When the people of Israel had forgotten the Lord their God and replaced Him with the false idols of their hearts, God could have forsaken them; but He didn’t.
It’s interesting, because so often when we think of worshipping an idol, we imagine an ancient dude kneeling before a stone statue. We may fail to recognize that sometimes in our hearts, we are that ancient dude or dudette.
It is in our hearts that we establish idols in our lives. Any idea, thing, or person that takes the place of God and holds our trust is an idol. Praise the Lord that He will not leave us to slide away from the truth. If we have been unfaithful in our hearts, He will fight to win us back. He will seize us by the heart and will shine the light of His holiness upon us. He will convince us by our conscience of our need to repent. The Lord then stands with arms wide open, ready to forgive, heal, and restore.
Lord, show my heart to me. Help me to place all of my trust directly into your willing hands.
Jeff Deal
We have been made alive by the Spirit of God, so let’s live our lives by the Spirit and not by the flesh. We reckon the flesh dead as we “crucify the flesh with all of it’s passions and desires.” Because the outcome of a life lived in the flesh is obvious, we become “conceited, provoking one another, and envying others.” Who wants to be like that anymore? But a life lived in the Spirit of God is more desirable and the fruits of that life are unmistakable, bearing “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
So, what is the best way to kill our flesh? Starve it to death, don’t feed it with the things it thrives on. And then feast on the things of God, things that will make you Spiritually strong. Get into church and the word of God, fellowship with your Father in prayer, share with others the gospel that saves. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
Pastor Doug Hardin
Shortly after Elijah called down fire from heaven at Mount Carmel, we find him depressed in a cave. It was here the Lord spoke to Elijah. We see in these verses the Lord sent three mighty phenomenons before Elijah. Rather than speaking through these mighty acts, the Lord chose to speak to Elijah through a still, small voice.
Oftentimes in our lives we look for supernatural signs when we are trying to hear from the Lord. However, God most often speaks to us in a still, small voice. The problem is not that God does not want to guide and direct us; rather it is that we are not listening. The best way for us to stay in tune with His still, small voice is to daily be in His word and in constant prayer. We need to stop looking for the big signs and start looking to Him.
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
It is easy to forget that we represent the Lord. So much comes our way and we are tempted to give into our flesh. Paul wants to us to remember that all of our conduct should be worthy of what the gospel is. What he pinpoints here is a unity you don’t find anywhere else. Satan is very good at dividing the church over many trivial things, which is why Paul says that we are to strive together for the faith in the gospel.
Something that sets us apart from the world is the unity that we have in Christ. Let that be a conduct that the world sees in us that they would desire!
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
Paul’s constant motto was, “I am ready!” It all started on the day of his conversion when he asked the Lord, “What do you want me to do?” Paul’s passion to preach burned within him like a man who had just found the fire escape in a burning building and turns back to yell at everyone else, “THIS IS THE ESCAPE ROUTE!!!” Paul was ready to march in with Christ alone to the center of the capital of the world, entrenched under Satan’s power, with the message of the cross.
Are we ready to preach the gospel? We have all found that fire escape. Do we just climb out ourselves, or do we turn back to tell others.
The way of escape,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
When Samuel was told to go anoint the next king of Israel, he did what all of us so often do, judged by appearance and picked the biggest and baddest to be the king. You would have thought he would have learned from the lesson of Saul, who was taller than anyone in the kingdom, but made a terrible leader.
God reminded Samuel He doesn’t look at people the same way man does. He looks at the heart. What is a person’s heart towards God and conversely his heart towards other people? The Lord ultimately chose the small kid who smelled of sheep to be the king and said David was a man after His own heart.
That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to make decisions, so we can look at people from God’s point of view. I could have avoided many mistakes by praying for God’s guidance in decisions. May we surround ourselves with people who have a heart for God.
Praying for guidance,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
When we are young, we feel timeless and usually behave like time is an expendable commodity with a “plenty more from where that came from” attitude. As we age, we realize that time is limited and precious yet the cares of daily life still seem to distract us from an awareness of that reality. In today’s verse, Job reminds us that our lives are just a blip in time. In the context of eternity, the years of our lives are just a handbreadth to God (Psalm 39:5).
We, as Christians, each have a ministry, and we need to remain cognizant of the fact that we do not have a long time in which to seek and carry out God’s plan in our lives. May we live with an awareness of the unnecessary distractions and diversions in our lives, and take that time back and use it for the glory of God (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Jeff Mericle
What are the obligations of being children of God? What are the indications that you are a child of God? These are at least two questions that these verses evoke. Paul is making the argument that as recipients of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, we have some obligations or debts. And if we are truly children of God, these obligations will be the evidence of who we are.
Paul compares and contrasts the unbeliever’s life of the flesh with the believer’s life in the Spirit throughout the first 16 verses of this chapter. Believers walk according to the Spirit, fulfill the requirements of the law, experience life and peace, have Christ living in them, are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and put to death the things of the body. These are the obligations of being a child of God.
Unbelievers, on the other hand, walk according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, are at enmity with God, cannot please God, do not have the Spirit of God in them, and will die in their sin.
The use of the word “debtor” in verse 12, conjures up ideas of “duty” and “obligations,” but this should not be misunderstood to be requirements for salvation, but rather proof of our salvation. If we are truly born again, these obligations will be our delight and joy, for this is how we serve Him whom we love with all our hearts. This is our pleasure. Delighting in God is what we live for.
Tom Day
Lots of people tend to fool themselves into thinking that they are pleasing the Lord simply by displaying some outward religious tasks like going to church or wearing a cross around their neck. The list is extensive concerning things people “sacrifice for God.” But sacrifice doesn’t mean anything unless your heart is turned to God. A heart that is turned to God is one that God delights in because there is a relationship of love that is established. A love that motivates a person to bless, not prove the relationship.
Jesus in Matthew 15, with the religious in mind, quotes Isaiah the prophet, saying “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
The Lord desires us to know Him and love Him and as a result of the relationship we have, our good deeds follow. However, the wicked who sometimes even appear to be very religious, work hard at trying to “look good” due to following certain rules, but their heart is far from God and they deceive themselves.
It always comes back to the heart with God. Make sure your heart is right with Him before you go about today’s activities.
Pastor Jason Witt
Reading through chapter four of 1 Samuel is pretty sad. We read in verse 2, Israel was defeated by the Philistines. The children figured, we need the ark! That will give us victory. So they bring the ark back, they cheer, and that makes the Philistines afraid. But then you read Israel was defeated and Eli’s two sons died. Then we read one of the messengers got away, tells Eli that his sons are dead, and then he dies as well. And the chapter continues to get worse.
What strikes me as interesting was that the Philistines were afraid when they heard that the ark was back in their possession all because of what they have heard. All that fear was for nothing because they still defeated Israel. But instead of giving up and turning to the Lord, they ask an almost obvious question, who will save us?
It’s nice knowing that our enemies fear our God. What’s not nice, is them not knowing that they can turn to Him for salvation and they too can have a relationship with the one true God. That they can say “I’m going to pray and ask God for forgiveness because I want what He has.”
May my enemies turn to Him because of what they’ve heard.
Joshua Navarro
