WITHOUT GOD, we cannot. Without us, God will not - Saint Augustine.
God desires to get us involved in His plan. However, we can only fit into His schedule if we are needy of Him.
HANNAH became needy of God when she couldn't conceive. So she sought God's heart by asking for a son that would serve Him. (1 Sam. 1:9-28)
Is your prayer a steering wheel or a flat tire - Corrie Ten Boom?
GOD founded Israel. It was His enterprise—and they were His people. So when they asked for a king, it displeased him. Nevertheless, he gave them Saul. (I Sam. 8)
That He gives you a thing does not mean you are walking in His Will.
YOU CANNOT say you love God and hate his commands; neither can you call Him Lord and keep a part of your life to yourself.
Israel wanted the blessings of God (acts) but not His instructions (ways).
Having him in charge of your life is only fair if you are God's. And taking instructions from him will be sufficient.
If our infirmities touch Him, God has emotions—and if God has feelings, they matter.
The question is, do they matter to you?
OUR LIVES are works of God—and God has our best interests at heart. (Jer. 29:11)
He had a plan for his people and would keep them from truncating it. So when Saul disobeyed, God searched for a king.
When he found David, he asked Samuel: How long will you mourn over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Isreal? (1 Sam. 16:1)
To continuously have the mind of Christ, you must be careful not to stay where God has moved on.
Does God's feelings matter to you?
GOD isn't impressed with competencies but with character.
When your heart is right with God, he strengthens you and sends destiny enhancers. (2 Chron. 16:9a)
He positioned him for the next phase of his life when he sent the prophet to anoint him.
SOME are called to a few; others are called to many.
To the world, you may be one person. But to one person, you may be the world - Bill Wilson.
If your ministry engages a few people, don't be envious of someone called to many.
It's in the mandate and not in the numbers. Wherever you find yourself, just be faithful.
CHAMPIONS are creatures of routine and people of consistency.
David understood these facts. He lived a life of repetition, doing the right things.
He saw himself as one under authority.
Do you see yourself the same way?
GOD IS AT WORK whether we know it or not. He works behind the scenes.
He gives us personal victories. And when the time is ripe, they become public.
David was in the wilderness tending his father's sheep when the lion and the bear came after them.
He smote the lion, then the bear. But no one knew till he had to face Goliath.
Anyone after the heart of God would understand that if God did it before, he would do it again. (1 Sam. 17:34-46)
To allow God to overwhelm you is to underwhelm your schedule
THE ONE who says it can't be done is usually interrupted by the one doing it - Harry Fosdick.
David interrupted Saul when the latter tried to stop him from fighting Goliath.
Truly, the dedication of one can bring about the deliverance of many.
TWICE, David had the chance to take Saul's life. But he wouldn't because Saul was God's anointed.
He knew that vengeance wasn't his. He wasn't after the gift (throne) but after the giver.
A man after God's heart must learn to walk some paths alone.
WE ARE not called primarily to understand people but to love them. (1 John 4:7)
David loved the king.
Holy handicaps made him ask God for help, time and time again.
WHEN David slept with Bathsheba, God sent Nathan to him. (2 Sam. 11)
The prophet told him a story and made him understand that he had sinned.
David realized that character living is pure living. (Ps. 23:3-4) He discovered that until your heart is pure, your sight is hazy.
No wonder he wrote: Create in me a clean heart and renew the right spirit within me. (Ps. 51:10-19)
OBEDIENCE to God must come from a place of delight.
Your faith in God is your perception against deception.
He did not look at his challenges with deception. So, he saw grace all around him.
TO ALLOW God to overwhelm you is to underwhelm your agenda—and to underwhelm your schedule is to spend time with Him.
David sought God early in the morning. (Ps. 63:1) He knew that God was his helper.
Bringing it Together
THE WAYS of God are deeper than His acts.
Walk in His ways this week, and you'll be a man after His heart.
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