Changed Hearts

DAY 20
1 Samuel 2:30-15:35


In 1 Samuel 10:9 there was a phrase in the middle of the verse that caught my attention.

"God changed Saul's heart"

I can't think of a better description of what God and the gospel of Jesus does. It changes hearts.

God changes a heart of stone into a heart of flesh!
God changes a heart of hate into a heart of love!
God changes a heart of selfishness into a heart of service!
God changes a heart of wickedness into a heart of holiness!
God changes a heart of despair into a heart of hope!
God changes a heart of loneliness into a heart of fellowship!
God changes hearts!

Once God changes a heart, it comes with instructions because it can be affected by sin.

"Be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He had done for you."

With a new heart, you and I should faithfully serve the Lord. One of the ways we do this is to remember what He has done for us. As we talked about previously, it helps to pick up stones from the rivers that God carries you through. It reminds us of how faithful He is.

In 1 Samuel 15 we see how Saul grieved God because he turned away from the Lord and disobeyed His commands. And God purposes to remove the kingdom from Saul's hands.

If we fail to serve God with all our heart and forget to remember How he cares for us; our hearts can be changed by sin. We can fall into disobedience and our fellowship with Him is affected. And the way to return to fellowhip is the confession of our sin.

"To obey is better than sacrifice."

Be careful to obey God.
And never forget that you can cry out to the Lord when you sin.
For a confessed heart is clean and changed again.
Because God changes hearts!

External Links:
The Loss of the Ark
http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/047.htm

The Kingdom of Saul
http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/049.htm

The Buffet of Life

DAY 19
Judges 15:13 - 1 Samuel 2:29

Judges 17:6 & 21:25

"Everyone did as he saw fit" (NIV)
"Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (NASB)

An accurate, but sad commentary on the status of this world.

We treat life like a buffet line at a Chinese Restaurant or Golden Corral. I'll take a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Unfortunately, the reason there is so little difference in lifestyles between believers and unbelievers is that we make the same choices in the Buffet of Life. We have similar divorce rates. We max out our credit cards. We watch the same immoral TV shows and movies. We use the same language. No wonder people aren't knocking on the door to come in and join.

What is wrong with the world today can be summed up in the fact that everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

"I'll do what I please."

Scripture has a commentary on that, too.

Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

Unfortunately, gourging at the Buffet of Life can make one sick. The ways that we have chosen lead to death and destruction. But God gives us Jesus as a Deliverer (Judges), a kinsman-redeemer (Ruth), and a High Priest (1 Samuel).

John 14:6
"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"

Once we enter through the door, we enter into our rest with God. We have peace with God and access to His guidance. This should make our lives different because instead of "everything I please" it's "all for the glory of God." Instead of serving myself, I am serving God first and then others.

Deuteronomy 12:8-9 (NLT)
"Today you are doing whatever you please, but that is not how it will be when you arrive in the place of rest the Lord your God is giving you.

As believers there should be only one way: God's way. My prayer is for your endurance during these 90 days. Because by the end, What to choose at the Buffet of Life will become a lot simpler and clear. (notice I did not say easy)

As for me, I think I'll step away from the buffet.
I've heard of a place to eat down the street that serves the same meal every day. From what I hear, you will never be hungry again.