Where do you receive direction when under attack?
17 Apr 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
1 Samuel 22
1 Samuel 23
1 Samuel 24
Luke 16:1-18
For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me (Psalm 31:3).
Where do you receive direction when under attack?
What principles will govern David as Saul seeks his demise? First, he follows godly counsel. “Now the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah’” (1 Samuel 22:5). David acts upon this guidance. He also checks with God before advancing. First Samuel 23:2 reports, “Therefore David inquired of the LORD” about attacking the Philistines. Finally, Saul comes to a cave unaware that David and his men are present. David secretly cuts off a part of Saul’s robe, but the text shares “that David’s heart troubled him” (1 Samuel 24:5). David lets his conscience be his guide and doesn’t kill Saul. King David receives direction from godly people, prayer, and conscience. Go and do likewise!
Employment Point: Seek God’s guidance through godly counsel, prayer, and your conscience.
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Reflections
Indeed often times we let trouble defines us and start to panic but that is not what the Lord wants us to learn. He wants us to rely on Him and still trust Him regardless.
“Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.”1 Samuel 22:17 NIV
- I praise the Lord for guards like these, we do not take commands lightly and yet discern for themselves for what is right and what is wrong. I believe the soldiers fear the Lord and rather go against the king than the Lord and the Lord protected them all.
“David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.”1 Samuel 23:14 NIV
- even if the whole earth is to be against David, the Lord is with him and nobody is able to touch him, for the Lord did not give David into Saul’s hands. Indeed if the Lord is for us, who can be against us?!
“May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.”
1 Samuel 24:12-13 NIV
- this is so well-said. In a way he is telling Saul he is not going to be like Saul and giving evil for evil. Instead, David is giving good for evil. In that sense, he also proved himself righteous before the Lord and he understands that the vengeance is His.
“The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”
Luke 16:14-15 NIV
- in the gospel of Luke this is explicitly spelt out. The Pharisees’s love of money. They had placed money above all else, even above God.
- Jesus is telling us that with the so called godly people it is also happening. We should therefore not be surprised if we see people like that amongst us. In this world that is full of greed and power, many may even be willing to trade their lives for power and fame. But the Lord has warned us against all these and that it is Him that we shall seek. To trust and to obey Him and not in men. Men may fail but the Lord will never fail.
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Abandoning All
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
April 17
As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him . . . and jumped into the water. — John 21:7
Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately, emphatically, and recklessly abandoned everything to God? It is a crisis of will. You may come to the crisis many times in your outward experience, giving up worldly things and behaviors. But giving up external things amounts to nothing. The real crisis of abandonment happens within. Giving up external things may be a sign of being in total bondage, not to God but to your own idea of holiness.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is, truly, an act of will, not of emotion. Emotion is just the gilded edge of action. If you expect the emotion to come before you act, you will never get to the act itself. Don’t keep asking God what you should do. Reflect on what he is already showing you—in the simple place or in the profound place, in the small thing or the great thing. Then act on what you see.
“Jesus stood on the shore… He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’” (John 21:4–5). If you’ve heard the voice of Jesus Christ calling to you across the waves, let your creeds and convictions go to the wind; let your consistency go to the wind. Dive in and head toward the shore. Maintain your relationship with him.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it.
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Reflections
Sometimes, I find myself caught in between trying to discern what is His calling and His will versus my own. In fact, I do not even want to have a will of my own for I realised it is so much easier to follow. I find that it is easier to follow than to lead. However, He will place me in situations where I had to, it’s no longer up to me but Him.
Following Christ has been an interesting journey because we learn how to do things in His will. In order to do that we need to know Him first. Without that it is impossible to figure what if He is here, will do. Sometimes asking questions like this helps us to understand His heart better, especially in the area of handling people or dealing with relationships.
We are no perfect human and many times are affected by situations, circumstances or challenges. It stirs a certain emotion in us, sometimes causing us to get distracted from Him and losing focus. We see those challenges as something so major and disruptive that we start to panic, get anxious and totally affected our wellbeing.
Well, nothing really wrong with that as we are very human. But the Lord has taught us to fix our eyes upon Him. To not let all these issues get to us. For doesn’t He know all things, doesn’t He love all men and women alike and doesn’t He have the power to transform, heal and turn things around? If we truly believe that is so, we should learn to let go of those worries and hand it over to Him. He is the Almighty and only Him can be in charge of those things. We may think we have the capacity to do it but truly, we don’t.
May we always be able to hear His voice and run to Him, lest we walk further and further away from Him and got lost.
Let’s pray:
Thank You Father for helping us to realise what it meant to be in bondage to the external things and to the things in which we, in our own ideas think is holy. Help us Father, to be able to cast aside our own emotions and thoughts and be fully aligned to Your will so that we are guided to do the things that You want us to do. In Jesus’s name we ask and pray. Amen 🙏🏻
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