Two minute read.
Toward the end of the first piece on The Miracle of You, I noted that Jesus was not the answer many hoped. But He was what we might call today; the great questioner. Let’s start there today.
Back to Mark Batterson:
“You and I think of spiritual maturity as proving yourself to your God. Let’s stop and answer this question in our own hearts. Is that what we think? That you have to prove yourself to your creator? “But the truth is, “Spiritual maturity is God proving to us over and over and over so that we finally have faith in God’s faithfulness….Don’t base your identity on what you can do for God. Base your identity on what God has done for you!“
Many people attempt to buy their way in to Heaven by being good enough for God. How often do we think of this God, our God? This God is available to us and longs for us to share our life in REAL TIME!
God is present to those who long to connect with him as the Father who challenges us and encourages us.
Let’s look at a couple of case studies from the Old Testament. Two guys, two Kings, who couldn’t be more different. Saul was the first King, David the second King.
What do we learn from the stories of these two men? Read I Samuel 9-31 over the next week or two and jot some thoughts that come to you.
Saul began well. He was good looking, charming, and he had leadership ability (at times). Samuel anointed him the first King of Israel. God changed Saul’s heart. God’s Holy Spirit came upon him (I Samuel 10) and Saul prophesied.
Soon, Saul determined that Samuel was not needed any longer because Saul began prophesying (I Samuel 10) and that, my friends was bad juju. You don’t want to push aside one of God’s prophets or you are going to meet with God!
Samuel (still a prophet) tells Saul that God has sought another man to be King, the man named David.
Saul’s pride, envy, jealousy, bitterness was on display for all of the Hebrews, it led him to murder hundreds of innocent people trying to find and kill the King to be, the shepherd David.
Ultimately Saul died by suicide by falling on his own sword.
So we contrast this character with the man David, a man after God’s own heart.
David, is the shepherd boy who killed Goliath, coming forward to do what he had been doing for some time, killing lions and bears who preyed on lost sheep. Presenting himself to King Saul, David said to him; “I’ll take care of this giant for you.” Saul wanted David to use the King’s weapons but the shepherd boy knew better; he was a Slinger…of rocks!
David lived with his sheep on the mountains, and just as God would do, he left the 99 sheep to go and rescue the “1”. This was all imprinted in the heart of David.
Likewise, God has imprinted on our hearts the desire to move forward into all he has created us to become.
Saul’s desire as King was, as we have noted, a life driven by pride. We all know what it is like to be prideful. It’s a bye product of insecurity.
The more we are insecure, the more monuments we put together in order to impress people in regards to who we thought we were being.
I think we need to look at David inside of the Samuel piece and allow God the Father, to draw us to Himself, so that He can give us a new approach moving forward (if it is needed)
In the Miracle of You – 3. I want to share something special regarding a real story from my life. See you early next week.
MC
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