Common Things...Ordained By God

1 Samuel 9: 14-17 and 26-27 - They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.  Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel:  "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me."  When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."

 They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get ready, and I will send you on your way." When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together.  As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us"--and the servant did so--"but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God."

 

Saul had been sent to look for some lost donkeys…they had been gone three days…out of food…out of money…and Saul was ready to give up and go home.  But the servant remembered the prophet Samuel …and thought that he lived nearby. The servant saw one more opportunity to find these valuable animals…even though Saul was ready to call it quits. 

 

God had already told Samuel that he was sending him a man from the small tribe of Benjamin…and as soon as these two travelers came into Samuel’s sight…God revealed that Saul was who he had sent. Samuel poured out to Saul and his servant a perfect account of the last three days of events to them…including a summary of his future as king. Then Samuel invited them to a great feast…where Saul was served the choicest piece of meat...and honored with a seat at the head of the table.

 

After the dinner and a good night’s rest…Samuel was still having trouble grasping the concepts that were being laid out for his future.  In Moses like disbelief...he had uttered to Samuel all the reasons Samuel’s prophecy was absolutely crazy…forgetting that his servant had already told him the record this man had for predicting and delivering only the truth as God would have it uttered.

 

If you still believe in coincidence…this might just be the story that convinces you that with God there is no such thing.  God takes simple things…like lost donkeys and two tired unsuccessful travelers….to work his great plans of love.  And sometimes the ordinary gets mixed with the supernatural if we are paying attention…like Samuels vision of God’s plans for his people…through a common man from the smallest tribe of Israel. If we are paying attention….God takes the ordinary pieces of our human lives…and changes us into his bold servants of love.

 

Think about it…maybe it was just one tiny tear of God as he walked lonely across the face of the empty world…that he supernaturally turned into gallons times gallons to the millionth power of different kinds of water on this great Earth he created. Our imaginations simply have no way to predict what he is up to next in our simple lives….just a Saul had no clue what Samuel’s words meant to his future in that moment they were spoken.  I sure needed a reminder on this ‘ordinary’ Easter Sunday that he is not finished revealing his glory and power…the power that was released when he conquered death and rose from that grave.  It is also a reminder that Easter is nothing but ordinary…it is not just a celebration of our heritage and beginnings….but a call to be his bold courageous servants…to minister to a hurting and dying world.  It was the servant who directed him to Samuel after all.

 

Oh wonderful father….I thank you for this glorious day!  A humble…simple…reminder that you gave your son to die for my sins…and the knowledge in my heart that he supernaturally rose from the grave to conquer death.  Help me to always remember that you power is able to do anything….from helping me to be obedient in studying your Bible…to the supernatural abilities you have anointed some to heal disease. Make me today into a confident servant like Samuel…able to listen and act on everything you give me to do. Amen.

 

PS…. Just a link to a great song done by the Christian group Avalon… Adonai… that has blessed me through the years!     http://youtu.be/iRRUH3g_268

I Can't Make Other's Choices...But I Can Pray

1 Samuel 8: 18-22 -  When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."  But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us.  Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."  When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.  The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

 

Samuel had gotten old…and the sons he appointed to judge in his place did not follow God’s ways.  They were corrupt and evil…prodding the leaders of Israelites to look around and covet the towns around them that were ruled by kings. They saw the other towns as more successful…so they asked Samuel to appoint them a king too! Samuel was so upset…not just because his own sons had behaved so badly…but because he knew in his heart all the people had abandoned the God he loved so much. He went straight to God to pray about their request…and God told him to just let them have their way…but to warn them of all the problems a king would bring them in time.

 

It is amazing to me that the people listened to the long list of things they would have to give up to have a king…and decided in the end to have Samuel appoint a king for them. They did not want to live with God anymore…the world had infiltrated their souls to the point that they wanted to be like everyone else.  Satan had convinced them that a king would bring order and restore God to their life…but in reality …out of the 41 kings they had over a period of 450 years…only 7 even tried to follow God’s laws….and 7 of those left God completely out of their lives at the end of their reign.

 

I can’t help but think that the Christians of today are in exactly the same boat.  We grow impatient with God’s plan…that sometimes makes us wait for his perfect timing….when we ask him for things that we think we need.  He tries to warn us …tell us that isn’t what he wants for us….but our selfish hearts just ignore his loving urges to wait and we run ahead of him.  Most of the time we make some pretty big messes….that delay our blessings even longer. Considering that the average life expectancy of Americans is around 75 years…we are in big trouble if God makes us wait 450 years like the Israelites.        

