Bringing Justice to Your Unjust Situations

^{Psalms 19:7-14}

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure and bright, enlightening the eyes.

⁹ The [reverent] fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, even than much fine gold; they are sweeter also than honey and drippings from the honeycomb.

¹¹ Moreover, by them is Your servant warned (reminded, illuminated, and instructed); and in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can discern his lapses and errors? Clear me from hidden [and unconscious] faults.

¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.

Background
When we have good laws that help citizens become better, be safer, be empowered, be free-it is worth being praised. This is what David says about God's laws!I heard something worth thinking about from a preacher on Youtube. He said the angels in heaven are constantly declaring "Holy, Holy Holy" do we know why? They are acclaiming not only the being, the composition of God but also His acts, every single one of His Acts are Holy, Perfect, Just, Worthy of praise! So in heaven the angels aren't saying Holy, Holy Holy as a chant, in rhythm following a beat-but more like as declaring, as and when the acts occur, not in unison but perhaps, what I can think of is, like kids answering a question when a teacher throws a question at the whole class and its an answer everyone knows! But only in a continuous process, forever, non-stop! With wonder, with Awe, With admiration! Whoa Holy, Holy Holy the angels declare! That's how wonderful God's Works are on this earth.


Lessons
These verses in Psalm come from David, a man who after being anointed to be king did not really become king the very next day.  The Bible records in the book of Samuel how he went through struggle every single day of his time of preparation with Saul trying to kill him for no fault of his own except that Saul was jealous of David. How crazy is that!!! Yet God gave him twice a chance to take out Saul but David maintained that he would rather have God's justice for his situation rather than exercise his justification by himself!
The Laws of God have the ability to

1. Restore a person and make him complete in every way
2. Giving you wisdom
3. Bring rejoicing in your heart( a permanent thing)
4. Enlightening your perception-increasing your ability to observe the situation on a grander scale
5. Fear of the Lord makes a person clean!

How can we receive God's Justice through His Laws

1. Just by observing ONE THING-keeping yourself Holy before a Holy God - in mind, in heart, in words and in deeds that means making a very painful but conscious effort to have/harbor no evil thought towards the person or group who has wronged you!

David does exactly that - He asks God to clean him up of everything evil, even hidden sins, presumptuous sins. Stuff we do without knowing. David considered it important, very important to be clear of everything. Now when God looks at David, He sees no offense in him and is ready to bring His Perfect Justice into His circumstance! So when Justice is delivered you are clear of it!


Conclusion
So, there will always be people or groups who will despise you! Seek to do wrong to you even though there is nothing you have done to offend or hurt them! Take heart and make effort and ask God to help you clear up every malice from your heart, every bitterness toward them, every single thing that is not of God, so when God's justice is dealt out, you will observe it- standing and beholding and your spirit will cry out "Holy Holy Holy are the works of my God towards me!"

When God anoints His people...

1 Samuel 16-19
Samuel was very sad that Saul has now moved away from God, God encouraged Samuel and sent him to anoint Jesse's son David(1 Samuel 16:1), to be the next king of Israel. Samuel knew that God has chosen someone else, who would obey God fully, 'a man after God's own heart'. After David has been anointed, he carries on doing his normal job of tending his father's sheep. There is nothing special that has happened to him yet. He didn't move to any palace.The one major thing that happened was," 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. ..."(1 Samuel 16:13). In the mean while, an evil spirit is tormenting Saul and one of his servants suggests "18One of the young men said, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who plays skillfully, a valiant man, a man of war, prudent in speech and eloquent, an attractive person; and the Lord is with him."(1 Samuel 16:18). Now David started playing music before Saul so that he would be comforted and Saul (the current king) liked David very much. " 22Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David remain in my service, for he pleases me."(1 Samuel 16:22) and David got a part time job at the king's palace for the Bible says in 1 Samuel 17:15 " 15But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem."

