"...God gave him a new heart..."
1 Samuel 10:9
"Then the Spirit of God cam powerfully upon Saul..."
1 Samuel 10:10
1 Samuel 10:9
"Then the Spirit of God cam powerfully upon Saul..."
1 Samuel 10:10
My Take Aways
Something Old:
God is still with us [me] even when He allows us [me] to have our [my] way, that He knows is ultimately the wrong way.
Something New:
The Israelites on the East side of the river had their right eye gouged out.
I saw Saul's quick temper in 1 Samuel 11:6. No wonder God wanted someone else-a man after His own heart-as king. Our king is slow to anger.
Something to Do:
Don't try to be like others. Don't be stubborn and stiff-necked when the Lord says no.
I forgot to mention, Glynnis is giving a scholarship to She Speaks. Go visit her blog for all the details.
19 Comments:
Tonight I discovered something new.
At the beginning of the year I wasn't reading the chronological order of the Bible because I didn't have the reading schedule. Sometime near the end of January I found the reading schedule on Wendy's blog. There's a link that says Read Through the Word. After clicking on that there's another link that says One Year Chronological Reading-NLT. I now could follow along but had to use my KJV Bible that's in my computer because I couldn't read the NLT Bible. Tonight I went to this reading schedule to find out what the readings were for the next three days and noticed, for the first time, that the days of the week are links. I clicked on Monday and it gave the Scriptures for today using the NLT Bible. I can now use this instead of using my Bible where I was having to do a find for the chapters and verses to get to each day's reading. E.G. today we have 1 Chron. 9:35-39. Using the NLT Bible that's online will be easier.
Maybe I'm sounding a little over excited but it doesn't take much for me to get excited. Besides maybe there's someone else who's reading with us and doesn't have the chronological Bible.
Good morning y'all,
It's a rainy day here in Basel after a beautifully sunny weekend!
Welcome back Wendy! It sounds like you all had an amazing weekend in Middleboro! I hope your neck gets better.
My old: 1 Samuel 13:13-14
13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
This is a foreshadow of BOTH David and Jesus. David is called one after the Lord's own heart, and Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father whose Kingdom is established forever!
My new: I didn't know that Ahilub, grandson of Eli was the priest serving King Saul. But I also noticed that Saul repeatedly went his own way and essentially only turned to Ahilub to confirm what he already thought, or has already decided what to do. He was not listening to God. 1 Sam. 14:37, when Saul wanted to chase the Philistines all night and the priest said "let's ask God first", "But God made no reply that day." Instead of taking that as a clear sign to rest, Saul went looking for a sinner.
My to do: Wait and listen for the LORD's will. Lean NOT on my own understanding! Check myself and make sure I am not asking God to confirm what I think, but really seek His will for me.
Y'all be blessed today,
Karen, Basel
Good Morning, and Happy Monday ~
Jennifer Renee-I am excited for you, I can't believe all you were doing before to get the verses read! My, my and I hope you saw your Dad yesterday! How is he doing?
Karen, so - so happy to have you back with us, I love your post tucked in the mix!
Wendy, thank you for sharing and I could just see the Spirit working out of you, changing up what you shared, in order to serve those lucky and blessed sisters! That golf winner was from AZ. smile!
Dawna & Michelle -how fun for you to see Wendy on Day 100! {prayed for Sally} S.A.P. LOVED that Michelle, thank you so much for sharing! Will be praying for you today with those little ones, I taught Jr. High mostly, but you feel free to email if you ever want, princemesa@cox.net
G & P Loved hearing about your bookstore experience...had to smile, as I'd be right there suggesting a study Bible too! smile! That is so good tho, nothin' will draw your DH closer to God than His Holy Word. Praise you Father. This just may be the PRAISE of the week, sisters!!!
Gaylene, praying for your career - change. Pour yourself out to God. Lord, where do you see Gaylene serving you best? You have a specific role already known by you. Lead her to it. Show her where she will be best suited. Open up the doors to guide her along. Help her make the right decisions. Equip her mind to do everything you want her to do. Amen. Gaylene, you are not alone, He is right there next to you. When the enemy places a concern in your mind, STOP. Turn it over to God. With His powerful Spirit inside you, you can do anything! What job will allow her to influence the most people, in your direction? We love you Lord, and we know you have a special job for Gaylene.
