Don’t Touch My Crown!

Jul 12, 2011

It has been too long since I’ve posted a blog but I wanted to share a big thing God is teaching me through His Word in the book of 1 Samuel. I decided I wanted to do a character study on King David. But I don’t like topical studies as much and instead wanted to just read through 1 and 2 Samuel. But along the way, the Lord has changed my plans and instead I found myself looking at all of the other characters, including King Saul.

This book shows us that both King David and Saul started good, humble and young. Its the same when God callers us into the ministry, we started good, young, humble and full of zeal and passion and eager to do whatever God would have us do and to joyfully do what those above us ask of us. At least, this was how it was for me!

You probably know the story…Israel was a theocracy (God was their King and ruler). They rejected God as their king and wanted to be like all of the other nations who had kings. So God gave them what they wanted and gave them King Saul, Israel’s first king. He was not God’s idea for a king…he was what the people wanted so God gave them what they wanted. But it would cause problems and a downfall of the nation Israel into evil, corruption and all kinds of problems.

After Samuel’s anointing of Saul to be king, in 1 Samuel 9:21 it says, “Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”

As it came time for Saul to be chosen among the tribes as King over Israel, they tried to bring him out to show the people but he was not found. Finally, with the help of the Lord, the Lord showed them that he has been hiding among the baggage (paraphrased from 1 Samuel 10:20-22)

Those two passages show Saul was a humble man. The Lord was also with Saul and Saul had the Lord’s anointing on his life. This to me sounds like an awesome beginning for the leader of Israel and to lead the nation in godliness.

He started out so good! But it didn’t continue like that nor did it finish that way. Saul’s first act of unbelief and disobedience came when he waited for Samuel to come bring a burnt and fellowship offering. But after 7 days (the time set by Samuel) he took the role of priest into his own hands and offered up the burnt and fellowship offerings. Samuel finally came and upon seeing what Saul had done, he rebuked him and called him foolish. Because of this, God rejected Saul as king and Samuel declared his unfitness to being Israel’s King. From here, Saul went down hill.

Later on, Saul was commanded by the Lord to go completely kill the Amalekites because of what they had done to Israel. First of all, something I never thought of before is that the Amalikites is a picture of our flesh. God commanded Saul to completely take them out and leave nothing alive. In the same way, God calls for us to completely kill and crucify our flesh and leave no room for it. Saul disobeyed and spared some of the animals including King Agag, the Amalikite king. In this way, we are not told to change our flesh, reform it or in some ways spare certain parts of our flesh…we’re told to completely kill it! This was just a side thought!

Upon Saul’s disobedience to completely wipe out the Amalikites, Samuel approaches Saul with rebuke and says in 1 Samuel 15:17, “Although you were once small in your eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you as king over Israel.” That verse shows that Saul was once humble and small but is no longer. You see Saul then voicing a confession and repentance but I don’t believe it’s sincere, but rather that he’s trying to defend his position, title and fame as he says in 1 Samuel 15:30, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel;come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” Saul goes down hill and the Lord’s anointing and spirit left him. God had sought after a man after His own heart who would then be king of Israel, this being David a young shepherd boy.

As Saul grew to know David he saw that David was met with more success then Saul and his name became well known (1 Sam 18:30). In 1 Sam 18:20 it says, “Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”

1 Samuel 18:12- “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.” Saul was afraid of losing his position as king and someone else taking that spot.

As this story of Saul goes on, he gets worse and worse and spends the rest of his life bent on killing and getting David. He became jealous, took his eyes off God, and tried to defend his kingship!

Looking at my life I see that in many ways in ministry I have been a Saul at times. I’ve started out good and humble but I’ve found myself jealous of another brother or sister’s success and I’ve been worried about going to a different department in the ministry and I’ve been worried and jealous about someone else taking my position in my department. I have struggled with this and one day it got the worst of me and found myself falling, emotionless but yet just wanting to cry and I had to step out. Thankfully this hadn’t led to bitterness, anger and revenge like it did to Saul. I’ve been praying every day that I would stay humble and rejoice in others successes. Later on, God showed me that it was He that humbled me because of my pride and desiring position and defending it and being jealous of others’ positions and successes.

Thank the Lord he protected me and my heart as I gave it up to him and now it’s so freeing to be able to work together with my brothers and sisters at GFA with no hard feelings of bitterness and jealousy of their position or success. The Lord is the one who puts people in positions and makes people successful…I’ve been learning to praise and thank God for this! We’re a family and we’re the body of Christ but I find myself being like Saul or being like the 12 disciples and trying to be the greatest, when instead we should rejoice and praise God for each others’ positions and successes in the ministry and work together in love and unity realizing that God has everyone in the place He desires for them at the time. Maybe someday God will raise me but I must be faithful in the ministry to where He has me now! There’s freedom in this! After all, it’s God’s ministry and in the process of reaching the lost in Asia He gets all the glory!