Lessons I learnt

1. God's anointing transforms people-( NOTE:Meaning of Anoint-(a) To apply oil, ointment, or a similar substance to. (b)To put oil on during a religious ceremony as a sign of sanctification or consecration. (c)To choose by or as if by divine intervention.) When God anoints He is choosing that person and setting them apart for His work only. What did that do to David? That did not change his job, his looks, his environment. It changed David as a person.(In my next post we'll see how David was changed, an example from his life). So what God chooses His people for His work, it changes them from the inside, their outside world remains the same, but inside them now dwells the Powerful Spirit of the Almighty Living God, Who gives them the power to change the situations they are in, so that God's will, will be done through their lives...from this moment on.
2. Once God has chosen you, He makes sure that for whatever purpose He has called you is arranged.-Now once David was anointed to be king, he has to be trained in every aspect so he becomes a wonderful king. An opening comes up from the king's palace to pla music before the king. Now, I don't think its a mere coincidence that the servant mentioned David as a musician when the king was being vexed by the evil spirit.God prepared an opening so that David would start getting acquainted to being in a palace, so David gets to work at the palace.
3. The transition from the old to the new is made smooth as we obey- For David, just because he was working at the king's palace as a special musician to play whenever the king was troubled by the evil spirit, was not the only thing he did. He was also feeding his father's sheep, running errands for his father, taking lunch boxes to his brothers to the battle field. I think there will be one special task that God will show you to do, apart from whatever you were already working on.

Conclusion: Did you know that you are anointed of God when you became part of the family of God? 1 Peter 2:9 (Whole Chapter) "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Did you know that we have assignments, like David had, as we move in the direction of our calling? Ephesians 2:10 (Whole Chapter) "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. "

God didn't just leave David at being anointed by Samuel, but God worked out things in His life to direct him towards that kingship that he was to attain. God has charted out the course of our calling...maybe to be a teacher of the Word of God, a prophet, a pastor, a deacon, a leader of a fellowship, a christian doctor, a christian lawyer, a christian engineer, a christian architect....and lots more. Now David knew that He was being anointed for some reason, and if the head priest of a nation comes and anoints you, we better know what that is for. So also, God has put in our hearts and our genetics, something that we have a passion to do, which is going to be a blessing to all others around us, in a way no other person in the world can bless. Something unique in you, which only you can do. If we have been paying attention to the way our lives are changing since the day we accepted Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour, we will know for sure where we're headed. I say the key is to listen to the voice of God's Holy Spirit, which God has put inside of us, to help us become fully what God wants us to become.

"for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. " Philippians 2:13 (Whole Chapter)

"If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work". 2 Timothy 2:21 (Whole Chapter)

"so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:17 (Whole Chapter)

" equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:21 (Whole Chapter)

Not Duplicates-Unique Lives

1 Samuel 8
Background:Samuel is grown old, his sons Joel and Abijah are now taking over as judges for Israel, however they are not honest in their judgment like their father. The Israelites come complaining to Samuel and ask him to give them a king like everyone else. Samuel is grieved, he thinks they have rejected him as judge. In those days, the judges were working as leaders for Israel and God would lead Israel in that manner, through judges. Samuel goes before God regarding this request that the Israelites made, God tells him what would happen if they wanted a king right now. Samuel gives them the entire detail of what would happen if they chose the king, yet the people wanted a king.They got Saul.

Lesson I learnt
The Israelites were not happy just with Samuel being their leader, they wanted a king, like everyone else."4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [a] us, such as all the other nations have." (1 Samuel 8:4-5). God was leading the Israelites through judges all this while. All people were equal, the judge was a mere leader, who would listen to God's Word and lead the people in His ways. However the Israelites were not satisfied with that. They wanted a king like everyone else. They wanted to be like the other nations.

Sometimes I too want a life thats, common, predictable, goes the way it goes with anyone else. Or like someone else I have seen. I sometimes think, my life should have been like this or like that. However over the years I have understood, that there's no other way I would rather live than to live with the Lord. It is difficult, in the manner that , if the 'so intelligent' world would ask me where I am heading, I would have no answer. Thinking of it, God wanted His people to be special, set apart from the rest of the crowd, different, standing out.He would love the same for His children now. We may not be the ones to blend in the crowd, we were never meant to. Thats why God made one of each type of person. Even the twins aren't alike. We are all unique creations.

