Bible In One Year-Day 113 (Wednesday, April 23, 2014)

We just concluded reading the book of 1^st Samuel and three characters were outstandingly discussed; Samuel, Saul and David. Samuel’s life was totally yielded to God right from the age of 3 years until he passed on. He lived a life pleasing to God because he did nothing without seeking the face of God. He never despised staying under the canopy of God in all his doings. He humbled himself under great anointing, was not proud, neither did he lord it over his subject. However, he never identified with whoever was not on the Lord’s side or whoever has broken an existing relationship with God. I guess this was to avoid any form of ungodly influence. Samuel was a prayerful person and uncompromising in the things of God. He stood for what God stood for, nothing else. This is an eye opener to the fact that whoever lives by God’s standards will make less mistakes if he ever made one. As for Uncle Saul, it is quite unfortunate that he started well with God as the first king in Israel, but his ending was a disgrace to God and to the chosen. He obtained an unusual favor from God, because while he was searching for his father’s lost donkey, he found destiny. He never fasted nor prayed for this grace but he got it; what a great grace. The enemy of Saul’s destiny was not outside of him but right within him; fear, arrogance, pride, contempt and complacency. He experienced Holy infilling but lost that grace; when the Holy Spirit came upon him, He found no place to occupy or sit. Everywhere was occupied by Saul’s internal enemies. His life proved the scripture right;

Matthew 7:6 “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

Saul messed up the greatest divine privilege one could ever have. Saul became guilty of what he initially detested, witchcraft, 1Sam28:3. He practiced witchcraft by killing a priest and the entire family. He sought to kill the innocent and God’s anointed, David, out of envy and jealousy; this is witchcraft. He refused to kill the witchcraft within himself, and he ended up in witchcraft. He even fasted to hear from the grave and the grave judged him, 1Sam28:19-20. This was fulfilled in 1Sam31:2. Saul, who was under the influence of the Holy Spirit hitherto, ended up under the influence of evil spirit. He broke his fasting with the food from witchcraft (Satan’s) table. Beloved, the dreams and visions of heaven, angels, Jesus and men of God you had are not for nothing, rather it is grace, pointers to destiny and you must not mess it up. If there is pride, anger, envy, ‘unteachableness’ or the like in you, kill it before it kills you. Learn from Saul. Saul was dead before he was killed, 1 Samuel 28:6 “And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” The first time Saul wronged God, Prophet Samuel told him he did something foolish but he did not repent neither did he ask God for forgiveness. To him he was right; he thought he could not be corrected. God gave him another chance but he thought he was doing God well by not totally carry out God’s instruction. God’s response was “I regret …” It will surprise you that Saul was referred to as ‘King Saul’ only once in the Bible, i.e. to say, as far as heaven was concerned, Saul had disappeared from that stool. As far as heaven was concerned, Saul had been stripped of his royalty. He had lost his soul and couldn’t think right anymore. One of the horrible mistakes of Saul is in his words;

1 Samuel 15:24 “And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”

He weighed the voices of people more than the voice of God. Has God spoken to you in dreams and vision and yet you consider the words of men better? Learn from Saul! Not only that, his plead with Samuel was not a genuine repentance but to save his face from shame, unlike David who regretted transgressing against God.

1 Samuel 15:30 “Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.”

As for David’s transgression, he never minded who was looking at him; all he cared for was for the broken relationship between him and God to be restored. He broke down before his own servants; this was not Saul’s position. What Saul was supposed to totally kill and eliminate which he refused to, eventually became a snare to him (1Sam15). Unfortunately, Saul was buried without his head, just because he messed up the grace. I must emphasize, beloved, that, it is easier to lose grace than to receive it, LEARN FROM SAUL. I pray that the throne of iniquity within you shall receive the fire of destruction in the name of Jesus. We shall be discussing David in our next reading 2Sam1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 “And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”