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1 and 2 Samuel Spirit
Week 9 Day 1
Reading - 1 Sam 10:6-8 “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.� It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. NASU
Thought - Saul had all the natural qualifications for leadership but tended to draw back when decisions were required. The promise of the Holy Spirit coming upon him was a promise to give him a spirit which would enable decision making and leadership when the moment required. There is a tendency to think when the Holy Spirit comes upon us He somehow takes over and overrides us, here we see Saul is told to act as the occasion requires for God is with Him. Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit then seek wisdom that you may act as the moment requires, rather than how others or personal fears require. The result will be a different person.
Prayer Lord help me to know today Your Holy Spirit will put a different spirit in me from the spirit of the age or my own natural dispositions and fears. I know You have given me many abilities, yet so often like Saul I draw back. Today Lord, with Your help I will place my confidence in You and believe You will enable me do as the moment requires. Amen
Choosing
Day 2
Reading - 1 Sam 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ESV
Thought - How often do we hear comment and opinion of this age describing it as one where style conquers over substance? Character lost out to personality, surface more valued than centre. The sons of Jesse all looked the part as Samuel met them one by one, each one evaluated by his eye of experience and knowledge. Perhaps today we would have added some form of psychological test. All of these things have their place but when it comes to being asked by God to serve Him, He begins His evaluation with the heart. We know from Jesus that everything in us as people comes out of the centre, the heart. How do you choose?
Prayer
- Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me. Teach me Your way and let me walk in it for I know Your ways are the ways of the heart and by them my heart is made glad. Amen
Sensitivity
Day 3
Reading - 1 Sam 24:4-6 Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed." ESV
Thought - Interesting how David who had suffered a great deal at the hand of Saul was deeply concerned about his attitude towards him. He had the opportunity to take his life, but such was his sensitivity to God’s hand on Saul that his conscience pricked him for even cutting off a piece of Saul’s robe. You will hear people speak of God having His hand on a person and from time to time hear yourself using those words of someone. At this time Saul had been rejected by God, even so David felt he could not make any comment or take any action. How sensitive are we to God’s presence in each other and how does that affect our words and actions towards them, especially if we think they do not deserve respect?
Prayer - Lord I am so quick to judge others and determine whether I will befriend them or listen to them. How easily I use religious language to one minute bless and the next to blemish. Even more worryingly I can find myself cutting pieces off people, often God’s people, not enough to harm but just enough to let them know. Forgive me Lord and help me to realise those over whom I may lift my hand may be under the caring hand of Almighty God. Let not your hand fall on me please. Amen
Roots
Day 4
Reading
2 Sam 7:8-9 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ESV
Thought - Remember your beginnings, where your journey began and who you are, rich or poor, high or low, wanted or unwanted. In your spiritual roots lies the seed of God’s plans and purposes for you. David was taken from… that he should be… We too are taken from, where and what we were and on finding Jesus to what we should be.., a destiny change. It does not stop there because we may not be what we should be but one day we shall be and on that day receive a new name. Why? Because God, faithful to His word has been with us. Remember your spiritual roots for from them grow oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.
Prayer -
Lord I seek You today, You are the rock from which I was cut, my Father who lives in heaven. You have given me so many who have sown into my life and I can see the fruit as I sit here right now. Thank you for them because I am not what I was and their voices live in me, their championing means I am going to be so different. All the waste places of my life You turn into a garden and I am filled with joy and gladness. Thank you. Amen
Sin
Day 5
Reading - 2 Sam 12:13 David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord. ESV Thought - David was known as, “A man after God’s own heart.” Yet he committed some terrible sins, Saul before him also committed many sins but the difference between the two of them was David’s ability to admit his sin, tell God and turn from it. In God’s eyes confessing our sins to Him and turning from them makes for greatness and opens the door for both forgiveness and restoration. David took his discipline from God and walked on, Saul refused to acknowledge his sin and fell. There is a world in the prayer, “Lord I have sinned against you…”
Prayer
- Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we have sinned against You, through our own fault,
in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. For the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us all our offenses, and grant that we may serve You in newness of life, to the glory of Your name, Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)
Everyone is looking for a hero
Day 6
Reading 2 Sam 23:20 there was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. NLT
Thought - David had an elite group of soldiers in his army who were known as “David’s Mighty Men. This chapter contains some of their exploits. They were held in high esteem, spoken of as role models and were heroes to theirs and succeeding generations. Who do you look to as a model of your faith? Who is challenging you onward? Who or what is inspiring you to have a Christian faith which can be followed and be spoken of as an example for years to come? These men gave their lives for their king; they did not look to their own ends but the honour and victory of the king. God grant we live for something beyond ourselves.
Prayer
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Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest; to give and not to count the
cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to labour and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do Thy will. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen. Prayer of Saint Ignatius Loyola 1491-1556,
Giving
DAY 7
Reading - 2 Sam 24:24 But the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. ESV
Thought - The practice of tithing, giving 10% of our income, was the basis of giving to God in the Old Testament. The New Testament does not enforce the practice but it does remain the model and the challenge to how we give to God. How many of us try and create wriggle room on this matter and try to place conditions on the worthiness of the ministry or church? Beneath it all lays a sense of right and wrong, “I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing...” We are to honour the Lord in our giving whether it is money, time or ability and it is wrong for us to receive from Him or others without desire and determination to give. “Freely you have received, freely give,” said Jesus.
Prayer -
Lord You take a pen and words soar from the pages, You take a saxophone and the notes awaken my mind and heal my heart. You take a brush and You colour my world. You bring hope, meaning and beauty to all things, how can I hold anything back from You or those among who I live. Amen