We see that King David sinned badly and made huge mistakes such as murder and committing adultery. But after all this, God still kept him as King and called him a man after his own heart and even made Jesus come through his family line. Why did David still have this? Because even in his faults and failings, he still allowed God to work with him and he sincerely repented and chased God’s will, didn’t defend his kingship, unlike Saul who was the opposite! Ultimately, Saul dies and falls on the sword…such a wasted life to someone who started out good, humble and had so much potential!

So, it’s not about how good we start, it’s about how well we finish! This to me has been a warning to my heart which has helped me to stay in the ministry, following God with all my heart! I’ve been praying and desiring to stay humble and therefore I believe God has given me practical situations to practice it and it’s been a struggle, but He never gives more than we can handle!

I could go on and on about this topic and all the things God is showing me through his word. Praise God!

 

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Drawer Full of Bibles

Jul 6, 2011

Last week, I went to the Christian bookstore and God told me to buy a Bible. I was a little surprised, but glad to do it. Let me explain…

I grew up being taught from the Bible in my home, sunday school, church, and even grade school (I was home schooled). I memorized complete chapters of the Bible. I won awards for how many Bible verses I could regurgitate. Actually, I have even been given a Bible or two for winning the Bible memory verse competition!

The Bible I won in that competition was one of many that I’ve accumulated. I got my first Bible from my parents at age 6. I got another at age 9 from my grandparents. At some point, I picked up the small, handy New Testament from church “to carry around.” I got one from my brother. And I think one from my sister too! And of course, the “grown-up Bible (aka the Bible without the pictures!)” when I was 14. And the list goes on…I can’t even remember how I got all of my Bibles, but I literally have a drawer full of them.

Funny thing…for all the Bibles I had at my disposal, I never read any of them. Not seriously. I read the Bible because my mother told me to and to disobey was unthinkable. I read the Bible at church when the preacher told us to read along. Every blue moon, I read the Bible (on my own!) because I knew that saved people were supposed to. I never once read it because I wanted to, or because it gave me life, or spoke to me, or comforted me. It simply didn’t mean that much to me…until recently.

In February of this year, I read through The Pursuit of God by A.W.Tozar. It was reading through the chapter on the Word of God that I realized that I needed to know what was actually in the Bible. It dawned on me that the Bible is alive! It really is the living Word of God! It lives because He lives and nothing about it has become old, lifeless, or irrelevant since it was put on paper! It finally made sense.

While I was growing up, I had this irrational fear that if I sat down to read the Bible, I wouldn’t know what to read. And rather than ask God to open my heart and mind to any and all of His Word, I didn’t do it all (if i didn’t have to). After reading Tozar, I began praying that God would give me a stong hunger to read the Bible and apply it’s truths to my life. And, it’s working! I actually want to read the Bible now, and that has never been the case for me.

The fact that God told me to buy a Bible last week was pretty significant for me. I have a drawer full of them, but that was the first time in my life that I bought my own…and I was thrilled!

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Today’s Scripture – Psalm 1

May 21, 2011

Cross

The Blessed Man

How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked,

or stand in the pathway with sinners,

or sit in the assembly of scoffers!

Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands;

he meditates on his commands day and night.

He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;

it yields its fruit at the proper time,

and its leaves never fall off.

He succeeds in everything he attempts.

Not so with the wicked!

Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.

For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment,

nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.

Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly,

but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.

(NET)

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Dead Man Walking!

Apr 25, 2011

I had some trouble sleeping last night (too much caffeine last night, I think!) and it made me think of the women who went to Jesus’ tomb so early in the morning. I can just picture them restless through the night, wanting to get to the tomb as soon as they could. Their last chance to do something for Jesus, so they thought. So when it was still dark they made their way to where His body was laid. But it wasn’t there anymore. Tired and grieving, all Mary Magdalene could do was cry, overwhelmed with it all.

But in a beautiful picture of the nature of Jesus, this was the moment He came to her. What a shock! I can imagine thoughts going through her mind. He’s dead. At least He was…I saw His body wrapped up in the tomb. But He knew her name, He was standing right there! He really was alive.

I always get so excited on the morning of Resurrection Sunday. After the weekend, thinking and meditating on His death, it’s seems like fresh news that He’s alive. The most wonderful part is that He’s just as alive and present every morning. And He knows my name, just like He knew Mary’s. When I’m overwhelmed and everything seems to be at it’s worst, that’s when He comes, saying “Corie Anna.” And He knows your name too. What a wonderful Savior!

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Today’s Scripture – Matthew 27:32-56

Apr 22, 2011

Cross

The Crucifixion

As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to carry his cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”) and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink. But after tasting it, he would not drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat down and kept guard over him there. Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law and elders – were mocking him: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!” The robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him.

Jesus’ Death

Now from noon until three, darkness came over all the land. At about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!” Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and given him support were also there, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

(NET)

 

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