You gotta have friendship

I have been blessed with three godly friends, Marshall, Scott and Roger that I have connected with almost every New Year’s Eve for 32 years. I consider this to be one of the kindest gifts God has given to me. When we met, they were just a bit ahead of me in faith, and Marshall actually led me to Christ. These friendships have been the key to my growth in understanding and in being held accountable for how I live and walk in faith. Who would you say are the friends that have helped you grow in Christ?

Some of the best chapters in the Bible on friendship are found in I Samuel 18-20.

The way friendship is addressed in these chapters is like a theme explored by a gifted novelist. The description fits into the larger narrative of the decline of Saul and rise of David, a major turning point in redemptive history. Yet, this account is also important to show the relationship between Jonathan and David.

Let’s look at a couple verses from this section.

“Jonathan became one in spirit with David and he loved him as himself…Jonathan said go in peace because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord saying the Lord shall be between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” (18:1 & 20:42)

It looks like a simple friendship, but it goes much deeper than first appears. In between these two verses is a plot by Jonathan’s dad, Saul, to kill David because he knows David is going to become king. Jonathan refuses to help his dad in this plot and that is why he and David must part ways.

Tips for Reading- (Application tip #13)

Note: This section is help for Bible Reading in general. It has been building throughout the year under the topics of Observation (what the Scripture says), Interpretation (what it means) and Application (what it means to your life). Feel free to look back over past weeks to get the whole picture.

Let’s go to a very easy application exercise. Stop for a moment and think of some stories when friends in your life have pointed you toward Christ. Maybe pick up and journal and write them out. That could be a legacy for the next generation to see your heart. You could also write letters to each of these folks and reminding them of the stories and letting them know you see them as a gift from God.

Notes from David’s Journal

My comments on this section of Scripture are going to seem terribly self-serving, but I’m going to say it anyway.

In these chapters, Saul’s paranoia has reached a new height! He now believes David is the source of all his problems and he begins a manic chase to kill him. On several occasions, as he nears David’s camp and believes he has cornered him, David instead has the chance to kill Saul but doesn’t. Can you imagine? David is on the run. Saul IS his major problem. And on a couple of occasions he could have killed Saul and eliminated all his problems.

But he doesn’t. In fact, he refused to do so. Here’s his exact quote: “How can I lift up my hand against the Lord’s anointed?” He sees Saul as king. He was still the one in authority over all of Israel. Therefore, because of Saul’s position, he refused to kill him. He refused to do anything negative against him. He respected the position of authority too much.

What does this mean for us today? Too many of us are too quick to lift up our voices and hands against those in authority over us. We may not like President Obama’s policies, for example, but he is our President. We are NOT to lift up our voices or hands against him. Indeed, we are to pray for him, as Paul clearly directs us in Timothy, to pray for those in authority over us all.

In fact, and this is where it becomes self-serving, Christians are not supposed to lift their voices against pastors over them. They too are ordained by God to oversee the flock. They are to pray for them. If there is a grievance, we are to go to other elders and raise our concerns. But be careful: this too should only be done if there are two or three witnesses. This is a spiritual office God takes very seriously. Casual criticism should be guarded at all costs.

That’s a specific lesson from David and Saul. I pray Christians today would see its wisdom. Respect for those in authority is sorely missing today. It needs to be reclaimed.

Deception and the Pure Heart

The engineer of the Titanic is quoted as saying, “Even God could not sink this ship.” There’s a lot of this same attitude in the heart of Saul and his view of the Kingdom of Israel. Saul went from a man who was small in his own eyes, and could scarcely imagine being king, to a man who is willing to deceive God’s prophet and never repent of what he has done.

Look at I Samuel 15: 13-14, “When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully, ‘May the Lord bless you,’ he said, ‘I have carried out the Lord’s command.’ ‘Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?’ Samuel demanded?”

This would almost be hilarious if it weren’t sad and very close to home. Saul changes his tactics and insists that the reason he kept the best sheep and cattle was to offer a great sacrifice to the Lord. There is nothing like a little religious patter to pull the wool over some peoples eyes. But it does not work with Samuel. He reminds Saul that it is better to just obey God than to be arrogant and rebellious (Vs 22-23).

Saul then offers a kind of repentance, but really it’s an excuse that he was afraid of the people (Vs 24-26). He believes it is more important to be honored before the elders of Israel than by the God of Israel (VS. 30-31).

We are lost when human opinion means more to us than God’s. When we choose to rationalize our own sin and call it God’s will, the truth will one day come out. Saul has become his own law. The bleating of sheep in the background scream out that God is not going to allow it to continue.

Look at God’s perspective of David in the next chapter: “People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is a good lesson for us to learn. Some of us spend more time dressing for success and developing a compelling and authoritative voice than we do seeking to develop a pure heart.

Tips for Reading- (Application tip # 12)

Note: This section is help for Bible Reading in general. It has been building throughout the year under the topics of Observation (what the Scripture says), Interpretation (what it means) and Application (what it means to your life). Feel free to look back over past weeks to get the whole picture.

