Ministering reconciliation...

Galatians 3:28-29 28-29In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises. Take it deeper A few months ago, I had a good friend of mine at World Vision ask me a question. I answered his question, and then he said, “You know…” I could tell he was about to delve into something very thought provoking and deeply spiritual. He is a deep thinker and a question asker. So he says to me, “You know Sam, you are a very unique person. You look at people and just see them.” After saying thank you I explain to him, “God showed me a secret on how to love people no matter what they do. The secret is to separate the person and their actions.” What I mean is you have to be able to look at a person, regardless of what they have done, and love t...

1 Samuel 18:10-11 10 The next day an evil[a] spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. As I was reading this a few things struck me. Saul was prophesying. The spirit of God was still present on Saul, but God had also allowed an evil spirit direct access to Saul. Notice that the words here are " Came forcefully ON Saul. It didn't say that it "in-dwelt" Saul, or that it possessed him, but it was there to OPPRESS him. There's a difference. Know this, a believer cannot be possessed by demons. In the words of Jesus, "what fellowship can light with Darkness?" Sometimes there comes an evil spirit looking to not possess, but to just mess with us. It stirs the pot, it causes fear, concern, confusion, discord, and strife. It comes to see if it can...

1 Samuel 18:6-9 6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom? ” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. We talked last time about what true leadership is and how it is not threatened by those who could be successors. Now I want to address those who do succeed someone. At a macro level, I am talking about carrying your ministry farther. To illustrate this I want to share what I have seen and learned first-hand about this. When I was growing up, my dad was the bass guitar player at our church, Puget Sound Christian Fell...

1 Samuel 18:105 1 By the time David had finished reporting to Saul, Jonathan was deeply impressed with David—an immediate bond was forged between them. He became totally committed to David. From that point on he would be David's number-one advocate and friend. 2 Saul received David into his own household that day, no more to return to the home of his father. 3-4 Jonathan, out of his deep love for David, made a covenant with him. He formalized it with solemn gifts: his own royal robe and weapons—armor, sword, bow, and belt. 5 Whatever Saul gave David to do, he did it—and did it well. So well that Saul put him in charge of his military operations. Everybody, both the people in general and Saul's servants, approved of and admired David's leadership. So I was going to start today's blog by talking about the depth of biblical friendship. However, as I started, I was impressed with the scripture we are covering today not being about friendship, but about influence. ...

1 Samuel 17:40-51 Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed.The Philistine ridiculed David. "Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?" And he cursed him by his gods."Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice." David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Phil...

1 Samuel 17:8-11 (the message) 8-10 Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, "Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you're all committed to Saul, aren't you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you'll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!" 11 When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope. I have been on a study of David. God has shown me some incredible things: • The real definition of effectiveness is how closely we obey God. • God is the only one who can reveal what HE CREATED YOU TO BE. • When we make mistakes, or others wrong us, we need to pick ourselves back up, forgive them and move on. When we don’t forgive, we give thos...

1 Samuel 17:4-7 4-7 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him. As I was reading this scripture this morning, I started to realize that the sheer size of Goliath must have been something to behold. Not only was Goliath nearly 'ten feet' (v.1), he had to be able to wear his armor AND wield a spear, shield, and sword! More than likely, with all the muscle, he weighed nearly 600 lbs! That's a lot of weight and height. More often than not, as I was going to do myself, people share about the giants we all face in life. But God took it to a whole 'nother level. God quickened to my heart a verse in Psalm 37 at the same time. Psalm 37:1-9 1-2 Don't bother your he...