1 Samuel 1:12-13 – “As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.”

A warmth of love and compassion for the lost, hurting, and needy is growing in my heart today.  As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I could not help but notice something that reveals the heart of God.  God is compassionate.  He operates in unique but often predictable ways. He always requires a surrendered heart.

In 1 Samuel 1:12-13, we see something needful.  Prayer is vital, but prayer cannot be pressed into a box, limited by human understanding, or become ritualistic.  Hannah prayed non-verbally from her heart.  The key is “from” or “in” the heart.  The only prayers that have any hope of moving the heart or hand of God are FROM THE HEART!

Prayers from the heart are rooted in recognition of God’s person, confidence in God’s graciousness, and faith.  Prayers of ritual are, at best, wishes and usually attempts to check the boxes. Religiosity, not relationship.

In Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, we are brought face-to-face with the reality of the Body of Christ. If we touch believers (even those we disagree with), we touch Jesus!

Acts 28:26-27 is a powerful reminder and warning that unless we hear or read without preconceived ideas and bias, we will never be convinced otherwise.  We judge other members of the Body through the grid of our doctrinal position.  Therefore, before anything is said, we have decided. We categorize people, and if someone falls into a rejected category, nothing they say is acceptable or heard. We do this to our loss.

The warning in Romans 2:1-6 is needed. When we judge others and are guilty of similar practices, we open the door to deception. In Romans 1, we see that prejudicial deception often leads to a life of perversion.

Our hope is repentance coupled with total Surrender. Repentance, or, in most cases, remorse, is insufficient without a positive commitment to God. Saying “I’m sorry” is meaningless without the full reality of repentance (doing a 180-degree shift).   We not only admit and feel remorse but also take definitive steps to live differently.

God’s Grace empowers us to live righteously and receive God’s full deliverance. It is a dual effort. God’s Grace and our Action.   Basically, it is Surrender.   It is to decide to go ALL IN with God.   It is to DIE to self.  It is to resign as master of our fate and captain of our ship. It is to choose to become a Doulos of Jesus.

What we choose determines our now and eternity.

Joshua 24:15 – “But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, choice became a focal point.   Life is a series of choices, and each choice has a consequence or benefit, and maybe both.

Commitment is a choice!  In Joshua 24:15, Joshua challenged Israel to make a decision (choice).  They were to choose between the world with its seeming offerings and benefits and God.  We face the same choice, often daily.  No wonder Jesus said, “If anyone is going to be My disciple, they have to take up their cross DAILY and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).

Total commitment requires total obedience. The accounts in Judges 1 & 2 reveal the danger and damage of failing to follow through on God’s directive. God said that they were to dispossess and drive out the enemies.  They did, but not completely.  Some tribes left remnants of the occupants in place. Judges 2:2-3 gives the results. “They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”

If we do not break clean with the old way, it will be a source of trouble and draw us back, preventing us from having full victory.  That is EVERYTHING, from habits to actions and associations. Victory requires commitment, and commitment requires choice.

Make the commitment, and God will provide the help.  Acts 19:18 is an example of commitment by choice and victory. Action is required. Repentance is to do a 180-degree turn.  Repentance is to change course. Repentance is to take action. “Many also who had believed came confessing and recounting their practices.”

50,000 pieces of silver were worth over 135 years of wages and, depending on the coinage, would be worth millions today.  It was a significant act. They were totally transforming and redirecting their lives.  It was All In with God. True Conversion involves total commitment and action. If we keep doing what we did, thinking like we thought, going where we went, we have not made the choice or commitment; we are just deceiving ourselves.

Jesus offers freedom, but freedom requires commitment! As Joshua challenged Israel, “Choose you today whom you will serve.” The ball is in your court. What is your choice?

LORD, help us to make the choice daily to follow you completely!

Joshua 2:1-7 – Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove.  He instructed them, “Scout out the land on the other side of the Jordan River, especially around Jericho.” So, the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night.  2 But someone told the king of Jericho, “Some Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.” 33 So the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab: “Bring out the men who have come into your house, for they have come here to spy out the whole land.”  4  Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier, but I didn’t know where they were from. 5  They left the town at dusk, as the gates were about to close. I don’t know where they went. If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” 6  (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.) 7  So the king’s men went looking for the spies along the road leading to the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. And as soon as the king’s men had left, the gate of Jericho was shut.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was brought to a renewed awareness of transition and anointing. I was reminded of the dangers of following human reason and the power of following the anointing of God.

In Joshua 1, we are made aware of Israel’s plight.   Moses, the man who had become larger than life, was gone.   His assistant, Joshua, was now pressed into the role of leadership.  Joshua was untested and unproven as a leader. Joshua and the people were in danger of becoming confused, filled with fear, and defeated.

God immediately acted. Joshua 2:1-7: God said, “Joshua, change has come, and you need to be fully aware: Moses is no longer your focus; I AM!”  In verses 8-9, God gave a pattern and practice that would enable Joshua and Israel to succeed. “This Law (Torah) is to be meditated on day & night. You must carefully and diligently do everything in it. If you do, that knowledge will enable you to make your way prosperous and successful. But you can’t give in to fear. Trust Me!”   That is easier said than done.  Joshua had seen it but never done it.  He had to move from theory to experience. So do we!  Hearing about it must become doing it.   God said, “Jump,” now JUMP!

