8/5/2010
11:01:07 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Saul
lost his army
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
1Sam. 31:1, 1Chron. 10:1
Message
of the verses: “1 ¶ Now the Philistines were fighting against
Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain
on Mount Gilboa.”
“1 ¶ Now the Philistines fought against Israel;
and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount
Gilboa.”
This SD begins a new section in
Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on 1Samuel and this time he includes the tenth
chapter of 1Chronicles which goes along with the end of 1Samuel. It may be noted that the next book in his “Be”
series includes both books of 2Samuel and 1Chronicles so this is kind of a
preview of that book.
He entitles this second main section
“A day of disgrace and defeat” and today’s SD is the first sub-title under that
main title.
In Wiersbe’s introduction to the
second main title he writes the following, “Saul had many good qualities, but
not of them was humble, obedient faith in God.
Because of his pride and disobedience, Saul lost everything.”
Both of the verses in today’s SD are
exactly the same and it tells of the defeat of the army of Israel as they were
fighting the Philistines. Israel wanted
to fight in the hills while the Philistines liked the level ground because of
their many chariots that they had.
Israel was no match for Saul and his army and mostly it was because of
his bad relationship with the Lord, the God of Israel. When Moses was speaking to the children of
Israel in the book of Deuteronomy he said that their relationship with the Lord
was key in their survival while living in the Promised Land. Here is a sample from the 26th
chapter of Leviticus that helps to explain why the army of Israel was
defeated. “ 1 ¶ ’You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor
shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you
place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your
God. 2 ’You shall keep My Sabbaths and
reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD. 3
’If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them
out, 4 then I shall give you rains in
their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the
field will bear their fruit. 5 ’Indeed,
your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering
will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live
securely in your land. 6 ’I shall also
grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you
tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will
pass through your land. 7 ’But you will
chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a
hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you
by the sword. 9 ’So I will turn toward
you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with
you. 10 ’You will eat the old supply and
clear out the old because of the new. 11
’Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not
reject you. 12 ’I will also walk among
you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 ’I am the LORD your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the
bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: I want to begin with a verse from the book of
Jude: “20 But you, beloved, building
yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” I want to focus in on the word beloved and
give the meaning of this word from the Greek dictionary: “1) beloved, esteemed, dear, favorite,
worthy of love; 1a) by God,” This idea
came from my study in the book of Daniel the ninth chapter where Gabriel tells
Daniel that he is beloved of God and John MacArthur expands that subject and he
goes to this 20th verse in Jude to say that this is why Daniel had
been able to pray such a wonderful prayer that was actually answered by the
Lord before he even was done praying when the Lord sent Gabriel to give him the
answer to what he was praying about.
MacArthur goes on to talk about being in the center of a circle which he
called obedience and even though all believers are beloved of God while in the
center of this circle of obedience like Daniel was they are truly blessed by
the Lord. Now I am not saying that everything
will go well for a person that is in the center of this circle of obedience and
all one has to do is look at Daniel when he was in the cage with those hungry
lions, but Daniel was still in the center of this circle when he was told not
to pray and when he was put in with those hungry lions.
This
is the place to be if I am to have an effect on others in my journey on planet
earth, and it is not an easy place to stay, but by God’s grace that is where I
will be and that means that it will take much grace from the Lord and much
prayer and studying and even meditation on my part to stay in the center of the
circle of obedience.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. To stay in the center of the circle of
obedience so that I will be beloved of the Lord.
2. To realize that I am in a battle
and that the Lord has provided the spiritual armor to protect me and to cause
me to be able to “stand” while in this battle.
3. To continue to learn to be
content.
4. To give myself to the Lord for
worship and service for this day.
5. To trust the Lord to direct my
path, to guide my steps for today.
8/5/2010
11:58:40 AM
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