April 15, 2006 - I Samuel 27-29 and Luke 13:1-22
Discouragement and depression are big problems for a lot of believers. When we get our eyes off of the Lord, and we begin to listen to our flesh, we get down. This causes us to become disoriented to God's ways, and we try to do things our way. This can lead to more defeat and discouragement. However, God is merciful to us. He realizes our tendency to get discouraged, so He comes to us and gives us a way out. We can see this truth in this passage.
David flees to live with the Philistines, because he is weary of Saul chasing him, and he is discouraged. He takes things into his own hands after all of the times that God had delivered him, and he lives by lies and deception for over a year. God does not forget about him or reject him. Instead, God is gracious. He provides a way out, when it looks like David and his men are going to have to attack Israel with the Philistines. Isn't God good? God is merciful to David in his time of discouragement, even though he is not fully following God. I think we should thank God every day for knowing us and providing for us, even when we fail Him. He knows when our hearts really want to do right, but we just get discouraged. He shows us that we should have been trusting Him all along.
In Saul's case he is discouraged, too. God has departed from him. The Philistines are about to attack. He does not know what to do, and God will not answer his prayers. He seeks out a medium to contact Samuel, even though he had kicked out the mediums himself, and he should have known that Samuel would not be sympathetic to him. That is what being discouraged will do to you. It will cause you to do crazy things that you would not usually do. However, in this case God is merciful to Saul. He allows Samuel to actually come to Saul. I believe this is the only case of a real dead person being called up in a seance. I believe most of the time it is a demon impersonating a person. That is why the medium was frightened herself. Then, even though Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would be killed in the battle that was one more chance for him to repent and turn back to God. I see the mercy of God in this, too. Saul did not see it, though. He was totally overwhelmed by the news, because he was not trusting God at all. When we are depressed it is a vicious cycle that leads us deeper and deeper into depression, if we don't break the cycle and turn it all over to the Lord. We must see that worrying about it will never help. God is our only refuge.
In Luke 13 we see the Lord Jesus calling for repentance. He shows through the first parable that God gives us a chance to repent. (v.8) We should not think that we are too far gone for God to help us. That is not the case. That is Satan lie. We should see that Jesus wants to deliver us like He did the lady who was bent over for 18 years. He was merciful to her, and He will be merciful to you, if you come humbly to Him. He wants to empower your life with His Spirit, so you can be a positive influence on those around you. Think about the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven in that way. In God's kingdom there is power to bring great results from small things. There is power to influence our society for Him. We must not let discouragement stop us. Jesus is Lord, and He is able!
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and Luke 13;23-35.
David flees to live with the Philistines, because he is weary of Saul chasing him, and he is discouraged. He takes things into his own hands after all of the times that God had delivered him, and he lives by lies and deception for over a year. God does not forget about him or reject him. Instead, God is gracious. He provides a way out, when it looks like David and his men are going to have to attack Israel with the Philistines. Isn't God good? God is merciful to David in his time of discouragement, even though he is not fully following God. I think we should thank God every day for knowing us and providing for us, even when we fail Him. He knows when our hearts really want to do right, but we just get discouraged. He shows us that we should have been trusting Him all along.
In Saul's case he is discouraged, too. God has departed from him. The Philistines are about to attack. He does not know what to do, and God will not answer his prayers. He seeks out a medium to contact Samuel, even though he had kicked out the mediums himself, and he should have known that Samuel would not be sympathetic to him. That is what being discouraged will do to you. It will cause you to do crazy things that you would not usually do. However, in this case God is merciful to Saul. He allows Samuel to actually come to Saul. I believe this is the only case of a real dead person being called up in a seance. I believe most of the time it is a demon impersonating a person. That is why the medium was frightened herself. Then, even though Samuel told Saul that he and his sons would be killed in the battle that was one more chance for him to repent and turn back to God. I see the mercy of God in this, too. Saul did not see it, though. He was totally overwhelmed by the news, because he was not trusting God at all. When we are depressed it is a vicious cycle that leads us deeper and deeper into depression, if we don't break the cycle and turn it all over to the Lord. We must see that worrying about it will never help. God is our only refuge.
In Luke 13 we see the Lord Jesus calling for repentance. He shows through the first parable that God gives us a chance to repent. (v.8) We should not think that we are too far gone for God to help us. That is not the case. That is Satan lie. We should see that Jesus wants to deliver us like He did the lady who was bent over for 18 years. He was merciful to her, and He will be merciful to you, if you come humbly to Him. He wants to empower your life with His Spirit, so you can be a positive influence on those around you. Think about the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven in that way. In God's kingdom there is power to bring great results from small things. There is power to influence our society for Him. We must not let discouragement stop us. Jesus is Lord, and He is able!
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Samuel 30-31 and Luke 13;23-35.