Try The Spirits

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King James Bible StudyAnd when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, April 19, 2021
Chapters: I Samuel 28-31
Message: Try The Spirits

Hello My Friend,

Yesterday, even with all the issues I had with my computer and not getting the devotional out until late in the night, it was a truly blessed day of the LORD. When I woke up this morning, it was starting out pretty bad, I could not stay focused on one thing for the life of me. I made this huge mistake of using this credit company to help me get some emergency car repairs done back in August, and it has been a nightmare, that was all that was on my mind this morning. I said to God, “I think I need to get into Your Word, that may help me to focus by hearing what You have to say to me, and that I really need to get the devotionals done a day ahead of time so I don’t miss a day again.” That was when God reminded me that all things are in His time, even if they appear late in our time. And a funny thing, I had started yesterday’s devotion with this passage, but then God had me change it at the last minute, but now as I read today’s chapters I see why it is for today, [Luke 10:19-20  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.]

Those spirits, meaning the evil spirits that Satan has lurking about, causing havoc, have no power on God’s anointed because we belong to Christ. Our own spirit can become influenced by them, which is why Jesus said this about what happens to those who have not fully trusted Him as their Saviour, [Matthew 12:43-45  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.  44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.  45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.]

The evil spirits can hinder us, place doubt in our minds, and even trick us into believing that God has forsaken us through our afflictions, in the end, only our faith in Christ will still see us through. As for the lost, they are subject to the power of those evil spirits, and unless they turn to Christ they will overtake them. After David left Israel, and moved over into Philistine territory, Saul did not have his star commander, when the Philistines attacked, he trembled. He was so scared that he tried to call on God.

[I Samuel 28:1-2,5-7  And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.  2  And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever. 5  And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.  6  And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.  7  Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.]

[the LORD answered him not,] All he had to do was repent and then ask God what to do, but instead decided to make matters worse by seeking a physic. Oh, and the woman too would discover something that never happened to her, [I Samuel 28:11-14  Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.  12  And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.  13  And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.  14  And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.]

[I saw gods ascending out of the earth.] This is not Samuel, it is the devil, and he knows just enough about what is going on to convince Saul that he was Samuel. The first clue to knowing that this is not Samuel is knowing that any Godly spirit would never ascended from the earth, which would be hell, We must test all the spirits, and yes, they do exist, and not as we see from some man made vision, [I John 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.]

God permitted the devil to put on Samuel’s shape, then proceeded to speak with Saul, [I Samuel 28:16-20  Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?  17  And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:  18  Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.  19  Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.  20  Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.]

[and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me:] Here is another clue that this was an evil spirit, his sons included Jonathan, who was very faithful to God. Keep in mind that he is telling Saul this grim story, that there was no hope for him or his sons. Samuel would never tell Saul or anyone about God’s judgment without the option to repent. We could wonder why God allowed the devil to do this, but when you think about it, perhaps He was doing this that Saul my fear Him and return to Him in repentance. If people will allow themselves to be deceived by the evil spirits, then it is just with God to let them be deceived. If they refuse to believe the truth, when it is right there in front of them, it is all upon them, and God will give them up to these strong delusions, [II Thessalonians 2:11-12  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:  12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.]

God always places us in the right place at the right time, it was time for Saul to face his battle alone, for years he pursued David over his jealousy, and now he must face the repercussions of his actions. Now, remember, David was over in Philistine territory? The spirits would be tried with him as well, but not like it was with Saul. When the battle began, David was willing to fight against his own people, but when they showed up, the princes of the Philistines refused to let them fight for fear that they would turn on them instead.

[I Samuel 29:4,6-7,11  And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?  6  Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not.  7  Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. 11  So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.]

[So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning,] At the time David could not understand why he was not permitted to fight in the battle, but would soon find out why when they arrived home three days later. [I Samuel 30:1-2,6,8,17,19  And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;  2  And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. 6  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.  8  And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. 17  And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.  19  And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.]

[encouraged himself in the LORD his God.] The first response when our own spirit is tried when something tragic happens is discouragement, especially when we have people attacking us out of grief and anger. Even though David was distressed and grieving himself he sough comfort and answers from God, who encouraged him. We can do all things, but only through our faith and trust in Christ, [Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.]

We will find out that if we trust God, stay close to Him, and have some patience, that everything will fall right into place according to His will, and there is nothing the devil can do to stop it. Now, we learn the sad news of Saul’s fears coming to life when he and three of his sons, including Jonathan were killed. Saul too got struck by an arrow, [I Samuel 31:1-5  Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.  2  And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.  3  And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.  4  Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.  5  And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.]

[and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.] You see, if David had been in that battle, whether he was fighting against Israel or not, I believe the Philistines would have turned on him and he and the rest of his men could have lost his life as well. God kept David from not only witnessing this, but being a part of it, and maybe even sparing his life as well. Saul killed himself for fear that the Philistines would abuse his body, but sadly they did anyway when they found it.

[I Samuel 31:8-13  And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.  9  And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.  10  And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.  11  And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;  12  All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.  13  And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.]

[to publish it in the house of their idols,] What a disgraceful end to what began a glorious, blessed life for Saul, and so many innocent lives were lost as well. It is important for us to understand that the information Saul received from the devil was not accurate and there is only one way to know whether or not it is the devil, and that is to have the living Spirit of God inside of you, [John 3:5-8  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [I Samuel 30:21-23  And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.  22  Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.  23  Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.]

Today’s Prayer: God, I do not always understand where You are taking me, but I do understand that You are right there with me, preparing me for something great. It is the devil that attempts to fill my head with my worst fears and say that it is You doing this. Lord, Lead me and guide me, put Your hedge of protection around me from all evil. Let me not get fooled by the devil’s deception, but keep me grounded in Your Word, mercies, and grace to know the truth and keep me free. Give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, and grace to follow Your path as I wait patiently for You to do Your work in me. Give me Your strength to keep going, a tender heart to remain faithful, and never allowing the devil to convince me that You are not with me. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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