What was his confidence based on?

“When they had come, he looked on Eliab [the eldest son] and said, Surely the Lord’s 

anointed is before Him.” 

1 Samuel 16:6

 

Samuel thought his job was a success when he saw Eliab.

We must remember Samuel was sent to anoint a king, so the person he would anoint

was not ordinary. He would have something that separated him from everyone else.

So when Samuel looked at Eliab’s physical appearance he was convinced he was the one.

He had the muscles, the height, the intelligence, and was well spoken.

What Samuel saw convinced him Eliab was the one but the Lord said something that made

him change his mind;

 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, 

for I have rejected him. 

For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord 

looks on the heart.” 

1 Samuel 16:7

 

“Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature; for I have rejected him.” (emphasis mine)

 

I like to imagine that Eliab was the “Dwayne Johnson” of his time. He had everything a man would

want. He was a first born, an ultimate warrior, had the voice, and so on. Who wouldn’t want to be like him?

But the Lord rejected him!

The Lord only rejects those who reject Him (Matthew 10:33) so that’s what must have happened here.

Eliab trusted in himself. He didn’t need YAH.

His confidence was in himself. He didn’t look to YAH for help.

We can conclude that Eliab didn’t have a relationship with YAH.

 

There is a lesson we can take from this.

Where is your confidence? Are you depending on yourself, your resources, your education,

your upbringing?

Are those things stopping you from trusting the Lord.

The word is very clear about what YAH is looking at? He is not impressed with our show of strength.

He wants us to look to Him. He wants a relationship with us.

While Eliab was wrapped up in himself, David his brother was in the field getting closer to YAH.

His relationship with YAH was getting stronger and stronger.

He trusted the Lord completely. The Lord was his consuming passion night and day. He

communed with the Lord daily. He sang songs to Him.

 

The Lord called him a man after His own heart.

The Lord wants our hearts friends not our “strength”.

He is not impressed when we try to go at life on our own steam.

He wants to be first in our lives, not second.

He wants our hearts set on Him and nothing else.

 

ACT ON IT – Is the Lord first in your life?

What is stopping Him from being first?

 

Bless you friends

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Christmas tale about a broken bridge…..

Christmas is around the corner. I love everything about Christmas, from the carols being played all around, the spirit of giving, the joy, the food, the weather, kids waiting in anticipation for their gifts from Santa, the Christmas trees, the Christmas decorations and more……I could go on and on. Christmas is about all those things but it goes deeper than that.
To know and understand the real meaning of Christmas we need to go back a few thousand years to the time of Adam and Eve.

They lived in harmony with God. They had an amazing relationship with God. God communed with them on a daily basis. Everything was perfect until the enemy deceived them. The bridge between man and God was broken and it looked like the enemy had won. Man no longer had direct access to God. The relationship that man had in the garden of Eden was broken. The communication line had been severed or so it seemed. The intimacy was lost. Man was truly abandoned or so it seemed, but………

God had a plan all along. His son Jesus was the embodiment of that plan. Jesus came to repair what had been destroyed. He came to restore a long lost relationship. Because of what Jesus did we were restored. Because of Jesus we were saved. The enemy who thought he had won found out he actually lost the battle! He was defeated. The bridge was repaired never to be destroyed ever again. Man could finally come freely to God.

This is why Christmas is so important. It’s not just about Santa and all the other things I mentioned. It’s a reminder to us about a relationship restored. Realize, the bridge has been repaired. You and everybody else can come to Him. He made it possible and this is what Christmas reminds me off. I have been challenged to engage God more starting this Christmas, actually starting now leading to Christmas and after. The world needs to know the bridge has been repaired. The lost need to know, the lonely need to know, the abandoned need to know. When Christ was born it signified a start of something new. Things would never be the same. It is true for you as well. Because Christ came and died for you things will never be the same for you. You are in a better place. And Christmas is a time to remember that. The bridge has been repaired. Christ is waiting. You can come to Him any hour of the day. Bring your worries to Him. Bring your pain, bring everything to Him. He is waiting for you to come to Him. Re-establish communication with Him. This is a call to us all. I am reminding myself! I have let so many things distract me from Christ. When I could of prayed I watched television, or hung out with friends, went onto Facebook, picked up a novel, got lost in my own thoughts……I did everything but spend time with Him. But the bridge has been repaired and Christmas reminds us of this. Will you heed the call? Will you focus on Him, draw near to Him?

As I end I would like to leave you with a statement that really spoke to me from a fellow blogger and friend. She hit the nail on the head when she made the statement. Here it is:

The
world makes us think that presents
and gifts are essential in Christmas
season, but the truth is, Jesus
didn’t come to just give us another
festive season, He came to give us a
life that is full of wholesomeness,
awesomeness and happiness.

Rolain