy do we? We want to be in control of our destiny, strong, independent, care free, righteous even and good. If we’re honest we like to stay away from the poor and needy. The truth is, none are righteous, none of us are good, apart from Jesus. Go spend some time in Romans chapter 3. Even at our best, we still can’t measure up. That’s why we so desperately NEED Jesus. We are all sinners. We all fall short. There but for the grace of God go ANY of us. We are all prodigals in a way. We run from truth, we run from accountability, discipline and run ultimately from the love of the Father. We squander what we’ve been so freely given all while pointing fingers of judgment at everyone else. Time and time again the Father’s unfailing love pursues us, leads us to repentance and welcomes us back to His arms of grace. “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy” is an old hymn written in the 1700’s by Joseph Hart. The lyric goes like this - Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love and power. I will arise and go to Jesus; he will embrace me in his arms; in the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms. Many feel this hymn was inspired by Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. In Luke chapter 15 we see Jesus tell three parables and each one in different ways deliver the same truth: God loves the lost. There is the parable of the lost sheep, a lost silver coin and a lost son. The Father is represented in each parable and does not rest until what was lost is found. Luke 15:4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Luke 15:8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Luke 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. Jesus told these stories to a crowd of tax collectors and sinners. They drew near to Him because they wanted to hear. Also in the crowd were Pharisees and scribes. They weren’t around Jesus to draw near and hear, they were around Jesus to judge and complain about everyone else. How dare Jesus welcome and even eat with these poor and needy sinners. What these religious elites failed to recognize is that they too were just as sinful and lost without Jesus. Their pride in believing they could be good enough to reach God is what ultimately separated them from the Father who was running after them. In Luke 19:10 Jesus made His mission and purpose clear as he was once again about to have a meal with sinners, he replied, “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” To truly be found, we must first see that we are indeed lost. Only then will we arise and go to Jesus because it’s in that moment we understand our great need for a savior. That’s the truth. Arise and go to Jesus. He’s waiting with open arms. I’m Lori Cline.  

In Jesus we have a King who is worthy to be followed day by day.   ~~~   God’s word is to be feared and obeyed. He is to be served, and not our own interests. And this is why God says, “The LORD has sought out a man after His own heart.” Now here is where we must be very careful with 1 Samuel, and all of the Bible. This text is not here to show us that we should be the opposite of Saul and to stand tall when others scatter and the enemy gathers. We must fight against that urge to insert ourselves into the position of the hero. Our place in this story are the people hiding out in the caves and cisterns, wondering what the King is going to do to fix this situation. And as we peer out of our hidey holes, we hear Samuel scold Saul and tell him that he will not have a lasting reign. So this must not be the king we need. This may be the king we asked for, but it is not the king we need. And we know this because Samuel says so right here, but also, if you remember your OT history, you will remember that Jacob prophesied about his son Judah, that the scepter would never leave his throne, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. But Saul is of the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah. So we shouldn’t be surprised that Saul is not going to have an everlasting dynasty. So who is the king after God’s own heart? We will find out in the days to come that the short term answer to that question is David. David would be a king after God’s own heart. David loved God and obeyed his word, when the enemy was great, when others backed away from him, it was never a ritualistic thing with David. But we also see in David just a man. A man who needed to repent of sin, and offer sacrifices for his own sin. So we need a greater king than David. And that is what we have in Jesus. Jesus is a king after God’s own heart because Jesus is God’s own Son. And in Him we have a King who is worthy of us to follow him day by day.

In Acts 7 Stephen was stoned for preaching the gospel. And his last words sound very familiar…

If you’ve ever thought that faith wasn’t actually enough to get you to heaven. This is about to change your mind.

Has the Holy Spirit ever asked you to do something that seems so random that you questioned if it was really him?

