Tuesday, May 08, 2007

1 Samuel 11

Saul at his best

This chapter is definitely a high point in the life of Saul. In it we see him:

  • Filled with the Spirit (the spirit came upon him)
  • Led by the Spirit
  • Leading God’s people to victory
  • Refusing to use the opportunity for his own selfish reasons
  • Giving God the glory

This chapter shows the potential that Saul had as a man submitted to the Lord! No selfish motivation, no promotion of his own agenda, just a man responding to the call of God; a man submitting to the leading of the Spirit. By simply allowing Faith and Humility to govern his life, rather than the Pride and Unbelief that will later define him, Saul was used by the LORD to turn a potentially devastating situation for Israel into a cause for great celebration and praise.

I love it… God takes these evil men and totally turns the tables on them… reminding ALL of the surrounding people that the GOD OF ISRAEL was to be feared, and greatly to be praised. The Lord longs to do this kind of work on a regular basis. He loves to bring justice, to redeem desperate situations and gain the maximum amount of glory. He loves to do it through men and women like you and me. He uses the weak things of the world, the foolish things, the base things… ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things by the power of an amazing God.

This story is bitter-sweet, because in it we see glimpses of what Saul could have been, but the shadow of what Saul actually became looms large in the distance. When we see this victory, it makes the coming failures so much harder to swallow. Saul had one great victory… the Lord wanted to give him many. Saul was used by the Lord in a mighty way… the Lord wanted to make that a regular occurrence. Maybe you have experienced a victory or two in your life. Maybe you have seen the Spirit come upon you and do something extraordinary, something you could never take credit for. That is wonderful if it is the case… but what about today? What about tomorrow? What about next week, next month, next year? Paul tells us to “Be being filled” with the Spirit, a constant day to day reality. He tells us to WALK in the Spirit, to LIVE in the Spirit, to be LED by the Spirit, and to be MOVED by the Spirit. So what about today? Are you making the victories sweeter as you walk with Jesus, or are they turning bitter because your relationship with Him is “history”? Think about it…

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

DUDE, It is already Thursday, where is Wednesdays and Thrursday's post???!!!???!!!

Tommy & Hector said...

DUDE, I hate to break it you but you just posted this comment to the WEDNESDAY devo... look at the time - 11:38 PM. I didn't feel like waiting up an extra 22 minutes to make sure it said Wednesday. Thursdays will be up in about 15 minutes, my computers battery died last night before I could finish the devo.

You don't have to remain anonymous you know...

stat counter

simple hit counter