Pour Out Your Soul to the Lord: Hannah

My study of 1 Samuel started today and I love seeing God continue to work through the weaknesses of humans.  God loves his children when they are faithful to pour out their heart and cry out to Him. For most of us, we have times in our lives where we just don’t understand what is going on. How could my friend be diagnosed with cancer? Why does God have me moving away from all my friends? Why did I just lose my job? We’re tempted to lack trust in our Savior during times like these. Hannah was one of two wives to Elkanah, and was the wife that could not conceive any children for her husband.

In 1:6-7 it says, “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb…Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.” Doesn’t it seems that at times of weakness, more obstacles are placed in your path to test your trust? I think we have an answer on how to overcome these obstacles.

In 1 Peter 5:8-9, it says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” Remember, you are not alone in what you experience. We have examples in the bible to look too; we have brothers and sisters around the world who have experienced what we are going through. The devil is going to do everything he can to pounce on us when we are down to keep us down. We must do three things according to this passage, be sober-minded, watchful and firm in our faith!

Continuing on in 1 Samuel, Hannah speaks to the Lord through prayer in verse 11, ‘Oh Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.” Later on in verse 15, Hannah explains to Eli the priest what she has been doing, “I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.” Instead of taking her anger, frustration and anxieties to things of this world, she takes it to the Lord! She knows He is listening. She is being sober minded and standing firm in her faith.

God blesses her faithfulness to him in verse 20, “And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the Lord.’”

Remember back in verse 11 when Hannah says, “I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.” She is faithful to follow up her words with action in verses 27-28, “”For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.  Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.’ And he worshiped the Lord there.”

The next verse we get into chapter 2. The first thing Hannah does is lift up a prayer to the Lord, “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” She continues to praise the Lord for his goodness through thick and thin! When she experiences trials, she goes to the Lord in prayer. When she experiences blessings, she goes to the Lord in prayer. Let’s follow in her example!

Complete Faith: Naomi and Ruth

I found myself today studying the book of Ruth. If you’ve grown up going to church, you know the basic story of Ruth. She is faithful to her mother-in-law Naomi and eventually meets Boaz and marries him. Yes, but no, it’s a story filled with examples of what living a life full of faith truly looks like. Naomi, a woman of God lost her husband due to a famine being in the land. Not only that, ten years later her only two sons who had married Moabite women, they too died.

But this trial, it didn’t waver Naomi’s faith. She decided that they now because had no men to lead them, that she was going to go back to the land of Judah where she had come from. Instead of running away from the Lord, she wanted to put herself amongst the people of God that would lift her up and remind her of the promises of the Lord. But, she also wanted to be faithful to her two daughter in laws, Orpah and Ruth. She told them to return to their people, for they no longer had any reason to be with her. But what we see in Ruth’s response to this statement is incredible.

In 1:14, “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.” Both Orpah and Ruth obviously loved their mother-in-law, for they both wept. But Ruth not only showed her love to Naomi through tears but through her faithfulness to her in taking action.

In verse 16 it says, “But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.’” Right there, is the first time that scriptures show Ruth to be a child of God. She forsakes the gods of the Moabites and tells Naomi that she is going to live for her God, the God of Israel! Naomi’s life of faith obviously had an impact on Ruth. Are you living a life full of faith that your actions are inspiring other to want to forsake this world and live a life for the Lord?

I’m not going to go into to too much more detail, for Ruth is a very short book and I’d encourage you to pick up your bible and study it on your own. But as Ruth and Naomi are faithful in little, the Lord blesses them in rich ways!

Boaz says to Ruth in 2:11-12, “’All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing you have come to take refuge!’”

Is that your response after a trial, one of complete faith, knowing that the Lord knows best? Are you willing to forsake your family for the Lord? Let us follow in Naomi and Ruth’s examples, no matter what comes our way. We are called to live a life completely trusting in the sovereignty of the Lord, taking refuge under his wing! There is no better place to be then knowing and trusting in the Word of God.

Psalm 36:7, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Psalm 63:7-8, “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.  My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

Study THE Word

Today as I opened my bible to study God’s word, the section I opened to was 2 Corinthians 2, “Triumph in Christ.” Triumph is defined as a “A great victory or achievement.”

Christ was triumphant, but we still have a mission to fulfill. Verse 14, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” What an honor and privilege to be able to be used by our king in this way. God has conquered death for us, and now we get to serve him by letting the whole world know!

