What you do vs. what HE will do – Psalm 34

“I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.  ² I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. ³ Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.

⁴ I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. ⁵ Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. ⁶ In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles.  ⁷ For the angel of the Lord is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him. ⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

⁹ Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. ¹⁰ Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. ¹¹ Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord.

¹² Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? ¹³ Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! ¹⁴ Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. ¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. ¹⁶ But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth.
¹⁷ The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

¹⁹ The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. ²⁰ For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken! ²¹ Calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. ²² But the Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.”

When we commit to do what these three first verses say, praise, speak, boast, take heart, tell, and exalt HIM, and His ways, and then do it as the second set of verses says, we will get receive the touch of the Master of our lives. As a testimony of GOD’s grace the psalmist shares how the Lord worked on his behalf, by answering, freeing, listening, saving, surrounding and defending him.

We’re being challenged to listen to GOD, to keep our tongues from speaking evil and lies, to turn away from evil, and search for peace this way we will be able to experience how good is the Lord and feel the joy that only those who seek refuge in HIM, experience. We can’t forget that after we do all those we are challenged to,we need to work at maintain it. It’s not just to turn away from evil, one time and one time only, no! But to keep each and one of those going continually!

When we do these rights, The Lord’s eyes will be watching over us, to see when someone does wrong to us, for HIM to take over and payback those who try to hurt us; His ears will be up and ready to rescue us as we cry and get in trouble. Even more, HE will lift us up when our spirit has been crushed by people or circumstances in life.

In life we all go thru difficult times, and even those who have chosen to live for God will face great challenges too. We have a real enemy called Satan, who tries to destroy the works of those who serve God; but GOD is always stronger than any mickey mouse god, and Satan (the devil) is NO match for Him! And although we may face many troubles, the Lord always come to rescue and protects us. Like the psalmist says, calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and everyone who hate those that diligently work for the Lord, those will be punished. 

This challenge is for me as much as it is for you, who read this.  For the Lord is reminding us that although the battle is not easy, when HE is on our side, who in the world will be able to settle us down?! In other words, we’ll be walking in VICTORY for HE IS with us; I mean IF WE CHOOSE TO face this challenge. I can’t say it enough, if GOD is for us, who can be against us??!!!

I want you to think about the choice that has been placed before you today; because just like is a choice to eat the meal you’ve been served after you said you’re hungry; it is a choice to accept the Lord who created you.  HE didn’t make you a robot, for you to follow orders; HE’s given you a free will, for you to serve HIM if you please. Now, HE is showing us thru HIS word, that if we choose to follow HIS commands and HIS will, blessings will follow us;  we’ll be comforted when we’re brokenhearted, rescued when in distress, etc. etc. etc. But TRULY, the choice is our! Will you serve HIM who created you?

I pray for you who are currently not walking according to God’s will; and I say do not wait another minute, tomorrow could be too late! Calling upon the Lord is very simple; just admit that you are a sinner and in need of a Savior because really, we’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God[1]. Believe that God sent JESUS to pay for those sins[2], and accept His gift by living for HIM as the only Savior & Master of your life.  “For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”[3]

After this prayer, I pray you start studying The Bible, and praying daily; this will draw you closer to GOD, and will strengthen your relationship with HIM.  Commit to join a church regularly, and start to fellowship with other believers that like us have decided to live for God; this will make our journey easier. Take advantage of this hint, life on our own, is not easy, so come on board with those who are trying to become better in Christ who strengthens us. And I pray in JESUS name and for His glory, AMEN!!!

God bless you!

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[1] Romans 3:23

[2] Romans 5:6

[3] Romans 10:10

No way, you can’t do that! – 1st Samuel 17

³² “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” ³³ “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” ³⁴ But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. ³⁶ I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!” ³⁸ Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. ³⁹ David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. ⁴⁰ He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.

⁴¹ Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, ⁴² sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. ⁴³ “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. ⁴⁵ David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! ⁴⁷ And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” ⁴⁸ As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. ⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.⁵¹ Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way you can do that! You’re only a ____. “This is a very discouraging thing to say to someone who is trying to accomplish something big or at a large scale especially if that great thing will bring honor to God.   It brings lots of doubts to those who are listening, and at time eradicates all hope.  But at times this is what we hear as we are trying to live for God.