Jodie, praying for your extended family.
Today we see where pride and wanting to please people draw Saul's heart away from obeying God. He pleased people rather than please God. Man, or man, that sounds like me! I do believe, without a doubt, that there is nothing so sneaky or destructive to our walk with the Lord, as pride. "clothe yourselves with humility toward one another...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (I Peter 5:5).
The opinion most of the time that the world believes, is often against God's Word. That is why we are a small remnant dear friends. It's a small and straight path. Only by God's grace do our little feet stay following His. Lord, keep me on your path today. Whisper to me, when I'm going my own way, to the right or to the left. Poke me, prod me, investigate me, do what ever it takes to keep me next to You. Expose all the sin that separates me from you. Today, I know I will see your glory around me; I'm anticipating it. I love you dear Lord Jesus with all of my heart. In your precious name I pray, Amen.
Ya'll enjoy Him today, He is right there with you waiting to reveal himself! Love you! Thank you for your posts, as they richly add so much to my day! Thank you Father for these special sisters that draw me closer to You, by their loving ways. Lori
Good morning sisters,
FYI:Beth Moore is doing a simulcast on April 24 with her new book, "So Long Insecurity." Don't we all need that! I'm taking a group of women from our church to
watch it. Hope you can too.
King Saul disobeyed God when he acted as a priest by sacrificing the burnt offering himself.(He didn't wait on Samuel.) This one act cost him-verse 13 I didn't know the Lord would have established Saul's kingdom over Israel forever. God already had a man chosen to replace Saul-David.
"There is no little sin because there is no little god," Matthew Henry said. Watch out!
New: Israel didn't have swords and spears. What did they use in battle? God used an earthquake and terror after Jonathan and his armor bearer killed 20 Philistines.
Jesus to the rescue again!
ISam.14:6-Jonathan says,"Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the LORD. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few."
Jonathan's active faith was strengthened and God gave this victory. What an example for us. Our battles are spiritual-self and Satan.
Where was Saul and his 600 men? Around a pomegranate tree. Were they having fruit salad and discussing what to do while his son did it?
Saul made rash decisions and had an anger problem. It would have cost him his son had the people not interveened.They recognized that God helped Jonathan do a great deed.
To Do: Always give God the glory
for victories. Be one of
the faithful few to obey.
Have a good day all!
Linda from Ark.
Hi Wendy, When you speak of "a new heart', it reminds me of Joni Erickson Tada (in a wheel chair all these years) saying that when people ask her if she will be glad to get to heaven so she can walk again, she tells them she will be more glad to get there so she will have a pure heart! What a lesson for all of us, huh?
Good Morning,
Praying for all that God will guide each of us & give us patience to wait on the answer from You Lord.
1)heard in a new way; Saul makes a foolish oath in 1Samuel 14:24-46. Lord help me not to make foolish unwise oath or vows. Please help me to remember my vows so that I honor You by doing the right thing.
2)did not know; 1Samuel 13:8-14, Saul was told to wait 7 days until Samuel arrive. When he didn't arrive Saul felt compelled to ask the the Lord for help. (not a bad thing to do) Saul just didn't wait for the answer. He thought 'I'll do the offering to the Lord' Bad move! God told Saul to wait. In his good intentions Saul sinned. My mom always said the pathway to hell is paved with good intentions.
3)nugget; Say what you mean & mean what you say. Put ALL things before the LORD. Wait on Him, for He will answer.
Blessings & Peace Mary
Good morning,
Arrangements for my brother's MIL are now made. Wake today, funeral tomorrow. Some tough days ahead. Thank you to everyone who is praying for us and for your lovely words of encouragement.
Today I am struggling. I have pain issues that have been going on for years and of course, it has flared up again. The cause is unknown. My doctor is slowly eliminating possible causes but I am frustrated and tired. I hardly slept last night and my son is super teethy today and I am just plain weary!
I am trying to hear God in all of this but I feel like a rebellious Israelite today - I just want to give up. Sorry to be such a downer today.
Lord - give me a new heart today. I need one badly!
Jodie
Dear Sweet Jodie!
