1 SAMUEL MOMENT – (31MAR19) The Lord had told Samuel to
instruct King Saul to destroy the Amalekites and to not leave or take anything
alive. Saul, however, thought that he would do things his own way and took the King
of the Amalekites alive as well as keep the best of the animals for himself and
his men. God told Samuel what Saul had done and regretted choosing him as a
king, but He had decided upon another who would rule in Saul’s place. When Samuel
caught up with Saul, the king tried to lie and claim that he had done all that
the Lord had said, but Samuel knew better and ended up killing the Amalekite
king himself. Samuel let Saul know that obedience was better than sacrifice
when Saul claimed that he took the best of the animals to offer sacrifices to
God. We too must be obedient when God tells us to do something. For example,
many people are being called out of today’s Babylonian churches and yet, they
choose to remain in them because of the positions they hold within them. Some
people are called to leave a job and yet, they hang on for fear of losing their
income. God may have told some parents to pull their children out of the public-school
system and yet, the parents refuse to obey because they do not wish to home school.
There are many things that God may have told people to do, but they allow fear,
doubt, and pure defiance to keep them from being obedient to God. Nevertheless,
we must ask ourselves the question, “Is it more important to satisfy our own
desires, or to be obedient to what God is telling us to do?” It does not matter
how many good things we do, if God tells us to do something and yet, we defy His
commands, our good works are being done in vain. Obedience is better than
sacrifice. Something to ponder…
QUESTION OF THE DAY – (31MAR19) God had chosen another man
to be king to replace Saul. The Spirit of the Lord had totally left Saul and
God was about to fill another with His Spirit. Samuel had been told to anoint
one of Jesse’s sons and upon seeing them, Samuel thought for sure that he was
in the presence of the one who would be the next chosen king of Israel, but God
had rejected all seven of them. The Lord told Samuel that man looks at the
outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Therefore, when David was
called from the shepherd’s field, he was not the one whom Samuel would have
thought to be king and yet, God chose the youngest one to kill a giant and
later to lead His people. Have you ever made the mistake of overlooking someone
or something just because they or it did not appear to be able to handle the
job? Have you ever overlooked a church because it was small or did not have a
well-known pastor? Have you overlooked ministering to certain people because
they lived in the wrong part of town? Have you passed up giving a person a
chance because they did not look the part? There is a saying, “Don’t judge a
book by its cover.” We sometimes tend to judge others by another’s opinion, the
latest gossip, their social status, or their appearance, and yet, God may have
chosen that person as a weapon of spiritual mass destruction against the forces
of evil. Always use spiritual discernment when making decisions because what my
look like a diamond may be cubic zirconium and what may appear as gold may be
nothing more than spray-painted steel. Something to ponder…
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