{"id":33003,"date":"2024-10-14T22:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T05:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-10_1-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-10-14T22:20:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T05:20:24","slug":"1-samuel-10_17-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-10_17-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Identity Impacts Your Effectiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Samuel 10:17-27 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 10:17-27.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Samuel<\/em><\/strong>\u00a010<\/em><\/strong>:<\/em><\/strong>17<\/em><\/strong>-19 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n17<\/sup>\u00a0Samuel<\/em>\u00a0summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah\u00a018\u00a0<\/sup>and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’\u00a0<\/em>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, ‘No, set a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-19: \u00a0What was so wrong with the Israelites demanding that they have a king to rule over them?\u00a0 In doing so, the Israelites were rejecting God as their king, the very One who had successfully brought them out of slavery in Egypt and enabled them to conquer nations much greater than them.\u00a0 They were taking God for granted and saying that they now wanted to be like other nations and have a human king.\u00a0 The Israelites were idolizing the idea of having their own human king, not appreciating all the costs and difficulties that would come with it (1\u00a0Samuel\u00a08:6-20).<\/p>\n

Don’t fall into the trap of putting your hope in a person rather than in God.\u00a0 Don’t think that a person can save you when only God can.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Samuel<\/em><\/strong>\u00a010<\/em><\/strong>:20-24 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>When\u00a0<\/em>Samuel\u00a0brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen.\u00a0<\/em>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found.\u00a0<\/em>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>So they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” And the LORD said, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”\u00a0<\/em>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others.\u00a0<\/em>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Samuel\u00a0said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-24: \u00a0How are we to view Saul’s hiding among the baggage when it was time for him to be revealed as Israel’s king (v22)?\u00a0 Was this an act of humility or an act of fear?\u00a0 Some believe this was an act of humility, that it showed how Saul wasn’t hungry for the spotlight, just like he didn’t tell his family earlier about him being anointed king (v16).\u00a0 Maybe.\u00a0 But I think the better view is that this was an act of fear, an early hint of the insecurity that would plague Saul’s reign as king.\u00a0 Even though Saul had been anointed by God as king, even though he had been equipped by the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts to lead, even though he was a head taller than everyone else, Saul still struggled to see himself in his new identity as king.\u00a0 He still saw himself as a nobody from a nothing clan from the smallest tribe in Israel (9:21).\u00a0 Thus when it was time for him to be revealed to the people, he wasn’t ready, but hiding.<\/p>\n

Saul’s insecurity and fear would cause him to do many unfortunate things later on.\u00a0 Hiding among the baggage, while not a big deal on its own, was a sign of things to come.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Your identity (who you think you are) affects everything you do.\u00a0 Every Christian today is anointed (set apart for service) and equipped (gifted for service), but\u00a0if you are not confident in your\u00a0<\/strong>identity<\/strong><\/em>, you will not thrive serving God.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As a Christian you are anointed and gifted, but if you see yourself as a weak, useless, dirty, worthless sinner, that poor self-image will handicap your anointing and gifting.<\/p>\n

The fact is this:\u00a0when you came to Christ, God not only gave you a new anointing and gifting, He also gave you a new identity!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In Christ, you are strong, capable, forgiven, clean and precious in God’s eyes.\u00a0 You are now a saint, not a sinner.\u00a0 Remember your new identity in Christ every time you serve and it will change how you operate in your anointing and gifting.<\/p>\n

Just like Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “a triple braided cord is not easily broken”. \u00a0Your anointing, gifting and identity are like three ropes that you must tie together if you want to serve God effectively.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 10:25-27 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the\u00a0LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But some troublemakers said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-27: \u00a0 After Saul was revealed as Israel’s king, two types of people showed up.\u00a0 On one hand, “valiant men whose hearts God had touched” (v26) came to Saul’s side and supported him.\u00a0 On the other hand, “troublemakers” and “scoundrels” criticized Saul, refusing to honour or submit to their God-appointed leader (v27).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0How well you support your God-given leaders says a lot about your character and how much God is working in your life.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Any cowardly fool can selfishly stand on the sideline and criticize.\u00a0 But it takes courageous people to go to the front line and support their God-given leader.\u00a0 How well do you support your God-given leaders?\u00a0 Are you critical of and resistant to their leadership?\u00a0 Are you apathetic and preoccupied with doing your own thing?\u00a0 Or do you do your best to encourage and support your leaders? \u00a0Give your best support to your God-given leaders, and God will bless it.\u00a0 Your success and your leader’s success go hand in hand (Hebrews 13:<\/strong>17<\/strong>)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank You that in You I have a new anointing, gifting and identity.\u00a0 I proclaim that because of Jesus I am accepted, chosen, forgiven, valuable, strong, anointed, gifted, and set apart for You.\u00a0 May I follow my leaders well, while at the same always putting my hope in You.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 10:17-27.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

1\u00a0Samuel\u00a010:17-19 (NIV)\u00a0
\n17\u00a0Samuel\u00a0summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah\u00a018\u00a0and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’\u00a0
\n19\u00a0But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, ‘No, set a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a017-19: \u00a0What was so wrong with the Israelites demanding that they have a king to rule over them?\u00a0 In doing so, the Israelites were rejecting God as their king, the very One who had successfully brought them out of slavery in Egypt and enabled them to conquer nations much greater than them.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33008,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33003\/revisions\/33008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}