 

Samuel could not make choices for the people of Israel any more than we can make choices for those we are called to love.  What we can do is look to Samuel’s great heart of love and follow his example…and lift up the many needs and bad choices we see people make every day to God. For me… the hard part is hearing God say…it’s okay...let them do what they wish….then having to sit back and watch them destroy pieces of themselves.  Maybe that is that way Samuel felt…as he pronounced to them that God said it was okay for them to have a king.

 

I have to remember daily that God is in control…and he gave us free will. But this story does remind me how important it is to lift up all those around me…because my prayers are powerful tools in changing the hearts of those that have rejected him….God can soften that heart…and in fact already knows which ones will be melted...and the moment it will happen. Prayer….and patient waiting…and more prayer…and more patient waiting…and more prayer. Maybe that’s one of the reasons God put that verse in the Bible about praying without ceasing in Thessalonians 5:17…and then there is that great verse in Ephesians 6:18…And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.

 

Father…keep teaching me how to pray like the great men and women of old….for only if we turn our lost and rebellious friends over to you….and intercede and ask you to keep seeking to live in their hearts…so you can melt their heart….can they come to know you and live with you everyday.  Show me which ones to pray for …and place even the words I need to say in my mouth…so they can make the choices you have in mind for them…so you can start showing them the plans you have for them…plans to prosper…plans to help them be the best they can be.  Amen.

Revive True Religion

1 Samuel 7:2-5 -  It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.  And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines."  So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.  Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you."

 

The ark had been returned…and the Israelites needed a place for it to stay…for most commentators feel that Shiloh had been destroyed in the battles against the Philistines.  So the Israelites decided to place it in Kiriath Jearim ..at Abinadab's house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard it. It stayed there for 20 years…while God softened their hearts to their need for him in their lives….while he listened to them cry out in deep sadness at their empty lives….at the great cost of their former choices.

 

Samuel had grown to be a man…and God began to use him to return his people to the true worship Moses had taught them so many years before.  He first called for them to give up every idol in their life…to  recommit their hearts to Yahweh full time….and they did.  So Samuel went one step further….and asked them to gather together at Mizpah...so he could intercede for them in prayer.   It must have been one great prayer…for God heard it plain and clear.

 

God began to show off that day …because they returned to him full time…with committed hearts…that even threw away every idol they had been worshiping.   God was so overwhelmed with this renewed loved that he covered them with his mighty power so that they were able to defeat some Philistines who thought they were going to get a few new slaves that day.  Samuel’s great prayer convinced God that it was time to start protecting his people again…and he did…for another 20 years while Samuel was their judge.

 

We need to heed the words of Samuel just as much today…and put away our idols….and return to the true worship of God. We really don’t need Samuel to intercede for us anymore…if we gave our hearts to God…we can ask Jesus and the Holy Spirit to intercede for us ourselves….and they will call out to God in our behalf…so he can cover us and give us the power we need to defeat the idols satan has convinced us are okay.

 

Confusing ...those idols we have in our lives….for anything can become an idol if it takes our time away from God…if it focuses our love on some Earthly thing instead of the work he placed us here to do. I reexamine the things in my life every day….especially those times when God humbles me…and shows me that I have way more blessings in my life that most.  When those simple blessings begin to consume my time….and keep me from reading the Bible…and studying his word…they are turning into idols.  When the simple pleasures of eating out…or shopping…that define fun in our lives become something that controls us…or helps us justify not spending time with God in prayer...they may have become an idol. 

 

Once satan has tricked us into having these ‘things’ in our life…we fail to see how they are dangerous.  Satan uses the ‘blessing’ lie to convince us there is nothing wrong with buying some enormous TV…when our 50 inch is working just fine.  Or adding to our 200 plus collection of DVD’s just because we are working on the Guinness World record.  That shoe collection…or jewelry we buy…or yarn for that matter…can’t possibly be getting in the way of our relationship with God.  We tend to focus on the things that harm our bodies…like smoking…drinking….or overeating….for those things are no easier to give up when they consume our lives…just because they harm us in some physical way. 

 

The truth is that the money we spend on ourselves sometimes…can be used to spread God’s gospel.  That $200 plus dollars the American family spends on Easter baskets and new clothes this weekend could feed a small army of starving children somewhere…probably close to where you live.  The $4o dollars you spent on the shoes alone…combined with all the Easter shoes everyone bought could build a new church somewhere…or support some program that helps people rebuild their lives…or complete  a mission project somewhere.

 

Father…I thank you for the call to return to true worship this morning.  Thank you for Samuel…and his heart that you trained to serve you completely. Help me to be a true worshiper like him…and remove every idol that prevents me from doing your work here on Earth. Help me this day…so close to the memorial of your Son’s great sacrifice on the cross…his  triumph over death…and his resurrection that allows me to enjoy a relationship with you…to always consider what I can give back to you with the blessings you give to me. Help me to identify and remove any idol that satan has tricked me into keeping in my life.  Help me to intercede for others the way Samuel and you interceded for these Israelites. Amen.

