“There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42 (NLT) The heart of this ministry is to inspire a love for God’s Word and encourage the discipline of daily Bible reading and SOAP journaling. These are a few of our SOAP notes from today’s reading. We encourage you to read and journal on your own first, then join us in conversation about what God revealed to YOU today. Click HERE to go directly to the daily reading if you wish.
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Guidance | guest post
S~ Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 1 Samuel 8:6 (NLT)
O~ I just love Samuel’s response to Israel’s request for a king to rule over them. He understood the heart of where the request was coming from and instead of complaining or cajoling the people into loving the Lord more, He went straight to the Source!
A~ Thank You Lord for pointing me to my first thing I need to do when something displeases me. I need to be like Samuel and come straight to You for guidance. When the kids are being hurtful to each other, I come to You first for parenting guidance. When I’m displeased with my work schedule, I come to You for guidance on my calendar. When I’m displeased with what my hubby has said, I come to You for guidance on my response! You first!
P~ Father, thank You for this gentle reminder of You first!
You Were Made To Stand Out | Kim Chipman
S~ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 1 Samuel 8:19-20 (NIV)
O~ You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. Leviticus 20:26
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
You intend for us, as Your disciples, to be set apart. Different. Not like unbelievers. But the Israelites begged Samuel for a king so they could be like all the other nations.
A~ Do I follow You with such passion that I stand out? Do I want to be like everyone else or do I want to look more like You? This world does not look like Jesus – it looks cray cray.
You have set me apart. I am Your special possession. I should not conform, but be transformed into Your image more and more each day. It is a journey for sure, but my goal should continually be “Jesus imitator” not “culture conformer” or “fitter-inner”.
P~ Lord, help me to be comfortable with standing out. Help me to put to death the part of me that is in junior high yearning to fit in. Help me to focus on Your approval more than the approval of others. I know I still need help with this. I love You!
My King | Tara Wiley
S~ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us to go out before us and fight our battles. 1 Samuel 8:20 (NIV)
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, these have divine power to demolish strongholds, to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)
O~ What did the Israelites see in ‘all the other nations’ that made them want to be like them? An organized structure of physical hierarchy… a ruler that could be seen, heard, felt… a simple, clear cut way… God made it clear to Samuel that the root of the request was a rejection of God’s leadership.
A~ Following God’s leadership is hard, scary, and uncertain at times. His way is almost always starkly counter to the world’s way of doing things. It’s easy to be tempted by a worldly set of rules that would make this faithwalk more clear cut and easily defined… to be lured by laws… to long to be just like everyone else.
But when we choose any way other than God’s way (Be still and know that I am God ((Ps 46:10)); Submit to me; resist the devil and he will flee from you ((James 4:7))), we are choosing a way that lacks the supernatural power that leads to true life change.
I want the supernatural power of 2 Corinthians 8. I want demolishing power over strongholds. I want God’s power that leads to taking captive every thought; divine strength to be obedient to Christ.
P~ I want Your way. You are my King, Lord. Help me remember that the life change I’ll experience in walking boldly with You is worth the discomfort of serving an invisible King, because You have the power to demolish the strongholds in my life, beginning with my thoughts. As my hormones play their dance, it’s my thoughts that get tangled. That’s exactly where I need Your power. Today, Lord, help me live in the truth that I am not held captive by my thoughts or feelings. Instead, I have supernatural power to take captive those thoughts and feelings by replacing them with Your truth. Thank You, Lord, for being the best leader and king I could ask for.
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