August 27, 2010

1 Samuel 19

When God has a plan, He makes even His enemies join in accomplishing the plan. This is the second time that the Spirit of the Lord has come upon Saul and caused Him to prophesy. However, the first time found in chapter 10, Saul had just been privately anointed as king by Samuel, and he willingly joined in the prophets. This time Saul is seeking to kill David, the Lord’s replacement for him as king. This time Saul is forced to prophesy. This time God makes him strip in order to prophesy. This does not mean that he was completely naked. It means that the Lord made him take off his royal robes, the sign of his kingly office. The Lord forced him to publicly recognize that he was no longer to be king. When he prophesied, I wonder what he said. Do you suppose it was related to the extent of the kingdom that David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus, would have? It must have been awfully hard for Saul to swallow. Can you make your enemies praise you? Jesus can, does and will. . Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

1 Corinthians 9

It seems that every minister has a group of people that examine his ministry and find it deficient in some manner. The clear implication here is that there was such a group in the church at Corinth. Apparently, there were some who did not think Paul qualified as an Apostle. After all, he did not take a salary from anyone but rather worked to meet his own needs. An Apostle wouldn't do that. He did not bring a wife with him. He didn't even have a wife. Surely an Apostle would have a wife and take her with him wherever he went. If he were such a great Apostle, where were all the rewards that should accompany the office? His reward? His reward was the people who followed Christ as a result of his preaching the Gospel. For that reason he did whatever it took to make himself more effective at bringing people to Jesus. How does this speak the glory of Jesus?

Would you or I give up the right to receive a salary just so that you or I might be more effective at preaching the Gospel? Would you or I give up the right to a spouse just so that you or I might be more effective at preaching the Gospel? Paul would and did because he had seen the glory of Christ. You and I may not see the glory of Christ visibly as did Paul, this side of death. But we can see His glory in the Scripture. We can see His glory as He works around us. As we focus on His glory, it gradually changes us so that we become willing to become all things for all people that we might save some. Because we understand that it is about His glory not our rights, and His glory is more precious than our rights. That is why we must focus on His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John