We don’t need a big sign from God to know that it is time for us to move.   ~~~   Don’t we all want the wind beneath our wings so we can fly high in life? Of course we do! We all cried our eyes out listening to Bette Midler sing about it. We need the wind beneath our wings to fly, or do we? More on that later, but speaking of wind, have you ever tried to fly a kite without any? I must say I have. Now I know you can’t fly a kite without wind, but if you have kiddos you probably have as well! I bought a kite for my girls when they were little and even though it wasn’t a windy day, they wanted to run through the back yard trying to fly it. Meaning I was running through the backyard trying to fly it. That didn’t last long. To fly a kite up to the highest height, you MUST have wind. If you don’t, you have to wait for a windy day. I’m not usually waiting for wind. I don’t fly kites these days unless I’m at the beach, but I want to tell you about a girl that found herself in a situation where she really needed the wind to blow. In the movie True Spirit, based on the true story of 16 year old Jessica Watson, she became the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe, ALL BY HERSELF. She was sixteen! It’s a pretty amazing story and her journey was full of adventure and challenges. Now while the big screen did play things up a bit more, compared to the actual events, there was a time when she was out at sea and no wind was blowing. There she sat, waiting. In an interview she had this to say about that part of the journey. "In reality, you never get such long stretches without wind," she said. "Often, it's more like a couple of days. And even within that, you might get a few puffs along the way. It is, however, very true to what that experience is like for a sailor, how incredibly frustrating it is to just be at the mercy of the elements and just waiting for the wind to come back. There's nothing you can do. Emotionally, they were some of the toughest days." She was at the mercy of the elements, waiting for the wind. What are you at the mercy of? What elements of life are you up against? What are you waiting for to either arrive or pass on by so you can move? For 16 year old Jessica, she needed wind to move forward, but she never walked away from the adventure even in her waiting. What about you and me? Do we really need wind beneath our proverbial wings? No. Birds don’t need it. Their flight is determined by lift, the force that opposes the weight of their wings. They simply must move their wings and fly the way God designed them to fly. They aren’t sitting around on limbs waiting to move. If today you are waiting for some MIGHTY WIND to blow INTO your life so you can finally fly, you’ve grounded yourself. Maybe where you are today is you’re exhausted and maybe even afraid to move. Don’t believe the lie that YOU are at the mercy of the elements of this life. God is asking, “what are you waiting for”? In 1 Kings chapter 19 we get a glimpse of a scene in the life of the greatest of all Old Testament prophets, Elijah. Instead of being alone out at sea, waiting for the wind, he was alone in a cave, feeling He was at the mercy of the elements and circumstances that surrounded him. God provided a gentle reminder that HE was and will always be, in control. 1 Kings 19:11-12 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. There was quite the display of elements out on the mountain that day. God controls them all and is in fact IN them all, but that day, He used a still small voice to remind Elijah He was not alone and there was still work to be done. You see Elijah wasn’t moving because he was afraid. He was believing the lie that he was alone and there was no hope. What are you believing Elijah? What are you doing here Elijah? What are you waiting for? You are not alone. There are others waiting for YOU, so go. It’s time. You don’t need a mighty wind, shooting star or some BIG sign to move into where God wants you. You need only be still and listen for the gentle whisper of the Father reminding you of who you are and how He wants to move you. That’s the truth. What are you waiting for? It’s time to fly. I’m Lori Cline.

God created all life uniquely and with a purpose.

Doing things our own way risks the minimization and devaluing of God’s Word.   ~~~   1 Samuel 13:14 “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of teh Lord your God, with which he commanded you. Now your kingdom shall not continue.” Upon reading the text that way, all of our sympathy moves in the direction of Saul, and our eyebrows are raised at the reaction of God. We can see his punishment, the removal of the kingdom, as too harsh, too reactionary, filled with vitriol. It is moments like this that we can start to have this image form in our minds of an OT God that is not loving, not caring, and overly-vengeful. But is that really the case? Remember the warning that was given. “If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, if both you and the king who reigns over you will allow the LORD your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king.” The word of God is very clear on this, is it not? His voice and His command and His word is to be feared, adhered to, over and above any other voice, including the voice of the fearful who run away, and including the rising shout of the enemy as they draw closer. Do you sometimes find yourself in that very situation? Friends moving away from you and the enemy moving closer? This is what can happen when you are a leader? When you go to war spiritually for those under your care. In order to make this group happy, and to keep that group away, you start making decisions that you think are best. Now at this point, it is important to ask, just what was the command of the LORD that Saul has not listened to. Is it that he, a king, offered a sacrifice and that job is reserved for priests only? I do not think that is the issue here. We are not in the temple at this point, where the priests would serve. What is at issue is that Samuel has instructed him to wait seven days for Samuel to come to him and offer the sacrifices in the right way. And it has been shown to us repeatedly that Samuel speaks the word of the LORD. So Saul has taken it upon himself to break this command from Samuel, which is really the command of God. The reason this is so grievous is because the direction and attitude of the King towards God’s word would greatly influence the direction and attitude of the people toward’s God’s word. This is not your next door neighbor of whom you don’t know their last name. This is THE KING. If the word of God is not good enough for the king, then why should the people care anything about it? If it is displayed that the king’s own personal authority is higher than the word of God, then why would the people listen to the word of God? That is what is at risk here—the minimization of God before the people, the devaluing of God, the striking at the holiness and weight of the glory of God Himself. God was not about to let that happen, when He knew His word is the best thing, the highest authority, for His people. But we have a king who had the authority of God’s word as his ultimate authority in King Jesus. And it is to him we look day by day. And when you look to him, you will not see any minimalization of His father’s word.

