Reading today about the death of Saul in first Samuel 31 .. I realized that there are 2 tales of obedience and of the lack there of all intertwined.
Saul was tall physically but small in God's eyes, his sin made him ugly even though he was very handsome and his lack of faith made him very weak.. Saul was dedicated to himself, he was self serving..
Saul was rich but he was spiritually bankrupt.. Saul tried to please God with tiny spurts of religiosity. Do we ever get in the flesh and then try to back it up by twisting the word to fit our own agendas? Well.. Meet Saul! ..Saul had a disobedient strong willed,spirit. Saul faced death the same way he faced life. He took matters into his own hands without thinking of God or asking God for his guidance.
In the end, Saul's poor choices and lack of obedience was the death of him. What stands out to me is that when Saul knew he was finally cornered and at the very end of his rope, with nowhere to turn, knowing that if the enemies captured him he would greatly suffer; he yet again took matters into his own hands and asked his right-hand man to kill him..
1 Samuel 31:4-6
Saul groaned to his armor bearer "take your sword and kill me before these pagan Philistines come to run me through and taunt and torture me."But his armor bearer was afraid AND WOULD NOT DO IT.. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
When his armor bearer realized that Saul was dead, he fell on his own sword and died beside the King. Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer and his troops all died together that same day.
The armor bearer had had a choice to make. He knew that if he would have slain Saul even though the king had ordered him to do it, he would have been disobedient to God. There's a great difference between following an order with which you don't agree and following one you know is wrong. It is never right or ethical to carry out a wrong act no matter who gives you that order or what the consequences for disobedience may be. We must always have courage to follow God and his laws above anything earthly or our own personal desires.
The armor bearer had a choice of whose rules he would follow, would he follow his king or God? He had to choose the hard road..but he had to choose eternal life even if it meant that he would lose his own. He would not stand trial before God for the crime of murder. He chose to be obedient.
God LOVES obedience even when it's so hard.. When we know we are to do that hard thing and we are disobedient, and when we like-wise do what we shouldn't, we will also suffer the consequences even if we don't immediately see them.
There will always be consequences for disobedience!
Always!
Great and epic spiritual lives are built by stacking times of obedience one on top of the other. Like a brick, each obedient act is small in and of itself but in time, the acts of obedience will all pile up and a huge wall of strong character will ultimately be built..This is the greatest defense against sin and temptation.
This strong wall of obedience brings layers and layers of protection. We should strive for consistency in obedience each and every day. Build your strength !! Fortify your hedge, your protection! God is trusting you and with each lesson learned and obedience task mastered.
You are moving to a new level with God. He begins to trust you with more and more. He builds our character one brick at a time.. He mortars our bricks together with love, mercy kindness and patience and favor.
We do not want to spend another year in the wilderness, let's amen God and get to the promised land now. Let's receive the blessings here and now that God longs to give us an bestow upon us.
Be obedient to those nudges you feel.. Follow peace!
God is NOT the author of confusion or chaos ..if he's called you to do something, or not to do something, he will always confirm it.
Ask God for revelation ask for confirmation and step out and do that which he has called you to do.
I promise that you will be so glad you did!
Obey God like Abraham.. Even when it makes no sense to you. Faith is not always logical but obedience serves a purpose higher than we can imagine and the blessings on the backside of obedience are amazing!!
Daniel 9:12 - And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
1Peter 4:16-17
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
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