God's Rules...Not Ours!

1 Samuel 6:6-9 -  Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?  "Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.  Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance."

 

The Philistines could no longer tolerate the ark in their presence…so they met to discuss how to send it back to the Israelites. They decided to form a sort of test…to see if the plague sent upon them was because of the Israelites God…or just a crazy coincidence. I love how God settled the matter quickly...by allowing the two recently mother cows to break natures call to go straight to their calves….and walk straight back into Israelite territory. 

 

The Israelites that were fortunate to be the eyewitnesses to the return of the ark could do nothing but shout praises to God for its return….and they immediately killed the 2 cows…broke up the cart ….and sacrificed them to God in praise and thanks.  It must have been a great sight to behold...for others joined them later….and offered even more sacrifices to God.

 

They made one mistake…70 men died...because they broke the rule God set down for them in Numbers 4:20…the one that told them never to touch or look at the contents of the ark.  Maybe they just got too excited and forgot what God’s word said…..maybe they hadn’t read that part in such a long time that it wasn’t a real fear….maybe they had just made up their own rules for so long…they didn’t even know what the true word said.  And because of the deaths of these men….they were afraid for the ark to stay in their town too.

 

God is not a God that accepts our part time worship and praise.  He wants us to study and know exactly what his word says...and then abide by it completely.  He will always show up and keep his promises…whether they be promises to bring us hope for our future…or harsh consequences because we have not followed the directives of his word. His Bible is clear on all matters…and we must begin to take a stance on the things he says is wrong. We simply have to stop making our own rules and justifying the things we don’t want to give up by pulling the words of his Bible out of context.

 

Father…I thank you for this story that reminds me that you wrote down every rule I need to follow in your great Bible.  Help me Lord to read and study and interpret it correctly.  Reveal to me the truth and wisdom you gave us to live by…and erase the false concepts I may have thought were true in the past.  Amen.

God Is God...Alone!

1 Samuel 5:1- 4  - After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon.  When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.  But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

 

The Philistines may have won the battle against the Israelites…and taken possession of the holy ark…but they did not understand the power of the God they had taken into the temple of Dagon.  God sent the Philistines a mighty message the next two mornings…when they saw the idol lying face down in the temple.  The second morning God even took the hands and head off the idol and placed then in the threshold of the temple.

 

He also sent a plague to destroy the Philistines…more than likely a form of bubonic plague.  The numbers of dead were not recorded…but it was enough to cause a panic in the town…enough for all the towns’ people to cry out for it to be taken away from their town. They moved it to two other cities…many of the commentaries saying that 20-80% of the Philistines were destroyed by this plague attributed to their possession of the ark.

 

It is so sad to me that they never understood the God that resided in that ark. They thought of him as just another god…never realizing the power he had to save them all. He gave them a hint…tried to tell them to bow before him and worship him…embrace who he was so they could receive his mercy…but the hint was not received…and they rejected him as many in our present day world do…dying without ever knowing the healing power he can give to their lives.  They thought that Yahweh was just one of many gods...who was evidently angry with them for taking him away from the Israelites.

 

It is a reminder to me that I need to be praying for the lost….the ones that will die without ever knowing Christ in their lives. I need to be on the lookout for those God sends into my life that have no clue what his love can do in their lives.  I need to model for them the love he gave me to share with others…..and then show them how they can find salvation in him too. I need to be like Phillip in Acts 8…when God sent an Ethiopian Eunuch to him …to explain the truth of the scriptures…so he could be saved.

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that everyone around me is not a child of yours.  Show me how to be more active in helping the ones around me to understand your love and power. Help me not to be afraid to ask those you send how I can help them understand the truth of your word…so they can be saved.  Show me how to pray for them….so you can soften and convict their hearts of their need for you. Amen.

God Is Not A Good Luck Charm!

1 Samuel 4:1-3 -  And Samuel's word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.  The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.  When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

 

Samuel grew and began to deliver the words of God to Israel...but they still did not listen.  So as many times when they strayed from God’s plan …they found themselves in the midst of a mighty people…the Philistines…who battled them to subdue and make them slaves.  They tried to fight back…but God did not go with them into battle… 4,000 men dying at the hands of the Philistines. 

 

They hadn’t forgotten who God was…they had just left him out of their decision making. They remembered how powerful he was… thought his presence … thought the ark might bring them luck. But they needed more than luck this day…for God allowed even his precious ark to be captured…the sons of Eli to be killed…and 30,000 more men to die that day. Eli fell from his chair backwards at the news and broke his neck…making the count 30,001..then Phinehas wife died in childbirth making the count 30,002.

