Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent. And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 1 Samuel 13:1-2

Jonathan, King Saul’s son, was a warrior just like his father, and he fought battles alongside of Saul by leading his father’s army. Fighting in battles could have also been a preparation for Jonathan as the successor to the crown. Jonathan was the first-born of King Saul which meant he would have had the right to the throne after Saul’s passing. However, God was not pleased with Saul due to his rebellion towards Him and chose to take the kingdom away from him.

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1

This was not only going to be the end of King Saul’s monarchy, but it was also going to be the end of his dynasty! Jonathan lost the opportunity to the crown because of Saul’s disobedience!

The blessing of obedience and the curse of disobedience are not just limited to our own lives, but they affect the generations to come. That’s why it’s important to think long and hard before we run into disobedience and set things into motion that can cause a great regret later on.

We need to cut off the generational curses in our lives passed down from our parents/grandparents and begin the line of blessing because of our new inheritance in Christ. As we commit to walking with God, we choose to pass down a heritage of faith and life to our children and stop the death and destruction that was passed down to us.

Jonathan the prince lost the opportunity to the crown, but the scripture does not mention any resentment or bitterness towards his father and his father’s disobedience. He did not act like/ live like a victim.

Our lives may be different because of other people’s sin, but we can trust God that He still has something special for us in store in spite of what has happened to us in the past.

Jonathan couldn’t change his father’s past actions and neither can we change the past. However, we have a choice to feel victimized and stay stuck or keep looking to God for what He has ahead. Praise God for His grace that allowed Jonathan to stay in tune with the will of God rather than his own earthly/natural desires!

Lord, today we forgive those whose sin affected our lives. Free us from the consequence/bondage of their sins and reverse it in the name of Jesus. Purify our hearts. We declare that nothing can thwart the plan and the purpose of God in our lives! We look to you Lord the author and the finisher of our faith. Amen!

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah,  and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.  Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Luke 1: 39-45

Trust foundational to vulnerability

The scripture has no mention of  Mary speaking to her parents about the angelic visitation, but it does tell us that Mary with haste went to see Elizabeth. Mary must have trusted Elizabeth deeply. This was a vulnerable time in her life, and she needed a safe person to share her peculiar situation with. She was carrying the news of being pregnant while still a virgin. The average person would have raised his/her eye-brows to the story of angelic visitation and declaring that she was pregnant by power of the Holy Spirit!

Mary must have known that Elizabeth would believe her words. She knew that she wasn’t going to be subject to Elizabeth’s eye brow raising or her integrity being questioned in such a defenseless time in her life.

When I am in my vulnerable times, I don’t look for a lot of people to share my story with. All I need is one or two trusted friends who are safe to share my predicament. I know they will not judge me or label me, but they will point me in the direction of truth and love.

Recognition of the call brought honor

God confirmed Mary’s pregnancy and defended her by allowing Elizabeth to speak prophetically about Mary’s situation. Elizabeth without foreknowledge of Mary’s pregnancy prophesied about Mary’s fruit of the womb. Then she declared her as the “mother of my Lord”. Wow! What a timely and accurate prophecy!

Can you imagine prophesying over your young teenage cousin whom you have known since she was in diapers!? Your young cousin is not married yet, but you hear the Lord saying that she is now the carrier of the savior of the world!!

If Elizabeth had ever treated Mary as her cute little cousin, that day all of that came to a sudden halt. That day was a beginning of a new season. Elizabeth showed her high regards and called Mary the “mother of her Lord”.

How long would it take us to recognize the call and the anointing of God with those that we are in close relationships with? One of the dangers of any close relationship is that we can easily become familiar with each other to the point that we can’t hear or perceive that someone’s season is about to change. We can no longer look at them or treat them the way we used to.

David had that problem as a shepherd boy. When Samuel came to choose one of Jesse’s sons as the future king of Israel, his father didn’t even bother to invite him to the party. At first, Samuel the prophet was even caught up with the birth order and military qualifications of Jesse’s older sons.

Confirmation and Encouragement

Elizabeth was so in tune with the Lord that her language became a language of honor towards Mary who a week prior was just considered her younger teenage cousin. Elizabeth knew that Mary’s baby was going to be the Lord. She recognized it, confirmed it, and was excited for her.

The destiny of the two babies was going to be very different. Elizabeth’s son, John the Baptist was going to be a forerunner to Jesus. Elizabeth’s husband was the priest, and they had been barren for a long time. However, God didn’t choose their son to be the Messiah but a forerunner to the Messiah. From Mary & Elizabeth’s interaction, the scripture doesn’t give us any hint of hesitation or jealousy on Elizabeth’s part. Elizabeth was honored to stand before Mary. Mary humbly looked to her cousin for the encouragement she so needed in this season of her life.

