The Deadly Slippery Slope!

Reading:  I Samuel 18 - 22
My Verse:  "And the king said to the guard that stood about him, turn and slay the LORD's priests . .." (22:17).

It truly is tragic when one turns their back on You, LORD God.  Once  that first disobedient step is taken, each step away becomes easier because if not checked, the slope downward gets steeper and easier to slide down away from Your loving precepts.

Saul was chosen by You.  He started off humbly.  You "gave him another heart."  You sent Your Spirit to him, "The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon Saul."  He was Your chosen and You were enabling him to be the man You wanted him to be. Yet, once he disobeyed You (13:9) he started that downward slide.  Each sin lead him further away from You.  Soon, jealously and murder entered his heart.  He even came to the point of killing Your servants.  "The king said to Doeg.  You turn and fall upon the priests.  And Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests and slew that day eighty-five persons who wore the priest's linen ephod" (22:18). 

How very rapid and dreadful was Saul's fall from You, LORD God!  Many of us do not fall in quite so dramatic a fashion as Saul.  For some the downward slide can be insiduously slow and deceptive. But the end result is the same - unrest, unhappiness, lack of peace and separation from You, LORD God. 

 So much to be learned here.  First, we are never immune from sin. We never arrive at the point where we too will not slip down that slippery slope!  Second, You love us so much and want so much for us to be great, to be wonderful, beautiful, and dynamic - like You had made Saul.  And thirdly, we cannot, simply cannot take our eyes off You.  Once we do that we are lost. 

Oh, LORD God, I am so grateful for Your salvation.  I am ever so grateful that You have kept me through the years, through the storms.  I am even more grateful that I can depend on You to keep me in the future if I will consistently keep my eyes on You!  "And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ, developing and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you" (Philippians 1:6).

We all face trials and situations that try us like Saul.  We also all have to make that decision of whether we will quietly wait on You, trusting in Your provision even in the face of seemingly sure disaster or like Saul, strike out on our own - in our own wisdom. Oh, LORD God, help me, to be quiet and sure before You -always!  Keep me off that deadly slippery slope!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

The Freshness & Courage of Youth!

Reading:  I Samuel 16 - 17
My Verse:  "And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands" (17:47).

How I love the story of David.  I was just speaking to my husband, as we get ready to visit our son at his school, about how wonderful it will be to see him.  There is such a freshness about youth.  Yes, they struggle, they fall flat, but they are so quick to bounce back and forge on ahead.  It is so uplifting and quite wonderful!
And so David here exemplifies that youthful courage; that  full and complete belief in His LORD.   He charges forth to do battle in what seems utter foolishness to those watching.  But David knows that he cannot win the battle alone, and he doesn't even plan to. 

He tells the giant.  "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head.  And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (17:46).  Yes, David goes into battle against Goliath with the full knowledge that his LORD God is right there with him and will carry him through.  He has experience in this very thing - facing seemingly insurmountable odds.  When watching over his family's sheep, David faced down and killed both a  lion and a bear.  So, David knows exactly what he is doing  here in standing up to the giant, Goliath!  And as he knew so confidently would happen, he does indeed slay the giant, Goliath in front of the full army of both the Philistines and the Israelites! 

Many would think he was simply brash and luck played a part in this.  But it was not luck.  As David prefaced this confrontation with the statement above, the battle was Yours, LORD God. 

How we need this story to bolster our sagging faith.  How we need to be reminded, LORD God, that, yes, "the battle is the LORD's!"  You are in all things. 

"Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!  For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has been his counselor?  ... For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To Him be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:33-36).

"God works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11).

"So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy"(Romans (9:16).

Thank You, LORD God for the freshness & courage of youth. How we need that!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Life Is More Than the Physical!

Reading:  I Samuel 12 - 15
My Verse:  "And turn not aside after vain and worthless things which cannot profit or deliver you, for they are empty and futile" (12:21).

This is an amazing anecdote of the downfall of a great  man - a man You LORD God chose to be a leader. This story illustrates how very sad it is when a person becomes so full of themselves they forget from whence they came.  They forget who is truly responsible for their position of authority. "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" (Romans 13:1). When this happens, how the great crash and burn for life is so much more than just the physical!

This anecdote also speaks to our part in the greater scheme of things.  Yes, You LORD God choose people to do certain things.  You enable us to do and be what You require of us.  BUT - we, each of us need to respond to You.  We need to obey You and acknowledge You as our LORD God and Supreme Leader.

Samuel gives Saul and the Israelites a caution right off.  "Only fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; . . . But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away" (12:24-25).

Well, Saul very quickly strays.  He is impatient (13:9).  He makes a rash, foolish and unwise oath (14:24).  He compromises on how he obeys (15:9).  And because Saul has chosen to be disobedient, You, LORD God, choose to withdraw Your blessing and promise from him.  You, LORD God utter those most dreaded words. "I regret making Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commands" (15:11). How this grieved Samuel!  When he confronted Saul with this, Saul seemed to repent.  But it was obviously not heartfelt for he continued to stray and sink deeper into a dark and sad life.  He died a sad death (chapter 31).

Saul chose to do what was wise in his own eyes.  He chose to live a life based on the immediate circumstances.  He forgot Who You were LORD God.

We still see this today, great men and women imbibed with great skills and abilities.  You place them in places of great influence and then they forget, like Saul, Who You are.  They begin to think they got to their position of greatness through their own  power.  They get so caught up in their "greatness" that they forget there is a spiritual side to their life.  Slowly things begin to unravel for them as they did for Saul, and then it all falls apart.  Some go out in a blaze, others kind of slowly flicker out. 

Oh, LORD God, help me to not become so focused on the immediate, the tangible things of life.  There is so much more to living than just the living!

"For life is more than food and the body more than clothing" (Luke 12:23).

Thank You, LORD God for this reminder.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!