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And her rival also provoked her severely. -1 Samuel 1:6a
Sometimes God puts us in hard situations to test our faith and love for Him. In our text, Hannah is provoked by Peninnah because the Lord closed Hannah’s womb. Hannah did the right thing by going to God rather than fight with her rival.
God used Pharaoh to train Moses and used Saul to chase David into his destiny.When you are being provoked by someone, don’t fight them but deal with the spirit behind them and understand that God is using the situation to promote you and elevate you.
If Hannah was not provoked, she would have been content and complacent but because she had a constant thorn in her flesh, she was able to receive a unique son and prophet (Samuel) from God.
Use your provocations to your advantage and let them push you to God.
Prayer Point: Lord, cause me to run to you when provoked and to actualize my destiny in Christ Jesus.
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Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. -Psalm 119:105
When you walk in darkness for too long, you ultimately will stumble or crash into an object. As believers the word of God is our lamp and light, giving us direction as we walk this journey of life. The word is a map and a user’s guide manual to our lives. It lights our path, showing us where we should go and is a lamp into our feet giving us step by step, day by day instructions. Hunger for God’s word, write it on the tablets of your heart that you might not forget it. His word brings life and success (John 1:8).
God’s word should be the final say in every decision that you take. It is the amount of God’s word that you know that prospers you. Knowing not just because you can quote the verse but knowing because it has become a part of you and you live by that word.
Prayer Point: Teach me your word and instruct me in the way I should go.
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Whenever intellect and human wisdom are in control, matter and human ability become your limitations. But when the Spirit of God is in control there are no limitations. In the supernatural there are no limits and that divine arena doesn’t make sense! As a genuinely born again Christian the supernatural should not remain an experience, an encounter or an event It should be your lifestyle!!! Live in the realm of the unknown where Jesus lives and remain connected by faith!!
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Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. -Psalm 124:6-8
God is the author and finisher of our faith, the beginning and the end. The psalmist boldly proclaims if God was not on our side, what would we say. Can you imagine your life without God? NO!! Our life without God is not even a path to go on or to imagine. God is our divine help who delivers us and prospers us. We can do nothing without God but with God nothing is impossible.
Always realize and acknowledge that God is our source. The psalm describes how men would have had their way with us but because of God, we escape trouble and trials. When God is backing you, nothing can stand in your way. The God of heaven and earth is your divine help. Lean on Him.
Prayer Point: Thank you Lord for being my help and being on my side.
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. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him . . .
Ephesians 1:17
Usually when you hear “It was a blood bath,” it means lots of people died- but in Christianity, it is different. Jesus died that you might live; all you have to do is bathe in his blood. Ephesians 1:17 states that in him we have redemption through his blood.
The blood of Jesus washes us from sin and filth. The blood of Jesus is powerful and able to cleanse and heal. Anytime you feel guilty or unworthy, just take a blood bath and plead the blood of Jesus. God’s sacrificial death on Calvary can save. Remember the sinner on the cross; he took a blood bath at the same instance Jesus was shedding His blood and the Lord promised him paradise.
Revelations 12:11a tells us that we overcome by the blood of the lamb. You are an overcomer because Jesus shed His precious blood for you and He would have died if it was only you He was saving.
Prayer Point: Lord, wash me in your blood and let me overcome.
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I think that Paul felt this way. In Philippians 3:7-8 (NIV), he says:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Paul says here that everything that he once found profit with now seems to produce only loss. The things that he once held in high esteem are now nothing compared to his ultimate goal: knowing Jesus. This “surpassing greatness” proves more honorable, more precious than any other thing. Everything that once took priority in life is now rubbish compared to gaining Christ.
What things in our lives are important to us? I assure you that these things are worth less than nothing compared to the beauty and the privilege of knowing Jesus in pure and intimate relationship. Being established in this truth, let us reach for and press toward those things that are important. Let’s press on toward Jesus, toward His cause and toward His church.
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Let me start by saying that if I were Jesus, I wouldn’t have given me a second thought. I say this to express that I haven’t the slightest idea why Jesus loves me. I don’t know why He went so far to prove to me that He loves me. I don’t know why He calls me His own and gives me a hope and a future. But that’s my Jesus; He’s just that kinda God.
I think that so many people are caught up in the perception that Jesus only came to judge and to condemn. I can understand why the enemy of our souls would fight so hard to keep this impression in people’s minds. The truth is that knowledge of how much God loves us gives us such a boundless amount of power over the wiles of our adversary. It’s the knowledge of God’s love that causes people to be filled with Him, and thus having an immeasurable amount of confidence and power. It says so in Ephesians 3:19 (NIV):
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God
To know a love that surpasses knowledge. It goes beyond our limited mental faculties. But it is ours for the taking, nonetheless. And when we know this love in the depth of our hearts, we are filled with the fullness of God, because God is Love. They are one and the same.
But I digress…
The purpose of this post is to speak to someone who is wondering whether or not Jesus wants to deliver them, or use them, or make them whole. These words stand as a testament to a kind and compassionate God who desperately loves a flawed people.