 

Their plan did not work because they had not consulted God…they had acted of their own intelligence…relying on their own wisdom and knowledge.  God was surely in the ark…but chose to use the bad choice of these leaders to teach them a lesson about his control over their lives. He used the opportunity to judge and pass sentence on Eli…his sons…and their wives.  He used this defeat and great tragedy to tell Israel how far away they had strayed from his glory.  Phinehas’ wife even named her child Ichabod…meaning ‘there is no glory.’

 

When we leave God’s presence for a time…for whatever reason…he allows our choices without him to provide a sort of natural consequence. The choice we made to use credit to buy ‘things’ we did not ask God for….that car we bought because ‘we’ just wanted it….an expensive ring we bought as a ‘special’ gift to ourselves….they become a daily reminder that we did not ask God if having those things were the right thing.

 

I speak from experience…for I left God out of many decisions just like these. All those ‘things’ I bought on credit….mean little these days…even though I thought they would give me happiness. That school loan is still looming over me….my only debt…all I manage to pay is a small portion each month that seems to be all interest.  The van I had to have…when the Taurus I drove was really fine…doesn’t look so new anymore…and I reflect many times a month how I paid way too much for it. The ring…well it fell into the great abyss located in the dash of my car…I haven’t seen it in two years. God probably allowed it to fall out into the road somewhere...knowing I really did not need it in the first place.

 

What I needed was a great big dose of Jesus….and the knowledge that I must continually seek his will and purpose for my life.  But I chose to be just like these Israelite leaders….making my own decisions…not once asking God for even his advice. The Israelite leaders did not need the ark…it belonged in the Holy of Holies…where God could sit in his glory on the seat between the cherubim.  They needed his presence in their lives….daily…..helping them to see his glory all around them…teaching their children how to seek him as well.

 

Someday…God will release me from these bad decisions…but for now…he must still be teaching me something with them. I am learning that true happiness does not come from ‘things.’ The check I write each month for the loan….the car I drive… and that ring stuck somewhere in my dash….they are daily reminders that from now on I need to ask God what to do.  I need to live one day at a time…content with what he has given…trusting him to provide for my needs.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me this morning that you are not found in any object you have placed here on Earth. Help me to release my lust for things…and to be content with what you send to me each day.  Show me how to change my heart to trust you for everything I need.  Show me how to seek your will in all the decisions I need to make here on Earth. Amen.

Are You Listening?

1 Samuel 3:1-5 -  The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.  One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."  And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.

 

Samuel and Eli had laid down to rest for the night in their usual places. It could have been any other night….except God chose this night to speak to Samuel for the first time. The voice Samuel heard was so loud that he thought it was Eli calling to him from his bed in another room. So he immediately got up to see what Eli needed. Eli just sent him back to bed…the first two times…but the third time Eli realized the voice was that of God himself…and he told the boy to lie down…but be ready to listen…if God should call again. Then Samuel was to quickly let God know he was ready to listen by telling him to speak.

 

How cool would it be to get a direct message from God….and actually hear his audible voice. It was rare for those days…probably because true servants of God were rare too. But Samuel was special…reared from three years old in the tabernacle…prayed for every night by a sweet mother who loved him…he used his childhood to soak up the teachings of Eli. God saw the heart of a willing boy…ready to serve God…ears perked to listen to whatever God wanted to say.

 

Jewish historians say he was probably around 12 years of age on this night God began to use him…which made me think about how scary God’s words must have been to him. His mentor Eli had not pleased God…and God’s words were harsh and filled with judgment. He was scared to deliver these words to Eli…maybe even wondered what would become of him when God carried out the plans he shared with Samuel…but he held nothing back when Eli asked him what God had said.

 

It’s not odd to me that God would choose a child to speak his words through. His Bible is full of scripture that tells us how important it is that we always keep a childlike faith. Mathew 18:3 is one of my favorites… And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. God’s probably been trying to speak to all of us since we were 12….or younger.  I know he started convicting me of my need for him when I was 7…but I was 14 when I finally gave my heart to him. I can’t say that I walked with him all my days like Samuel…for I strayed from his will for me many times in the last 40 years I called him Lord.

 

I needed to hear this story last night…to remind myself how important it is to always be ready to hear God’s directives in my life. It may be from his Bible…written in the pages I read each night…it may be from a friend he sends to introduce a thought in my head….or sometimes just an inaudible tweak of my heart. Sure would be nice if he just called me in the night like Samuel…so I could hear his audible voice…and have no doubts I was in his will…always having clear directions…not wondering if I was interpreting the things around me correctly. It could happen…I am one that never lost her ability to act like a child…so I believe God could still speak to us this way again…if we could show him we have a heart like Samuel…ready to listen….telling God to speak…we hear him.