I wish I was closer physically to you so I could come and help you. But accept a cyber hug from me.
Here is a saying that really helped me in my moments (many) of being down. Not Biblical but meaningful just the same.
"In the midst of winter, I FINALLY learned that there was in me an Invincible summer." Albert Camus
Spring is here Praise the Lord! May you find that peace in you that finds an invincible summer.
Lord - give Jodie a new heart today as she cries out to you. Amen
Dixie in Florida
Good Monday morning, everyone. Jumping in late today but I'm glad to announce that I finally finished the CSS profile for financial aid and faxed the W2 to the university. Small victories.
Michelle, you made me laugh. I had forgotten I call my DH "Agent G" in my blog. :) Congratulations on your daughter and fiance's home purchase. Everything looks promising for their new life together. My DS1 is a freshman and interested in pursuing Neurology as his field of specialty so it's glad to see someone who made it alive on the other side.
Rhonda, thanks for sharing the bulletin fr yesterday. That was awesome.
Jodie, I pray that you will have some relief from the pain - and a teething baby.
Last night we had a special guest at our church - a Messianic rabbi. It was Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was so touching. There were candles for all the concentration camps in Europe. His mother was the first one to light the one for Auschwitz, then our Pastor for the next and so on. It was very moving. Seeing him and all the Messianic Jews that came to our church brought me back to our readings. Because he said the Jews are not perfect people but they were chosen by God and loved by Him inspite of their imperfection.
In yesterday's reading what stood out to me was when Samuel was ready to anoint Saul as king and Saul was nowhere to be found. Then God said he's there hiding behind the baggage. Which got me thinking about our "baggage" - insecurities, past sins, bad childhood memories. What are we hiding behind that we don't heed the call of God in our lives? Hebrews 12:1 amplified version "THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us."
1 Sam 13:9-10 when Saul could not wait any longer for Samuel and he did the offering himself. Then Samuel showed up just as he was finishing. I can see myself doing this because patience is not one of my virtues. :) This is what Jon Courson said, "...Samuel showed up. This is often the way of God. So often the Lord waits until the last minute to step in...He takes us right down to the wire not to taunt but to train us in order that we might have endurance. You see, the race we run as believers isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. And God knows how desperately we need endurance. The only way to get endurance is to go through testing that will force us to wait on Him in order that we might not panic, not run off the track, not throw in the towel. CH Spurgeon said the snails made it safely to the ark because they had endurance. You might be a snail, I might be a slug. We might move very, very slowly but we will make it to the ark if we simply endure." (p. 853)
Brandee, I hope you get your copy of this commentary soon.
Have a blessed day, everyone!
Happy Monday GIG's! It is raining here in MN...we had a lovely weekend though and this week promises to hit 70+ degrees most of the time. Yippee!
Jen-Ren- your niece's postcard from Minnesota has been mailed today! I'm excited to hear how many postcards her class gets.
How many times does God give me my way cuz I'm impatient, selfish or pigheaded? Too many to count. I pray also for a new heart. One that surrenders completely to His ways. How many times does he have to prove to me that His ways are better than mine? I must be dense!
Jodie - peace and rest to you. Pain gets our attention and keeps it. May God give you some relief so you can concentrate on Him.
G&P - I liked the "Samuel (God) showed up" analogy. Very good.
I too have a prayer request. I cannot get into any details, but please pray for my friends 13 year old daughter who needs Jesus' help real bad. Thank you in advance for that.
Praise Him even when you don't feel like it! He'll change your mind!
Morgen
I could not believe that Saul told the men of Israel they couldn't eat any food until evening until he could get revenge on all his enemies. I want to agree with Jonathan that if the men of Israel had eaten they could have killed more Philistines.
Morgen, Thanks.
Jodie, I am praying for you. I pray that God wil take the pain away.
I found that I'm one of those who S.A.P. (Stop And Pray). When I read a prayer request I stop reading and pray right then.
1. 1 Sam. 13:1 That Saul was 30 years old when he became king jumped out at me. Other than that's how old Jesus was when he began His ministry, does anyone know of any significance to this??
