100 - "David Strengthened Himself in the Lord His God When Things Turned Disastrous" 1 Samuel 28-31

                                                       

The mantra. 

The theme.

Look at this. 

"Saul has struck down his thousands.And David his ten thousands." I Samuel 29:5

You know, that looks good on paper that David's success looms large.

David's success also costs him greatly: His two wives have now been taken captive.

"And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him---those who hailed him as a hero. No more. You're too much of a risk to us, David.

And they were "bitter in soul" for their own sons and daughters. And how I love David's response. May it become our holy mantra: "David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God." I Samuel 30:6. That's it!!! How do I talk to myself? What will I say to myself this day? Either I will move toward dependence or distance. 

Will I speak these words of Psalm 18, the ones that David grabbed hold of in deep distress, losing wives, friends, comrades, and his community. "I love you Lord, my Help, my Deliverer.

For it is You Who lights my lamp, the Lord my God lightens my darkness." Psa 18:28

PHOTO: The view from my bedroom window in the hill country.  It's dark out there.  And there are dark places in my own soul this night as I fold my apron.  And I think of the One Who folded his cloths in a tomb, saying "It Is Finished."  What He has done for me, that Resurrection, covers all my darkness.  I will see Light---a little more Light this day than the last one.  It's dark outside but a tad Lighter in my soul.  I know. 

99 - “Interpret the Face of My Soul” 1 Samuel 25-27

                                                               

How is it that you do not know how to interpret these present times? Luke 12:56.  May we be as wise in the concern of our very soul as we are wise in the concern of "outward affairs."  May we discern the face of our soul more than the face of the sky.  Abigail did. I Samuel 25. She was married to a jerk. She stood up for what was right.  And she let God fight her battles.  And she swept the very soul of David beyond his discernment.  When we are found doing what is right, fighting what is right, God is in your midst. So what is happening in my very soul, today?

PHOTO:  Here is a servant of God, a husband, a dad, a coach who knows how to interpret the times. The face of the sky and the face of his soul. He has been the face of God to me. 

98 - "After Whom Do You Pursue?" 1 Samuel 22-24

, 

How could David possibly feel when he learned of the news that people were dying because of him?  And Saul continues to pursue every day!  I Sam 23:14.  

But God does not give David into Saul's hand.  I Sam 23:28.  A Rock of Escape. 

David has 400 men with him---the discouraged, the depressed, the down-and-out.
Saul has 3,000 men with him---the arrogant, the confident, the jubilant, the best.
Yet . . .
David wins.
David spares Saul's life when he has a chance,
screaming after Saul:
"After whom do you pursue?" --- The person who just saved your life!

What am I really pursuing? 
After whom do I pursue?

PHOTO:  Don’t live 30,000 feet in the air. Live on earth. Live present. Deal with what is happening in your heart—-how you truly feel about things. Don’t ignore it. It’s there for a good reason. Maybe you’ve really never learned to “let go.”

97 - "Bonds That No Man Can Break" 1 Samuel 19-21

1 Samuel 19:41-42 After the servant was gone, David got up from his hiding place beside the boulder, then fell on his face to the ground—three times prostrating himself! And then they kissed one another and wept, friend over friend, David weeping especially hard.  Jonathan said, "Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God's name, saying, 'God will be the bond between me and you, and between my children and your children forever!

It's a beautiful story of true friendship. May you all find deep bonds that no man can break.  Jonathan said, "Go in peace! The two of us have vowed friendship in God's name, saying, 'God will be the bond be\tween me and you, and between my children and your children forever!

PHOTO:  The bond between 2 grandchildren, Zekey and Ezri, is true and deep and real and beautiful. May it always be so! 

96 - "My Battle Belongs to God" 1 Samuel 17-18

On paper, Saul looks good.
In person, he looks even better.
Many people we know look good.
But, God, not us, looks on their hearts.
Saul defends the spiritual: I've obeyed God's Voice.
I've gone on mission; I've brought home spoils; I'm devoted to destruction.

