Scripture: 1 Samuel 4-5.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

1 Samuel 4:17-20 (NLT)

17 “Israel has been defeated by the Philistines,” the messenger replied. “The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured.”

18 When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.

19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth.

20 She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. “Don’t be afraid,” they said. “You have a baby boy!” But she did not answer or pay attention to them.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In earlier chapters of this book we learned where Eli had lost control of his sons, who were priests in the temple, and God became so upset over their sin that He sent a messenger to Eli warning Him that both he and his sons would die within a very short time span. We see here in these chapters that not only did the Israelites lose a lot of men (34,000) in battle, for which they could see no reasonable explanation, but both of Eli’s sons also lost their lives. On learning of this tragedy, Eli fell off his seat, broke his neck and also died. This all followed by Phinehas’s wife also dying in childbirth. The death of Eli and his sons were warned of God, however because Israel allowed their sin, and all the other sin in Israel to go on, there were a lot of innocent men who lost their lives in battle. I wonder what negative effect our sin is having on those we love? I wonder what negative effect our sin is having on our church and how our ministries are impacted by our sin? Let’s remember that it was not the sin that was going on in all of Israel why God told Eli of the impending serious actions, but because of the sin of his very own children. We needn’t look into our sinful community to discern what God might do to us, we need to look at ourselves – the children of God that go on sinning. We are not only an abomination to God, but we are a stumbling block to those who need to know Jesus. I am convinced that we must start the process inside – first with our selves. Then as we clean up our act, God will lead us to encourage a brother or sister who may be struggling with overcoming the sin in their lives. Then as we are convinced by God that our church has been purified, we will become a good agent to convince our neighbors, our lost friends and our lost community of the need for a Savior. Let’s clean up the vessel through which we want, or expect God to work.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father I often pray for You to work in and through me to reach the lost or the disheartened. I am reminded this morning that You will only work through clean and pure hearts. I beg Your forgiveness for any sin that separates me from You, and I pray that You might enlighten me to my weaknesses so that I may concentrate my efforts to avoiding those things that may cause me to sin. I pray that You might be such an overwhelming influence in my life that there will be no room for sin to abide and that I will deal with sin immediately. Please touch the lives of our church leaders and members also, because Lord I believe that we could become such an influence in our community that the lost will gladly surrender to Your call. I believe that it is apparent that lost folk are not encouraged to accept You as Lord and join our churches, because they see and hear so much about the sin and bickering of Your people, the church, that they want no part of it. This is sad to even think this way, but I believe that Your Word has clearly revealed this reminder to me this morning. Thank You Father for being such a holy, mighty God that You will not stand for luke-warmness or half-hearted efforts, but that we must conform to Your likeness and be like You in all things. We need Your strength dear God.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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