Friday, 25 August 2023
“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers” – Psalm 1:1 NLT
Saul was anointed king over Israel because GOD had chosen him personally. He was to rule over a great nation with a great prophet of GOD beside him. I mean, what could go wrong? On the one hand, he had a prophet who clearly heard from GOD and advised him accordingly; and on the other hand, he had the Creator of heaven and earth Himself, who was on his side. I ask again, what could go wrong? Saul was given a clear and precise instruction to wait for seven days, and Samuel would come and offer sacrifices on his behalf so that he could know the mind of GOD. In the waiting, Saul was surrounded by men who he must have thought were on the same mission as him. Men whom he knew had given their lives to serve and assist him in his objectives. Probably, some of these men even knew about the instructions to wait for the man of GOD. Yet when the Philistines, in their great numbers surrounded them, they quaked with fear. Instead of these men advising him to remain steadfast and to wait on the LORD, they began hiding and running away. Instead of encouraging and hyping him up to remain faithful, they scattered and left him vulnerable. As a result of seeing his men cowering, he did what he wasn’t supposed to, something he knew very well. Which ultimately led him to lose his inheritance.
“When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven” Luke 5:20 AMP. One of the accounts that always touches my heart in the Bible, is of the four men with their paralyzed friend. They had decided that their friend was going to encounter Jesus. They were focused and very determined to achieve this objective/goal. Nothing and no one was going to get in their way. No obstacle was going to deter them. They knew if they had patiently waited outside, their friend would have eventually seen Jesus, yet they determined in their hearts that they weren’t going to wait that long. They made a hole in the roof and lowered their friend before Jesus. In the whole account, the Bible doesn’t say anything about the paralyzed man’s faith. When Jesus looked at them, He was moved by their faith, and as a result of that, the lame man was completely healed, because his friends had his back. What a blessing to have friends who will go the extra mile to make sure you receive exactly what you need when you need it. Friends that will inconvenience themselves to make sure you have your moment of encounter with the LORD. They could have told him, “You can see we tried bringing you before Him. The queue is too long, let’s come back another day”. And they would have been justified in their actions. Yet they decided that their friend would not endure his sufferings any longer, he would not go on for another day in this condition.
“Again I say to you, that if two believers on earth agree [that is, are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of GOD], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven” Matthew 18:19 AMP. Who are you in agreement with pertaining to those things you desire from the LORD? Who’s willing to go the extra mile with you? Who’s willing to make a hole in the ceiling for you, so that you can have your moment of encounter? The above verse says that these people must be of one mind with you, they must be in perfect harmony with you. These people must not have ulterior motives, as they must be driven by the desire to accelerate your breakthrough. These are true friends indeed. The centurion was this type of friend. He went out of his way to make sure his friend and servant received his healing (Matthew 8:5-13). The Bible also doesn’t tell us about the servant’s faith, and Jesus didn’t heal him because of his faith. He healed him because of his master’s faith. How blessed it is to have such friends.
What a blessing to have friends who will go the extra mile to make sure you receive exactly what you need when you need it
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