The Sin of Prayerlessness

# 162 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:23a "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; (1 Sam 12:23a) It was back in verse 19, that the people begged Samuel to “pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die.” This intercessory prayer for others is so important that Samuel calls the neglect of this prayer a sin against the Lord! Whoa! A sin? This not just some one shot deal restricted to Samuel either! This is for you and I, and all who claim to be followers of Christ. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says to Timothy in regards to intercessory prayer, “ I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you (Timothy) in my prayers night and day,” (2 Tim 1:3) What is he thanking God for? That he remembers to pray for Timothy! Point 1. When the Holy Spirit brings someone to mind to pray for....thank God! Why? Because you are serving God with a pure conscience just as Samuel did, and just as Paul did, and just as everyone does when they pray for others. To have a pure conscience in a matter is to not have guilt over it. It is, as Samuel put it, to not “sin against the Lord.” These prayers are a matter of obedience! I don't know about you, but I find myself greatly convicted here. How many times have I told someone I would pray for them and then, “out of sight, out of mind?” I just forget! I know better. I know the proper thing to do when someone asks for prayer is to stop what I'm doing and pray! To neglect to do this is to invite sin. Well, thankfully as with all sin, it is forgivable. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, (1 Jn 1:9) Holy Spirit, help me to heed any and all of Your calls to prayer.

Because of His Great Name

# 161 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:22 "For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. What a great promise. The Lord will not forsake His people. It certainly isn't because we are deserving. It is only because of His great name and good pleasure. I am reminded of the time when the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, but were fearful of the “giants in the land,” and they wanted to ditch God and return to Egypt. God told Moses that He would strike these people with pestilence and disinherit them. He was ready to forsake them because of their persistent rebellion. (Num 14:12) But Moses interceded for them and said, "Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 'Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.' (Nu 14:15,16) God heard the prayer of Moses, and for His great name sake, did not forsake them. We have the same promise from Jesus for the church today. In Mt 28:20, He said to His disciples, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” God will not forsake His church. Even though some may forsake Him chasing after other gods, pursuing false doctrine, or ignoring His Word, God will always preserve a remnant. Admittedly, sometimes it looks pretty bleak for the church today, but it looked very bleak in the days of Elijah too. Elijah was thoroughly depressed because he felt he was the only believer left in the land. He said in 1 Kings, 19:14, “I alone am left.” But God said in 1 Kings 19:18, “ Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." Sometimes you can be in a situation where you might feel like Elijah. Take heart, you are not alone and never will be. God has preserved other believers for you to fellowship with. But remember, it's not because of YOUR great name, it's because of His great name. It's because of His grace. Thank Him for it today!

A Definition of Idolatry

# 160 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:21, "And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.” (1 Sam 12:21) Samuel again reminds the people of their need to serve God alone. Looking to anything other than God for deliverance or increase in value (profit) is idolatry. Sometimes, in our modern and enlightened world we think we are not guilty of the sin of idolatry. I mean who bows down to images made with human hands? But here we have an excellent definition of idolatry. To “go after” something in the Hebrew language used here, is to loiter. To engage in idolatry then is to “hang out” with things that are powerless to deliver you, or give you anything of lasting value. Here's the thing about loitering. When we loiter after worthless things, it keeps us from pursuing that which has true worth. What are you “hanging out” with that is keeping you from a pursuit of Jesus? What is keeping you from “seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness?” Where are you loitering instead of pressing on? Loitering is a great enemy of the faith, it leads to idolatry. But the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul has a remedy. Php 3:12b, “but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Press on beloved. Just pretend that Officer Holy Spirit has come up to the street corner where you have been loitering and says, “okay people break it up,” there is nothing here of lasting value for you.” Then move on, leaving your idols and pressing on with Paul seeking to lay hold of that for which Jesus Christ laid hold of you.

