Friday SHINE.....
Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 31
Happy Fun Friday, SHINE girls!
Wow, what a week in our reading. 1 Samuel has easily become my favorite old testament book of the Bible.
As we sat in a circle last night in our SHINE girls small group, almost everything we discussed related back to Saul, David, or Jonathan.
We've learned so much about obedience, disobedience, humility, pride, love, loyalty, friendship, and faithfulness these last couple of weeks.
I want to focus on David's heart today.
Saul hated David. Saul was jealous of David. Saul tried to kill David several times.
How did David react to Saul's hatred?
David forgave Saul.
David prayed for Saul.
David spared Saul's life on several occasions.
David knew better than to mess with the Lord's people. Although Saul had lost favor with God, David still knew better than to mess with the Lord's anointed.
Whew.
This speaks volumes to me about how God loves His people. This speaks volumes to me about how we are to love each other.
Even our enemies.
David is the perfect predecessor for Jesus. A beautiful picture of what's to come with the Son of God.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven"--Matthew 5:43-48
This reminder gives my a heart a big ol' dose of conviction. This is hard. Real hard.
However, we must have a heart like David's if we desire to have a story like his. A story of faithfulness and strength. A story of courage and loyalty. A story of God's faithfulness to His people that are faithful and obedient to His word.
So, how do we do this? How do we love, forgive, and remove the bitterness in our lives caused by the "Saul's" in our lives?
Our Fun Friday Challenge:
We pray for our Saul's.
Yep, you heard me. Every last single one of them.
The challenge doesn't end here.
We find a small box, we write our Saul's names on sheets of paper, we put their names in the box.
The box represents Jesus.
We are giving our Saul's {our enemies, our hard-to-love people) over to the Lord.
As we place their names in the box, we put the lid on that thing, and we pray.
And pray.
And pray.
And we keep praying for our Saul's.
We did this challenge a year and a half ago. I still get emails about how powerful this has been in your lives.
Many of you still have your boxes. Many of you, will start your box today.
I challenge you to do this, right now.
You will be changed.
Your heart will become shaped more and more like David's. Your heart will become shaped more and more like the heart of Jesus.
Oh, Father. You know who are Saul's are. You know the hurt, you know the pain, and you know how hard this is. Help me to do this challenge. Help me to pray when my flesh is screaming in agony. Melt my heart for those around me. Mold my heart into your heart. Thank you, Father.
getting my box ready,
jill
Happy Fun Friday, SHINE girls!
Wow, what a week in our reading. 1 Samuel has easily become my favorite old testament book of the Bible.
As we sat in a circle last night in our SHINE girls small group, almost everything we discussed related back to Saul, David, or Jonathan.
We've learned so much about obedience, disobedience, humility, pride, love, loyalty, friendship, and faithfulness these last couple of weeks.
I want to focus on David's heart today.
Saul hated David. Saul was jealous of David. Saul tried to kill David several times.
How did David react to Saul's hatred?
David forgave Saul.
David prayed for Saul.
David spared Saul's life on several occasions.
David knew better than to mess with the Lord's people. Although Saul had lost favor with God, David still knew better than to mess with the Lord's anointed.
Whew.
This speaks volumes to me about how God loves His people. This speaks volumes to me about how we are to love each other.
Even our enemies.
David is the perfect predecessor for Jesus. A beautiful picture of what's to come with the Son of God.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven"--Matthew 5:43-48
This reminder gives my a heart a big ol' dose of conviction. This is hard. Real hard.
However, we must have a heart like David's if we desire to have a story like his. A story of faithfulness and strength. A story of courage and loyalty. A story of God's faithfulness to His people that are faithful and obedient to His word.
So, how do we do this? How do we love, forgive, and remove the bitterness in our lives caused by the "Saul's" in our lives?
Our Fun Friday Challenge:
We pray for our Saul's.
Yep, you heard me. Every last single one of them.
The challenge doesn't end here.
We find a small box, we write our Saul's names on sheets of paper, we put their names in the box.
The box represents Jesus.
We are giving our Saul's {our enemies, our hard-to-love people) over to the Lord.
As we place their names in the box, we put the lid on that thing, and we pray.
And pray.
And pray.
And we keep praying for our Saul's.
We did this challenge a year and a half ago. I still get emails about how powerful this has been in your lives.
Many of you still have your boxes. Many of you, will start your box today.
I challenge you to do this, right now.
You will be changed.
Your heart will become shaped more and more like David's. Your heart will become shaped more and more like the heart of Jesus.
Oh, Father. You know who are Saul's are. You know the hurt, you know the pain, and you know how hard this is. Help me to do this challenge. Help me to pray when my flesh is screaming in agony. Melt my heart for those around me. Mold my heart into your heart. Thank you, Father.
getting my box ready,
jill