As David was about to face one of the giants of his life, these were the king’s words for him, but in his humanity, he explained to the king the accomplishments he had in the past, at the same time that he encourage himself.  And to build a stronger foundation he included, that although he was physically fighting alone, the Lord whom had rescued him many times before was with him and will help him again to defeat this giant.

Again, physically the king tried to prepare David to battle, but David knew that the physical preparation would do no good if he wouldn’t carried it thru the intended way, therefore, he put it aside, and continued without that physical armor. In spite of all odds David made clear whom his confidence was in, not like theirs in armors, swords and spears but in God.  He also acknowledged they’ve defiled the Lord and He Himself was who would be fighting with him and against them, bringing the battle into a victory.  And all this would be for them as a testimony of the greatness of the TRUE GOD who had made it possible; in other words the glory would be for God for the battle was HIS anyway.

David against all odds, he picked himself up, and went forward with the battle.  David KNEW THE LORD, he KNEW HIS POWER, and how much greater was Him living inside of him that the one living in the world.

The question is,

 DO YOU KNOW WHO IS LIVING INSIDE OF YOU? And BATTLING WITH and FOR YOU?

You might recognize that God is “out there” but in order to be confidently in HIS power in your life and thru you, you have develop a relationship with HIM by spending daily quality time with HIM. But as in any relationship, before you get to develop one you HAVE to meet the person you will be developing a relationship with, right? So it is with the Lord.  And to meet him, in your own words, you admit your sins, recognize what He did for you, and accept Him as the Ruler of your life. It does not have to be an elaborate or complicated prayer; it could be as simple as:

“Lord, I admit I’m a sinner, and can’t save myself, I need you! I believe you sent Jesus to die to pay for my sins at the cross, and I thank you! I choose you today to become my Lord and Savior of my life, so help to live for you, I pray, AMEN!”

If you really mean this prayer, we believe that God had cleanse your ugly past, because He has, and sees you as a brand new creation with new opportunities to stay clean as long as you believe that with Him everything is possible, and stay rooted in HIM!  It will help you greatly if you start to visit regularly a church where HIS Word is preached, and idol worshiping is inexistent, a study His Word and pray DAILY!

When you do, you’ll discover that you have new brothers and sisters that are eager to meet you and grow in the Lord with you.  I pray you try it! You will not be disappointed, for GOD NEVER FAILS!

Then after meeting our Lord and to develop your relationship, I’m including here a very easy way that will help you to start a daily walk with HIM in prayer; it’s the Five Finger prayer:

• 1.       The Thumb as the bigger finger shows the largest portion of your time is to worship.
• 2.       The Index finger shows you point to your heart and ask forgiveness for your sins.
• 3.       The middle finger usually the tallest finger reminds us to pray for those in authority over you.
• 4.       The ring finger which usually is the weakest finger reminds us to pray for those that are weak, sick or in distress, also for the lost.
• 5.       The little finger, last but not least, we pray for our needs and wants.

I pray you chose to start your relationship with the LORD today, if you haven’t just yet.  And if you have, I pray you continue to seek His face daily for your constant renewal of your faith; I pray for a greater desire to spend more time doing HIS will for your life, so you can excel your own expectations in the life that GOD can and will give you, and I pray for HIS glory in JESUS name, AMEN!!!

Rebellion and Witchcraft - 1st Samuel 15

“One day Samuel said to Saul, “It was the Lord who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the Lord! ² This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. ³ Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”…. ⁷ Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt. ⁸ He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. ⁹ Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Samuel, ¹¹ “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to ME and has refused to obey my command.”… ¹² Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul…. ¹³ When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”  ¹⁴ “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded. ¹⁵ “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”

¹⁶ Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!” “What did He tell you?” Saul asked. ¹⁷ And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel. ¹⁸ And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ ¹⁹ Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?” ²⁰ “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. ²¹ Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

²² But Samuel replied, “WHAT IS MORE PLEASING TO THE LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices OR your obedience to His voice? Listen!  Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. ²³ Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.  So BECAUSE you have rejected the command of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

This story sometimes seems too familiar to all of us today.  It happens at home when you’re trying to discipline your children to do chores; at school when the teacher assigns homework to the students, at work in the boss vs. employee relationship, and in so many ways, to Believers and also to non believers.  To be honest we all can say, we’ve been there and done that! And for some of us, we could be even there right at this moment in life. 