How can I give any assignment except that which is related to remembering the goodness of God in your own personal life and longing for a heart after God like David? Here’s a way to take this application idea a step further.
After you create a list patterned after what you see David doing in Psalm 103, take time to thank God for each one and picture the story in your mind. Next, call somebody (or Facebook them) and remind him/her of how God has been faithful in your life. These steps should help your memory be clear the next time you forget.

Notes from David’s Journal

How can anyone read this section of Scripture and not comment on I Samuel 17, David and Goliath. A bit of background info may help you understand the scenario. The Israelites and their mortal enemies, the Philistines, are fighting in a valley. When one side gains the advantage, it pushes the other up a hill. Then the one on the “higher ground” has the advantage and pushes the other side up the hill on the other side of the valley, thus giving the OTHER side the advantage. This went on and on for a period of time but is finally a “Mexican stand-off.” No one can eventually win. Therefore, the Philistines send into the valley one soldier, a man named Goliath, and he challenges Israel to send out one man for a fight, man to man, winner take all fight.

Goliath is making a mockery of the one, true God, challenging anyone to come and fight him. No Jew wants to take him on. Finally, David has had enough. He hated God being ridiculed like this. So he commits to fight Goliath. He tries putting on armor. But it’s too much for this young teenager. Besides, he knows God will have to win this fight, not armor.

So he picks up five smooth stones (Goliath had four brothers!!!). He runs toward the giant (not away: we must run toward our problems). He hurls the stone into the forehead of the giant and he dies. He then cuts off his head as a trophy (a way to get ahead...sorry!!!), to show the victory.

It’s truly a story of great faith in God, believing God is stronger than all the giants in our lives. It’s a story that should cry out, “Don’t give up! Continue to believe! God is bigger! Have faith! Believe the victory is already won! The things of this world, the armor of this world is useless in these battles of faith. But God will be faithful to deliver in your time of need!”

Believe it. And when the miracle occurs, please make sure you cut off the head as a trophy, a reminder of God’s faithfulness for you when future problem comes, and for your kids, so you can share God’s greatness with them too!

What is God calling you to do today?

I had one of the college kids from our church ask me recently, “How do you know when God is calling you into something?” That’s a good question. He is planning to go to Africa next summer as a missionary. How does he know if this is what God is doing in His life?

In the scriptures, God calls in different ways. God calls Amos to be a prophet while he was a shepherd in Tekoa. Elisha was called to be an apprentice to the prophet Elijah (we will look at these stories next year). This week we look at two callings. I want to show a couple of guiding principles for us to know God’s calling on our lives.

First of all, in the calling of Samuel God speaks to him in a way he can understand and that can be verified by other godly folks that knew him. Look at 1 Samuel 3:18, “Samuel told Eli everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.” God still speaks through His word today to give us guidance. He never calls us to something that contradicts His word. I believe God also affirms these callings by the ones who are walking with Christ and know us the best.

Now, let’s look at the calling of Saul. It is a very different situation. “Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hands finds to do, for God is with you” (1 Samuel 10:6-7).

Two more principles:

· God always equips for what He calls you to do

· He gives you the passion

Find out where your gifts and passions intersect with the real needs of the world and that might be the nexus God is calling you to.

Tips for Reading - (Application tip # 11)

Note: This section is help for Bible Reading in general. It has been building throughout the year under the topics of Observation (what the Scripture says), Interpretation (what it means) and Application (what it means to your life). Feel free to look back over past weeks to get the whole picture.

This is a good place to bring up a substitution we can easily make for a real life changing application. We can learn the details of how God has made us and what He wants us to do, but miss doing what we are called to do in light of that truth. In other words, we can become so enamored with the truth, that it distracts us away from living it.

It isn’t easy to receive the truth and to do it. Saul, for example, was hiding in the luggage when they were commissioning him. However, when you know what direction God is leading you, then you can ask him for something different than guidance, like the boldness to pursue it.

Paul said, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up,” and I believe this is especially correct when learning the truths from scripture. The reminder this week is, as we learn truths, to immediately ask how can I live this out?

In two weeks I will conclude the year with four steps to putting this into action.

Notes from David’s Journal

After the Judges, during Israel’s darkest days, the people begin to look around them and yearn for steady leadership. They observe the nations around them and want a king. Interestingly, God had told them this day would come and He told them NOT to ask for a king. He wanted to be their king. He wanted to be their sovereign Lord. He wanted to rule over them solely and specifically. But, they wanted to be like the other nations. So, as God always does, He practices what I jokingly call “Burger King theology” - Have it your way! God said to the Israelites, “If you want a king, you can have a king.” God loves us enough to give us what we want. Love can only exist if we can choose what we want.