Praise God for Godly relationships where there is a mutual honor and submission. These relationships don’t cause turmoil or confusion in ones’ heart but affirm and confirm the true call of God without any flattery. 

Lord, thank you for Godly relationships in our lives. Please continue to connect us with those who are part of our destiny, and we are part of theirs. Amen!

Do you have Godly relationships in your life? How do you define a Godly relationship?

Godly relationships recognize God’s call in each other’s life, and they do what they can to support and nurture the purpose of God in the other person’s life. These relationships pay attention to God’s purpose for coming together, and they value that above and beyond individuals’ desires and affections.

Relationships that are based on truth and the purpose of God stay healthy and flexible because they are sensitive to the Spirit of God and the change He is making in each person’s life as well as in the relationship.

We live in a society that we have more acquaintances than true personal friends. We can get to know people through our children’s sports, church ministries, Bible studies, gym, workplace, and a whole host of other avenues. However, most of those individuals are not the people we will call upon if we needed something. Many of those relationships have been developed over the convenience of doing a task together or being in the same place at the same time on a regular basis.

Godly relationships require a commitment of time, energy, communication, forgiveness, and sacrifice. True mature relationships are free from competition, backbiting, flattery, or possessiveness. Each person is given room to grow and become all that God wants them to be including making new friendships or moving in a new direction.

Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth, had a beautiful Godly relationship while their lives were very different from each other. Elizabeth could have been at least 15 to 20 years older than Mary. She was married to a priest but had remained barren for years. On the other hand, Mary was a virgin teen-ager engaged to be married to Joseph with no thought of pregnancy on her mind.

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” Luke 1:18-20

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. Matthew 1:19

Within a few months of each other, both of their worlds got interrupted by an angel. Both of them were going to have a child. Both of their spouses were surprised. Elizabeth had waited for so long that Zechariah thought they were too old to be able to have children. On the other hand, Mary was a virgin teen-ager and wasn’t yet married to Joseph. Joseph wondered if Mary was telling him the truth, and he was entertaining the idea of letting her go quietly. These two women were carrying children with purpose, but the Lord’s plan for those babies was very different from each other.

In the next devotional, I’ll share about Mary & Elizabeth’s encounter and what we can learn from their relationship.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,  and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

In the last devotional, I shared about Paul and his relentless pursuit of God in the midst of difficult situations. When he was bound in chains, he was still writing about running the race and finishing his course well.

I think about Corrie Ten Boom who had to observe the death of her sister right before her eyes in a Nazi concentration camp. Her family aided Jews by sheltering them from Nazi Holocaust during WWII. As a result they were punished for supporting and protecting the Jews.

They fought for what was right, but it only got darker and darker for them. The circumstances were completely opposite of what Corrie believed to be true spiritually. Not only they did not receive any medals of honor for their acts of heroism, but Corrie also lost her sister to starvation at the concentration camp. Neither Corrie nor her sister lost faith in the love of God while experiencing horrific conditions. The darker Corrie’s world became in the natural, the more she ran towards the light of the glory of God! She didn’t stop pursuing and seeking His face in spite of her paralyzing emotions and unchanging circumstances.

Paul taught us about pressing towards the goal while in prison. He was not deterred by his circumstances. Paul never saw his life blocked by God or anyone else for that matter. Just because he wasn’t able to plant churches, preach, or teach didn’t stop him from running the race. He didn’t stop praising God and encouraging people of God through his letters to the churches.

Praise God that we have great examples of Godly men and women who have gone before us. If I were in Paul’s position, I would have considered those months/years in prison a complete waste of time. I would have thought that they are a hindrance to accomplishing God’s plan and expanding His Kingdom. However, that was not Paul’s response to being in prison. He continued to give thanks in all circumstances. He exhorted us not to be anxious about anything. As zealous as he was, he had chosen to allow God’s peace to take over any feelings of anxiety or restlessness.

Is there anything that you think is blocking you from making progress? Do you feel that you are hindered from running the race right now because of your circumstances? Pray and ask the Lord to give you His perspective on your perceived limitations. No one and nothing can thwart God’s plan for you and how He wants to use you! Thank you Lord!

What if running the race as a Christian is not what you imagined it to be!?

Running the race has very little to do with how much progress we make in the natural, but it has everything to do with our spiritual condition. As a Christian, running the race is about not giving up and not allowing our heart to fail despite of circumstances and setbacks!

