8/10/2010
11:00:11 AM
SPIRITUAL
DIARY
Today’s SD is going to be different
because it is about looking back on the book of 1Samuel. In Warren Wiersbe’s “Be” book series he is
usually predictable in the way he constructs each book, for at the end of each
book he has a chapter that reviews the book or books of the Bible that he has
written about and this is the case of “Be Successful” his commentary on
1Samuel. I began this quest of studying
1Samuel on “4/9/2010 9:46 AM” while vacationing in Florida looking forward to
the things that God would teach me as I tried to dig deeper into His Word. The Lord has taught me many things while
studying 1Samuel and used them from time to time in my life. 1Samuel was my food from the Word of God from
that ninth day of April 2010 until this tenth day of August 2010.
This SD will be quotes from the
concluding chapter of “Be Successful” and the simple outline that Dr. Wiersbe
uses it to write something about the main characters that were in 1Samuel
beginning with Hannah and concluding with David.
Hannah, a godly woman:
“Hannah’s name means “grace” and she certainly lived up to her name. God gave her the grace she needed to suffer
the insults hurled at her by Peninnah, Elkanah’s second wife, and to endure the
embarrassment and pain of childlessness.
“Hannah realized what too many of
us forget, that God works in and through ‘common people’ to accomplish His
purposes on earth.”
Eli, a compromising priest: Eli was a man who compromised
when it came to raising his children and then allowing them to do the things
they did in the service at the tabernacle without getting rid of them.
Eli did a good job in raising the
child Samuel who born a priest but God would call him to minister as a prophet
and judge.
“Blessed are those older saints who
help the new generation know God and live for Him!”
“Eli hadn’t been a great spiritual
leader, but he was one small link in the chain that led to the anointing of
David and eventually the birth of the Redeemer.”
Samuel, a faithful servant: Real
change agents don’t sit around complaining and remembering the good old
days.---Samuel was God’s living link between Israel’s past and future, and he
played his part well.”
“Samuel is an example to all older
believers who are prone to glorify the past, resist change in the present, and
lose hope in the future. Without
abandoning the past, Samuel accepted change, did all he could to make things
work, and when they didn’t work, trusted God for a brighter future.---Every
leader needs a Samuel, a person in touch with God, appreciative of the past but
willing to follow God into a new era, a man of faith and encouragement who sees
the hand of God at work where others see only confusion.”
Saul, an unstable king:
“When David arrived on the scene, he didn’t create problems—he revealed
them. An insecure man like Saul can’t
tolerate competition and competence, and this made David and enemy.
“Charles de Gaulle said ‘Success
contains within it the germs of failure, and the reverse is also true.’ Those germs of failure are planted by the
hands of pride, and pride was one of Saul’s besetting sins.—The Lord would have
helped him, as he did Moses, Joshua, and Gideon, but Saul chose to go his own
way. When success comes before we’re
ready for it, it can destroy us and rob us of the things that make for true
success. Saul didn’t know the
difference.
“When Saul failed, he learned to
substitute excuses for confessions, abut his lies only entangled him
worse. His life and royal service were
part of a tragic masquerade that was applauded by his flatterers and abominated
by the Lord. Saul didn’t listen to
Moses, Samuel, Jonathan, or David, and once he had rejected God’s Word, the
only voice left was that of the devil.”
“When God calls people to serve,
He knows their capacity for doing the work He wants them to do, and He will
never abandon them—if they truest and obey.
Thant’s where Saul failed. When
God is left out of the equation, the answer is always zero.”
King Saul died a suicide on the
battlefield, but his namesake died a martyr outside the city of Rome. Before his death, he wrote to his beloved
Timothy, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith.’”
Jonathan, a generous friend:
“It’s tragic that so noble a prince should die because of the poor
leadership displayed by his father, but God didn’t want Saul’s line and David’s
line together in the throne room.
Jonathan leaves behind a
beautiful example of what true friendship should be: honest, loving
sacrificing, seeking the welfare of others, and always bringing hope and
encouragement when the situation is difficult.”
David, a courageous shepherd:
“David was a man athirst for God.
He envied the priests because they were privileged to dwell in God’s
house and live close to His presence.
But He saw God in the mountains and rivers as much as in the sanctuary,
and he heard God’s voice in the thunder.
For David, the world was alive with God, and the highest honor one could
have—higher than being king—was to be God’s servant and accomplish His purposes
on earth.
“David lived his life open before
the Lord and never turned back. No, he
wasn’t perfect, nor did he claim to be, but his heart was fixed, and his
consuming desire was to glorify God and finish his work.
“Though on occasion he wavered
because of doubts, David believed God’s promises and never turned back in
unbelief. Doubt is a
temporary relapse of the heart, but unbelief is a permanent rebellion of the
will, and David was never guilty of that .” Even during his sojourns in enemy territory,
he sought ways to accomplish something that would further God’s kingdom.
“The next time we’re tempted to
emphasize the negative things in David’s life, let’s remember that Jesus wasn’t
ashamed to be called ‘the Son of David.
“And the Lord still says to us ‘Let
Jesus be king of your life. Be
Successful.”
8/10/2010
12:24:04 PM
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