Jesus’ last words to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, “’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Paul reiterates the very words of Jesus when he talks about us, “through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” Jesus was very clear we are to, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”  I love how Paul is careful in his letters to encourage the churches to follow after God in the same way Jesus had commanded his disciples. We all are disciples of the Lord and all need to be seeking to live our lives in a way that obeys his words.

But, this is only possible through the reading and study of scriptures. Which Paul hits on in verse 17,  “For we are not like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

David Guzik in his commentary of 2 Corinthians 2 says, “The word peddling has the idea of “adulterating” or “watering down” for gain, and was especially used of a wine seller who would water down the wine for more profit.”

Let’s not be a generation that water’s down God’s Word, for our own gain. But let’s be, “men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” Let us follow in Paul’s example and study God’s word and understand them so that we can encourage one another in the ways of God. Let us be a people of God that seek hard after the Lord and His Word!

Complete Surrender

So as I’ve been making my way through the Old Testament over the last month. I can find myself aggravated and irritated so often at the people of Israel. They so often turn their face away from God and seek hard after the idols and gods of the people surround them.

Judges 10:6, “The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” I believe I’ve read these words or similar words the last 6 days as I’ve opened the word of God.  Now, as I said in my first post, God is faithful even when we are faithless. But, after so many times, the Lord is going to challenge the nation of Israel a little harder.

In verses 10-13 it says, “And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.’ And the Lord said to the people of Israel, ‘Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines? The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, and I saved you out of their hand.  Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more.”

Now, God was being harsh with the people of Israel here. I believe he wanted them to genuinely turn away from their foreign gods and completely surrender their lives to Him before He was going to save them again. He wanted them to stop giving into worshipping false idols and put their faith in Him 100% of the time.

The people of Israel respond to the Lord in verse 15-16, “And the people of Israel said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to you. Only please deliver us this day.’ So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord.”

The nation of Israel did respond in complete surrender, realizing that even a little bit of God’s help was better then what they were getting from serving the foreign idols and gods which was nothing but oppression from surrounding nations. But it wasn’t just their prayers to the Lord that changed. They took action in physical ways too, “they put away the foreign gods from among them.” They cut off and completely got rid of the evils that were distracting them from complete dependence on the Lord. And after they did that they, “served the Lord.”

A couple questions I have been asking myself since studying this passage is, “Are there any idols or things of this world that are distracting me from serving the Lord with everything I have? Have I completely surrendered all parts of my life?”

We need to as a people of God seek to live every part of our lives glorifying the Lord. When we are amongst people who do not know the Lord, when we are hanging out as friends and when we are on our own. Don’t let sin and things of this world distract you from pursuing the Lord. Take means to cut off and do away with things that distract you. I know for me I’ve had to cut off listening to the radio or pop songs, because they draw my affections away from the Lord and towards things of this world. Friends, take action and fight the temptations of this world with the Word of God.

Let us seek to learn from the example of the Israelites and live by the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” You may right now be thinking of sins or things in your life that are hindering you from completely surrendering your life. Start taking action like the Israelites did. You may not have anything off the top of your head. But take a minute to pray and ask the Lord if there is. If you completely surrender to the Lord, you are going to blessed by him. Let us be a generation that flees from sin and worldly distractions and a generation that “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:11)

300: The Spartans and Israelites.

Today, if the number 300 is mentioned, everyone thinks of the movie that came out in 2006. The movie shows the historical event of King Leonidas leading 300 courageous Spartan warriors as they attempt to defeat the massive army of the Persians. Spoiler alert: Though they give a valiant effort, they end up failing in the end.

“We are Sparta!” is a constant cheer throughout the movie. The Spartan people believe that their own training and strength will help them prevail and have a chance at beating the thousands of Persians in front of them. Yet that isn’t enough.  So why am I rambling on about the 300 Spartans?

Well I was continuing my reading in Judges today and I came across the number 300. I was immediately reminded of the movie “300.” Then as I continued to read, I was in awe as I saw 300 men under the leadership of Gideon conquer over 130,000 Midianites. If you’re curious as I was, 130,000 divided by 300 is 45,333.33.

My last post I talked about how Gideon doubted the Lord from the beginning of the Angel showing up to him. Yet after seeing signs and miracles from the Lord, he wouldn’t doubt anymore. Gideon started off his journey to attack the Midianites with around 32,000 men.

Judges 7:2-3, “The Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’  Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ ’ Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.”

So Gideon was about to fight 130,000 men with his 32,000, and then 2/3rds of those men were taken away. What would have your response been to that? Gideon didn’t even have a chance to respond before the Lord spoke again.

