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Who’s In Charge?

Daily Reading

1Samuel 18-20

Daily Thought

Jonathan and David had many reasons not to be friends. Jonathan’s loyalty to his father tops the list. Saul was on the throne, and as his oldest son, Jonathan was next in line, but David would be king. Sure, David had killed his ten thousands (1Samuel 18:7), but Jonathan was a fierce warrior in his own right, leader of a third of the army, and had his share of victories. He had claim to the throne. Jonathan had to make a choice: Who would be king?

A tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws” uses a simple drawing to illustrate a choice we each face, the choice between two kingdoms, God’s or our own. There is only one throne on which only one can sit. Two circles represent two ways to live: the self-directed versus the Christ-directed life. In the first, self is on the throne and the circle of life is filled with discord. The other circle, the Christ-on-the-throne life, is filled with order and harmony. The choice is yours.

Saul appealed to man, he looked the part of king, handsomely standing head and shoulders above all others. David appealed to God. He had God’s heart. Jonathan could take the throne and continue the reign of Saul, of man, of me-on-the-throne. Instead, Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt (1Samuel 18:4). Like Jesus, he “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). God was on the throne of Jonathan’s life, therefore, David, the man after God’s heart, would be king.

Daily Prayer

God, as I wake up this morning, the first question I will answer is “Who is in charge of my life today?” You are. You are my King of kings and Lord of lords. There are all sorts of competitors to the throne, but none bring the peace, purity, righteousness, justice, and love of the one true God of heaven and earth. Thank You for putting my life in order, providing peace and contentment in a world of chaos.

May I follow Your ways closely and confidently, knowing they lead to a life of overflowing joy. My decisions in life reflect the one choice I have to make: who will be king? I choose to follow You, to give you my allegiance, my devotion, my worship. Each morning, I awake to a day that You have made and set before me. I shall live this day displaying the banner of my King.

Amen

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Obedience

Daily Reading

1Samuel 15-17

Daily Thought

Chapter 15 is the turning point in the life and reign of Saul, as Samuel declares, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (v 23). The chapter ends with tears and regret, “Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel” (v 35).

Saul’s last chance hinged on his obedience to a clear command, a command Saul heard and understood and disregarded. Saul’s own words convict him, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal” (vv 20-21). Saul is passing the blame to the people, but Saul is king, and it was he who kept “the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good” (v 9).

When God devoted the Amalekites to destruction, God meant everything. The Amalekites were a particularly wicked people, avowed enemies of Israel (see Deuteronomy 25:17-19). God’s covenant with Abraham to make him a great nation included the promise, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). The command to Saul was God keeping his promise to Israel. It was a just God dealing with a wicked and evil enemy.

Saul turned God’s justice into plunder for profit. Saul would destroy what was not worth keeping and keep the best. He knew exactly what God commanded, but he thought better and did less. The nation of Israel is called to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Saul bargained for a percentage, “I’ll give you 80%, God.” The 20% Saul kept was his way of showing who was really king. It exposed his heart, and Saul now spoke of the Lord as “your God” (1Samuel 15:21), not his.

Partial obedience is disobedience, and Saul served at God’s pleasure. God was no longer pleased, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1Samuel 15:22).

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, You are awesome. I use that word too often for other things and diminish the word. It belongs to You. I am in awe of Your creation, Your mighty power, Your majesty, Your holiness, and in the midst of all that, Your patience with me.

You are powerful and loving, strength under control, gentle and mighty. You are amazing, and it is You and You alone I worship and follow, fully and always.

Amen

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In His Time

Daily Reading

1Samuel 13-14

Daily Thought

Have you noticed how often God is late? God and I have this disagreement. I think “now” would be a good time, but God thinks later. Later is usually better, but that’s not how I calendared it. God has an agenda, and all too often it’s not the same as mine, and that’s my problem.

I’m not alone in this. Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was dying. Hurry, they urged him. He waited, instead, two days longer. Both sisters accused Jesus, “If you had been here…”; but Jesus had a better plan, “I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe” (see John 11:1-44).  Peter observes that the whole world thinks God is late, and scoffs, “Jesus said he would return. Where is he?” But God has a better plan, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (see 2Peter 3:1-9). The writer of Hebrews calls God’s people to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12).

King Saul had little patience, and thus showed less faith. Saul was anxious to fight the Philistines, but Samuel was yet to offer sacrifices to God before the battle. Seven days passed and Samuel, and therefore God, was late. It was time for war, so Saul wrongly offered the sacrifices himself. Then Samuel showed `up and said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” (1Samuel 13:13-14).

Unless we learn to trust God and wait on his timing, we will never experience his better plan. Being obedient is more important than being on time. Saul failed to learn this, but a couple kings later, a wise King Solomon observed, “God makes everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Not ours.

Daily Prayer

God, Your ways are not man’s ways. By faith, I follow You. I trust You and I will jump when You call. I will also wait until You say to go. I know if it is according to my strength and my wisdom, then I am in danger of taking credit. Therefore, God, not by my strength, nor my wisdom, but I submit to You my heart and my soul, and I will follow You in faith.