The Breathing Process of Being A Christian

# 159 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:19,20 “And all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves." 20 Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Samuel has called on God to deliver a miraculous thunderstorm, and God did just that. This thundering caused the people to fear both God and Samuel. This “thunder” is a good picture of the Law of God. One of the purposes of the Law is to strike fear in the hearts of men. The Law showed the people their sin. This fear causes godly sorrow over sin, and a desire for someone to intercede on behalf of the sinner, lest he die. And here Samuel serves as a type of Jesus for these people. Note his reply to those afflicted with godly sorrow, “Do not fear,” which is another way of saying, you will not die, your sins are forgiven.“ And now, that they have a new lease on life, Samuel reminds them to not turn aside from following the Lord and to serve Him (be a slave to Him” with all their heart. The phrase, “turn aside” in the Hebrew means to stretch or spread out, to bend away. This is a simple reminder to not go chasing after other gods. Seek to serve and love God alone with all your heart, soul, and might. Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery? Jesus told her, “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more.” In other words, go and henceforth, walk a straight path with God, don't bend away from Him and His righteousness.” This bending away is a natural tendency of our flesh and should be dealt with on a daily basis, as we are convicted of our sins by the Law of God, (reading of God's Word) have godly sorrow over them, which leads to confession, and the gospel words of absolution, “fear not, your sins are forgiven in Christ, ” and then the admonition to “go and sin no more.” This is the daily breathing process of a follower of Jesus. It is our life! Embrace it

God Means Business

# 158 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:16-18, "Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes: 17 "Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves." 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. (1 Sam 12:16-18) Whenever you see the word, “therefore” in Scripture, you need to go back a verse or two and see what the “therefore” is “there for.” Samuel had just told the people that if they refused to allow the Lord to rule over them, God's hand would be against them. Now he says, “stand still, pay attention, and I'll show you that God means business.” It was the time of the wheat harvest in Israel, a time when rain and storms were very rare. Samuel boldly states that he will ask God to send thunder and rain. If the rain and thunder come, it would be God's statement that He was not happy that the people had asked for a king to rule over them. God knew the hearts of the people, He knew their motivation for their request. He told Samuel in 1 Sam 8:7b, “they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” This was the issue, and the people have still not dealt with it. God has granted them their desire for a king, but they must remember that king or no king God is to rule over their hearts. In this portion of Scripture, He is going to great lengths to hammer the point home to the people. The hand of God snaps His fingers and produces a miraculous storm out of nothing. Is this the hand that you want working for you or against you? Are there sin issues in you life that you have not yet dealt with? Areas of your life where you are resisting God's rule? Confess them as sin, seek to turn from them, receive God's forgiveness, and with the help of the Holy Spirit allow Him and His Word to rule Supreme in your life.

The Law As A Fence

# 157 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:14,15, "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. 15 "However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. (1 Sam 12:14,15) It's not that bad to have a king rule over you. It still boils down to our own personal relationship with God. If we are willing to fear, love, serve, and obey Him, we have no need to fear judgment from God. But if we choose to rebel against His rule, His hand will be against us in judgment, king or not. Let me use the open hand of God illustration again. When you and I, by the grace of God, put our faith in Christ, we are placed in the open hand of God. He does not hold us with a clenched fist. As long as we remain in His hand no one can pluck us away. Though God's hand is open, He has placed His commands like a fence around the outer edges of His hand. This fence is designed to slow us down, to protect us, and help keep us from straying away from Him. It is a grace to have such a fence, but the fence is not grace. It can't save us. We were saved the moment we put on Christ through faith. And now these commands or fence, matter to us because of our love for Him. It is now our Holy Spirit given desire to please the Father, to live in accordance with His holy will. But if we habitually ignore them, we show a disdain for His rule in our lives. We are basically saying, that we don't like living in the confines of His hand and we place ourselves in danger of leaving His protection. By now, you should know, that these commands are impossible to keep with our own strength, but God wants you and I to remain in His hand so much, that He has given us the Holy Spirit (the Helper) to help us live according to His will, and to lead us to confession and forgiveness when we fall short.

The Enemy Is Us

# 156 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 12:12-14, "And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. (1 Sam 12:12-14) “Note the Lord has set a king over you.” I can't repeat phrases like this in Scripture enough because they emphasize the truth of Ro 13:1, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” It saddens me to see professing Christians mock our leaders. Their words often border on outright personal hatred. Instead of speaking ill of those whom God has appointed over us. We would do well to remember, to “note” that God has set the king over us. Got a problem with the king? Take it up with God, He's the One who put him there. To speak ill of the king is to speak ill of the one who put him there. Are you miffed about the way things are going in our country? Guess what? According to this passage, it's not the king's fault. Listen carefully to what God says, "If YOU fear the LORD and SERVE Him and OBEY His voice, and do not REBEL against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. The road back to a godly nation is paved with individuals who fear the Lord, serve the Lord and obey the Lord. We build it one brick at a time through personal and corporate repentance. Father forgive us for casting blame on others, when the problem is with our own relationship with You. Help us by the power of Your Spirit to fear, love, serve, and obey You from this day forth.