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.

Yielded Carriers of God's Presence

As I read 1 Samuel 4, I am once again reminded that, for God's power and work to be seen in our lives, it depends on what type of carriers we are, for God's Presence. It matters who's carrying God's presence. The moment we accept Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we know that we become a temple where God Himself dwells, to guide us, to help us live the life that we're called to live.

In 1 Samuel 4, I see the Israelites went to fight the Philistines, they took the ark of God with them. Eli's sons, the priests also went with them. They all rejoiced when the ark of God reached the battle field. However as I continued to read, I found that they lost the battle. How come? Everything was perfect. The ark of God was with them, the priests were there too. They were a pretty good number of people too, then how come they lost? More than that, even the Philistines were afraid when they heard that God had come to their camp.1 Samuel 4:7-9 records "Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert ". The enemies of the Israelites knew, the power of the Israelites God, but they mustered up whatever strength they had and won. How can that be? How can they win against God's people?

Lessons I got from reading the above passage

1. God's presence manifests itself in a life that is totally yielded to Him.- It is an awesome thing to be carriers of a Living God's presence. So, God looks for lives which are totally yielded, totally surrendered to be able to handle such power, such divinity, without arrogance, without being a snob, without being a controller of others, but with humility, with being a servant to be a leader kind of attitude, like Jesus. Israelites weren't totally and wholely serving God Almighty, they were also worshiping bal and the other gods. Sometimes in our life too, we would serve God, but we may also have someone in our family, who we depend upon solely sometimes more than God
2. God's power is not for manipulating situations to one's favour, but to yield for the maximum benefit of ALL- In the process of this, it may not bring benefits solely to the person through whom the power is manifested, but for the benefit of people around. The Israelites, had not bothered obeying God all this while as we find in 1 Samuel 7, but they now needed God, to win a battle, not because they wanted God to guide them into it. We too do that sometimes, don't we? When we give all of our time and energy somewhere else, other than God and then suddenly when things turn wild, we run to God for help, how can we avoid the trouble at the last minute? Why not stay on top of everything by getting God right in front before us and follow after Him, every day?
3. Above all it matters, who is carrying God's presence-It is not enough that one is a christian, if we really want to be a blessing, we've got to be more than a christian, we've got to be obedient children of God. Samuel's life was given or surrendered to God even before he was born, and because Samuel's mom was so diligent in following God, it was so easy for God to just come down and talk to Samuel, point blank(1 Samuel 3). How yielded are we to hear God's voice?
4. When we work according to God's plan for our lives, we can see God's presence working on our behalf, for God's perfect will- In this battle(1 Samuel 4), the Israelites lost, however they realised their mistake in a period of 20yrs, that they had been in disobedience to God and followed other gods besides the Living Lord God, and when they turned from their wicked ways, they won the battle against Philistines in 1 Samuel 7. Now on another instance, in Samuel's life we see an amazing testimony from the Bible, 1 Samuel 3:19-21 records " 19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.". So when Samuel interceded for the people, God helped the Israelites win the battle.

Conclusion: God would love to get connected to His people, but He would need the right wiring system for it. We are His cables, we are the people who can show to this lost world, what we have in Jesus Christ. If we ourselves are living a life of defeat, like the Israelites, how can we be of any help to someone else? We are the vessels, which can shine out for our Living Lord, and show to them, how great and mighty and loving our Lord is. But that cannot happen, until we are yielded, like Samuel, totally and completely following God's plan for our lives. Hey, I miss out on this a lot of times. I am myself, learning to be a good vessel, a vessel which is able to carry God's presence without any flaw, I am being made ready for God, to help people around me through me. May our Lord delight in His children who are completely yielded to Him, so He can show to others, what an awesome Friend and Blessing He is.

The Ark of God-Motives

Background:In 1Samuel 4 we read how the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines and were defeated. They then decided that they needed the Ark of God with them, while they were fighting. So they bring the Ark of God with them to the battlefield. However when you read on you'll find that in spite of having the Ark of God with them, the Israelites lost the battle and the Ark of God is captured.

In reading the chapter I found that the Israelites had the Ark of God (symbolic to the Presence of God) when they went for battle, but they still lost the battle. The Presence of God was there, then why did they lose the battle. I guess, the Israelites were trying to work out a formula instead of a relationship by taking the Ark with them. They remember God's power to their people in the olden times.

Its not that God's Presence was not powerful, God would never give His power to people who want to use it for their own gains and still live in disobedience.
Firstly-They did not seek God to know whether this was God's will for them or not. Its about seeking God's will.
Secondly-Following a religion-not the relationship. They did what the Israelites had usually done in the past when they went out to battle, the Ark was with them. Its about the relationship.

We do that many times, seeking for God's Presence for things He wouldn't even have us do. Let's seek God for His plans for our lives. We'll find success in our seeking Him only then.
Also, lets not seek God's presence for the fancy of it, for the show of it, but His Presence to dwell in it. To enjoy God's Presence and know God more and increase our Love for Him.

Conclusion:-The Presence is not sought so we can be successful in our plans but so that we can have fellowship with God and that God may make us successful in His masterplan for our lives.