Wow...a believer who actually believes

In our family devotion time the past couple days we’ve focused on the conversation between David and Saul when David is pleading to go out and fight against Goliath.  Specifically we focused on 1 Samuel 17:34-37.

Since Saul wasn’t willing to carry the banner of the One True God, he made it his mission to find someone else he could talk into fighting Goliath.  

When David showed up, Saul suddenly found himself face to face with a man he couldn’t talk out of fighting Goliath.  It is clear in this story that the difference between the confidence of David and of every other man in Israel was huge.  

What made the difference?

When Saul tried to talk David out of the fight, David’s response was to relate how God helped him overcome bears and lions, and so, certainly God would be with him against an enemy who wasn’t simply attacking some sheep, but God's name and the very people of God.

Confidence like David's comes from our faith memory that causes us to dwell in our past divine deliverances while realizing that God wants us to continue living forward, running straight into new and unexpected enemies that will challenge our faith in Him.  

What adversity are you facing today?  How has God shown Himself to be faithful in your previous trials?  Remembering his grace and deliverance from the past will allow you to move forward into an uncertain and sometimes scary future, especially if you are carrying the banner of the one true God.

God's prophet? No. Raised an important issue? Yes.

It's May 22nd and to few people's surprise, no cataclysmic event occurred yesterday to mark the beginning of the end.  Truth be told many people did some soul searching as a result of the hype generated by some guy in N Cal (I don't remember his name and don't care to).  I don't know enough about this guy to know if he's the religious version of Donald Trump or maybe he's sincere.  What I do know is that he was wrong and if he lived in ancient times he'd have been stoned as a false prophet (I'll limit my response to simple ridicule.)


What matters most is that we are all well prepared for the imminent return of Christ.  What the late night comedians failed to realize as they were making fun of this prediction is that Christ could have come on Wednesday last week...or while I'm in the middle of writing this entry for that matter.  They make fun of him because they think the idea of Christ's return is silly.  I make fun of him for Theological reasons - the Bible is clear that NO ONE KNOWS THE DAY.  But make no mistake, the reality of his return is not silly.  


Since we don't know the day, we have to be prepared just like when the boss says he may stop by some time this week for a surprise inspection or the teacher says be ready for a pop quiz at any time.  Are you ready for Christ to return at any moment?  We knew he wouldn't come Saturday because so many people were expecting it.  However, no one expects it in 5 minutes or maybe tomorrow.

Preparation for his coming begins with faith in His Son Jesus.  To trust Jesus as the only avenue to God and to ask him for forgiveness of sins is the beginning.  We must also believe that Jesus took the punishment for our sins and that he rose from the dead.  This faith invites God's Spirit to indwell us and make us a part of God's family.  From that point forward we prepare for his coming by following his leading - to serve him and to turn from the sins and moral pitfalls that beset us.

When I stand before him I want to be able to say that I have believed in His Son Jesus (John chapter 3) and have followed him as best I can.  I want him to say to me, "Well done good and faithful servant, enter into your master's happiness (Mat 25:21.)"

The starting point of compassion

The starting point of compassion and ministry is our faith.  Some people are compassionate without faith, but Christians are compassionate because of our faith.  We believe God exists and He’s watching us and that He delights in rewarding us like a loving father.  

If we claim to have faith in God, but are not compassionate then it’s merely an intellectual faith not a trusting faith, and so James says in his NT letter, big deal that you have intellectual faith…means nothing, even the demons have that (Jas 2:19.)  

It's much like an abused spouse might say, “don’t tell me you’re sorry – show me!”  Or, like a child might say to their father, "don’t say I’m a priority, show me."  Faith without works means nothing.  If you lack compassion, don't will yourself to change, examine the veracity of your faith in a God who sees everything we do.