The Lord is patient and gracious and extends us an invitation to heaven.   ~~~   Welcome to another episode of Storybook Homes. Today I’m standing in the recently completed renovation of another short-term rental project. One of the main goals for this project was to maximize the occupancy capacity of this small cottage to appeal to a larger number of guests. Maximum occupancy in the hospitality industry is based on how many people can comfortably sleep in a space and is often referred to as “heads in beds”. In its original layout, this home offered 2 small bedrooms and one bathroom. Which would have comfortably hosted a family or group of 4 with 2 people, per bedroom. To increase the heads in beds of this property, I carved out space in the hallway for a cute set of bunk beds by relocating the furnace to the attic and the master bedroom entrance to just outside the dining room. And just like that, maximum occupancy went from 4 to 6. Because 6 people sharing one bathroom might be a little crowded, we also converted the existing sun-porch into a second bath for the master suite. The overall footprint of this home did not change during the renovation, but with some thoughtful rearranging of the existing floor plan, we were able to maximize the heads in beds for maximum occupancy. Adding the bathroom and rearranging the floorplan to accommodate 2 more guests extended the timeline and budget of the renovation, but my client felt these changes would be worth the investment in the long run. This goal to maximize occupancy can also be seen in the Lord’s preparation of heaven for his beloved children. When Jesus came to earth and conquered death he provided a way for Anyone who believes in him to enter eternal life in his Father’s house. Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 14: 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am. Not only did Jesus enable maximum occupancy in Heaven by extending the invitation to anyone (Jew or Gentile) who would accept his free gift of salvation, we also learn in 2 Peter chapter 3 that the Lord is purposefully holding back the day of Judgement to give as many people as possible the opportunity to repent and accept this invitation. Here’s what Peter says: 3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” He then provides an answer to this question in vs 9. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. Oh, I love how patient the Lord is and I’m so grateful he extended the invitation and prepared a place for me and for you to live with Him forever. Thanks for allowing me to share another renovation with you and for joining me as we discover God’s love and restoration for our lives here on Storybook Homes.

Ready to head out to the woods? Shaun takes us on a dove hunt this morning and on the way home, he picks up a couple of other critters for dinner.

As you seek to follow the Lord day by day, remember that it is done through trusting obedience to his revealed word.   ~~~   We need a king who trusts the word: OVER RITUALISTIC CEREMONY 1 Samuel 13:12 tells us that Saul offered the burnt offering, and he says one of the reasons as to why he did this, even though Samuel told him to wait, was, “‘I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” So get this clear. Saul knew what the command was. He knew he was to wait for seven days on Samuel, but when Samuel didn’t come according to Saul’s convenience, then Saul thought it necessary to offer the sacrifice himself in order to secure the LORD’s favor. Catch that—Saul believed that going about the LORD’s work, but not in the LORD’s way, not according to the LORD’s word, would secure the LORD’s favor. Saul thought that the way the sacrifice was done didn’t matter at all, so long as it was done. What is that? That is a belief in ritualistic ceremony. That is Saul attempting to secure God’s favor and do God’s work, but according to Saul’s ways and authority. Listen Christian, listen up church, we risk the same consequences today when we try to adapt our worship, and our ways to satisfy ourselves, even though they go against God’s clear word, and still expect God’s blessing because, “God knows my heart.” Yes, he knows your heart. Your heart is obviously far from wanting to serve and obey His word. Your heart is telling you that your authority is greater than His word. Your heart is telling you that any old way will do, when God’s word clearly says something different. Do you think God will bless a marriage just because the ceremony took place in a church, when in reality you have no intention of being a biblical wife or husband? Do you think God will bless our church just because we have a worship service, even if we soften up the word of God? All of this, and much more, Samuel would say to us, “You have done foolishly!” So as you seek to follow the Lord day by day, remember that it is done through trusting obedience to his revealed word.

Have you carried a burden for too long on your own?

Speaking verses out loud is a great tool for memorizing Scripture verses.

Do you ever feel like God can’t use you because you're to messed up?

Have you ever been to the store and when the cashier asks you to swipe your card it declines?

  When you make mistakes… Because you will..  forgiveness and compassion will be waiting for you.

Jesus, in the moment that the enemy surrounds him, time and time again, looks the enemy in the face and shows that he is unflinchingly committed to God’s word.   ~~~   Yesterday we saw that in 1 Samuel 13, Saul disobeyed God’s word when others started running away from, heading for the hills. Another excuse Saul gave for abandoning God’s word was that the enemy was starting to gather around him. We need a king who trusts the word of God: WHEN THE ENEMY GATHERS The text says that the Philistines had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 men on horses, and ground troops that were innumerable, and that they were encamped at Michmash. That is where Saul was previously, and perhaps that is why the Philistines went there initially. But Saul is not there, but he can see the growing tide of Philistines. After all, they were not that far away from Gilgal. I get it. No one likes to stand alone. No one enjoys watching people run away because they do not think you can overcome the situation or because they do not think you know what you are doing. It is usually at this point, when people scatter away from and the enemy starts to gather around us, that we get antsy and feel like we have to do something, anything other than wait on the LORD. So Saul realizes that his forces are getting depleted. His forces are too weak, too scared, for him to be able to do anything about the enemy. And what we see is that Saul’s believes that his reign depends upon the strength of others, the strength and might of the army around him and the weakness of the enemy in front of him. This is what makes David such a better king than Saul, which we will see in 2 Samuel. But I can even do you one better. Jesus is a better king than David. Jesus does not abandon God’s word, even when the enemy gathers around him. One of my favorite words of Jesus comes when the enemy is gathering around him at his betrayal, and Jesus is says, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” It may not sound like much, but this is a declaration of power and authority from Jesus. He is telling the enemy that they have fixed amount of time before the power of God reigns down on the power of darkness. Jesus, in the moment that the enemy surrounds him, time and time again, looks the enemy in the face and shows that he is unflinchingly committed to God’s word. What a man, what a Savior, what a King we get to follow day by day.