Monday, January 30, 2006

Thus Far......(Part One)

Thus Far......(Part One)

In 1 Samuel 7 there is an account of history that could be an encouragement to any of us. As believers in and recipients of the grace of God, is a great comfort to know, our great Intercessor never ceases to pray for us.

In this story, Samuel has spoken to the house of Israel and admonished them saying, "If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away foreign gods and the Ashtoreths (the goddess of love and war) from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only, and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."
The children of Israel did exactly that. They put away their gods and served the Lord only.
Samuel gathers them all to pray to the Lord for them. Together they drew water, poured it out before the Lord, fasted and confessed their sin against God, and Samuel judged them.
Whew! There is so much going on in this story right now, I could probably write two weeks of victory calls! The Lord has so, so very much to say to us here. In a nut shell He is saying, loud and clear:
--return
--pour out
--fast
--confess
What happens next is exactly what our enemy the devil does. When the Philistines heard about what was happening, they set out against them! Why then? Why not when they were knee deep in sin and living recklessly and carelessly before a Holy God? Hmm? Ponder that one on your own. Be very aware of any thinking that would entice you to believe you are in the clear because "you aren't as bad as them". Selah
Anyway, just like us, when the children of Israel found out they were soon to be under attack, they were very much afraid and said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to the Lord for Israel."
Guess what happened? The Lord heard them! Tomorrow we'll look at the rest of the story.

Today's Question:
Does your heart belong wholly to God? Do you love Him with all your heart? What is the evidence of that truth in your life?

Stephanie

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