1 Samuel 9 - 15
By looking at the story of King Saul we can see a perfect example of how
your identity can be stolen.
~~ Saul was Israel’s first king and he started off great. He was
humble, forgiving and he knew that having peace was better than taking revenge.
He led the Israelites in victory threw
many battles. Then one day the Philistines came to fight Israel again. But this time the Israelites were greatly outnumbered.
Many of the Israelites hid in caves nearby but a few of the soldiers did come
to fight.
Now the great prophet Samuel had promised to meet Saul to offer a
sacrifice before they attacked. But they waited seven days and Samuel still did
not come. Saul began to get worried and He didn't want to fight without
asking for God’s help, but he was not allowed to offer a sacrifice.
When his men began to get restless and leave,
Saul decided to go on and offer the sacrifice anyway. As soon as he had
finished with the burnt offering, Samuel came.
He was horrified and demanded, “What have you
done?” Saul tried to explain what had happened but Samuel just said “You have
done foolishly! You have not kept the commandment of the Lord. Now the Lord
will take the kingdom from you.” But For the time being, God allowed Saul to go
on being king over Israel. ~~
Sometimes, even after we disobey Gods commands things can seem to go
good for a while. The Bible says that
sin has pleasure for a season. But the
Bible also has the principal of sowing and reaping.
Galatians 6:7-8 Do
not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he
sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap
destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life.
~~ In 1
Samuel 15 we see that the Lord gave Saul clear instruction to attack the
Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belonged
to them. So Saul and his army attacked but spared the king and the best of
the animals. When Saul met Samuel He said I've completed the Lords
instruction. But Samuel called him out
on it and said, “Then why do I hear sheep and cattle?” Saul tried to make an
excuse and say they were saving the best animals to sacrifice to the Lord. But the Lord didn't want the sacrifice he
wanted his obedience. And Because Saul rejected the word of the Lord, he was rejected as king.” ~~
Saul allowed
his God given identity as king to be stolen from him by his disobedience.
In my past I disobeyed Gods Word and in return I
had to endure some really awful things and lost a lot that I can never get
back. It started with what seemed like little things that I knew were wrong
but I explained away as not being that bad, anyways I knew God would forgive
me. Yes, He did forgive me but what I was choosing to do led me down a
slippery slope that led to a lot of pain and even greater compromises that
almost led to my destruction.
I had forgotten my identity in Christ and lost hope….
Saul's God given identity as king was eventually stolen from him by his
disobedience.
We need to remember we are heirs to the
kingdom.
Romans 8:17 says
if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his
glory.
If you are not yet a child of God I want you to pray, repent, confess Jesus as your Lord and receive salvation today!
If we walk around all day with crowns
on maybe we will remember- I’m an heir to the kingdom, I was born to worship
Him, I was born to give Him pleasure. Then maybe we’ll be more careful about
what we subject ourselves to. We’ll be
more careful when we sit down to watch TV or get on the internet or about other
things we choose to do.
I want to encourage you not to let what may seem like small compromises-
make you live like anything else than the royalty that you are. As kings
and queens you should be letting your light so shine among men! Your light wasn't meant to be hidden by
darkness your light was meant to draw others to what has been given to
you! Salvation! Don't let your God given
identity be stolen by the things of this world.
·
I know a lot of
us deal with condemnation- let me tell you something- that is not from
God. If you are a child of God- the
devil- the accuser of the brother, is accusing you day and night to God saying
look, look at what he or she has done. And God looks and says where- all I see is a
big blood spot!
See the enemy knows he can’t pin anything on you. He can see your crown
in the Spirit realm but if he can keep you from seeing it he can keep you in
bondage.
·
I've heard the
stories about when Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation
Proclamation that some slave owners didn't want their slaves to find out about it because it would grant their
freedom. So these evil slave owners hid
it from them to keep these people in bondage. The devil knows as long as he can
keep us Christians deceived about who we are in Christ he can keep us in
bondage!
If we walk around with our crowns on,
in the rightful authority through Christ that we have we won’t be so quick to
get under the devils condemnation. We
can walk with our heads lifted high and say back silly devil don’t you know who
I am? I’m His beloved, my prayers are
powerful and I have Heavens attention because I come in righteousness in the
name of Jesus!
1 John 1:9 says
If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
Pray tonight and ask God to help you get rid of any darkness in your life that is trying to
steal your identity. I don't need to know what
it is but you and God do.
Now symbolically throw away whatever is making you live like less than
royalty.
When you’re done throwing out the trash I want you to praise God for this fresh start!
Anything that’s hiding your light- hiding your true
identity- making you live like anything less than the queens and kings you are
must be thrown out tonight!