In Joshua 3, we see the absolute necessity of following the Ark (the Holy Spirit).   In Acts 4, the disciples were persecuted but chose to obey God.  In their surrender, God refilled them with the Holy Spirit, which gave them a holy boldness.

The most important thing to them became GOD!  In Acts 5:41-42, we see a group of people who were consumed with the purposes of God.  It was not an occasional investment; it was daily, in the Temple and house to house, being consumed by God and His Word. They had a mission and a commission, and it was more important than life.

Joshua and the early church all followed the directive to make God their consuming passion and yield 100% of their lives to Him.  They trusted Him! Trusted His love, grace, compassion, promise, protection, and power!

We pray for revival.  God demands repentance.  Repentance brings revival; revival brings renewal; renewal results in revision; revision produces reformation, which leads to restoration!

What we have is determined by our hunger and thirst. How desperate are we for God’s fullness? We will receive according to the level of our desperation!

Keep looking up; Redemption is at the Door!

Consequences

Numbers 32:23 – “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the Holy Spirit challenged me to think.  Think?  Yes, but specifically about consequences.

Consequences?  Yes, the Law of Sowing and Reaping is always in force in Everything.  Always!   In Numbers 32:23, Moses said to the two and one-half tribes before Israel moved into their Promised Land regarding explicit obedience: “Be assured! (Emphatic). “Be sure! Your sin will find you out!”

Consequences!   In life, sin has residue, including forgiven sin.  God forgives, but the consequences may still bring pain and likely will.  Excess in anything has lasting effects, mentally, emotionally, materially, physically, and spiritually.   Forgiveness opens the door for entrance into the promised land. But remember, the promised land is occupied.  Explicit obedience is the only pathway to liberty.

The process:

• Drive out the inhabitants.

(That would be the influences of the demonic, the acts of sin, and the habits of excess). You cannot hold on to the habits and practices of the world and live in the Freedom of peace at the same time.

• Destroy the idols and houses or systems of darkness.

Get rid of sin. Walk away from the past.

• Possess and occupy the newness of life.

Like springs, you cannot produce sweet and bitter water simultaneously. You cannot exhibit the fruits of darkness and have the fruits of righteousness at the same time.

• Embrace your inheritance.

God owns Everything, and through Grace and Faith, He has given us His Promise of Newness of Life!

John 8:12 reveals that Jesus is the Light of Life! He has declared Freedom for those who believe and receive.

John 8:31-32 – “If you ABIDE in My Word, THEN you are truly My disciples. You will KNOW (γινώσκω – ginosko = to know absolutely, absolute oneness. Know through personal experience) the TRUTH, and the Truth (that you know and become intimate with) will SET you FREE!”

John 10:37 reminds us that the proof is in the pudding.  If we do not walk the walk, talking the talk will be hollow.

But to encourage everyone, even though consequences have a lingering power, God’s Love will carry us through IF.   If?   If we continue in Him in explicit obedience.   Shun the very appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

Walk away from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Do not dabble in darkness.  Do not be deceived.  Play with fire, and you will get burned.  It takes God’s power to be free and requires our total commitment and the exercise of willpower.  It is Grace, but that requires us to give God ALL.   In God, it is all or nothing.   You cannot be a little pregnant, nor can you be a little committed.  All in or not in.  Which do we choose?  He awaits our choice and stands ready to help those who go ALL IN.

LORD, help us make the right choices so we enjoy the blessings, not the consequences!

Luke 21:34-36 – “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that Day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; ³⁵ for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. ³⁶ But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I sensed an urgency to warn to ‘Stay Ready.’ I am certain that Jesus is coming soon.  I am certain that the world is growing darker.  I am certain that we must guard our perception because perception becomes our reality.

When the disciples asked Jesus for signs to alert them to His coming and the end of the age, He told them the number one sign would be rampant deception.

We tend to think of deception externally, and that is real. However, the most dangerous and destructive deception is internal. Self-deception is not only dangerous but also deadly.

In verse 34, Jesus gave a powerful warning. “But watch out so your hearts are not weighed down by carousing, strong drink, and the worries of life. Do not let that Day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”

Some people deceive themselves into thinking that because they know Scripture, have had a past relationship with God, and enjoyed the working of the Holy Spirit, their present dive into drunkenness and sin is somehow permissible, or they will somehow be excused or drawn in at the last minute. That is a risk one dare not take. This could be the Day we stand before God.

I am praying for the LORD to do for each of us what He did for the disciples after the resurrection. Luke 24:45 – “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…”

Three things are vital:

• True Repentance.
• Persistent Prayer.
• Saturation of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ last words: “Wait until you are clothed, encompassed, saturated with power from on high.”

We must follow the cloud, resist evil, submit to God, and pray.   Do not be one whom the Day catches you unaware and unprepared.

LORD, help us to stay ready always!