 

Father…I thank you for his reminder that I need to keep my heart and ears open for your messages at all times.  Help me to listen with my whole heart…and consider your truth from the Bible as I try to discern your true will in all my everyday actions. Teach me how to have the childlike faith that will help me believe in your awesome power to do anything you wish here on Earth. Help me lie down more often….and be ready to hear you….to speak quickly that I hear you…and will follow what you tell me to do. Amen.

Hannah's Prayer Of Praise

1 Samuel 2:1-2 and 6-8 - Then Hannah prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the LORD; in the LORD my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.  "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God…..

 "The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.  The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world.

 

At around three years of age…Samuel was weaned and Hannah determined in her heart that it was time to fulfill her promise to the Lord.  Her heart sang a song of joy and thankfulness…a prayer that rejoiced in the God who had delivered her from her barrenness… as she left the tabernacle and the care of the special child he gave her in the care of the Lord. She spoke of God’s holiness…his strength and his sovereignty.

 

God hadn’t just given Hannah a child….he made her complete….lifted the heavy burden ….erased the failures that Peninnah constantly threw in her face.  She had been delivered from her enemies…and bubbled over with thanks for what he had done to change her life. The joy of being made complete allowed her to follow through with the vow she made to God. She did not cry tears of sadness and separation from her son…she cried tears of joy and confidence that the child she left in Eli’s care that day was going to be raised by god himself.

 

Hannah’s prayer reminds me of several things we need to always remember about our great God.  First…she acknowledged the holiness of God… she hallowed the great name of God and gave him the reverence he demands because of who he is. Then …she spoke of the great strength of God…his firm…unchanging nature to always be there for us…no matter what we are going through. Next… she praised him for his loving mercy that continually watches over us…chasing us…covering us from many of the consequences we bring on ourselves in our moments of selfishness.

 

Hannah’s prayer doesn’t stop there…she continues to remind us that God is sovereign….he alone has control over the world.  Just as Paul wrote in Romans 8:28…”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Hannah acknowledged that God knew what he was doing when he made her wait for the right timing...to give her a special child that he could raise up to be who some commentators say was the greatest of all prophets.

 

Hannah does not leave out the fact that God is also our judge…he alone decides what is right and how punishment...if any is needed…..should be applied.  She acknowledged to God that she was willing to let him decide how to deal with her emotions toward Peninnah…and was able to move forward in her life with new hope and purpose.  Hannah found release from her burden…and received joy….peace….and a new way of looking at life as she uttered this great prayer to the God that had blessed her so greatly.

 

Oh Father….help me to learn to pray as Hannah.  Teach me how to lift my voice in great praise for who you are and what great things you have done to release me from the burdens of grief and loneliness. Help me to always remember that you alone are holy…and greatly to be praised.  I thank you for being my rock…for giving me a solid place to stand when the world crumbled down around me.  I thank you for rebuilding my life and showing me that you were always a part of what happened in my life…good or bad....and that your plan was greater than my human expectations of those moments. Help me to remember that you alone are judge of this world…and anything that happens here.  Help me to be still and allow you to give me the strength to refrain from judging others that may have hurt me. Thank you God for all the great blessings you shower upon me daily. Thank you for this morning…and the great joy it gives me to know that you have plans to prosper me…and not harm me….plans to give me a future that includes hope …peace …and joy. Give to me the confidence to know as Hannah did…that you always have me in the palm of your hand.  Amen.

The Full Heart of Total Sacrifice

1 Samuel 1:1-5 -  There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.  He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.  Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.  But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb.

 

God’s faithful servant Elkanah took his large family to Shiloh to worship regularly…taking his two wives he had acquired with him to offer sacrifices to the Lord. The two women were quite different…Peninnah…bold and overconfident …badgered sweet Hannah about the wonderful children she had borne to Elkanah.  While Elkanah tried to console Hannah with as much love as he was able to show….even giving her double portions from the sacrifice meals. He even tried to convince her that he was better for her than 10 sons could ever be.

 

It must have been hard on both of them….Elkanah must have seen the taunting of Peninnah day after day….year after year.  He must have had his own ideas about why God had closed Hannah’s womb.  Hannah endured teasing and arrogant boasting from Peninnah…accepting her plight in quiet humility….probably thinking God must surely be punishing her for something bad she had done. It got to the point that one day Hannah went to the temple to pray.  She bitterly wept to the Lord…and prayed with her whole heart…moving her mouth…but only allowing God to hear the cry of her heart for a child …making a vow to him that she would give him back to God…if he would only answer her prayer.

