1 Samuel 8:5-6 – “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead us, just like all the other nations have.”  ⁶ But this request displeased Samuel, for they said, “Give us a king to lead us.”  So Samuel prayed to the Lord.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, the thought of troubles and trials came to mind.  There are at least two kinds of troubles we encounter.  Those of our own making and those because we are believers.

1 Samuel 8:6 reveals a doorway for trouble for Israel.  They said, as Moses prophesied, “Give us a king.”  Two root causes prompted them to reject being a theocracy and become a monarchy. One was that Samuel’s sons were abusing them, not following after righteousness.   Religious abuse often causes people to turn to the world.   Fleecing the flock causes the flock to look for protection through human effort.

The second was that their hearts were not wholly turned to God.  They had one hand on God (religious tradition) and the other on the world (fleshly desires).  The King, Saul, morphed from humility to pride, which led to abuse and troubles, both internally and externally.

1 Peter 4:12 is intriguing, especially in light of what we have just considered. “Beloved, DO NOT BE SURPRISED at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”

What did we think would happen?   We deserted the devil by turning to Jesus.   The devil considers us traitors.   That’s good, but a guarantee of trouble.

Our comfort is in 1 Peter 5:10 – “AND AFTER you have suffered (experienced or encountered trouble) for a little while, the God of ALL GRACE, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, WILL HIMSELF restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground you.” What a promise!

The cry is “Lord, restore us to a former state, and this state should be thought of as Adam before the fall.   Strengthen is to infuse with might; that is, “God’s strength.”   Remember, He is “in” us.  

To confirm is to validate or authenticate, which means identifying us as children of God and heirs of God – Family Eternally. To be grounded is to be planted and secure on a solid foundation. Anchored and enabled to weather any storm.

If we give our all to God, we know that trouble is temporary, and eternal victory is our heritage. Trouble is not the issue. The cause is. If trouble is the result of our disobedience, repentance is required to have restoration. If it is because we changed camps, rejoicing is the proper response.   Don’t be troubled by trouble; be trouble to trouble by yieldedness to God!

Lord, help us not to create our own troubles, but run to you for and give ourselves to you completely!

Joshua 23:8 – “You are to Cling to Yahweh your God.”

I pray for each of you to avoid deception, recognize fictional fantasies, and walk into the fullness of God in all things.  That the wisdom of God will guard and guide you daily, leading you to God’s open doors.

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was challenged powerfully. Joshua was about to reach the end of his earthly sojourn and gathered the people to instruct and warn them.  Last words are powerful words.

Joshua 23:8 – “You are to Cling to Yahweh your God…”  The Hebrew (dabaq) = hold fast, adhere closely, deep commitment, unwavering relationship, forsake all other gods.

In verse 11, he charges them to “Keep your souls very carefully to love Yahweh your God.”

The idea of being a Clinger is a negative one in today’s society, but in the Kingdom of God, “Clinging to God” — carefully monitoring and directing our hearts to love, serve, and obey — is very positive!  This does not happen by osmosis.  It only comes through diligence, which brings us to spiritual maturity.

This is amplified in Hebrews 2:1 – “For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have HEARD, lest we drift away.”   The truth is an anchor, a guide, and a source of strength that enables us to persevere.   Hebrews 5:14 reveals the life-sustaining power of spiritual development.   What we are talking about is having “Trained Senses.”

Spiritual senses can be developed, just as natural senses can.  As we use them, they become stronger and more developed.   Do you want to hear God better?   You must develop hearing ears by paying attention to the little, almost unnoticed details and signs.

Hebrews 6:18 reveals that it is impossible for God to lie, die, or fail.  Therefore, we take refuge in His Word, which gives us strong encouragement to press in or take hold of the Hope set before us and become like Abraham.   In Hebrews 6:14, God said, “I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply you.” In Hebrews 6:15, we discover the revelation of the pathway to victory, “And so, having patiently WAITED, he OBTAINED the promise.”

If we ‘Cling to God’, keep our hearts focused on Him to love Him, and trust Him patiently – VICTORY COMES!  Timing belongs to God.  Obedience belongs to us.

God never lies or fails, so neither should we, because we are His.  We are in Him, and through Him we live.  He is victorious.  Therefore, we are Victorious!  That’s your promise!

I pray that the LORD will help us all become “Clingers” of God!  

Ezekiel 40:4 – “And He (God) said to me, Son of man, SEE with your eyes, and HEAR with your ears, and SET your heart upon ALL that I show you…”

As I prayed, read, and pondered the Word of God today, a question filled my consciousness.   “What does God want?”   As I mused on that thought, the question arose, “Is God focused on what we do?”   We are, but what is God concerned about?  What does He really want?

