(Read 1 Samuel 28)
Today I will continue with “Faith and Patience Volume 5 – Greater is Coming!” In the 28th chapter, the Philistines mustered their armies for another war against Israel. David had been lying to king Achish for months, telling him that he had been fighting Israelites while he was actually fighting the enemies of Israel. David’s lies caught up with him when the king said to David, “You and your men will be expected to join me in battle this time.” David had no other choice. Since he was out of place, his chickens were coming home to roost, and he was being forced to fight against his own people.
David responded, “Very well! Now you will see for yourself what we can do.” The confidence of his words was a disguise for the discomfort he must have felt. Then Achish told David, “I will make you my personal bodyguard for life.” While the king would have loved for this to happen, David knew he was destined to be the king of Israel, not Achish’s bodyguard. But since David was living a lie, the king expected was David was projecting. I will say more about this later.
Meanwhile, Saul was preparing his men for the impending war, and he truly missed Samuel. Whenever Saul (the king) needed to make a major decision, he always consulted with Samuel (the Prophet). With Samuel dead, Saul had no way of hearing from God. It’s dangerous to be in a position of leadership without the ability to hear from the God who put you there! Saul was a king, but that does not mean he knew what to do. He needed divine insight, and he had no way of getting it. Consequently, while Samuel was alive Saul had banned all psychics and mediums from consulting with the spirits of the dead. But since he was now in need of help, Saul dressed up as a normal man, put on a disguise, took two bodyguards with him, and visited the medium/psychic at Endor.
I know some people don’t believe in the power of psychics, mediums, witches, warlocks, or sorcerers. But the Bible is full of this type of activity. Acknowledging the power of darkness does not diminish the power of God’s Kingdom in any way. So there Saul was, talking to a psychic in Endor, asking her to call up a spirit from the dead for him. The psychic made it clear that she could not because king Saul had a ban on it. This led Saul to do something like ‘out of the movies.’ He took off his disguise and revealed that he was the king. He then ashed the medium to communicate with the spirit of the Prophet Samuel.
The medium called up Samuel’s spirit, and Samuel asked, “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Saul replied, “Because I am in deep trouble. The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So I have called for you to tell me what to do.” Samuel said, “Why ask me since the LORD has left you and has become your enemy? The LORD has done just as he said he would. He has torn the kingdom from you and given it to your rival, David. The LORD has done this to you today because you refused to carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. What’s more, the LORD will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and your sons will be here with me. The LORD will bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.” Wow. This is definitely NOT what Saul wanted to hear. The king fell flat on the ground, paralyzed with fear, not knowing what he was going to do. He wanted to know what was going to happen and he found out — he and his sons were going to die! We will stop here for today!
So what does this mean for you today? A few things:
1. Lies will catch up with you eventually.
— David had been lying about fighting his own people, so he was placed on the spot to do just that.
— If you lie long enough, people will expect to see action behind those lies.
— The best thing to do is simply, to tell the truth. That way, you will find it easy to live a life of integrity because you don’t have to try hard to be yourself.
— If you tell lies, you will have to live a lie, and two things will happen: 1) you will have a hard time keeping track of all the lies, and 2) you will be expected to fulfill things you never really wanted to experience because you said it, but your heart was not in it. It’s much better to just say what you mean and mean what you say!
2. When you are out of place, people will expect things of you that are not connected to your purpose.
— Since David was out of place, the king of Gath expected David to be his bodyguard for life. That was clearly not David’s divine purpose, but since David was out of place and living a lie, the king had expectations of him that were against God’s desires for his life.
— When you are out of place, you will do things you should not do, people will expect things from you that you are not supposed to give, and they will expect you to be someone God did not call you to be.
— The best thing to do is to simply put God first and to put His will above your own, even above your own comfort, because when you do, the pressure you will feel will be the pressure to be the person God has called you to be. This is good pressure. That is the kind of pressure you want.
— When you simply live the life God called you to live, people will know who you are, and they won’t expect things from you that do not align with God’s purpose. They won’t put pressure on you to be someone you are not, because you never portray anything but God’s purpose.
— Life is much more simple when you don’t try to be anyone but the man/woman you are called to be.