Why?  Because we tend to forget; other times, we pay no attention; we’ve been desensitized, and we just disregard the severity of it and take it lightly!

To get in a deeper understanding about this rebellious behavior lets define this controversial term, because God Himself speaking thru Hosea said: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge…”[1]

Witchcraft is defined by Encarta as the exercise of allegedly magical powers. Oxford Dictionary defines it as the practice of magic, especially black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits. 

GOD has always existed, and HE IS Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.  There’s NO ONE like Jehovah-God.   Then why try to apply these characteristics to something or someone else than HIM? Do not fall into that trap!

When people say that a certain statue or idol have the ability to do what ONLY GOD can do, that’s wrong; that’s basically saying: “Lord, I know you created____ but he/she is greater than you; they can do better than you; and that’s why I follow, give my support and promote it.”

To bring it home let me ask you, How would you feel if you own child, would follow, support and promote, your neighbor’s business but not yours? How about if your own child, forgets about in a time of need in your life, but then you see him/her care for someone else’s parents with a devotion that not even to God?  It’s like carrying a rebellious spirit; and it feels like treason. Because it’s not recognizing your efforts, love or cares, and even worst it means to give to someone else, the appreciation and merits that belong to you.

Well, guess what? That’s the principle that applies to us when instead of serving wholeheartedly the Lord we choose to follow the sin of witchcraft; its rebellion!  We are God’s children; and when we disregard HIM & HIS word, to go follow ____, we’re placing that ____ before God, we are taking the merits that belong to HIM, and we are assigning them to that thing, person or place we are worshiping.      

Do not yield onto the temptation to go from sacrifice to sacrifice forgetting that obedience to HIM is always first!!!  REMEMBER….

OBEDIENCE IS BETTER than sacrifice and SUBMISSION IS BETTER than offering…

REBELLION IS as SINFUL as witchcraft and STUBBORNNESS as BAD as worshiping idols!!!

I’m praying for you that, right about now, are exhausted and tired of doing good things but that for some reason you can’t understand why if they’re good things, you’re to the point that you have no time or energy to slow down and obey when GOD says, stay still and seek MY face and MY word. I pray you remember every morning when you’re about to start the busyness of your day, you get to share with Him your love and your desire to only do those things HE already has planned for you to do by bringing your agenda to HIM, for HIM to add or remove appointments, according to HIS will.  And I also pray for your eyes to be opened for when you get to face a “disruption” you can without a doubt discern if it’s been brought by God as an opportunity to exalt HIM, or if it’s been brought by Satan to distract and disrupt the work you’re doing for God. And last but not least I pray for you keep fresh in your mind is that, rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft; and obedience is better than sacrifice, and I pray for the glory of God in JESUS name, AMEN!!!

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[1] Hosea 4:6 KJV

Are You Serious??? 1st Samuel 7

“ ³ At that time Samuel said to them, “If you are really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods and your Ashtaroth idols. Determine to obey only the Lord; then HE will rescue you from the Philistines.”[1]  …. 7b The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching.8 “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. 9 So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 11 The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way. 12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah.[^a] He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”

This is a pretty simple instruction that Samuel gave the people of God to follow; but as simple as it looks even today we still have people that disregard it! When we read that PROMISE, that HE will rescue us from ______ whatever you might need to be rescue of, (in their case was the Philistines). What’s yours?

BE NOT AFRAID, a promise is a PROMISE, and HE who promises is FAITHFUL!    

“Yet the Lord still waits for you to come to HIM so he can show you HIS love; he will conquer you to bless you, just as HE said. For THE LORD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES. Blessed are all those who wait for HIM to help them.”[2]

“This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord:  Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”[3]

If the situations or happenings of your life have you afraid or troubled, then is time to seek The Lord! Desperately HIS face, that’s what the Israelites did! And as you can see they got answered! GOD intervene on their behalf and HE WILL intervene on your too! IF you SEEK HIM; ask HIM and you will receive!!!

