1Samuel 12:20-25 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but 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. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away."
Who ever said that the Christian Walk was going to be easy? I mean, we were even promised that it was going to be difficult. One of the things that's so evident in our life that makes our Walk so difficult is the struggle with sin. It is the very thing that placed the Son of God on the Cross to take our place in death just to set us free. You see, the more we take in to understand the reality of the danger of sin, the more we really struggle against it, and all the more we should allow what Jesus did on the Cross to take effect on us. This brings me to the verses God’s led me to.
(verse 20)
One of the things I remember most when I was real fresh in my Walk, and I am still very young in Christ, is that I can really tend to overestimate my capabilities as a believer, and underestimate the grace of God. When the Israelites realized the danger their sins could cause them, they practically panicked. However, Samuel encouraged them all the more not to turn from the Lord. I can honestly tell you that the devastation I felt when I stumbled actually caused me to worsen my relationship with Him the more I focused on it. Living with and for Jesus is not based on our emotions, I can tell you that. We serve Christ regardless, because He loves us regardless.
One of the real beautiful things about living with Christ in us is that even though we still sin, so long as we keep coming back to Jesus, we no longer live for sin; we're no longer dead in it, but we’re dead to it, and alive in Christ.
(verse 21)
One of the things that's so evident when it comes to us human beings is that we're really drawn and made to worship something. Things that are other than God come in the form of money, a job, a person, a figure, nature, a gadget, a celebrity, artists, musicians, makeup, computer games, pornography, computer fads, drugs, liquor, self, relationships, etc. But I tell you that anything we turn to which isn't God (even if we think that it is God) is an idol. All idols are worthless and incomparable to the Creator of all you know and see.
(verse 22)
It is really amazing how God is still faithful whichever point we've reached in our life. If you read 2Timothy2:11-13, it says in the first two parts that if we die and endure with Him, He will reward us greatly; if we disown Him, He will also disown us; but the thing in this verse that really captures me most is the fact that He will remain faithful even in our faithlessness. But that's just who God is. He's the Author and Finisher of our faith. He won't stop pursuing us just because we've stop our pursuit of Him. He's the God who won't give up! As unfathomable as it may be, He chose to create us for His purpose, and continues to love us unendingly, immeasurably, and unchangingly.
Before any of us came to know Christ, He wanted us to start a relationship with Him. Once the starting's done, He wants us to keep going, despite the fact that we keep on stumbling. Wherever we are in our relationship with Him, He still wants to meet us right where we're at and to keep pushing forward.
(verse 23)
This one goes out to those who have accountability to someone you're discipling, or even to the friends you have around you. You won't always be in good weather when it comes to leading and guiding people in their life as believers. Even the friends we have who talk to us about their concerns. It could come as a challenge to lead them in the way that is good and right. It shouldn't be our own perspective of what is good and right that we teach, but God's. If you read the whole Psalm119, you can really see how powerful God's Precepts are. His Word declares His sovereignty over all which is created, so there's no one else we should really point anyone to except God.
(verse 24)
God's grace, faithfulness and mercy should cause us to respond to Him with fear and service. Now, fear and service really go hand in hand. There is no service when that righteous fear and recognition of One Who's in authority is absent. If the fear is absent, it's most likely that God's not the One the service is rendered to. Furthermore, fear of the Most High can't really be called "fear" if it does not cause you to serve. If you read Hebrews12:3, it tells us of Jesus' zeal for the glory of God by bringing man back to Himself even if it meant opposition from the ones He came to save.
(verse 25)
Samuel here cautioned the Israelites of God's wrath against sin. Here in the old testament, disobedience to God meant quick deaths to many. But all the time, when God spoke of His wrath and anger against His people, Israel, He's always extending mercy to them, and opening up a door for them to repent. God also extends mercy to us at this very moment. Sadly, a lot of people take God's grace as a licence to sin. They tell themselves it's okay to sin because God's already forgiven, and that nothing really "bad" has happened to them, and God hasn't punished them yet, so it's still okay. It is never for our own selfish pleasure that God had to free us from sin. In fact, sin is so filthy that it took the merciless slaughter of the Son of God just to take it away from us so that we will be cleansed of it, and be made pure to enter His presence.
So do not turn from the Lord, even when you think yourself too unworthy. Fact is, you were never even worthy to begin with. Do not replace God with anything in your life. Idols are worthless. Keep going back to the Cross, because although God knows everything about us, He is still pleased to make us His own. Let's lead each other back to Christ with prayer and encouragement. Lastly, everything about God should cause us to fear and serve Him.