Verse 4, “And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people are still to many.’”

The Lord wasn’t messing around; he wanted the people of Israel to give Him all the credit for the defeat of the Midianites.

Verse 7, “And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

300 to 130,000 is 1 Israelite to every 45,333 Midianites. The Lord wasn’t leaving any room for the Israelites to boast. He wanted them to give all the glory and praise to Him. Spoiler Alert: The 300 Israelites win and defeat the Midianites. They trusted in the Lord and were able to defeat the Midianites.

God is able to do things we cannot even fathom. But that only happens when we put our complete trust in our savior and kill the doubt that rules our heart each and every day. As I said in my last post, God has given us his Word to study and know each and every day. He has given us example after example of those who put their complete faith in Him, and live their lives wanting more and more of Him. He blesses those who run after and press into Him with faith.

Hebrews 11 lists out person after person who placed their faith in Christ and was commended by the Lord. In verse 32, it says, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

If 300 men can defeat an army of 135,000 because their faith in God was strong, what more can our generation do through putting our complete 100% faith in the power of the Lord??

The Doubt of Gideon

Now most people refer to Judges 6 as “the call of Gideon,” I completely agree with that title. But I also believe that it could just as easily be referred to as “the doubt of Gideon.” Let me explain.

Judges 6:11-12 says, “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.’ And Gideon said to him, ‘Please sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us.’”

Now it says quite clearly here that ‘the angel of the Lord appeared’ and spoke to Gideon, yet his first response was full of doubt, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” How often can that be our response to anything bad that happens to us humans? How can God be with us if our friend has cancer? How can God be with us if I just lost my job? Good news, you aren’t the first person to doubt the goodness of God amidst a trial or hard time. It has been happening since the beginning of time.

It continues in verses 14-15, “And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?’ And he said to him, ‘Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.’“

The Lord continues talking to Gideon by saying, ‘I am sending you to save the people of Israel out of the hands of Midian.’ A little historical background here, Israel for the past 7 years had been oppressed by the Midianites and were at this point starving from the Midianites stealing all of their crops and livestock. So even though Gideon was talking directly to the Lord, he was having doubts due to the circumstances surrounding his human life.  Gideon’s response, “Please Lord, how can I save Israel?”

Verse 16 and 17, “And the Lord said to him, ‘But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.’  And he said to him, ‘If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that is you who speak with me.’

So the Lord reassures Gideon once again, “I will be with you,” (vs. 16) yet that still isn’t good enough for Gideon. He needs a sign, not that it’s truly the Lord speaking to him. But that ‘I have found favor in your eyes.’ Gideon’s doubt is stemming from thinking he is too weak and that he has not found favor in the sight of the Lord.  Gideon wants a sign the Lord is truly speaking to him.

And God was faithful to show Himself to Gideon by giving Him a sign. He sent fire to consume meat and unleavened cakes that Gideon put on a stone. Yet, Gideon still wasn’t done doubting. Oh, nothing has changed over the years of humans existing.

Let’s skip ahead to verse 36, “Then Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor.  If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.’ And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl of water. Then Gideon said to God, ‘Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more.  Please let me test just once more with the fleece.  Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.’ And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.”

Fire came from nowhere to burn up bread and meat in an instant. Yet, this was not a big enough sign for Gideon. He wanted a more specific sign that God was going to “save Israel by my hand.” (vs. 36) How often can we think because of past sins or because of what family we come from that the Lord isn’t going to use us. No matter who you are, if you are in the Lord. He wants to use you for His glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. Don’t let doubt rule your life, God has given us his Word to fight that doubt with. We have so many stories like Gideon’s to learn from.

Mark 11:22-23, “And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.’”

Jesus very own words to us, if we do not doubt, our prayers will be answered! I’m praying that our generation will be one that rises up to these words; that we will study the Bible hard and pray to the Lord without doubting in our hearts!

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.”

Othniel, Ehud, and Jesus

As I made my way through the first few chapters of Judges, I could not get 2 Timothy 2:13 out of my mind. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful.”

Faithful is defined as, “steadfast in affection or allegiance.” So our God is “steadfast in affection” even when we aren’t giving Him the glory He deserves. It doesn’t make sense apart from His grace.

Grace is defined in the dictionary as, “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.“

Now, you would think that the nation of Israel would have been in awe of their Lord after seeing all he accomplished for them under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.  But they constantly were forgetting how great their Lord is, their sinful human will always seemed to get in their way of fully running hard after the God that kept saving them.

