Posts

Finishing Well

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I Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 1; 2 Corinthians 11 “’…serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.’” 1 Samuel 12:20-22 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ…Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:2, 28) Both Samuel and Paul ended their public ministries with a call to God’s people to be faithful to the Lord. Both Samuel and Paul were clear that the people of God belonged to the Lord, not to these leaders. When leaders who plant churches or begin ministries believe people are serving them rather than the Lord, they lose their way. Few dynamic ministries finish well. To finish well we must continue to die to self and follow Jesus so that he becomes greater a...
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Saul or Paul?

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1 Samuel 8-10; 2 Corinthians 10 “…Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, ‘Has the man come here yet?’ And the Lord said, ‘Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.’” 1 Samuel 10:21, 22 “’By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you - I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away.’” 2 Corinthians 10:1 There is a big difference between the fear of man and humility. Before he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Saul feared man. Although physically taller than others, Saul’s fear of man would later become a snare in his life. He also feared failure because of how failure would make him appear in the eyes of others. Fear is rooted in comparison with others and an identity of never being enough. We feel we are not smart enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, or strong enough because we have not yet found our sufficiency in the love of God for us. Paul, whose name...
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Our Ebenezer

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1 Samuel 6-7; Psalms 72; 2 Corinthians 9   “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.’” 1 Samuel 7:12 Although Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah, he chose the place of God’s deliverance of Israel from the Philistines as the place of remembrance. Samuel chose a stone, not cut out by human hands, as the symbol of remembrance. He chose the name Ebenezer, which means ‘stone of help’ as the identifier of the remembrance. “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” In other words, the battle is the Lord’s, and the battlefield would always be remembered as the place a humbled and repentant Israel experienced God’s sovereign intervention against an enemy that was too strong for them. There would be more battles in the future; but acknowledging the Lord’s gracious intervention gives him glory and serves as a reminder to future generations of what God did and who God is. He is our Ebenezer. “Lord God,...
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Listen to the Word

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1 Samuel 3-5; Psalms 77; 2 Corinthians 8   “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…Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” 1 Samuel 3:3, 4, 7 The lamp of the Lord in the tabernacle was never to go out. Its fire represented the light of God’s presence and spirit. However, the sins of Eli and his sons grieved God so that eventually they experienced “Ichabod,” the departure of God’s glory, or presence, and the ark over which the Glory dwelled (1 Samuel 4:21). It was Samuel who kept the fire of God’s presence and Word continually lit during his lifetime. Once Samuel learned to listen to the Word, God’s revelation extended through Samuel to Israel. Have we learned to listen to the Word? The revelation we receive is not just for us, but for our family and our sphere of influence. Pauls’ prayer for the Ephesian Church was that the ...
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Who is God (and what does He do?)

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1 Samuel 1-2; Psalms 66; 2 Corinthians 7 “’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…It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.’” 1 Samuel 2:6, 7, 9, 10 Hannah’s desperate cry to God for a son, who later represented God’s favour and blessing on her life as a wife and mother, took her to places of discovery with God that she would not have experienced otherwise. In the crucible of testing our hearts are examined by the Lord and what is in our heart is exposed. Hannah’s heart exposed faith in God, humility, and a willingness to sacrifice all for the Lord. She experienced God’s gift of a son; but more than that, she experienced the revelation of who God is. In surrender before the Lord, Hannah found God’s strength, mercy, provision, and honour. This is true for bot...
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Guardian–Redeemer

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Ruth 3-4; Psalms 64-65; 2 Corinthians 6   “’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 [guardian-redeemer].’” Ruth 3:9 Ruth’s faith-filled request for Boaz to spread the corner of his garment over her could have been rejected. Yet it is this humility and faith-filled plea that God looks for in extending salvation to those who come to him. Some translations use the word “wings” instead of “corner of your garment.” Both words represent protection and refuge. The redeemer, or guardian-redeemer, was the closest relative who could intervene in the case of a widow who was childless. To maintain the family name and lineage the redeemer would marry the widow and acquire her property. In Christ, we have received a guardian-redeemer who has adopted us into his family and brought us under the shelter of his wings. We now belong to him and have been given the name of Jesus Christ. This approach of fai...
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Lead Me to the Rock

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Ruth 1-2; Psalms 53, 61; 2 Corinthians 5   “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” Psalm 61:1-3 “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1 Both David and Paul knew the refuge of God’s presence in the midst of their spiritual battles. Where do we turn in the midst of our tests, conflicts, and crucibles? David knew refuge in caves and rocky strongholds in the Judean desert. However, he also knew only the Lord could lead him to the “rock that is higher than I.” Paul was a tentmaker, yet he also realized his eternal home was a building from God, not built by human hands. Paul lived by faith and not by sight. His ‘home’ was in the Lord. Where have we found a refuge, or ‘home’? We were crea...
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