Welcome to Throwback Thursdays. I have been studying a little bit about the redemptive work of God.  There was some concern from a person on my periscope stream about certain people not having access to everlasting life.  This is a truly hurtful thought, that God only cares for his own and doesn't care about anyone else.  I want to be clear that God is not a racist.  God loves you.  He has made a way for all people to be redeemed.  I talk a little about this in a post called "How do you know that God is God?"  It will be up soon but you must know that God will have mercy on who he will have mercy on.  Have faith that you can be saved through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

 

 

I want to share a recent revelation with you that came from reading God's word, Romans Chapter 8 and Chapter 9.  Basically, we must realize that Israel (God's people) were cut off from their inheritance due to disobedience.  They did not realize the importance of God positioning them in the place of authority for the purpose of showing God's glory.  God tells us in his word that he cut Israel off and allowed other nations to take part in Kingdom blessings.  How?  He did this by sending Jesus to the world to save the world from their sinful nature.  Who ever believes this will be saved and have everlasting life.  This means that people who were not his people would become his people.  God still has a plan for Israel to be redeemed, but it was because of Israels disobedience that open up the door for different leadership.  This leadership would no longer be governed by the law, but by the spirit of God.

 

I am so exited to bring this message to you because there is a direct parallel to the story Israel's disobedience and to the story of King Saul's disobedience.  All in all, I know that God has this under control.  I want to share with you post from a while back and then add a little insight to the end. . .

 

 

You can find this story in I Samuel chapter 8 -30.  You should read it,  great study.

There was this guy, who was handsome, he was tall, and he looked like a king.  There was this other guy, who was one of God's prophets who was told to anoint this good looking guy as the leader of the Israelites (God's chosen people).  So this prophet (Samuel) hooked the guy up with the title, the prestige, and the notoriety.  People loved him and wanted him to be their king.  So this young guy, who became a warrior, who also became well liked, and also kind of famous; became the king.  His name was Saul, and he loved every minute of it.  He was the man.

The thing was, Samuel, the prophet had told Saul that God wanted him to war against and kill a local group of people, the Amalekites.  This sounds cruel, but these people were evil people who set out to destroy the children of Israel.  Saul didn't do his duty as king because he listened to the people.  He wanted to please the people, because we wanted to be liked by the people. . .

People: "Yo, Saul my man, we should spare the good cattle, we can eat for years!"

Saul: "IDK, we should do what the Lord says to do. . ."

People: "Yeah but, think about how much bigger and better the Kingdom will be if you were to not kill the king. Other people will be afraid of you!"

People: "Yes, lets get all of their stuff and bring it back with us, so that we can get all of the praise and the glory for not only defeating the Amalekites, but also bringing back a whole lot of stuff."

Saul: "Ok, this will be good, then we can make a burnt offering to the Lord.  Sounds like a plan.  I love you guys, you're awesome!"

But when Saul came back with all the "STUFF," Samuel was like "What have you done!?"

 

Samuel was heated:

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

 

So, because of Saul's attitude and disobedience he was told that the Kingdom was not going to be given to his descendants.  The Lord was going to give the kingdom to someone else.  Why was this?  Because Saul's disobedience reflected what was in his heart.  He was more concerned about pleasing the people then he was about pleasing God.  When we hold these types of beliefs and values in our heart, we are also subconsciously programming them into our children.  Therefore, there was not one descendant in Saul's family line that would carry on the proper Kingdom message.  Saul's family would have been more self serving and people pleasing.  Saul's line would have easily been persuaded by compliments and bribes.  Saul did not fully grasp his value as the KING, the one who says the decree which everyone had to listen to for the very reason that he was the king.  Saul knew that there was going to be a man who was going to take his place.  This man's name was David.  He was a man after God's own heart.

 

To make a long story short:

 

Ironically, Saul became David's mentor.  David loved Saul and Saul loved David.  But deep down Saul was extremely threatened by David.  He was drawn to his strength as a warrior and he was drawn to his peace.  However Saul was also jealous of David and wanted to kill him.  David picked up on the clues, and ran away.  Saul pursued after him, still trying to kill him.  But because the Lord was on David's side, David showed sympathy, kindness, respect, mercy, and forgiveness towards Saul, his current King.  It was because of David's attitude of forgiveness that he was able to grow from his experience.

 

Forgiveness is a powerful tool

Forgive someone today and see how much God will elevate you

 

I had the break through that I have held both positions in various relationships.  I had been the Saul and I had been the David.  Saul was never able to forgive himself for his wrong thinking when he didn't obey the word of the Lord.  He wasn't able to because he didn't have the help of the Holy Spirit to guide him.  He self sabotaged his growth.  He condemned himself.  But David's nature knew the mercy of the Lord.  He had the heart to ask for forgiveness throughout his life.  He did not self sabotage himself.  He made mistakes, but he was able to move on from them.  This made him a great king.  We are descendants of this King's heart.  We can be descendants of this kingdom through accepting the mind gift of Jesus Christ.

 

Forgiveness is a key to the Kingdom:

 

Today I forgive those who have hurt me

I forgive those who I feel have abandoned me

I forgive those who said unkind words about me or to me

I forgive those who are jealous of my peace

I forgive those who are jealous of my relationship with the Lord

I forgive those who seek to destroy me

 

I ask forgiveness from those who I have spoke against

I ask forgiveness for my wrong thinking

I ask forgiveness for my passive aggressive behavior

I ask forgiveness for ignoring those who are important to me

I ask forgiveness for my pride

 

I forgive my self for my lack of knowledge

I forgive myself for my failures

I forgive myself for disorganization

I forgive myself for my disobedience

I forgive myself for my slothfulness

 

I thank God for sending his son to allow me to forgive myself and to forgive others.

 

David always held Saul in high regard, as a servant of the God, regardless of his evil actions towards him.  David exercised forgiveness, and his very conflict with his opponent made him a better king.  David did not hold on to resentment, but he respected and forgave Saul.  This was major growth for him. At the same time, David wasn't stupid, he saw the plan to take his life and he went to seek protection elsewhere.  He grew in other places he went, as a man of God.  He had to travel a necessary journey to become a King.

 

Here is the added insight

 

Like the children of Israel, Saul was disobedient to the directions of God.   Both Israel and Saul lost their authority position.  Both Israel and Saul lost their minds.  Both Israel and Saul attempted to block the kingdom from the new inheritors. Glory be to God for allowing this teaching. . . like David, born again Christians have been placed in authority of a kingdom.  However, our minds need to be healed through forgiveness, and fueled by the power of the holy spirit.   Like David, we must be a people after God's heart.  God wants our heart.  He wants for us to obey him because we love him.  Let us love how David loved.  Let us forgive like David forgave.  Let us live our journey to be prepared for our kingship.  Royalty is not easily swayed by the world because Royalty understands the importance of his positioning.  Saul had the power to say no to the people.  Christians have the authority to say no to the world by saying yes to Jesus.

 

As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;

and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” ⁱ

and,

 

Romans 9:25-26

 

 

Accept your place in the Kingdom Today!

 

 

I pray that this speaks to your heart.  I pray that you have a practice of forgiveness in your life.

Until Next Time

-Tamorra