Who ever said that the Christian Walk was going to be easy? I mean, we were even promised that it was going to be difficult. One of the things that's so evident in our life that makes our Walk so difficult is the struggle with sin. It is the very thing that placed the Son of God on the Cross to take our place in death just to set us free. You see, the more we take in to understand the reality of the danger of sin, the more we really struggle against it, and all the more we should allow what Jesus did on the Cross to take effect on us. This brings me to the verses God’s led me to.
(verse 20)
One of the things I remember most when I was real fresh in my Walk, and I am still very young in Christ, is that I can really tend to overestimate my capabilities as a believer, and underestimate the grace of God. When the Israelites realized the danger their sins could cause them, they practically panicked. However, Samuel encouraged them all the more not to turn from the Lord. I can honestly tell you that the devastation I felt when I stumbled actually caused me to worsen my relationship with Him the more I focused on it. Living with and for Jesus is not based on our emotions, I can tell you that. We serve Christ regardless, because He loves us regardless.
One of the real beautiful things about living with Christ in us is that even though we still sin, so long as we keep coming back to Jesus, we no longer live for sin; we're no longer dead in it, but we’re dead to it, and alive in Christ.
(verse 21)
One of the things that's so evident when it comes to us human beings is that we're really drawn and made to worship something. Things that are other than God come in the form of money, a job, a person, a figure, nature, a gadget, a celebrity, artists, musicians, makeup, computer games, pornography, computer fads, drugs, liquor, self, relationships, etc. But I tell you that anything we turn to which isn't God (even if we think that it is God) is an idol. All idols are worthless and incomparable to the Creator of all you know and see.
(verse 22)
It is really amazing how God is still faithful whichever point we've reached in our life. If you read 2Timothy2:11-13, it says in the first two parts that if we die and endure with Him, He will reward us greatly; if we disown Him, He will also disown us; but the thing in this verse that really captures me most is the fact that He will remain faithful even in our faithlessness. But that's just who God is. He's the Author and Finisher of our faith. He won't stop pursuing us just because we've stop our pursuit of Him. He's the God who won't give up! As unfathomable as it may be, He chose to create us for His purpose, and continues to love us unendingly, immeasurably, and unchangingly.
Before any of us came to know Christ, He wanted us to start a relationship with Him. Once the starting's done, He wants us to keep going, despite the fact that we keep on stumbling. Wherever we are in our relationship with Him, He still wants to meet us right where we're at and to keep pushing forward.
(verse 23)
This one goes out to those who have accountability to someone you're discipling, or even to the friends you have around you. You won't always be in good weather when it comes to leading and guiding people in their life as believers. Even the friends we have who talk to us about their concerns. It could come as a challenge to lead them in the way that is good and right. It shouldn't be our own perspective of what is good and right that we teach, but God's. If you read the whole Psalm119, you can really see how powerful God's Precepts are. His Word declares His sovereignty over all which is created, so there's no one else we should really point anyone to except God.
(verse 24)
God's grace, faithfulness and mercy should cause us to respond to Him with fear and service. Now, fear and service really go hand in hand. There is no service when that righteous fear and recognition of One Who's in authority is absent. If the fear is absent, it's most likely that God's not the One the service is rendered to. Furthermore, fear of the Most High can't really be called "fear" if it does not cause you to serve. If you read Hebrews12:3, it tells us of Jesus' zeal for the glory of God by bringing man back to Himself even if it meant opposition from the ones He came to save.
(verse 25)
Samuel here cautioned the Israelites of God's wrath against sin. Here in the old testament, disobedience to God meant quick deaths to many. But all the time, when God spoke of His wrath and anger against His people, Israel, He's always extending mercy to them, and opening up a door for them to repent. God also extends mercy to us at this very moment. Sadly, a lot of people take God's grace as a licence to sin. They tell themselves it's okay to sin because God's already forgiven, and that nothing really "bad" has happened to them, and God hasn't punished them yet, so it's still okay. It is never for our own selfish pleasure that God had to free us from sin. In fact, sin is so filthy that it took the merciless slaughter of the Son of God just to take it away from us so that we will be cleansed of it, and be made pure to enter His presence.
So do not turn from the Lord, even when you think yourself too unworthy. Fact is, you were never even worthy to begin with. Do not replace God with anything in your life. Idols are worthless. Keep going back to the Cross, because although God knows everything about us, He is still pleased to make us His own. Let's lead each other back to Christ with prayer and encouragement. Lastly, everything about God should cause us to fear and serve Him.