 

It is a common thing…for those of us who know the Lord...to wait till our human souls just can’t take it anymore to ask him for help.  We endure and wait and try to make it on our own….trying to hang on to the faith God has built in us from the day he saved us. Then in desperation we cry out to him…and make vows that we will do this or that if he will just answer this one cry for help.  We try to cling to the promise that God has led us through this horrible thing for a reason…but our humanness breaks at some point…and we break down…really break down…until we are totally broken.

 

That’s when God does his best work.  He allows life to beat us down…show us that we have absolutely no power to control the world around us…then he rides in on his white horse and saves us from ourselves…and builds in us a great servant…if we let him.  Hannah is a model of what can happen when we relinquish the control of our lives to God.  He will take our barrenness…and create in us a servant like Samuel…full of the spirit of God….anointed by the high priest himself to do great things for the ones around us.

 

Hannah was luckier than some…she only waited another year for an answer to her prayer.  God blessed her with a son…and she kept her promise to dedicate him to the Lord for his entire life around three years of age.  How hard it must have been for her to leave the temple that day…knowing that she would only see him when she traveled back to worship God.  Oh how she must have looked forward to those visits each year.

 

 Some of us are asked to wait more than a year…maybe because we just haven’t learned how to empty ourselves completely of the junk God knows is not a part of his plan for us.  Hannah’s example of total sacrifice is hard to achieve…especially in today’s world…where material possessions can be easily justified as good for us…and where most people around us tell us that more is better than less….or that all the things we have are just blessing God showers upon us.  Satan has carefully placed a multitude of Peninnah’s as close to us as he is allowed by God….and he does not fail to use them at every opportunity to convince us that we are justified in keeping everything WE think WE need to have a happy and fulfilled life…he convinces us that the small tithe we give…or the short Sunday worship service we attend…or the few verses we manage to read from his word…or the quick prayers we utter at night or daybreak are enough to prove to God we love him more than we love our lives here on Earth.

 

Father...I thank you for the reminder this morning that I must continually pray to you to remove the world from my soul.  I ask you to help me watch carefully for Satan’s cunning temptations to remain in the world more than I seek and worship you.  Thank you for Hannah…and this story of her great sacrifice of love to God…that allowed God to give us the great prophet Samuel.  Help me to learn to pray like Hannah…with my heart open and my mouth closed...so only you can hear my cries of help and desperation. Amen.

The Passing of The Sandal

Ruth 4:8-11 -  So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal. Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon.  I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"  Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

 

Boaz did not wait to speak to his relative about redeeming Naomi’s land and marrying Ruth to carry on Elimelech’s name.  He gathered the needed witnesses…presented the facts of the exchange….and listened quietly while the man told him to redeem Naomi’s land and daughter-in-law himself. It was to Boaz’s great delight that the man passed his sandal in public acceptance of the deal. And the townsfolk that were present pronounced a special blessing on this union.  They prayed that God make Ruth abundantly fertile…as their ancestors Rachel and Leah and been.  They prayed that God continue to bless Boaz with great wealth because of his kindness to Naomi and Ruth.

 

It takes a special man to take on a wife…knowing that the first child they conceive will not bear his own name. His heart of love went deeper than the surface love most of us experience these days…for not only did he have a sense of family in redeeming Naomi….he was willing to give his firstborn child to her ..so her husband’s name would carry on in the nation of Israel. It is such a sweet and real picture of the love Christ has for each of us.  Boaz marries Ruth…and gives his firstborn child’s name that of Elimelech ….just as God gave his only son to be sacrificed on that cross so long ago to save me from my sins. The passing of the sandal…began a great line of family history …that produced the great King David…and generations later…the Messiah.

 

I will never look at my summer shoes the same anymore…those sandals I love to wear have taken on new meaning.  They are a reminder now that I am not my own keeper…that I have publicly pronounced my love to Christ…and need to pass my sandal in public every day…to show all those around me that I have been redeemed by Christ. It is also a reminder of how short I fall of this model of selfless love…and how I should pray daily for God to instill in me more of the passion that Boaz had to love others before himself.

 

Father…you amaze me more and more every time I open your word. I thank you for the sweet love story of Ruth and Boaz…and how it reminds me of the selfless love you gave to me when I was only 14.  Renew the passion I had once to love you more that I love myself…and be more like Ruth…a true servant …giving her life completely to Naomi and allowing God to use her to produce the ancestors that would produce the Christ.  Build in my heart the same love that Boaz had for his family…and use me Lord to redeem others…and tell them about your great love….that saves us from our sins. Show me how to take off my sandal…and pass it to others…and start a fire in my community that spreads to others…and produces fires in them as well. Amen.

Kinsman Redeemers

Ruth 3:8-12  -  In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.  "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."  "The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.  And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.  Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I.