I pray that if you do not know that GOD, who you can call anytime or circumstance and HE will answer you, you realize that HE who created the heavens and the earth, HE ALONE is God! Because it was HIM who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, when “the earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters; the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”[4] HE was the One who spoke the world into existence, and when man broke the relationship with THIS Creator[5], in an effort to reconcile humanity with God,  HE sent HIS Son, JESUS, to die for our sins; for our forgiveness!  I pray you choose to come back to God, by admitting that as sinner,  you need salvation; confess HIM as God, believe that HE sent JESUS to pay on the cross for our sins, and accept HIM as our Only GOD and Master of our live. And I pray in the name of JESUS, for the Lord to create and/or renew in you a steadfast spirit that seeks to live for HIM, and serve HIM; a heart that worships HIM at all times, when you wake up, or go down to sleep, as you walk, speak and act all day long! In Jesus name I pray, AMEN!!!

Let me know if you have chosen to start a walk with the Lord, I would LOVE to send you more information about this new journey; you will love it!

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[1] The Living Bible Translation (TLB)

[2] Isaiah 30:18 TLB

[3] Jeremiah 33:3 NLT

[4] Genesis 1

[5] Genesis 2-3

In communion with GOD, things happen! – 1st Samuel 9-10

“ ³ One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, “Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim…  but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere. ⁵ Finally… Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go home. By now my father will be more worried about us than about the donkeys!” ⁶ But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of something! There is a man of God who lives here in this town. He is held in high honor by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.” ¹⁰ “All right,” Saul agreed…  ¹⁴ So they entered the town, and as they passed through the gates, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the place of worship.

¹⁵ Now the Lord had told Samuel the previous day,¹⁶ “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him to be the leader of my people, Israel. He will rescue them from the Philistines, for I have looked down on my people in mercy and have heard their cry.” ¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “That’s the man I told you about! He will rule my people.”

¹⁸ Just then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and asked, “Can you please tell me where the seer’s house is?” ¹⁹ “I am the seer!” Samuel replied. “Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way. ²⁰ And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.” ²² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and placed them at the head of the table, honoring them above the thirty special guests. ²³ Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor. ²⁴ So the cook brought in the meat and placed it before Saul. “Go ahead and eat it,” Samuel said. “I was saving it for you even before I invited these others!” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

10  " Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession.”

Samuel, a man consecrated for the Lord since he was in his mother’s womb, lived in the temple since childhood, and right then the Lord started to reveal him things. This child’s faith grew stronger as he grew older, but even as a child He revealed to him, deep things, (at least for a child, then) like the judgment about to come over his immediate leader, Eli the priest.   Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord, because as he grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.[1]  

One day the Lord said to Samuel that the next day HE would send a man that would be coming to town to look for him, and that man was to be anointed to be a leader for HIS people.  That next day Samuel went to town to take part in a public sacrifice at the place of worship and eat there. And when that next day came, and that man showed up, THE LORD reminded Samuel about His promise. Not only that without these men knowing each other, Samuel was able to encourage Saul not to worry about the donkeys he had come looking for. I’m sure when Saul heard about the donkeys he shocked; although he had been told that Samuel was a seer, which then became a confirmation for him. Anyway, I’m sure if he didn’t got shocked first, then he really was at the time he was placed at the head of the table and honored above other guests; and moreover as Samuel instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.

When you are in communion with God, HE WILL reveal to you things before they happen! If HE did it with Samuel, HE can and will surely do it with you! Remember, and DO NOT DOUBT, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”[2]

And remember that although Saul didn’t know what was going on, he only knew the man he had found was a man of God, and if we bring this principle to apply it to us today, sometimes we don’t know or can’t understand why things are happening to us, like happened to Saul.  So when you get blessed beyond your wildest dream, by one of “God’s angels” like Saul did, rejoice, and thank God. Remember how God worked in Saul and Samuel minds, and so HE could be working in someone else’s mind for His glory, and that blessing is been sent to you by God Himself with a greater purpose for your life.

Stay alert, pay attention, and in communion with GOD.  HE is in the restoration business, and HE will use any willing vessel, even if that willing vessel is from another town to make His will known to you, and for HIS glory. You, be willing to receive HIM and FOLLOW HIS COMMANDS; this is a fragrant WORSHIP offer to HIM, and HE WILL LOVE IT!!!