What would repentance look like for Saul?
Saul is actually justifying himself before Samuel.
Saul asks Samuel to come with him not for his good,
but because he cared about what the people thought!
Oh God!  How do we justify ourselves in our sins? 
Do we think God has not noticed? 
Repentance is not a change of mind, "but a change of method." M. Henry.  "He is turned back from following me." 

Meanwhile Goliath was taunting the troops of God-Alive.  Not a good idea.  I Samuel 17:47 God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. My battle belongs to God."  So pick up 5 smooth stones, I Samuel 17:40,  and watch what God will do.  Immeasurable Strength.  Unshakeable Hope.  5 smooth stones will kill the10-foot giants in my life, in your life. God delivers.  The truth is God-Alive is in me. God-Alive is in you. Our Great High Priest is at work in us this very morning. God-Alive is there to fight our battles. 

PHOTO:  My Favorite Place on Earth.  Quarries Lake.  Where I go to pray and think and wonder and repent and praise.  Outside my classroom window.  Bucolic Beauty.

95 - "Better to Obey Than Sacrifice" 1 Samuel 15-16

Am I more concerned about obeying the God who rules over me
than I am about giving up my time for Christian services and ceremonies?
It is far better to obey than sacrifice. I Samuel 15:22

It is far easier to bring a sacrifice than to bring our lofty thoughts and prideful motivations and selfish ambitions into obedience before God. We are not competing with the High King. We have to let go of what controls us---it's idolatrrous. You've rejected the Word of the Lord and made nothing of it. You've brushed off the government of the Word, of your God. God made Saul the king. God can undo what He did. 

I Samuel 16:7 - God looks at your heart from the very beginning of your days.  The world looks for our majesty in appearance and ambitions.  God sees right through us and all our ways...and loves us so, as is. God looks at the heart; not at the outward appearance. David was a prince in his own right.  Yet, when God looked at the 7 brothers, he saw David's heart, even as a very young man.  In this world, it is all about the majesty of the person---their looks, their contributions, their success.  Even as a young boy, David treasured the Word of God, Psalm 119:97.  This was what he meditated on and lived out.  At first many didn't notice.  God never missed a frame.  So, whether we appear great or small in the eyes of this world, what matters most is how God sees our soul.  What about this heart of mine?  Doesn't matter who passes me by.  Only matters by the One Who passes me by every single day and fills this broken heart with Himself. 

Do I hear the bleating of sheep in my life?  That's what Samuel said to Saul---what's this I am hearing? The mooing of cattle, the bleating of sheep. I Sam 15:14. Saul offers the sheep to God instead of doing what God told him to do. 

PHOTO:  The uncomely pastures of Kansas.  Nothing spectacular here.  But something about standing in this pastoral place.  

94 - "Don't Sacrifice Ethics for Pragmatism" 1 Samuel 12-14

                                                                                                                          Samuel 13:12-14  Saul answered, "When I saw I was losing my army from under me, and that you hadn't come when you said you would, and that the Philistines were poised to attack...I hadn't yet come before God asking for help.  So I took things into my own hands, and sacrificed the burnt offering."   "That was a fool thing to do," Samuel said to Saul. "If you had kept the appointment that your God commanded...God is out looking for your replacement right now." How sad.  So what keeps us from missing that appointment with God this day?  

I love Jonathan's faith!  Saul had 600 soldiers with him.  Jonathan asks his armor-bearer in I Samuel 14:6-7  to go with him to the Philistine camp. "Maybe God will work for us. There's no rule that says God can only deliver by using a big army. No one can stop God from saving when he sets his mind to it."   His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way." 
  
They killed only 20 soldiers that day, BUT they actually grew Saul's army from 600 to 10,000.  That is simply amazing!  God did it for Jonathan and his faithful armor-bearer. So inviting. Not for Saul though---Saul kept conscripting every strong and brave man he saw, using people. 

