Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.
Listen up Friends! Morning has broken, like that very first day. Songbirds are singing, the same sweet songs they sang back then. Eden’s arising; cool breezes are a trilling with the leaves, bees are a buzzing, flowers a flowering, insects and animals are a doing whatever they do. But beware, for Beelzebub is also active. Fear not though, for from His throne on high, Almighty God has him under close scrutiny. What’s the only thing missing from this wonderful scenario? The voices of God’s greatest creation, mankind, rising in thankful song. So let’s all sing then: ‘Praise Him, Praise, Glory Hallelujah! He is LOVE! He is LOVE! Yes, we LOVE you Lord, and praise your Holy Name! Amen!’ Thank you Friends. Now we can truthfully say we’ve been obedient in at least one thing today; LOVING and praising our God. (smile) Let’s see if we can’t continue the rest of the day in the same vein of obedience nuh. Saul wasn’t so lucky though. Yesterday we stopped where Samuel rebuked him. Then he repented: ‘I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.’ (1 Sam.15:24) Now Friends, doesn’t that sound a whole lot like us, where we listen to the voice of other humans rather than that of God? It sure does, since we’ve all sought the favour of men at sometime, seeking their acceptance over God’s, thereby making it more important. But we’ve all paid dearly for that too. Then Saul begged Samuel; ‘Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.’ (1 Sam.15:25) But Samuel refused: ‘for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.’ (1 Sam.15:26) And I just adore this next piece of imagery and drama. Our God is such a dramatist! ‘And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him. The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.’ (1 Sam.15:27) What a psychological and emotional blow that must have been to Saul: humiliation even after repentance. But Friends, that’s the price we pay for disobedience to very straightforward directives. And can you imagine that scene playing out on the big screen in one of Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical epics, with somebody like Charlton Heston as Samuel, when he puts on a rebuking scowl on his already stern features. Wow! However, according to the scholars, in the Near East countries, there’s a custom of seizing the edge of the robe that implies a gesture of submission or supplication. The Lord physically showed His dissatisfaction with Saul, that even when he tried to be submissive, his gesture failed. Oh my people, that’s a good example of how sour things can get when the Lord turns against us for sinful disobedience. Saul seemed to take his comeuppance like a man, though he asked Samuel to help him save face amongst the people. ‘I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.’ (1 Sam.15:30-31) Ah my Friends, it’s a strange, unfathomable life this. We never know what will come upon us from one moment to the next. The only surety and safety we have is in the Word of the Most High God Jehovah, to trust and obey it, and even then, tribulation may still befall us. But the big difference is that with the Word distilled throughout our hearts and minds, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, we have the strength to bear up under any temptation or trial. That means sometimes there are really no good excuses for our disobedience, since we should know better. Saul should have known better, but instead of listening to the Lord, through fear and ego, he listened to his own understanding and the voice of the people, who were all about the spoils. In the end, Samuel had to complete Saul’s job; kill Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Oh my people, we need to remember that ours is not to question why, but to do and hopefully not to die. As true followers of Jesus we have to obey His orders to the ‘t’, else we’ll suffer the consequences of disobedience, which, as we’ve seen in Saul’s case can be very dire. It’s no secret that our God puts a high premium on obedience to His commands, so please, let’s take our time and consider all the ramifications of our actions and see if they line up with the Lord’s directives before we do them nuh. It’s the only safe and sensible way to live under God’s authority. I’ll have some more to say about this tomorrow. Till then, if the Lord’s willing, Much LOVE!…and please remember.. as the ole people say…prevention better than cure…
Listen up Friends! Morning has broken, like that very first day. Songbirds are singing, the same sweet songs they sang back then. Eden’s arising; cool breezes are a trilling with the leaves, bees are a buzzing, flowers a flowering, insects and animals are a doing whatever they do. But beware, for Beelzebub is also active. Fear not though, for from His throne on high, Almighty God has him under close scrutiny. What’s the only thing missing from this wonderful scenario? The voices of God’s greatest creation, mankind, rising in thankful song. So let’s all sing then: ‘Praise Him, Praise, Glory Hallelujah! He is LOVE! He is LOVE! Yes, we LOVE you Lord, and praise your Holy Name! Amen!’ Thank you Friends. Now we can truthfully say we’ve been obedient in at least one thing today; LOVING and praising our God. (smile) Let’s see if we can’t continue the rest of the day in the same vein of obedience nuh. Saul wasn’t so lucky though. Yesterday we stopped where Samuel rebuked him. Then he repented: ‘I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.’ (1 Sam.15:24) Now Friends, doesn’t that sound a whole lot like us, where we listen to the voice of other humans rather than that of God? It sure does, since we’ve all sought the favour of men at sometime, seeking their acceptance over God’s, thereby making it more important. But we’ve all paid dearly for that too. Then Saul begged Samuel; ‘Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.’ (1 Sam.15:25) But Samuel refused: ‘for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.’ (1 Sam.15:26) And I just adore this next piece of imagery and drama. Our God is such a dramatist! ‘And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel said unto him. The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.’ (1 Sam.15:27) What a psychological and emotional blow that must have been to Saul: humiliation even after repentance. But Friends, that’s the price we pay for disobedience to very straightforward directives. And can you imagine that scene playing out on the big screen in one of Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical epics, with somebody like Charlton Heston as Samuel, when he puts on a rebuking scowl on his already stern features. Wow! However, according to the scholars, in the Near East countries, there’s a custom of seizing the edge of the robe that implies a gesture of submission or supplication. The Lord physically showed His dissatisfaction with Saul, that even when he tried to be submissive, his gesture failed. Oh my people, that’s a good example of how sour things can get when the Lord turns against us for sinful disobedience. Saul seemed to take his comeuppance like a man, though he asked Samuel to help him save face amongst the people. ‘I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord.’ (1 Sam.15:30-31) Ah my Friends, it’s a strange, unfathomable life this. We never know what will come upon us from one moment to the next. The only surety and safety we have is in the Word of the Most High God Jehovah, to trust and obey it, and even then, tribulation may still befall us. But the big difference is that with the Word distilled throughout our hearts and minds, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, we have the strength to bear up under any temptation or trial. That means sometimes there are really no good excuses for our disobedience, since we should know better. Saul should have known better, but instead of listening to the Lord, through fear and ego, he listened to his own understanding and the voice of the people, who were all about the spoils. In the end, Samuel had to complete Saul’s job; kill Agag, the king of the Amalekites. Oh my people, we need to remember that ours is not to question why, but to do and hopefully not to die. As true followers of Jesus we have to obey His orders to the ‘t’, else we’ll suffer the consequences of disobedience, which, as we’ve seen in Saul’s case can be very dire. It’s no secret that our God puts a high premium on obedience to His commands, so please, let’s take our time and consider all the ramifications of our actions and see if they line up with the Lord’s directives before we do them nuh. It’s the only safe and sensible way to live under God’s authority. I’ll have some more to say about this tomorrow. Till then, if the Lord’s willing, Much LOVE!…and please remember.. as the ole people say…prevention better than cure…
SCRIP-BITS 