"How God Chooses" Part 1-1 Samuel скачать в хорошем качестве

"How God Chooses" Part 1-1 Samuel

God sometimes chooses Nobodies and turns them into somebodies. This was the case with David. God spoke to Abram calling him to a new life e and promised to bless him. And that through him the world would be blessed. Eventually, God placed Abraham's great-grandson, Joseph, over the land of Egypt. During a severe Famine. And his descendants moved to Egypt. There they multiplied greatly. Then God sent Moses to lead them into a land of their own. Here God gave them law, made them a nation, and was their King. But the Israelites began to drift away from God. He gave the judges to teach and lead them. The last Judge at this time was Samuel. (1 Sam. 8:1-5). The Israelites wanted to be like the nations around them. Perhaps they found it too hard to follow the leadership of an invisible God. So, they wanted an earthly leader, just like their neighbors. They didn't ask God for a king. They demanded that Samuel appoint one. Samuel was displeased and went to pray. 1 Sam. 8:7-9. So, Samuel told them: If I give you a king, you'll be his slaves. But they didn't care. So, God let them have exactly what they wanted. The people's choice was Saul. He was tall & Handsome. That's how people choose. They go for someone who LOOKS good. Saul STARTED out great... He was somewhat humble. he was able to gather an army and win victories against their enemies. But along the way things began to fall apart. Saul proved to be defensive, short-tempered, depressed, envious, and even homicidal. So much for "people's choice". -David was born about 10 years after Saul became King. In a time of drifting away from God, and disappointment in their chosen leader. Saul did not walk with God. This went terribly wrong so, God intervened. During one of Saul's episodes of disobedience & confronted him (1 Sam. 13:13-14). The leader God chose, was David. More is written about David than any other person in the Old Testament. Jesus would be known as "the Son of David." (not "the son of Abraham.") On 2 occasions he is referred to as a "man after God's own heart." But if you remember the life of David, he was human, He made mistakes, he committed sins, he had trouble with his children and had trouble with his subordinates. Why does God choose someone? What Kind of people does God choose and use? See 1 Cor. 1:20-23; 2:1-5. In this Paul was speaking to the Jews and Greeks. They had different opinions about choosing. Jews looked for miracles to prove they were blessed by God. Greeks tended to look at appearance, style and speaking skills. Verses 26-29 shows how God Chooses. We are like the Greeks. We like impressive people. We like people we can admire. We are swayed by things that are cause for human boasting. We want smart, beautiful people. We want successful people We are much obsessed by the superficial. But that's NOT the way God makes His choices. When God is looking over the earth for potential leaders and vessels He can use, He is not looking the way we would look. He doesn't start with perfect people. He is looking for certain qualities. Qualities He found in David. 1- He looks for men& Women after His own heart. Do you want your life to be in agreement with the will & heart of God? Is what is important to God, important to you? When God says, "get rid of this from your life" do you do it? Do you do what He says is right, and refuse to do what He says is wrong? Do you honestly come to terms with yourself because you have a heart for God? 2 Chron. 16:9 shoes he is looking for those whose hearts are completely His. No locked doors in their hearts. Admit when they do wrong, & stop doing it. Grieved over wrong, concerned about the things that displease God. Having right motives. 2- Humility 1 Sam. 16:1. David had a servant's heart. He faithfully kept his father's sheep. (Psalm 78:70-72 & 89:20) God doesn't look for slick public images. He looks for someone with character. God provides the image. God doesn't look for Charisma, size or impressive track records. he cares about character. integrity. Genuineness. is a person real, or are they faking it? A servant doesn't care about the glory. Their goal is to make the person they serve look good. 3- Integrity (Psalm 78:20) Integrity - to be complete, whole, innocent, having simplicity of life, wholesome, sound, unimpaired. Integrity is what you are when no one is looking. Being real and honest. God is not impressed with externals. He cares about the inside. Perhaps if you lived back then, you would have wondered why God chose a shepherd boy to be a king, or doubted Jesus' wisdom in choosing zealots, tax collectors and fishermen to be the first leaders of His church. Maybe you think He can't choose you. You have to be somebody first. If you say yes to God. he will train you for His use. As He did with Moses, David, Peter, Paul, Timothy, and many others. By: Dr. Rev. Robin Riggs for 6/1/97- Allegan Church of God. Allegan, Michigan. Adapted from C. Swindoll