So Samuel, the last judge of Israel, listens to God’s instructions. God tells him to go anoint a king, the first of whom is name Saul. He’s a tall, handsome man. He is a bit shy but he seems to possess leadership gifts (at least at the beginning of his rule). However, as time passes, we see his insecurities and paranoia. He begins well but doesn’t end well. He’s like too many leaders we see today: outwardly gifted, inwardly savvy but his heart does not totally belong to God.

After all, that is the highest and most important leadership quality a person can possess: a heart for God. The king who follows Saul, in fact, is just a simple shepherd boy, with few outward qualities that would make one think he’s will make a great leader. But, he did possess that one quality that overcomes all weaknesses: he had a heart for God. His name: David, the beloved King. The one in the line of Messiah, Jesus.

May we all seek David’s heart, not Saul’s arrogance, as leaders. When done, watch God bless, as he eventually does David!

Faithful in Small Matters

David Chadwick tells of the story of Stevie Wonder’s third grade teacher who first believed in his talents and helped him believe in himself. In turn, Stevie Wonder shaped some of our culture’s greatest music.

The new book by Malcolm Gladwell, “Outliers,” shows how unknown people influenced the life of Bill Gates, The Beatles and other significant folks in our world. The Bible also makes a big deal about being faithful behind the scenes in the small things and therefore influencing eternity.

For example, look at Matthew 1:5, “And Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the Father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.” You might have run past that verse and not realized that the faithfulness of two unspectacular, hardly mentionable people in Bethlehem, Ruth and Boaz. They both had a physical part in King David coming onto the biblical scene, and ultimately Jesus as well. Isn’t that amazing? The story of Ruth is about God using faithful folks, no matter who they are, to change history. You might have thought only the powerful landowners, powerbrokers, kings and prophets could be used by God. However, God usually uses plain, ordinary people!

In the book of Ruth, after her husband has died, Ruth makes a heroic statement by committing to her mother in law: “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”(1:16-17).

I don’t think Ruth is trying to be amazing here. She is just speaking out of her heart. Maybe she has come to faith during her 10-year marriage. Her moment of courage will change history.

The Same kind of faithfulness is seen in Boaz. He is an older man and he plays the role of Kinsman-Redeemer to a woman who has nothing. As a result history is changed. The book of Ruth shows that God always has His people working hard, acting honorable, marrying, bearing children and looking after the elderly. Obviously, they could not know they were playing a key part in the redemptive history of God, they were just being faithful in small matters.

Where is God calling you to be faithful today? Maybe it’s somewhere nobody can see except Him? I wonder what He will do with that act of faith?

Note: This section is help for Bible Reading in general. It has been building throughout the year under the topics of Observation (what the Scripture says), Interpretation (what it means) and Application (what it means to your life). Feel free to look back over past weeks to get the whole picture.

Look at Ruth 3:9, “Boaz said who are you. And she answered I am Ruth your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” This verse is about a saint who rose to the occasion when God gave him an opportunity to step up for His honor. The application question we have this week is this, “Is there a challenge to face?”

Have you ever read a portion of the Bible and felt the Holy Spirit was revealing an opportunity in your life that you needed to respond to? I have been feeling that this Fall as I read the Scriptures. Every reading seems to point me to this opportunity. Maybe you are dealing with a relationship that needs to be made right, or to correct some poor thinking that is luring you away from your relationship with Christ. Or, maybe there is a habit that you are cultivating, or people who are influencing you onto a negative path.

Whatever it is, the Spirit uses Scripture to promote changes in your life. The key question is, Are you open to such a change? Are you prepared to take on God’s challenge to you? I know for sure, that if you open your heart to what God is trying to teach you, it will enhance your intimacy with Him and develop your character.

Notes from David’s Journal

Ruth was written during the time of the Judges. That time was so dark it caused an Israelite man to flee to Moab, a neighboring, godless nation. There he fell in love with a Moabite woman. Eventually, he died and she returned to Israel with her mother-in-law. Once back in Israel, she meets and marries Boaz, a Godly Jewish man. Amazingly, their child becomes a part of the Davidic lineage, the lineage to Jesus Himself!!!

What’s the message? God places a Gentile, pagan woman in the lineage of Jesus. From the outset, in God’s mind, He wanted the Gentiles in His family through Jesus. From the beginning, God wanted the world to know our Savior. It’s in Jesus’ genes!!! Keep that in mind the next time you feel insignificant, unimportant in God’s eyes.

As you read I Samuel, realize that Samuel is the last of the Judges. He is birthed to a barren woman, pleading with God for a son. Biblically, every time a barren woman cries out to God for a child, not only is the child given but the child also becomes mighty in the Lord’s eyes. I’ve often wondered if a child conceived in desperate prayer already has the Holy Spirit’s anointing and blessing even before birth! And certainly throughout his own life!

Such was the case with Samuel. He was a great and Godly man, used mightily by God for His glory. Let’s all remember to pray for our kids. Even before they are conceived, even in the womb, and, of course, every day during their lives. There is something in prayer that moves God’s hands for our kids!!!