Week one

Wow! This week has been eye opening and I was expecting nothing less! From the sheep pen arose a shepherd boy that later would lead Israel as king! If there's any story in the bible that brings me encouragement as I wait on God it's this one! The least likely to be chosen is the one God chooses! Just like us, we're the least likely to be used for God's purposes but God will choose who he sees has the right heart! I love that! Reading about Jonathan and David's friendship too is touching.

Jonathan is willing to lay down his life for David. His wisdom also passes Saul. When he eats honey and his father wants to put him to death he shares how his eyes brightened. He shares how much better it would have been for his fathers men to eat during the preparation for battle. I'm also struck by that. A youth has more insight into situations that an adult didn't see coming. To us it makes sense for soldiers to be well nourished for battle, but in the olden times when the king's word was what you went by it was not to be questioned, but I love how God uses his son. Sometimes the younger generation can surprise you. I know I'm often amazed at the energy and different opinions they bring to life! I love being around them! God called me to be a youth leader and it's my heart passion to love these kids as if they were my own! The second day was really powerful to me! It was talking about Saul disobeying God.

Partial obedience isn't obedience! Saul's life makes me so sad. A chosen king disobeys God and makes God grieve! I can't imagine what God grieving looks like or feels like but I can only imagine that it must be heartbreaking! When I read these words my heart breaks! Saul was the people's choice. They kept asking for a king to rule over them so God gave them Saul. We soon realize that there are major character flaws in Saul and the biggest is pride. After "destroying" the Amelikites Saul builds a monument to his honor. He completely missed the point of the mission. This wasn't Saul's mission it was God's and he was given specific instructions which he didn't follow through on. That's not something to celebrate. Unfortunately Saul was never taught that partial obedience isn't obedience. He tragically finds out the consequences of his actions. The most scary thing to me in all of scripture is the verse where the Holy Spirit leaves Saul and an evil tormenting spirit comes to replace it.

Today the mark of Christians is the Holy Spirit. Could you imagine life without Him? He wouldn't be able to guide your decisions, path, convict you of sin, or protect you from harmful consequences. To me there's nothing more frightening! To not be directed by God through this life is a dark place that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Saul closed his heart and mind to God the day he chose to honor himself rather then give honor and glory to God. But God still had a solution for this mess and that's where the story becomes beautiful!!

That same shepherd boy that even his Father Jesse deemed unfit was the one Samuel annointed as king!! Imagine being David for a second (perhaps we all are in some sense) just doing your everyday life and then God reveals his plans for your life and they're far greater and bigger then you could ever dream! That's what happened to David that day! He was annointed King over Israel chosen by God and his name became great! It took a long time to get there but God used the shepherding life to David's advantage in many ways in life! I love picturing this! There's Samuel standing before Jesse's seven sons and none are the choice then David comes and God says to Samuel "Rise and annoint him he is the one!" God was waiting on David! How beautiful that is to me! So many times we feel we need to wait on God to act when he already has and is now waiting on us! He didn't let Samuel choose the "obvious choice" He has him wait for David. The annointing ceremony must have been so beautiful and I'm so glad it's recorded here!! God taught Samuel and the same goes for all of us a very important lesson.

Man looks at outward appearance but God looks at the heart. We know David messes up but God knew his heart beat for him and that was enough! We already are enough! We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ! Everything is secondary compared to God's love for us! We can't out love God and no matter what as his Child we can't run away from it! When we see "not going to happen" God sees "just waiting to happen!" That's so encouraging to me! I don't think there's a greater gift then to be chosen by God! Thanks be to God that we are loved so much even when bad things happen that we can't explain or understand he still has a plan! His choices are not random or haphazard he knows exactly what he's doing ALL of the time! David was the right choice for so many reasons! The beautiful thing is we are too!! The greatest reason of all is because of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Talk about facing your giants Goliath didn't seem like one I would have gone up against! David had such confidence that God would deliver him into Israel's hands and he did not dissapoint!

With a single shot David defeated a giant that easily could've killed him with one blow of his weapons. David's weapon though is more powerful than anything we may ever hold on this side of Eternity! God fought for Israel that day so long ago and he continues to also today. Maybe you're following up on the news but I'd say God is still fighting just as fierce if not more for his people. More and more Christians are dying for their faith daily! David could easily have died that day by worldly standards he didn't stand a chance against Goliath, but the fact that he beat his giant proves that God is indeed involved in our lives, circumstances, he sees what we're up against and if we have faith he'll deliver he will never disappoint! It's been a great week! I can't wait to share this journey with you! I hope you'll enjoy the trip back in time through history as you read these blogs and allow some familiar stories to teach you new lessons that will help grow your faith as it is mine!

Looking forward to next week!

Love you
Tina Martina Putney