And You get the glory.

Amen

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No Matter What

Daily Reading

1Samuel 9-12

Daily Thought

Saul looked the part of king. Israel’s Charlton Heston, a rich kid, a tall, handsome young man. “There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people” (1Samuel 9:2). He was the right man for the job, because the people were looking for a king “like all the nations” (1Samuel 8:5). Saul was a king after man’s heart.

It is not on the outside what makes the man, however, and though Saul looked the part, he proved a coward. The signs were evident early, had the people looked. “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage” (1Samuel 10:22). Courage is not the absence of fear, so Saul might be excused for cowering at the start. We, too, hide ourselves among the baggage. We have our excuses. “I’m really not sure I can do that”; but God responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2Corinthians 12:9). We point out others more qualified. “On the contrary,” says God, “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1Corinthians 12:22). We have this other obligation at the moment, but when it’s over, call me. A disciple tried that one, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” His dad wasn’t dead; he just wanted to wait until he was. Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:21-22). “Sports! Band! The job! The vacation in Italy! Homework! Laundry! Life!” We hide in the baggage. “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them” (Matthew 13:7-8).

Courage is not the absence of fear; it is answering the call, responding despite our fear, doing the right thing no matter what, and Saul never rose to the task. Saul could stand tall, taller than any in Israel; but he didn’t.

Daily Prayer

What a wonderful Creator. I look around at the world, the skies and the land, filled with marvelous works of Your hand. I cannot help but stop and marvel. This is the world You made for me.

Then I read from Your Word, “Let us make man in our own image, male and female. Let them rule over land and sea and air.” God, I pray that I rule well the kingdom you put in front of me. I pray that I courageously and boldly display Your wisdom in all I say and do.

God, I am willing and I need Your help.

Amen

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Lucky Charms

Daily Reading

1Samuel 4-8

Daily Thought

Jericho was the fortress city Israel first battled as they began to take possession of the Promised Land. Israel’s faith in God is reflected in the fearful cries of her enemy, “Our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11). And the walls came down!

But as the books of Samuel begin, something is different, something changed. Israel was no longer following their God, they were carrying him, “Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies” (1Samuel 4:3). To Israel, God was no longer in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, he was in a box. God had become an “it,” an object. When the Philistines learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, they were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?” (1Samuel 4:6-8). A god? These mighty gods? The Philistines were not terrified of a people possessed by the great and mighty Creator of the heavens and the earth, as Jericho feared. Rather, the Philistines feared an enchanted lucky-charm god in the possession of Israel. God is no lucky charm we carry in our pockets. He is God Almighty, creator of the heavens and the earth. He carries us. 

Israel’s once powerful faith in their Almighty God had become little more than bumper-sticker superstition, but God will be no lucky charm. Israel was defeated.

Daily Prayer

Awesome God, mighty Creator, I worship You and give myself fully to Your possession.   You bought me with a price, the blood of my Savior, Your Son, Jesus Christ. I am a temple of Your Holy Spirit. God, my faith must be seen in more than a cross around my neck, a fish on my car. It must be evident in my life, my actions, my speech, my walk.

God, teach me to walk in Your ways, to obey Your commandments, to follow Your path which leads to life, a wonderful, abundant, overflowing life. I love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  You are my all, and all I am is Yours.

Amen

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A Rare Word

Daily Reading

1Samuel 1-3

Daily Thought

“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men”–God’s Word speaks with a beautiful bluntness–”They did not know the Lord” (1Samuel 2:12). A terrible resume for priests, and Hophni and Phinehas did terrible things for which they both would die on the same day and be replaced by “a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind” (1Samuel 2:35). God raises up this faithful priest, Samuel, in the next chapter.

Notice how the next chapter begins, 1Samuel 3:1, “And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision”; and ends, verse 21, “And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” The Hebrew reads literally, “the Lord appeared increasingly.” There is movement in Israel; God is beginning to visit again. What prompted this is found between the first and last verses. Samuel, yet a boy, displays a heart for God’s Word. He listens for it, he receives it, and he faithfully and fully passes it along to others. “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (v 19), a fine resume for a priest or prophet. “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.” God speaks more often when leaders listen and do what he says.

Daily Prayer

Eternal God, You have made me a temple of Your Spirit. You live in me! I pray my words, my actions, my every thought reflect Your character so fully that Your kingdom is made evident to the world, that You are praised because others glimpse heaven, that not a Word you speak to me falls to the ground.

By Your grace and Your goodness, by Your righteousness and the Holy Spirit who indwells me, may I be filled with Your love. May I listen to Your words, know Your thoughts, follow Your heart, because hearing without doing is not listening. And so in my doing what You say, may others hear Your voice, think your thoughts, and give you their heart.

Amen

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The List

Daily Reading

Ruth 1-4

Daily Thought

Genesis 19 reveals the bawdy beginnings of the nation of Moab, “the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day” (Genesis 19:36-37). The Moabites became an enemy of Israel and to bring God’s curse against Israel (Numbers 22:6), but instead were themselves cursed by God, “No Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, …because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you” (Deuteronomy 23:3-4). Yet, God delights in redemption and, thus, the story of Ruth is in God’s Word. Ruth is a Moabite. And Ruth is faithful to God and displays her faithfulness in her most memorable words to her mother-in-law, Naomi, “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). People follow God when they find someone who follows God. Be that someone.

