A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. —I Samuel 18:1             As the wall was joined together or the circuit completed as mentioned in Nehemiah 4:6 so also was Jonathan’s soul knit or joined together with the soul of David.  Jonathan loved David as he did his own soul.  Yes, they loved each other as they loved themselves (I Samuel 20:17).  Now here is a strongly bound friendship founded on doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  Saul was seeking to kill David and out of his love for David Jonathan sought…

MOTIVE Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. —I Samuel 15:23 “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. —I Samuel 16:7             The Lord sees man differently than man sees man.  Man can only see the outwardness of a man— his looks and his actions.  But the Lord sees the heart of a man.  He understands the motives and intent of the heart.              We are told that rebellion is as sinful as…

GIVEN UP TO THEIR OWN WAYS But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.  So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. —Psalm 81:11-12 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts… Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. —Romans 1:21, 24 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who…

DISOBEDIENCE— IT WILL NOT GO WELL! If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.  But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king —I Samuel 12:14-15             America has turned its back on the Lord for the most part.  This nation does not fear the Lord.  Its leaders and its people are largely…

LORD & KING …for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. —I Samuel 8:7             This rejecting of the Lord from being King over Israel is the same problem our world has today.  People in this world do not want Jesus to be their King.  They want someone else or something else or themselves to rule their lives.             Brothers and sisters, those of you who have called on the Name of the Lord, Jesus is our King.  We are His servants.  As His servants we are to serve according to His purposes.  Jesus reigns and we are to yield to the…

LISTEN…  ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’ —I Samuel 3:9 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! —Palm 78:1             Do you want to hear His voice?  Are your ears open to what He has to say?  Can you say with Samuel, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears” and truly have that desire to be His servant, to do what He says when you hear?  Are you open to what He desires to teach you?             If we answer yes to those questions then we need to be ready to be on the move.  He will mature us in various…

SOVEREIGN OVER EVERYDAY LIFE But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” —Ruth 1:16-17 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. —Ruth 4:18-21             Our…

THE FEAR OF THE LORD But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? —Psalm 76:7 And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord–that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” —Job 28:28 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever… —Psalm19:9 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. —Proverbs 1:28-29 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom…

LEADERSHIP In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Judges 17:6             A strong godly leader will lead people in the right direction.  One of those leaders in the time of the Judges was Deborah (Judges Chapters 4-5).  She obediently relayed to Barak the Lord’s desire for him to do battle against Sisera.  Barak said to Deborah, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”  “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD…

HIS WONDERFUL, HOLY NAME! And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that…