1 Peter 2:9 says

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of him

who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. "

So if we belong to a Living God, our lives are deemed to be different from others , deemed to shine out, now, would we want to trade in our calling for something just to become like the rest of the world? Would we want to trade all that Jesus did for us, so costly through His blood, to become like everyone else? I say not. I encourage all you brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, lets be, all that God wants us to be according to His perfect will for our lives. Let's shine for our Living Lord.

Get to Work God's people!!!

Background: Once the ark of God was captured by the Philistines, they took it and placed it alongside their god Dagon, in the temple. The idol of Dagon, kept falling every day, until it broke(1 Samuel 5). The Philistines moved the Ark of God to a different location and in that location plague broke out. People had blisters and sores.The hand of the Lord was heavy upon their god and their people.(1 Samuel 5:7) The Philistines could not handle the presence of the Living God and sent it back to the Israelites, with offerings. When the ark of God reached the Israelites, the Levites performed the sacrifice on behalf of the five Philistine kings and the Philistines returned. (1 Samuel 6:15-16)In the meanwhile, as the ark of God remained in Kiriath Jearim, the Israelites, mourned and returned to the Lord. Samuel asked them if they really did want to return to God, they must leave all other gods they were following.(1 Samuel 7:2-3).Now while the Israelites were sacrificing to the Lord, the Philistines heard that all Israelites were gathered in one place and attacked them.(1 Samuel 7:10) God came in between them and the enemies and thundered before the enemy and put them in confusion.

Lessons I learnt

1. What a powerful God!!!- The Philistine's God kept falling before our God. No other god is as powerful as Our Living Lord Jesus and Father in Heaven and imagine a God like this One,"23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"[d]—which means, "God with us." (Mathew 1:23)
2. Who can stand in the Presence of such a Powerful God? "20And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go away from us?" (1 Samuel 6:20). You know who can? We can, we who have accepted Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour. Now when we stand before this Living God our Father, He looks at us through the introduction of His Son Jesus. Hebrews 4:14-16 says because of having a wonderful high priest like Jesus, who has entered through the heavens, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. A'int that amazing and glorious!!!
3. Presence of God with power to draw His people nigh to Him-Its so fascinates me that, no one was preaching when the ark of God was kept in Kiriath Jearim, but the people of Israel, were turning to the Lord. Imagine, if all the believers in Jesus Christ, were sooooooo obedient to God that God's presence would remain in them, how many lives could be saved!!! how many lives would turn to Jesus. WOw!! So is this presence only to draw God's people near to Him?? Yes it is. So who are His people? Ps 24:1 says "The earth and everything in it BELONGS TO GOD" So I understand its for everyone. So lets be good carriers of God's presence and be a blessing.
4. Whats in it for me?(WIFM)-When the people of God are busy doing God's work, God doesn't like anyone and I mean anyone disturb them. WHen the Israelites were busy preparing and sacrificing to God, the Philistines, chose the wrongest time to attack Israel."10As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel." (1 Samuel 7:10)Thats the kind of protection God has for His people, who are working for His kingdom. Can you imagine that??? SO lets get busy, what are we waiting for??

Conclusion: We've got an Awesome, Wonderful, Powerful, Glorious, Almighty, Loving, Caring God. Who is always there to support His people. However His power and heart , in these days, cannot be manifest, until the carrier is ready. The enemies will not see defeat, until we do what God has planned for us to do. So lets prove ourselves as diligent workers for God.Like the testimony that Bible gives about Samuel. "Throughout Samuel's lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines."(1 Samuel 7:13). Who dare stand against God's plan when God's people get seriously busy at God's work for them, like Samuel.

We may not see everything- but God's still working

As I read the book of 1 Samuel, I was amazed, how God was working in two different places at the same time. Preparing people to meet each other at a later time. We read how God worked in the life of Ruth and worked everything beautifully for her family. David is Ruth’s grandson. In the meanwhile at Ramah, a little far away from Jerusalem where Ruth was, we see God working in the life of Hannah.Hannah is the mother of Samuel. Now as I continue to read I find that after a few years, their children meet. Yes, Samuel anoints David to be king of the Israelites in the book of 1 Samuel 16. Did Ruth know when she met Boaz, that she would be an important woman in our Lord Jesus' life. NO. Did Hannah know what would become of Samuel, more than a mere priest, but an attested prophet of God? No. They just obeyed as God guided them. We have so much to learn from this big picture.