Central to this story is a person called a kinsman-redeemer. In ancient Israel, the brother of a man who dies childless would marry the widow left behind and father a son to carry on the dead man’s name and care for his family (Deuteronomy 25:5-9). The kinsman-redeemer in our story, however, refused to fulfill his role, because he did not want to put his own inheritance at risk. He wanted to keep it for himself and the children who would take his name, not his brother’s. His name was important to him.

There is a list of names found in Matthew 1, a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. “The List” chronicles the family tree of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus. From the book of Ruth are five people whose names are included in “The List,” Ruth, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David. One guy, however, did not make “The List.” The would-be kinsman-redeemer chose, rather, to cling to his wealth, and thus his wealth consumed him. We do not even learn his name.

Daily Prayer

Our God, You are All in All. Your Name, “I Am That I Am,” proclaims who You are. You are Creator, the First and the Last. Simply put, there is nothing more important, more valuable than knowing You. You are most worthy of my attention and praise.

God, my desire is to stay focused on You, to hold loosely all things except You, to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, to leave my name in Your hands and to hold onto Your Name.

Amen

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God’s Not Done

Daily Reading

Judges 19-21

Daily Thought

The best thing about chapters 19-21 of Judges is they are the last chapters of Judges. Judges is over, and none too soon. The period of the Judges began when Joshua died and there arose another generation after him who did not know the Lord (Judges 2:10); was characterized by the oft-repeated, “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; and 13:1); and closes in summary, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). How often what is right in our eyes is not so in God’s?

The hope of Judges is that the book will end, but God will keep going. And he does. God’s story continues through Ruth into 1&2 Samuel, when, at last, Israel does have a king, a king after God’s own heart, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14). Even that is not enough, and the story is far from over, because there is a King to come, the King of kings and Lord of lords, “the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 25).

God’s unfolding story is best captured in the words of the apostle Paul, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). If it’s not good yet, God’s not done yet.

Daily Prayer

My Father in heaven, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I’ve met the King, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will follow Him. May my life display my allegiance, for I am an ambassador of the good news of salvation.

Thank You, God, that You keep working. That what You began, You will finish, and that it will be once-and-for-all good. Keep changing my heart so that I will desire and delight in righteousness and justice and peace. May I love You fully and out of that love, serve the people of this world who so need to know and trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen

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Temptation

Daily Reading

Judges 16-18

Daily Thought

Samson had God’s strength… ”Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat” (Judges 14:6).

…but he loved Delilah. “After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah” (Judges 16:4).

David had God’s heart… “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14).

…but he loved Bathsheba. “He saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman” (2Samuel 11:2-3).

Solomon had God’s wisdom… “Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you” (1Kings 3:12).

…but he loved one thousand women. “He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1Kings 11:3).

Lest I fool myself, believing I can resist temptation on my own, I should remember that I am not stronger than Samson, more godly than David, nor wiser than Solomon.

One of the scribes asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28, 30).

Daily Prayer

Almighty God of Wisdom, God of Love, I pray that my heart reflects Your heart. You have made me for a purpose. I am Your workmanship. May I keep my eyes on Jesus. May I fully love You. May I not find things attractive that would steal my devotion to You.

With all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength, I love You.

Ame

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Broken Records

Daily Reading

Judges 13-15

Daily Thought

When I was young, I listened to records. A scratch in the surface of a vinyl record would cause a song to repeat at the same spot over and over again. We called it a “broken record.” It would sound something like this, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

Judges 13:1, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” In the Bible, when something is repeated, you are looking at a theme, and the theme of Judges is God is faithful when we are not. Israel would do evil, a foreign nation would enslave Israel, and God would do something special that only he could do to remind Israel that he is their God. Samson was going to be special, it was obvious before he was born. “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son’” (Judges 13:2-3).

There it is, another scratch in the record, a child born out of barrenness, life from death, another theme. It has happened before. Isaac was born to Sarah, who “was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). Later, “Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer” (Genesis 25:21), and Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s wife, Rachel, “was barren” (Genesis 29:31), “then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and she called his name Joseph” (Genesis 30:22-24). The theme, life from death, continues. Hannah, “though the Lord had closed her womb” (1Samuel 1:5) would give birth to the prophet Samuel, and barren Elizabeth (Luke 1:7) had a son named John, who would be called John the Baptist. 

Then, one very special, not from barrenness, but from innocence. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). God with us. Jesus. 

Some things bear repeating, again and again. Life from death. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love for us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Not a broken record, this is grace.

Daily Prayer

God Almighty, I can do all things through You. You give me the strength to find peace and contentment in any circumstance. Whether I have plenty or am in need, weak or strong, You are my strength. If You are for me, who can be against me.

I pray that I grow daily in dependence on You, and in replacing my will with Yours.

Amen