Saturday, March 24, 2012

1 Samuel 15

The Lord desired to punish the Amalekites for what they had done to Israel. God, You  look after Your people. You take their abuse, neglect, mistreatment seriously; even though You allow it. Your timing is purposeful and I trust You in it.

But Saul and the people spared … all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Holy Spirit, please help me to be strong through total obedience, keep me from the sin of partial obedience. Save me from the lie that doing less than or more than what You ask me to do – even with a grand reason/justification is okay. Obedience is specific. I praise You that I don’t have to be perfect; but I must be pure in motive and careful in action. Let me not think that I can save what God condemns (and conversely, I can condemn what God has saved).

And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. … Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul…. LORD, grant me that sensitivity to You, (I want this, but I know that I also fear this – I choose to pursue You).
Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel … Father, I pray that I would be more disturbed by my sin than my reputation. Please, Jesus, keep me following Your example…ever-seeking the glory of the Father and not my own. Holy Spirit, grant me no rest when sin is given welcome in my heart, mind, life, strength, soul. CONVICT ME and CONVICT ME further still. I desire that repentant life that I may be a clean vessel for Your gloriousness.

And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king … ” God, You created Saul. You anointed him king over Your precious people, you made him handsome and tall and very appealing. He had everything the world says is important, yet he believed he was little in his own eyes. He had Your favor; but he refused Your opinion of him, choosing to believe that he was insignificant in some way. His choices were wrong, he sacrificed wrongly, he obeyed wrongly, he pledged wrongly. None of this would limit You; but he did not pursue You and that is a problem. God, he worshiped his insecurity more than he did You. Holy Spirit, immunize me from the drunken boundarylessness of insecurity. May I always believe You over me, the world, the enemy, any media message or even my mirror. Your words are life to me. May I fulfill the anointing You have given me, to the praise of Your great and increasingly famous and glorious Name.

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