2. 1 Sam. 13:11-12 I didn't know that Saul's reign ended because of this early disobedience. God wanted a man "after His own heart" and seems to be preparing David through heritage and lineage. Why was Saul ever chosen at all?
3. 1 Sam 14:6b "...for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!" I love that. I need to remember that He can do anything. I do, though, love the numbers in this group - I feel as if we can really make a difference together!
I ended up with the opportunity to 'kidnap' my husband and head out of town for the weekend, so while I did my reading, I haven't yet read any of the comments, and I feel out of the loop ... will work on that today ....
Jodie, I don't know where you are located, but if you're in northern NC and there's something I can do to help, I'd be happy to. Teething is not fun.
Oh, PS - My mom asked if you would pray for her cousin. She cares for her brother who's in a wheelchair after a very severe stroke and was discovered to have a very large growth on one kidney. She's going to lose it, and they're running tests on the other one to see if it needs to come out, too. I don't know if cancer is involved. They also diagnosed her with diabetes.
Lord
we ask that you undertake for Jodie and her family who are mourning at the moment. you are a God who comforts us in our time of need. May your presence be with this family, may the peace of God that passes all understanding be with these dear ones . and when all settles down, may all the glory and praise be yours forever.
today's reading
But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”
what faith that Jonathan had!!! he and his armour bearer alone, attacking the mighty philistine army with all the iron chariots??
Lord, help us to put our trust and complete dependence on you. even when the mountain looks too high to climb, like Jonathan, help us realise if the Lord says and wills, we shall conquer. If not, we still love Him for he leads us to our next victory.
good tuesday morning. i know you are sleeping up...up.... there.sleep tight and good morning.
loice-melbourne
Jodie, I am so sorry you are not feeling well, and that you have some difficult days ahead. I am not gifted like many of our "Wendy Sisters" composing prayful words to those in need, so I am going to borrow a prayer written by Rev. Robert Schuller that I hope will help you in the days ahead.
MAY YOUR LIGHT SHINE BRIGHT
I need you, Lord, When I face darkness and negativity, may your light shine bright and penetrate every corner of my life...May your light of grace heal hurts that may still dwell within, May your lihgt of courage uphold me as I move bravely ahead, May your light of peace surround me, in the midst of anxious times. May your light of love reach out to those around me who need it desperately.
Thank you Lord, for your light of grace, courage, peace and love. Amen.
Praying for you, Jodie. Also for Morgen's request, and Amy's request.
The woman who fell down the stairs Saturday at the close of Wendy's program is bruised, but okay, and needed 4 stitches in her head. Thanks for your prayers for her.
Love to all of you.
Peace and Gratitude,
Michelle in New England
Evening Everyone, I have not read any comments today but want to catch up tomorrow. Super busy day! I did want to let everyone know that I have decided to make my prayer blog private. We do share personal stuff sometimes and so if you want to come on there I will need to send you an invite. Please email me at ezekiel2230.prayerwarrior@gmail.com I will get you an invite.
Bethany- I don't have your email yet so please email me asap. I changed it tonight after some wise advice. Sometimes you just can't be too careful in this world we live in and I want to be able to still post pics of my son and things. Nothing happened or anything, but just want to make sure nothing does. I want you all to please pray with us if you have a spouse that is not saved. We are praying and we are seeing our prayers answered awesome ways already!
Talk to you all tomorrow and hope to catch up. Will has a bit of a cold so he may be home from school.
Brandee
Good evening ...I am just trying to see if my google account is the same after some computer issues...thank you for your patience
God Bless
I don't comment very often but I want you ladies to know up here in Boston I read the blog entries daily and I pray for you all almost every day. I feel so blessed to be a part of this! :)
I couldn't help but notice that Saul did not hear a reply when the priest told him to first pray for an answer. Then Saul went looking for sin or a sinner. I wonder sometimes if when I do not hear a reply from my prayers if I need to SAP (stop and pray) for God to reveal sin in my life that might be hindering my ability to hear from God. Just a thought...
PS This is Jen in Boston. :)
I wanted to thank you all for your prayers, and Jennifer, thanks for the post about the passages online. Now I keep it open on my work desktop and read it all day long!
Pride goeth before a fall, and Saul fell hard. Do I have pride that keeps me from seeing God's will?
Love,
Karla
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