 

Naomi knew her scripture well.  She knew the Deuteronomy scriptures from chapter 25….where Moses told them God’s way of carrying on the family line of one who had been widowed.  So she sent Ruth to the threshing floor…to see if Boaz would fulfill his right to be the kinsman redeemer for Elimelech and his sons. It was a humble gesture of need that followed the rules set down by God…and passed on to the people of Israel through the laws recorded by Moses. Boaz is so overcome with Ruth’s continued kindness to Naomi…and her willingness to marry an older man…that he accepts this possibility as ordained by God.

 

It must have been hard for Boaz to tell Ruth that he was not the closest kinsman redeemer.  For even as Boaz blesses Ruth for her kindness….and professes to her that he would love to fulfill the role of kinsman redeemer…his own great knowledge of the law prompts  him quickly to tell Ruth that he would have to offer her to another closer relative first.  It shows Boaz’s great humble and kind character as well…for rarely would a woman be treated so compassionately and kindly in  the culture of the day.

 

He bid her sleep a bit more at his feet…then in the dawn light sent her home with the promise to see the relative who had the first rights to be the redeemer for Elimelech and his sons.  Then he filled her shawl with over a bushel of grain to take home to Naomi…as a gesture of his own respect and love for Naomi….with the added promise that he would settle the matter before the day ended.

 

This story reminds me how Christ became our kinsman redeemer when he died on the cross for our sins. His great humility and love for all mankind…allowed him to suffer and die a horrid death…experience the pain and separation of his father…and be raised in his perfection to sit at the right of the father in Heaven.  He fills each of us that have believed in this great act of love with his love and power and calls us to be the kinsman redeemers for all those that are still left without hope…because they have not believed in his great power to save them.

 

Father…thank you for this great story of love for you.  Thank you for Naomi…who studied and knew her scriptures.  Thank you for Ruth…who trusted the teachings of her mother-in-law. Thank you for Boaz…and his kind heart that modeled for us how to give our lives as servants for others.  Thank you for sending your son to be my kinsman redeemer and making it possible for me to live someday in Heaven with all the people who have gone before me.  Help me father to always study and know the scriptures as Naomi…. trust the mentors you place in my path like Ruth…and give my life to your service to help others like Boaz. Amen.

God's Team of Three

Ruth 2:17-20 -  So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.  She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.  Her mother-in-law asked her, "Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!" Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. "The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz," she said.  "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.".

 

It was a great day for Ruth….and Naomi…and Boaz.  God drew Naomi to move back to her hometown of Bethlehem…then he drew Ruth to glean in the field of Boaz…and Boaz took notice of this foreigner.  God brought together these three souls ...by allowing Naomi’s need for family urge her home…Ruth’s love and kindness to drive her to try and find the two widowed women food….and Boaz’s wealth and authority to provide for the poor widow’s needs. 

 

It was no coincidence…their love of God…and the need to please him….drove their actions of kindness….each providing a piece of a triad puzzle God was welding together from above.  Boaz goes way beyond the gleaner’s law put in place by Moses in Leviticus 19:9 and Deuteronomy 24:19. Ruth’s consistent actions of love and kindness build for her a reputation that becomes a public report card of her new love of God. And Naomi’s faith is strengthened and renewed as she sees how God is still providing for her needs…despite the tragedy he has allowed in her life.

 

I can see quickly why God picked these three to begin to build a family history that would produce another humble girl named Mary a few years later. A sweet girl …who had the faith of Naomi…the kind humble heart of Ruth…and the confidence of Boaz…to bear his only son into the world. Because these three listened to their heart and followed Yahweh’s leading…the world received a grand present through their ancestor Mary…and Jesus was able to walk this earth and save us all.

 

Father…I thank you for the way you weld our lives into great plans that bring about your purpose and will in our lives.  Help me this morning to always remember to search deeper than the surface of what I see.  Help me to cling to your love and listen to the soft urges of your spirit so I too can be a part of a great plan to help others come to know you. Take the tragedies of my life and give them meaning and purpose…drive me to where you need me to be just as you did Naomi …..fill my hand and feet with errands of love and service to help others like Ruth…and teach me how to use the position in life you have placed me to provide for other’s needs. Amen.

Selfless LOve...So Special

Ruth 1:6-9 -  When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.  With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.  Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.  May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband." Then she kissed them and they wept aloud…

 

It was the time when judges ruled the Israelites…but famine had stricken the small town of Bethlehem…so Elimelech had taken his wife Naomi and their two sons to Moab to live…where food was available.  While they were there his two sons married Moabite women…but all three men died…leaving Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws widows. Naomi had decided to go back to Bethlehem to her family…because the famine had ended…and intended to take her 2 daughter-in-laws with her….but something changed her mind.