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 12-14

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Paul describes our walk with God as a race that we must continually run. This race is not a competition against other people, but it’s about keeping the faith. The best way to describe it is to look at it as running a marathon. Most people who are not runners, wouldn’t dream of running a marathon let alone competing with others in one. The majority of people would be just happy to run 26.2 miles. Their concern is not to beat anyone else, but to just finish the long distance run.

Our spiritual lives are a lot like running a marathon. The road is lengthy. It has rough paths, steep hills, and some valleys, but through it all we are called not to give up. We have to keep our stamina to persevere. We want to reach the final goal of meeting our Lord and Savior as an overcomer who has kept the faith and enters into eternity with his/her Savior.

When Paul was penning the scriptures to the Philippi church, he could have been sitting in prison bound to a prison guard with no mobility whatsoever. Nevertheless he was running the race! He would have been very stationary physically but very alive in the spirit because his spirit man was running towards God. He did not turn back nor did he slow down. He didn’t stop but kept running towards God.

To walk like Paul did, we have to be strong and courageous in our spirit man and be willing to live in a state of spiritual momentum while in the natural be in a place of inactivity.

Thank about an area of your life where you feel tired of running the race. Ask the Lord to give you strength to try again and run some more.

As I shared in the last devotional, Saul rebelled against God by partially obeying him, and the Lord was not pleased! God directed Samuel the prophet to confront this issue.

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.  But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 1 Samuel 15:20-21

Saul insisted that he had obeyed the Lord even though he brought back King Agag which God specifically commanded to kill. It may have been the custom of the kingdoms of those days to bring back the defeated king as a “show and tell” to the people and to celebrate how powerful the victory was. Nevertheless, the Lord is not impressed by our customs nor our culture when they get in the way of our obedience to God.

Saul did not take responsibility for his sin, and he blamed the people for bringing the spoils from the war. When God puts his finger on an area of our lives, it is best to take ownership of it and not blame others for our sin. The Lord is always right, and we can’t debate our case with a Holy God!

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1: 14-15

The reality is that people and circumstances can tempt us to sin or pressure us to compromise, but they can’t make us sin! We are ultimately responsible for our sinful desires that led us astray, and we have no one to blame.

The beauty of walking with God is that He is always ready and available to forgive us of our sins if we are willing to repent. However, if we excuse our sin, we don’t receive healing and restoration for our soul. We just get more set in our lustful and fearful ways.

So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23

The word “delight” in the above scripture has to do with God’s pleasure and purpose. The Lord has a greater pleasure in us obeying him than to just make sacrifices to him. Any activity that is regular religious activity can be like the sacrifices that Saul was going to make.

The word “obey” in the above scripture is about listening with an intent to obey! In this type of obeying we are connected in a relationship to our father which is above and beyond tradition or rules. It is God’s desire to walk with Him in such a way that our ears are always attentive to His voice.

For example, I go regularly to prayer meeting at our church on Saturday mornings at 6:30 am. I don’t necessarily ask the Lord each Saturday morning if I should go to prayer meeting. If the Lord asked me one day to stay home and use the time to meditate on him or spend it with my husband, I have a choice to obey His voice or not. I can choose to obey God, or I can go “faithfully” to my prayer meeting. I may even tell the Lord, “I’ll do it later”. One will please God, and the other one will please myself or others.

Our walk with the Lord has to be based on valuing his voice in our lives far more than just following our religious routines. This type of obedience is something that is unique to our relationship with the Lord. God may not ask the same thing from our spouse or our best friend, but He is asking us to do it. Saul’s army didn’t see anything wrong with what they had done because the Lord didn’t speak to them. He spoke to Saul.

Lord help us to not to just follow a religious routine, but to always have attentive ears with a heart to obey! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you had asked Saul, “Do you see yourself rebelling against God after you become a king?”, I’m sure he would have given you a resounding, “No, absolutely not!”.

The reality is that most Christians don’t choose to just one day walk in rebellion against God, but they find themselves one step at a time compromising God’s commandments which leads them to disobedience.

What is it that leads one to rebellion? Saul’s life gives us some points to consider.

Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” 1 Samuel 15:3

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. 1 Samuel 15:9

God didn’t give Saul a reason as to why he should destroy everything, but He did give him specific instructions to destroy everything that the Amalekites owned including their king Agag.

Saul used his own judgment as to what should be saved and what should be destroyed.  Naturally, it only made sense to get rid of worthless things but save valuable spoils.

Many times the things of the spirit will not make sense in the natural. This is when we have to make a decision to walk in the spirit and not lean on our own understanding. 

Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.  Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”1 Samuel 15:12

After his great victory, Saul became delusional. He told Samuel that he had actually performed the commandment of the Lord. The truth was that he performed only part of the commandment but not all of it. Partial obedience is still disobedience!