I pray the Lord to open your eyes right now, to help you see who HE has sent by you to draw you closer to HIM. I pray you are able to identify God’s leaders over your life, and give you a willing heart to make yourself available to follow His command thru these leaders and work for His glory. And I pray that if at any given moment you feel things are not right, with a particular leader you come, TO GOD, to ask confirmation of HIS people, and you can openly request HIM that this particular leader hasn’t been sent by HIM, He takes care of the leader and shift things around to be accord to HIS plan. And I pray for the glory of God, giving thanks to God in advance for HIS plan for our lives, and the outcome of our prayers in JESUS name, AMEN!

   

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[1] 1^st Samuel 3:19-20

[2] Hebrews 13:8

Scoundrels!?– 1 Samuel 2

 “² Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord ¹³ or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, ¹⁴ the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way.¹⁵ Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting. ¹⁶ The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” ¹⁷ So the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt…. ^22…his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle.”

The Oxford Dictionary[1] defines scoundrel as a dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue.  Encarta describes rogue as someone who is dishonest especially somebody who is also likable; somebody mischievous, a dangerous solitary animal; someone who acts independently and using unorthodox methods that are unpredictable and are likely to cause trouble.

This is strong word and it is found eight times in the NIV translation of The Bible[2], and all to describe the character of an individual:

·         Judges 9:4 – “to hire reckless scoundrels”

·         Judges 11:3 – “where a gang of scoundrels”

·         1Samuel 2:12 – "were scoundrels; they had no regard for the LORD.”

·         1Samuel 10:27 – “some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?”

·         1King 21:10 – “two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges”

·         1King 21:13 – “two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges”

·         2Chronicles 13:7 – “Some worthless scoundrels gathered”

·         Isaiah 32:7 – “Scoundrels use wicked methods; they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.”

Today this word “scoundrels” might not be so commonly used but what it means describe people that existed since Bible times; and you might even know some today.  The key is to be aware and pray for them, not to judge them, but to pray for them.  If we aren’t careful, we could fall into the same trap!

Whoever is being controlled by a wrong behavior is in need of a “heart transplant”, meaning a touch from God. We’ve all been there, and coming to GOD is the ONLY solution to it.  HE is really the only One who can do the needed everlasting transformation.

In the case of verses 15-16, is referring to people that normally are in church, working for GOD, doing HIS thing, but at the same time have gotten so used to it, that they have started to make demands as if they were “landlords”, and/or special treatment because of their position, and these are called “scoundrels”; is like backsliding in church…. that’s sad!   Is our duty to pray for these! 

Backsliders are people who used to love and live for God, but different reasons, have decided to place other things, people, or even themselves before God, to the point that have straight away from the faith; relapsing into their bad ways.  In this account, these were the priest’s children; hello!!!  Did you get that? Even our own children are at risk! LORD HAVE MERCY!!!

And one more thing, this backslider's situation confirms that in fact a person once saved IS NOT necessarily always save; salvation can be lost, depending on your behavior.  We better NOT play with fire, because we can REALLY GET BURN!... not good!

I pray in the name of JESUS, for those that have fallen back into their old ways, I’m standing in the gap for the Lord to intervene in their lives, and bring them back to live for God.  I pray the Lord open their eyes like HE did with Jonah, to realize the sin, confess it to God, asking forgiveness to receive mercy and grace from the Savior of our soul; to get back on track to live and serve the Lord again.  And I pray for us, the body of Christ, and the leaders who comes frequently to the house of God to be discipled and to disciple others; I pray for the Lord to keep our hearts, as well as our children’s, tenderized at all times in a way that we get convicted when we’re about to give in to something we ought not to. I pray the Lord help us to be more like HIM, and for His glory I pray in JESUS name, AMEN!!!

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[1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/scoundrel

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm?Criteria=scoundrels&t=NIV&lexcSt=2#s=s_primary_0_1

Barren woman, ONLY GOD! – Judges 13

“ ² Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. ³ And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. ⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁶ So the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. ⁷ And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son...  ⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.” ⁹ And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰ Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!” ¹¹ So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.” ¹² Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?” ¹³ So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful…  ¹⁵ Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.” ¹⁶ And the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” …. ¹⁹ So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And He did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on…. ²⁴ So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him ….”

