GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 8
GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 8~ ~ 1Samuel 8:6 ~ ~ “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.”
The Jews wanted a king instead of prophets—they wanted to be like the other nations…the kings strayed from God. First a little, then more.
There was no Holy Spirit in the people…prophets were the only voice of God. They rejected the prophets (and in so doing, rejected the voice of God) and wanted an earthly king….
Modern, NT version….many Christians are rejecting the personal fellowship with the Lord because its easier to sit in a pew and let the pastor do the work. Let Him spend time with the Lord and the Word during the week, and just soak it up for an hour or two once a week.
God said that “obedience is better than sacrifice”. How can we obey when we aren’t spending time with Him in order to hear His voice? We need to fit ourselves to hear Him. Time in the Word and Prayer, and especially sitting in His Presence in the spirit, are essential….not only in “boot camp” of our walk with the Lord, but more and more, as our lives with Him progress.
Whenever our conscience is appeased, we are not seeking God, because God will show us our faults, so we can ask His forgiveness and get back into His grace. We will be conscious of our weakness, failures and sin, when in His presence, but we will also feel His grace, and love and know He will help us change.
I tell you all this because the time is coming….we don’t know when, but signs are here that its not too far off, that it won’t be permitted to write Christian things anywhere, or speak them, and certainly not to congregate as a church. This is already happening in many parts of the world, and will someday be in the entire world.
At that time, you will not have a pastor or parent, or neighbor to tell you what the Lord is saying. Each of us will have to have our personal relationship with our Lord developed so that our spirits will hear the Holy Spirit in all things. Then we will have the wisdom, courage, and strength we will need to persevere through His will for us in this world.
Live in the Light of Our Lord 