 

I understand the plight of widows well…it is by far the hardest emotional roller coaster I have ever ridden. Naomi was torn between the love she felt for these young women…the need they had for Yahweh’s healing touch….and the knowledge that they would be foreigners in Bethlehem…and would fare a better chance of remarriage if they went back home. So she tearfully sacrificed her own need to have these young women remain in her daily life….and urged them to return home to their parents.  She encouraged them to return home and start over …even if it meant hardship for herself.

 

It seemed strange at first that Naomi would utter a prayer to God to protect and keep these Moabite women…but then after I thought about it….she must have loved them very much…and it was natural for her to want to intercede for them.  They sure couldn’t pray for themselves.  Naomi must have also wanted to make sure that these women did not feel pushed or coerced into going with her…making her prayer so much more special and selfless.

 

She must have been so happy for Orpah…when she turned and started back home…feeling a sense that she had done the right thing.  But…what a wash of peace must have come over her soul as she heard the answer of Ruth…recorded in those great verses 16 and 17…. But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."  Orpah would return to find her hope and healing in her family….but Ruth would find her hope and healing in her life with Naomi…learning about Yahweh and his ability to heal.

 

Father …I thank you for this great story of love and sacrifice. It reminds me of how you can work in our lives if we empty ourselves of selfishness.  I t reminds me how a simple act of sacrifice can become the instrument you use to save a soul.  It also reminds me that there is more than one way to start over.  Help me this morning to find new ways to sacrifice for others…and plant the seeds of your love with my actions to those around me.  Build in me the type of selflessness that you instilled in Naomi….and use those acts of sacrifice to power my own healing…showing me clearly your plans you have to give me hope for my future…to prosper me…and use me to build your kingdom. Amen.

Doing As 'WE' See Fit

Judges 21:22-25 - When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, 'Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.' "  So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.  At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.  In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

 

The Israelites have closure and the book of judges ends. The leaders meet together…cry over the loss of their brothers…realize they have been way too harsh and may have wiped out a whole tribe of Israel.  They made this crazy vow in the heat of their anger…that they would not give their daughters in marriage to the tribe of Benjamin…but now they see how foolish they were in their vow… and they must be super creative to come up with a solution.

 

First they go and kill off a whole town…justifying the deaths of all but the virgin girls because the leaders did not show up at a meeting. This gets them 400 wives.  Then they decide it will be okay for the Benjamite men to ‘kidnap’ the remaining 200 from their own women while they dance at a festival in the fields…justifying this action because they did not ‘give’ these daughters if they were ‘taken.’ 

 

Maybe they felt that because they had cried out to God for answers….and they built an altar to seek his presence...that any solution they came up with was from God.   But I think this story is a reminder of how we sometimes ease our own guilt when we go ahead of God with our own solutions.  It is an example of how we sometimes cry out to God for answers…then leave him totally out of the solution our hearts come up with to solve the problem.

 

This story hit me hard…for it reminded me how I did exactly the same thing when I allowed my heart to justify ending a 30 year marriage. The details are not really important….but let’s just say I ran quickly away from my home….justifying the action because I was hurt…and felt abandoned.  I did not even cry out to God…instead…I let satan wash a sense of justification and freedom over my soul…which gave me the right to leave him out right and never look back to see if the damage done could ever be repaired.

 

I know in my heart that I should have stayed now…at least a little longer…but God was not really a part of my life then.  Other hurts in life had driven me away from the support of the church…and I found myself in exactly the same boat as the Israelites.  My salvation…my past knowledge of the bible…became my own decision maker…and I simply did what felt right to my heart….never once asking God what I should do.  There was no real leader for me to get guidance…so I just did what seemed right.

 

Now here’s the cool thing about how God works.  Even though I got a semblance of closure from my actions…acting on my own…God saw my pain used took the opportunity to use the loneliness and grief that followed to help me realize I needed him in a more tangible way than ever before.  I began searching for a church to worship and rediscovered the power of the great God I brought into my life at 14. And he began to heal my broken heart and help me begin to grow once again.  He is helping me to repair the damage it did to my children….and forgive myself for any actions that might not have been totally in his will.  Our great God is like that…allowing us to run as far as we want from him…then quietly reconnecting us somehow to his love through the natural consequences of our bad choices. 

 

Father…I thank you times infinity that you never leave me…no matter how self-reliant I think I can be.  I thank you for the way you chase after us…and wait for just the right moment to present  your love to us...when we are broken and needing it the most.  Help me to always stop and cry out to you…then patiently wait for your direction and guidance in my next move…to make sure it is your will…and not my own solution.  Thank you for the love and healing you have brought into my life…continue to let your wisdom and discernment flow through my human brain…and help me to never jump ahead of you again. Amen.