I remember how as a teenager while everyone was looking up to the options of what one day they would become, I only dreamed about becoming a wife and a mother, just like my mom!  That wasn’t too popular among my friends, but it was ok with me.  So as I got married, I knew the time would come but I wanted to enjoy my time with my new beloved husband but after a two year period, it was time for us to have company, we wanted our family to grow.  But it didn’t happened on that second year, it didn’t happened on the third, or the forth, so we decided to do the human thing. We went to fertility doctors and at the end got treated for a year with pills to increase the possibilities for a pregnancy, and didn’t happen either.  Then we decided to leave it alone; we knew about God but had NO relationship with Him whatsoever, so we had NO HOPE!!!

 And with such hopelessness we continue to live for self indulgence; it was such an empty existence, sad, sad!  Nothing satisfied us, we bought all our eyes seen and wanted it, and still were empty!    As a barren woman for seven years many times I questioned, why me?  I cried many times, and weep to God, over my “fate”.  Over those years many pregnancy tests were bought to check if I finally was or not, since I would go the same place I was quite ashamed to go on the last few times.

But God knew my heart, and HE had compassion on me!  As we went on a honeymoon getaway to celebrate our seven wedding anniversary, God looked at me with favor, and HE DID IT! I got pregnant! I couldn’t explained the happiness of my heart, but immediately I praise The Lord, for I was soooooo unexplainable happy!  And I say unexplainable because although we had been happy for the last seven years, I had just decided to quit my job due to stress related environment and that meant a lost on our income. But I didn’t care, and so we went on a honeymoon getaway, and right there, THE LORD provided me something I had never experienced before the hope of becoming a mother, a pregnant wife, and the joyful moments of the first pregnancy.

This is what happened to Manoah’s wife, Samson’s mom. (In my quest about her name, I found that according to tradition she was called Hazelelponi or Zʻllpunith. She was a daughter of Etam and sister of Ishma.) This woman had children and seems like she had lost all hope until the angel of the LORD showed up in her life, and gave her the good news including some guidelines to care for herself during the incubation time (pregnancy).  I’m sure her excitement was on high as she rushed to her husband with the news; and she pass that excitement to him for immediately he moved on to pray for a confirmation of the good news.  Though it doesn’t specify when exactly The Lord provided the confirmation, it does says that the angel of God, appeared once again to her, and since she knew her husband asked for that confirmation as the angel appeared she rushed to call the husband. He came, and before their eyes God answered the husband’s prayer! Case CONFIRMED!!! What else, then? It’s just a matter of time.  In the meantime they committed to do as they were told by the angel of the Lord to follow the guidelines and raise the child for the glory of God, becoming the Samson of The Bible we read here.  Glory to GOD!!! HE DID it!!!

Today, for you women who’ve tried the impossible to conceive, you stop whatever you’re doing on your own, stop trying to place yourself in “good terms” to become pregnant and place yourself at our heavenly Father’s feet. Humble your heart and confess that HE is GOD; and NOT ONE can do what HE can. Worship HIM for whom HE is and for what HE has given you already; because happiness comes from the happy things of life, but joy ONLY comes from God! Ask HIM to allow you to have the joy of the Lord which is your strength, and commit to follow HIM wholeheartedly, and give it all to HIM, put every care in HIS hands, and let HIM show up and shout out in your life.  He did it for me not one, not twice, but three times, and two miscarriages in between children. AND IF HE DID IT FOR ME, HE CAN DO IT FOR YOU TOO!!!

I pray as you read my story, you be encouraged to seek the Lord’ Word, to convince you that there were many other cases like this one, in the Bible, Samson’s mother was not the first one, and surely not the last one either.  I pray you realized that besides this woman, there were many others who like me, and perhaps like you, who had a deep desire to bring forth children, unsuccessfully. But that because in our times of pain, we seek refuge in HIM who created the heavens and the earth, of the visible and the invisible, we found a pearl of a great price, the biggest treasure there is, JESUS!  The gift from God to us; and a relationship with our Creator whom in His love, and mercy for us, overshadowed us with His presence, allowing HIS light to come forth within us, giving us the gift of motherhood.  I pray you recognize HE can do something beautiful of and in you, even when nothing had been created or formed just yet.  I pray as you seek HIM, and commit yourself to raise the child for HIM and His glory, I pray HE overshadows you with His presence and bless you with that gift of motherhood, for the glory of GOD, I pray in JESUS name, AMEN!!!