Wednesday March 4, 2008 OBEDIENCE AND SURRENDER: THE CORE OF WORSHIP
Samuel said, "Even though you don't consider yourself great, you were the head of Israel's tribes. The LORD anointed you king of Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission. He said, 'Claim those sinners, the Amalekites, for me by destroying them. Wage war against them until they're wiped out.' Why didn't you obey the LORD? Why have you taken their belongings and done what the LORD considers evil?" "But I did obey the LORD," Saul told Samuel. "I went where the LORD sent me, brought back King Agag of Amalek, and claimed the Amalekites for God. The army took some of their belongings - the best sheep and cows were claimed for God - in order to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." Then Samuel said, "Is the LORD as delighted with burnt offerings and sacrifices as he would be with your obedience? To follow instructions is better than to sacrifice. To obey is better than sacrificing the fat of rams. The sin of black magic is rebellion. Wickedness and idolatry are arrogance. Because you rejected the word of the LORD, he rejects you as king." 1 Samuel 15:17-23 Saturday morning I read an article by Charles Stanley. In this article he talked about obedience and surrender. I was moved to repentance. When I read this portion of scripture I was totally amazed at the Lord our God! Verse seventeen gives us the reason so many of us fail, we think too little of ourselves. Oh, in the flesh we would look at Saul's behavior and begin to believe that he thought too highly of himself. We would be wrong! It is when people have a low self-image that they try to do things that make them look important. This is exactly what happened to Saul. God showed me that it was also happening in my life. Oh, He has probably been trying to tell me this for years, but I was in denial. Your Heavenly Father, and mine, is so intimately acquainted with us that even though He knows us so well He still loves us. This amazes me. He knows my heart and yet, He still loves me. Oh, even though He loves me and allows me to serve Him and His people, He will not elevate me to the perfect plan for my life until I am walking in complete obedience and submission to Him! Once, while watching a Joyce Meyer program, I was deeply convicted about authority. I realized that deep within me there was some residual elements of rebellion. This needed to be confessed and cast out. I recognized that this little seed of rebellion had taken root in my daughter and her son. This hurts, but it is true. Is it fatal? Only if it isn't dealt with and I plan to deal with it. How? I have confessed the truth, repented of the problem, and surrendered to the Lord my God! Oh, people, let us first look into the residual sin in our lives and get it cleaned up so we can enter in to pure praise and worship of the Lord our God! Father, I thank You for the power of Your Word and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in my life. Clean me up Lord. I know that when You are finished I will have Your thoughts toward me rather than my thoughts toward me and that I will be in obedient submission to Your will! ******************************************* O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