We may not know, but God has already planned the What next? Where next? Then whats? Etc for us. Hannah was faithful in crying out to God, knowing only God could deliver her from the tauntings of Peninnah and thats all she knew at this time. Ruth knew too well that only Boaz could help her out of her situation and thats all she knew. As God revealed it to them, they followed their courses.

Lessons I learnt

1. I may not always know, what my next assignment will be.
2. I don't know about tomorrow what it will bring, but I don't worry, there is no point in worrying.(Matthew 6:25)
3. I know whom I have trusted my life and I trust He will complete His plan for my life(2 Timothy 1:12)
4. Above all, God is in control of the lives, that have been surrendered to Him. He will never let them down.

The word of God says. "Them that believe in Him will never be put to shame" So take heart, continue walking in God's ways, He is still at work, bringing everything together for the good of those who love Him and desire to follow Him.

Conclusion: Romans 8:28 (Whole Chapter) [ More Than Conquerors ] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, [ Some manuscripts And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God] who [ Or works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who] have been called according to his purpose.

God Connection- I want that

Background:Hannah honoured God, for answering her prayer. She kept her vow to God and Samuel served in the Lord's presence. Here's an example of how God kept His child safe in the midst of people, who were disobedient and despised God. As I said earlier, Hannah's prayer was a special one, and Samuel was a special delivery from God. Samuel was to grow up and be an exclusive man of God. The people around him while Samuel was in the temple serving God, were not very good examples, but in Samuel's life, God was working.

Here are a few things I learnt from reading 1 Samuel 2 -3

1. Faith pleases God-God is a respecter of Faith. It doesn't matter who you are, what our parents are, what we do for a living, what our situation is. Hebrews 11:6 (Whole Chapter) "So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hannah asked God for a child, not anyone else, that shows her faith in God. So no matter what the situation, there is nothing impossible with God. No matter how impossible our situation looks, even if people around are there to taunt and make fun of us and salt our wounds, our faith and trust in God, along with prayers, can do marvelous things. The answer will be so powerful, it can impact a whole generation. Like Hannah's answer, Samuel, a prophet for life, showing the way to God, to people.
2. Staying close to God even if we're in the middle of people who don't care about God-When I read 1 Samuel 2 about how Samuel was growing up in the Lord's presence, I saw that he didn't have very good examples before him. How could it be that a boy with such bad examples around him, turn out to be such a wonderful man of God? I found my answer in the following verses. "But Samuel was ministering before the LORD -a boy wearing a linen ephod".(1 Samuel 2:18 ) "Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD. "(1 Samuel 2:21 ) " And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men. " (1 Samuel 2:26) .Sometimes it can be very difficult to stay in the midst of people who don't honour God, but from Samuel's life we can see how we can still remain connected to God.

The result is profound- you know what I found as a result.

We see the kind of times Samuel was living in -" 1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. "(1 Samuel 3:1). It is a grim time, the word of the LORD was rare, can you imagine a time, without God's Word and no visions. Basically it looks to me, no one lived as per God's ways, all might have been doing their own thing. In the midst of such a time, the Lord Himself calls out to Samuel and speaks to him. At this point I would like to bring to your notice 1 Samuel 2:27 " 27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what the LORD says:...." even with Eli, God sent another man to speak to him, but with Samuel the case is different, God Himself calls him. Isn't that such an honour, to hear God directly, God's voice from heaven. Wow. More than that, when God called Samuel, Eli did not hear God's voice.

I so am glad for Samuel, for his steadfastness in serving God and sticking close to God, even while others around him had let go of their faith and respect for God.

Lesson: After all this I see, God honours people who honour Him, no matter what the people around you are doing, no matter what background we come from, when we honour God in ALL we do, God is watching (like he watched Samuel grow) and will speak, when no one else is hearing. So what if they make fun of you for believing in God, in following His Word, in trusting Him. So what if people around you have become ritualistic in following God, let's stay so connected to God in our rising and our sleeping that we will hear God's voice. I don't see anything special Samuel did, he just stayed around God. How much part of our life is God? If we would like to hear straight from God, lets get around God, lets go closer to Him, in all we do.