Full obedience is a challenge to all of us.  The Lord asks us to do something, but we do it partially to the degree that makes sense  or is beneficial to us. The portion that we don’t like or it doesn’t benefit us, we try to ignore it or justify it.

Saul deceived himself by believing that he was obedient to God, and as a result he confidently lied to Samuel about having followed God’s commandment.

To avoid self-deception, we need to love the truth more than ourselves. Otherwise we will give leeway to ourselves when obeying God is hard or inconvenient!

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

Discouragement is a tough and paralyzing place to be. Most people don’t choose to go there, but somehow through a series of events, they find themselves in a pit of discouragement!

Definition of Discouraged (According to Strong’s concordance): to waste away, to melt, vanish, drop off, melt away, to faint, grow fearful, wasted, worthless, to cause to melt.

The above definition of discouragement paints a very good picture of the condition of someone who is discouraged. Discouraged people may feel small and inferior. Another group may find themselves fearful and weak in certain situations, but all of those feelings are triggered by certain events or people that bring someone to the point of discouragement.

One feels small

“Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His mercy endures forever”— and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord. Jeremiah 33: 11b

When people are discouraged, their emotions are weak. They don’t feel courageous and can’t see themselves fighting any longer. They think that they can’t go on anymore. That’s the time when we need to bring the sacrifices of praise to God. The more discouraged we are, the more tendency to be focused on ourselves. This is when we need to do the hard work of taking our eyes off of ourselves and just look to God and praise Him for who He is.

Reminding ourselves of God’s attributes and giving Him thanks for His involvement in our lives, takes our focus off of ourselves and puts it on our mighty God! This will be a sacrifice at times. It may even feel like we are not being honest with how we feel. The truth is that God doesn’t change because we don’t feel right, so we are basically declaring His unchanging attributes whether at the moment we feel them or not.

Praise will allow us to come to a better and calmer place emotionally. It will prevent us from making rash decisions, and it will help us to avoid making ungodly vows/statements such as, “She is never going to change.”, or “I’m not going to try again.”.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

The church is the body of Christ

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

The church is the body of Christ with many functions. I love how God gives us visual aid about His kingdom that is so closely connected with our lives. The fact that the body is an analogy for the church, helps us to continually look at our own bodies and recognize the value and importance of each part of our body just as each believer is in the body of Christ.

Most of us can remember the last time we stubbed our toe and how much it hurt. It made us stop doing what we were doing for a minute until we got our composure back. If the toe hurt really badly, we may not be able to wear closed shoes for a while because we didn’t want anything touching it for a while. Every part of the body matters!

Just because we don’t think about a particular part of our body all the time, it doesn’t mean it’s insignificant. At the same time, just because we put a lot of attention to certain parts such as our hair or our faces, it doesn’t mean that they are more important or valuable. If we don’t have a healthy heart or a sound mind, we are not going to live a full life regardless of how cute we look externally!

Every part of our body is important and as a result we need to take care of it, nourish it, and help it to stay healthy and strong. It is God’s desire for the body of Christ to be healthy and that no one stays behind in being encouraged, valued, and strengthened. If one part suffers, whether we understand it or not, the rest of us are suffering.

There are people whom I haven’t seen for a while who have an important part to play in the body such as being a watchman in the house. They are called to intercede for those things that God shows them in the body. However, by them not being connected, they cannot do their part to supply the need of the body, and in return the body can’t connect and supply their needs. Everyone lacks/suffers because of it.

But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 1Corinthians 12: 20-22

Paul is writing this to the Corinthian church because he must have heard of their behavior towards one another. Sometimes believers can be as immature as children squabbling over things and hurting each other by making one feel inferior or less than others. That’s sad, and we need to pray that we can all mature in those areas. Nevertheless, just because someone may make us feel not needed, it doesn’t mean that it’s the truth. If we believe we belong to the body of Christ , then other parts of the body don’t have a say to dictate our value or destiny in God. The Lord has placed us there, so He wants us there regardless of how we are treated by other parts of the body.

Joseph’s brothers didn’t see much value in him. As a matter of fact, they were intimidated and jealous of his relationship with their father Jacob, so they tried to get rid of him. However, they could not overrule God. God had placed a specific purpose in Joseph’s life that the brothers could not steal, kill, or destroy. God’s will prevailed. Thank you Lord!

It is important to know our part, so we won’t be too busy looking at others and what they are doing. We don’t need to compare or copy someone else’s work in the body. Even when it comes to similar functions such as ears, the left ear will hear things that the right ear may not hear and vice versa. Just because I hear something different it doesn’t mean I’m right and the other person is wrong. We should all be in the business of helping the body to become stronger by encouraging each member to do his/her function uniquely well!

For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com