In Mark 1, there is a certain leper who saw Jesus in Galilee. The bible records their meeting in verses 40-42:
40. A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
42. Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
This man had lived the life of a leper. Ostracized. Scorned. Rejected. But he heard that there was a Man in town who drove out demons and healed the sick. I’m sure he struggled with whether or not to go to Jesus. Would He send him away? Would He reject him like all of the others? But in the end, the man went to Jesus, still skeptical. “I know You can do it if You can bear the stench of my disease,” he said, ” I know that You can help me if You are willing to bother with my filth.” And Jesus in all of His kindness and compassion, reached out to touch a man who had not felt the touch or connection of another human being in such a long time. Jesus touched this man and said, “I am willing.”
This moves me to tears. Because I know that my sinful nature is like leprosy to Jesus. But He saw me in my sin, and He washed me in His blood, and then He went the extra mile to call me “friend.” People, Jesus is willing to love you. Jesus is willing to wash you. Jesus is willing to take you just as you are. You don’t have to be perfect for Him. You don’t have to be “good.” You don’t have to be clean. Jesus will reach out to you from where He is. He will touch you and His touch will make you whole.
Come Just As You Are…
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Each one of us has been created for a very amazing and specific reason that is larger than ourselves. Once will plug into kingdom agenda and match our plans with the cause of Jesus, the reason we were created will come to light.
Living life with God and being propelled by purpose is exhilarating and exciting. I love reading Isaiah 61, because this chapter is a very strong reminder that every gift and talent that God has given is for a purpose. That purpose has to line up with God’s love-plan for humanity.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
These three verses of Isaiah 61 serve as a guide to me. This is why I was born. This is why I am anointed. This is why God called me to intimate relationship. So that as I fellowship with Him and bask in His loving kindness, I can tell other people about Him. I can carry good news, proclaim freedom and comfort those who mourn. This divine purpose is bigger than even we that carry it, but it is ours nonetheless.
Ephesians 2:10 says this:
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
As children of God, we are born to live lives filled with purpose. What are the good works that God prepared for me to do? What am I created for? These are questions that I ask myself over and over again as seasons change in my life. I pray that our lives will be given fully to be used by Jesus to do the work that He so masterfully prepared us for before we were even a thought in the minds of our parents. I pray that our lives will be filled and consumed with divine purpose.
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I suppose it’s easy to be enthusiastic about Jesus. Let’s just be honest. He’s amazing. But this is the time when God is looking for worshipers. He’s not looking for enthusiasts, He’s looking for worshipers.
John 4:23 (NIV) says:
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
I love this verse. I love it. It speaks of the passion of now and of a time yet unseen when people will arise to pour out adoration on an awesome God. It also says that God seeks people that will do just this. A holy God is looking for people like you and I. He’s looking for us to stand up and to cast off those sins that easily trouble us. He’s looking for people that will be kingdom minded. That will put aside their own agendas to take care of His agendas. Now, moving beyond being an enthusiast is no easy task. It takes sacrifice and denial. Romans 12:1 (NIV) says:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Here, the wonderful Word of God tells us to offer our bodies -while still alive- as a sacrifice. We are urged to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. The very word “sacrifice” denotes a form of slaughter. In this case, we are to slaughter our sinful nature without looking back. It has to be brutal and it has to be full. There’s no half-stepping here. And the verse goes on to say that this is our act of worship. Worship isn’t in the songs that we sing or the words that we say. Its not in our works or achievements. It is in our sacrifice. Enthusiasts do not sacrifice. They cheer. They jump. They shout. They may even sing. They do not sacrifice. The sacrifice is reserved for worshipers.
I think that this is the season to make up our minds. It’s time for the true worshipers to arise and to cross that line that divides worship and enthusiasm. My prayer is that God will build passion for His person and His cause within us all. That with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will come to the conclusion that this journey with our Master is all or nothing. I pray that we will choose all rather than nothing. I pray that God will make us worshipers.
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I’d like to take a chance in saying that we are all tempted to give in the the desires that accompany our mortal and dangerous flesh. I’d also like to assume that each of us has had our shares of ups and downs in this roller coaster life that we’ve been given the chance to live. I think in saying this, I would not be too far off base. But one thing that I’ve learned well in all my years of living is this: the one constant thing that is utterly dependable is God. I’ve found that no matter how many times our lives and the people in them take sharp right turns for the worse and then quickly dart left to add to the confusion, God remains the same. Day in and day out, He never changes. Faithful as the day.
I suppose this is why Philippians 4:4 says this:
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
I find great relief in the fact that this verse does not on any terms urge us to rejoice in our emotions always. It asks not that we rejoice in people or nature or time and space. This verse commands us to rejoice in the Lord always. The beauty of this command is that the Lord remains the same. He does not change. He is always just. He is always kind. He is always compassionate and caring. He is always patient and faithful. This is a testament to the fact that we can always find a reason to rejoice in Him. When everything around us has fallen and our world seems to be shaken by a major quake, we can find in our Lord a reason to rejoice.
Remember this verse when the voice of depression beckons you to come nearer. Remember this when you’ve lost a loved one or when it seems that failure has reared its ugly head and lifted its deafening voice. Remember this verse when plans have gone awry or everyone you love seems to have turned the other way. Rejoice in THE LORD always. I’ll say it again. Rejoice!