3. When you live life in accordance with your purpose, you can be unapologetically YOU!
— David could not be himself because he was living a lie.
— David compromised, and it got him in trouble. Whatever you compromise to get, you will have to compromise to keep.
— Many Christians are like David was in 1 Samuel 28. They compromised to get into a situation, only to realize that they will have to continue to perpetuate the compromise if they want to stay there. This leads to a tremendous loss of peace. It’s hard to be at peace when you know you in your heart that you are not being yourself. However, when you walk in integrity, you can sleep well at night.
— When you know who you are and you portray a public image that aligns with the image God birthed in his heart for you, you will never need to make apologies for BEING YOU! Everyone is not going to like you, but they will at least know WHO you are!
— I am who I am by the Grace of God. I don’t make any apologies for being the man God called me to be. I am able to portray a public image of myself as a Man of God, even in Corporate America, because I have embraced my divine identity, and I am not ashamed of it.
— I am able to preach the Gospel in settings where it is uncommon and to pray at public events where prayer had never been allowed before because people KNOW WHO I AM. I am respectful about it, never arrogant or distasteful. The point is that when you walk in integrity, where your divine purpose is concerned, God will open doors that are not normally open. He will favor you and bless you in uncommon ways. You will be in a position where you can be unapologetically YOU!
— In today’s “cancel culture,” many Christians make concessions or compromises because they don’t want to offend anyone or don’t want to get “canceled” by those around them. But I found that if you walk in integrity where your divine purpose is concerned, people will honor that. You can believe what you believe without being disrespectful or dismissive towards others.
— I respect all beliefs without compromising my own. I am not a bigot, I honor the diversity of beliefs and religions, and I respect all people. I also don’t apologize for what I believe. I believe in Jesus is the only way to heaven. I believe a marriage is a covenant relationship between one man and one woman. I believe life begins at conception, and we are to honor that life. And I believe the Lord called me to preach the Gospel to all people. I know what I believe, I don’t apologize for it, and I am not ashamed of it (Romans 1:16).
— It’s been my experience that if you are led of the Holy Spirit and walk in God’s love towards others, people will respect you because most people respect someone who knows who they are.
4. Supernatural insight gives leaders an advantage.
— Kings in the Old Testament knew they were in charge, but they did not make major decisions without consulting Prophets and/or Priests. Why? Because they understood the importance of divine counsel.
— If you are a leader today and the Father has graced you to lead many, you must make every effort to seek divine counsel before major decisions. The counsel may come from the scriptures, from God Himself, or from key people the Lord has placed around you.
— The Father strategically places people around you, many times under your authority, so that you can call upon them to hear from Him. Don’t despise divine counsel, and don’t underestimate the importance it can make in your organization. Hearing from God makes a world of difference!
— Saul could not hear from God in 1 Samuel 28, so he went to great lengths to do so. If you are Born-Again, you don’t have to go anywhere. You have a Priest who is available to you 24/7/365. Jesus is your High Priest (Hebrews 4), and He will provide insight, through the Holy Spirit, if you call upon Him.
— The Holy Spirit can give you wisdom that far exceeds your years, education, and experience. I am a witness!
*** Say this, “Today, I accept who I am, and I refuse to apologize for it!”
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I know who I am. I live in alignment with the purpose You established for me, and I do this every day of my life. I don’t place myself in positions where I am outside of my purpose because people will then expect me to be someone You have not called me to be. I protect my purpose by only doing those things I am called to do and resisting every offer or temptation to do anything else. Your purpose for my life is the ruler by which I judge every decision. My judgment is just because I am hearing from You and making the pursuit of my purpose, my central focus. I say what I mean, I mean what I say, and I maintain my integrity every day. I also thank You, Father, for divine counsel, insight, wisdom, revelation, knowledge, and understanding. As a leader, You surround me with people who provide sound counsel. As a subordinate, You bless me to provide divine counsel to my leaders, and You give me favor with them so that my counsel is heard and received. When they listen to what You say through me, our organization operates with the advantage of Your wisdom. So Father, both as a leader and as a subordinate, I honor and value Your divine revelation. As we walk in Your wisdom, we experience Your best. You bless the work of our hands today and every day. GREATER IS COMING FOR US! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