God Bless.

A Special Answer for a Difficult Life

Background: An Ephraimite man named Elkanah, had 2 wives named Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had kids but Hannah did not.This is about a woman who strived, cried and prayed to God to answer her prayer and how God answers it.(1Samuel 1).There are sometimes in life, when you just don't understand why prayers are not getting answered. You're doing everything to make it happen, but it just won't.All other prayers are getting answered, but there is that one prayer, you know, is totally in conformity with God's will, but is not answered, yet.

Sometimes, the best in us can come out only through a rigourous trial.Are we prepared? We'll see how Hannah's life teaches us some lessons on faith in God.

1. Don't give up on obedience to God--"Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD"(1 Samuel 1:3).Every year the whole family went to worship God, however Hannah did not try to escape Peninnah's taunting.-"This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat."(1 Samuel 1:7). She still went to the Lord, knowing that Peninnah would vex her there. Many times, when issues rise up because we turn to God, we tend to turn away from Him to avoid those problems, however Hannah teaches us that we should still continue in the Lord, no matter what we have to face, because our reward, our answer to prayer is in the house of the Lord, in the Presence of our God.
2. Know the way out- Though Elkanah loved her more than Peninnah, Hannah knew what she wanted. She loved Elkanah too, however her heart had a deep desire for a child. She knew too well, that the ONLY way for her to get out of that terrible situation was to have a child and not just Elkanah's love, and she yearned for it. There could be many more options to solve a situation, but only one would be an answer, a complete answer to the situation. Only having a close relationship with God, when times are troubled, can we find it.
3. Stand up-"Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up"(1 Samuel 1:9). Standing is a different thing-it is getting ready to act upon what God has put in your heart. Once God has shown you the way out, stand up and walk on it. Do what God has put in your heart. I think Hannah's standing up, shows to me that since God made it clear to her that her way out is only if she had a child, she wanted it.She stood up to follow it, her standing up shows us that she was desperate enough to go ahead and do what she probably had never done in all these years of her visit to the House of God.Do we stand up and get ready to follow whatever God shows us?
4. Pray for it- "In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
   12 As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14"(1 Samuel 1:10-13) Now Hannah's prayer was not an ordinary prayer. She had now come to the point, that she wanted the child so bad, that she prayed in total surrender, not caring what others around would think. More than that, she even vowed to give the child back to God to serve Him.
5. Misunderstood-Eli"....said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." (1 Samuel 1:14). People around will never understand fully, what goes on between you and God. So we might be misunderstood, are we ready for that. Would we decrease our passion to pray for THAT PARTICULAR need just because we don't want people to get the wrong impression about us?
6. God has seen your desperation and will answer in due time-"So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, [c] saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."(1 Samuel 1:20) Well Hannah's prayer was answered, but was answered in the course of time. God will answer prayer in the right time, when the time is right. When you know what God showed as an answer to you, it will be done, on time.
7. Her desperate prayer answered and she did not forget her Lord- "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there."(1 Samuel 1:27). In our dire need, we might ask God and vow before Him, and this is the point where many of us fall. Hannah did not. She meant serious business when she prayed. She understood what value her prayer meant before God and she honoured it. I wonder, would I be able to be like her?

Conclusion: At the end of reading and meditating upon everything that happened in Hannah's life, I wonder, what if Hannah would have found Elkanah's love, enough, to carry her through life? . Sometimes God takes us through desperated situations, only in order to bring out the best of the best within us. If Hannah would have had children easily like Peninnah, we would not have found a wonderful prophet like Samuel. We probably wouldn't have a specially dedicated book of the prophet Samuel. He wouldn't have been dedicated to God, because he wouldn't be a special delivery from God. For Hannah, Samuel was very special because she had received Samuel as a way, out of her barren situation. Well, in our lives too, we will have times when we'll be pressed hard to get to our answered prayer, don't give up. Let God bring out the best within us. A special delivery as an answer to our prayer.