Our 66LL devo says it this way:  "When things go wrong in your life, or when you fear they might, you'll be tempted to sacrifice ethics for pragmatism."  The story of Saul.  "You'll hear your heart asking, what will work to make things better?  You'll not as clearly hear yourself asking, what is holy in this situation that will please the Lord?"

PHOTO:  It's a dark day outside.  It's a dark day inside my heart, too.  And I ponder on this beautiful Word of God about David's darkest of days hiding in caves, fighting wars with 600 soldiers.  But, alas, I believe David's days may turn dark again.  Enlighten our darkness, O God!  2 Samuel 22:29 - isn't that what David prayed many dark days ago.  You will, O God.  We know You will.

93 - "Don't Chase After Ghost Gods" 1 Samuel 8-11

I Samuel 11:13  "So here's the king you wanted, the king you asked for. God has let you have your own way."  Why did they want a king? They already had a King. Why do we want someone to follow?  Why do people gravitate to those who are successful?  God is a gentleman---He won't force Himself on us.  If we want to walk by sight, not by faith, He lets us choose the path 

I Samuel 10:6 - You'll be transformed when you follow God.  You'll be a new person.  And if we are aren't being transformed, then we have to ask ourselves if we are following God's calling.  Saul moved quickly to follow God but found himself hiding in verse 22 in a pile of baggage.  I wonder why.  Don't chase after ghost-gods.  

What would be a ghost-god to us today?  Success in ministry or raising children.  Ambition that leads to making a name for ourselves.  Wonder why our culture adores celebrities, even Christian ones.  We are such a celebrity-conscious community.  

PHOTO:  Transformed from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light. I was. I am. I will be. 

So, stop hiding in a pile of baggage. There is Light. There is Hope.

92 - "Two Dead Sons and Eli Cares About God" 1 Samuel 4-7

Lay your head on your pillow and
you start thinking about what you've done today.
How we've treated those we love. And those who may not have returned our love.
How we've disdained this day, or maybe loved a little more than yesterday.
How we've distanced ourselves from one, or maybe stepped in fresh faith.
How we've forgotten the LORD of our lives, or fell forward in a deep dependence.
How His Good Grace covers all our moments. We cannot relive today but we can start fresh this very next second of life we have.

Eli led with integrity for 40 years. 

His men delivered devastating news:

 “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 4:17

Eli cared more about God than himself. By the way that I act today, will I share that I care more about God?  Today, God sent someone to me who spoke like a messenger from God.  An affirmation beyond words.  All these things that we think are so important in our day---how important are they in light of eternity?  Trying to wrap thoughts around the Philistines take on such holy things.  We cannot treat lightly the things of God and be able to rest. 

PHOTO:  It was so the Hand of God that shone through my moments today.  Just an ordinary day when I encountered the sound of God in my life in a way I never dreamed.   

91 - "Reversed Circumstances" 1 Samuel 1-3

                  

I find much comfort in this story.  Hannah is childless. 

I went through that kind of grief trying to get pregnant with my youngest, Britt.  Lost 3 babies the year before he was born. The grief is real and this is what you do with it.  

Hannah leaves her grief with the One who holds life in His Hands.  And it's an interesting prayer in I Samuel 1:18 that she may find favor in the eyes of those over her.  And that God may remember her.  And she deals with what stirs within her.  Her circumstance doesn't change; her heart does.  And she is no longer downcast.  No more!  

Two words that speak volumes to my story.  No More!  

And then God reverses the story.  

It is never meant for us to reverse our circumstances.  

He was crucified scores of years ago.  No reversal of those circumstances.  A Resurrection to new life.  He is making something new out of you.  

PHOTO:  Pompeii. April 1st---the day I was diagnosed with cancer. No reversed circumstances. I had to walk through. Never Alone.