Judges 3 gives two examples of the lord remaining faithful even when the People of Israel were not. He sent them a deliverer each time. First, example:  

Judges 3:7, 9, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth…But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.”

They cried out to God for help after they gave into their sin and the Lord stopped showing favor to them. And even though they had not been faithful, God was faithful to answer their cries and send them a deliverer. And they served the Lord for 40 years and there was peace, but then again in verse 12 and 15, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord…Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left handed man.”

They fell back into their sins and were not faithful to their God. Yet, when they cried out to God. He was faithful once again to send a deliverer to help them; amazing grace indeed. Now there was rest in Israel for 80 years before… I bet you can guess what happens next?

Judges 4: 1, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died…”

I started to get frustrated as I read this verse. But then God reminded me of how faithless I can be so often; I have no right at getting frustrated at the people of Israel. Instead of getting frustrated, the Lord directed my attention to how I can learn from these verses to better serve Him.

Our generation today is now enticed by so much sin instantly. We have access to almost anything through our computers, televisions and phones. We so often turn our face away from the Lord when we are watching a movie or browsing the web. Instead of living by our convictions and what the Word of the Lord has to say, we try to come up with any excuse to have our worldly passions and desires fulfilled.

Matthew 28:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ … And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.”

Jesus is the ultimate deliverer.

 

I want our generation to grow up remembering this truth 24/7. God forsake his very own son on the cross so that we might be able to live with Him for eternity in heaven.  Yes, even when we are faithless, God will remain faithful to those of us who have placed our faith in His death and resurrection.  But, if we are truly grateful son’s and daughters, we are going to study the Word of the Lord to find out what pleases our Father. We are going to be crying out to God to help us. We are going study our bibles to get a greater picture of who our Father in heaven is. And we are going to seek to live every second of our life bringing glory and honor to His name!

Clinging Daily?

What does it mean to cling daily to the Lord? As I have recently been diving into God's word each and every day, I've wanted to find ways to encourage specifically my generation to seek harder after God and His Word. I read Joshua over the last few days, and each day as I opened it and asked God to speak to me in new ways.  I was blown away by the Lord's faithfulness to answer that prayer each and every time! Yesterday, as I was praying, I asked the Lord to reveal to me ways He wants me to encourage my generation to love him and His Word more. I think he made it clear to me, when he hit me with the word "cling" twice in the four chapters of Joshua I was reading. 

Joshua 22:5, "Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Joshua 23:6-8, "Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day."

Cling is defined in the dictionary as: "to hold or hold on tightly or tenaciously." 

Tenacious is defined in the dictionary as: "persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired."

The Word of God should be valued or desired more then any other possession that you have. It gives us hope in the midst of an empty world! If you know God's word well enough, you will be able to fight temptations of this world. You will have a bigger picture of how great our God is! You will be able to cling to the Lord in the midst of trials. Are you trying to obtain the word of God so deep in your heart that you will be able to flee from worldly passions or desires? Or are you being content in your walk? I think the biggest thing I want to see my generation gain is a greater love for God’s Word! If we take God at his word and study the Holy Scriptures, not only will temptation to sin become smaller. Our love for the Lord and the gospel will become deeper and the Love of Christ will shine through us. Tonight even, ask the Lord in prayer to give you a love for Him and His word that you have never experienced before. Ask him to make the scriptures come alive to you!

Do you want to be able to be like Paul and say to your friends, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1.)

Real briefly, before I come to a close. I want to just give a brief testimony to God's faithfulness to me as I have been reading the scriptures recently. So as I was saying, I was studying the book of Joshua. God was showing me new things every day through Joshua and his people. As I sat down yesterday to finish the book, I knew Joshua was going to die at the end and I wanted to prolong that as long as possible. As I read about Joshua's faithfulness to the Lord and how He encouraged his people to love the Lord and forsake the idols of this world, I felt like I was there with Him. When I reached the end of Joshua 24 and He died, I started to get emotional. I thought to myself, this is kind of weird that I'm getting emotional about someone who passed away like 4000 years ago. Yet then it struck me, God's given us His word to encourage His children 4000 years later through the actions of one of His servants! He was making alive His word in my heart and challenging me to not be content in my walk with the Lord but seek hard after Him and encourage my generation to forsake the idols and things of this world and serve the one true God.

I'm going to try and post on this blog daily to encourage my generation to cling to the Lord and His word each and every day. Cause as we seek hard after Him and His word, He is going to use our generation to accomplish great things for His name and for His glory!