As I entertained those thoughts, Ezekiel 40:4 leaped off the page at me.  That passage opened my understanding as to “What God wants.”   It is actually simple.   He wants US.   He wants all of us.  He wants our whole being.   He wants our consciousness, our awareness, our hearts!  He wants that part of us; that is who we are.

We focus on the appearance embodied in our actions.  Those could reflect the heart or could be facades (masks) hiding the truth.  Pretense, hoping to earn favor with God.

God wants the heart.    He wants our total surrender.  True repentance is not remorse over acts but remorse over who we are or who we are not.   Only as we repent of being a wrong person can we receive total forgiveness and transformation.   Then, the inside flows to the outside, and the Kingdom of God in us touches those around us.

What does God want?  He wants us, all of us!   I surrender all.  Lord, let Your Kingdom be revealed in me!

Lord help us to pursue Your purposes with our entire being!

Ezekiel 33:1-2 – “The Lord’s message came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people, and say to them, ‘Suppose I bring a sword against the land, and the people of the land take one man from their borders and make him their watchman.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a recurring theme consumed me.  It was mainly in Ezekiel 33 & 34.   It was about the hour in which we now live, the condition of the church and the world, and God’s expectations.

The impression on my heart was about “Watchmen.”  It was about responsibility and duty.  It was about surrender and service.  It was about Christian living!    A question I heard in my heart was, “Who Are The Watchmen?”   Before I could say ‘shepherds,’ I heard it was ‘Everyone!’   The emphaticness stunned me.   I heard in my heart that this is for every believer, especially the shepherds.

People do not automatically turn to God and go to heaven.  Deception easily controls when there is no gospel presentation or addressing the need for correction and discipline.

Today’s church has, too often, become more about size (in terms of numbers, programs, and notoriety) than about transformation.  Shepherds are becoming superstars rather than servants and surgeons.  Preaching is often more motivational and self-advancement than radical encounters with Christ.  It is sometimes more of a fraternity than a hospital and boot camp.

We are talking about eternity!  Nothing is more important than our eternal destiny!  In Ezekiel 34, God told of a paradigm shift in the church.  He is about to restructure the structure and dismantle the hierarchies.  God repeatedly said, “I Will.”

A new move is coming.   A new breed is born and formed.  A radical shift is upon us.  One God and one shepherd (Jesus).  One focus: the gospel.   One covenant and one body.   No more man, but all God!   We are there.   Will we join in?  Another question is “Where Are The Watchmen?”

Lord help us to see the Last Day’s move and move into it!

Joshua 14:10-12 – “So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, while Israel traveled through the wilderness.  See, I am eighty-five years old today!  ¹¹ Today, I am still as strong as when Moses sent me out.  I can fight and go about my daily activities with the same energy I had then.  ¹² Now, assign me this hill country that the Lord promised me at that time!  No doubt you heard then that the Anakites live there in large, fortified cities.  But assuming the Lord is with me, I will conquer them, as the Lord promised.”  

Today is a new day, new in kind, not just a new day in a series of days.   There has never been a day like today, and it will never be again.   It has opportunities, discoveries, revelations, treasures, and challenges unique to today.  We can seize the moment, discover the treasures, and soar like eagles because we live in His love and have His Promise!  Unexpected discoveries that lead to powerful victories are waiting to be discovered and embraced by those who seek them.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the thought of ‘Possessing the Promise(s)’ came to mind.

I love the story in Joshua 14:6-15 about Caleb.   I was drawn to something I had not considered.   Caleb received the Promise at age 40.  He endured the 40 years of wilderness training, testing, and trial.   Now, at age 85, he says, “Enough delay, give me THIS mountain (Promise).”   He got the Promise at 40, and 45 years later, he got the Promise.   He began taking possession at 85. 

I received a promise from God at about 40 years of age.  It has seemed impossible and almost a whimsical fantasy, but this story gives me renewed hope and expectation.  The Promise is God’s Promise, and God never fails.   If we press in, He provides!

Joshua told Israel in Joshua 18:3, “Don’t put off possessing the promise.”  In Joshua 21:45, we read, “Not one Promise failed to come to pass.”   In Titus 1:15-16, we are reminded that profession is not possession, and confession is not completion.   Between the profession, confession, and completion, there is a wilderness.

• Profession is recognition of the promise.  
• Confession is the attaching of ourselves to it. 

Once we have received the Promises, we must, step by step, inch by inch, day by day, live and focus on the provision of the promise.   God’s delay is not denial nor a sign you missed it.   The wilderness is our life university, and if we, like Caleb, never lose sight of the promise and never give up our confession, we will, one day, take possession of the promise of our confession.

Hebrews 1:14 is comforting because there we realize that God’s assigned angels have a charge to help us Possess our Promise!   Never give up, give in, or give out (become exhausted in delay).  God cannot, does not, and will not lie or fail.

Don’t put off Possessing the Promise!

Let us determine that we will ‘Possess the Promises’ no matter how long it takes!