Tag: leader

The Lord Rejected

The Lord Rejected by Kirk Hunt

But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

1 Samuel 15:26 NKJV
Please also read 1 Samuel 15:1-29

King Saul lost his kingship because our Lord God rejected him. God did not consult with anyone, even His great prophet, Samuel. For the record, Saul’s flagrant disobedience and unrepentant lying cost him his crown.

Leaders are men and women who have been selected by God to fulfill God’s purposes in the affairs of men. I cannot imagine nakedly disobeying an explicit, detailed, and direct order from God. Saul could. Saul did.

A Godly leader is not expected to be infallible, but they are expected to obey God’s commandments. To hear from God, and willfully decide to do something else, is not obedience but rebellion. None of Saul’s lies, excuses, or justifications could exempt him from God’s judgment.

There was no coup d’etat. No one, except Saul, staged a mutiny. Saul’s rebellion was against God, pure and simple. The results were predictable.

Men and women, even leaders, are imperfect. God extends grace to our errors, but not our willful rebellion. If you reject God’s commands, you are rejecting God. Look at Saul’s life to see the results of God rejecting you.

Think: If God rejects it, or them, or me, that is final.

Pray: “Lord, help keep me from anything that would cause you to reject me.”

Copyright © February 2022, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.

The Lord Rejected

The Lord Rejected by Kirk Hunt

But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

1 Samuel 15:26 NKJV
Please also read 1 Samuel 15:1-29

King Saul lost his kingship because our Lord God rejected him. God did not consult with anyone, even His great prophet, Samuel. For the record, Saul’s flagrant disobedience and unrepentant lying cost him his crown.

Leaders are men and women who have been selected by God to fulfill God’s purposes in the affairs of men. I cannot imagine nakedly disobeying an explicit, detailed, and direct order from God. Saul could. Saul did.

A Godly leader is not expected to be infallible, but they are expected to obey God’s commandments. To hear from God, and willfully decide to do something else, is not obedience but rebellion. None of Saul’s lies, excuses, or justifications could exempt him from God’s judgment.

There was no coup d’etat. No one, except Saul, staged a mutiny. Saul’s rebellion was against God, pure and simple. The results were predictable.

Men and women, even leaders, are imperfect. God extends grace to our errors, but not our willful rebellion. If you reject God’s commands, you are rejecting God. Look at Saul’s life to see the results of God rejecting you.

Think: If God rejects it, or them, or me, that is final.

Pray: “Lord, help keep me from anything that would cause you to reject me.”

Copyright © February 2022, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.

He Turned And Struck

He Turned And Struck by Kirk Hunt

Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod.

1 Samuel 22:17-18 NKJV
Please also read 1 Samuel 22:1-23

Even if King Saul’s order to kill the priests was lawful, it was clearly immoral. Traditional sources identify Abner and Amasa, loyal captains of King Saul, as the men who refused to kill the priests. Doeg proved himself a despicable henchman when he “turned and struck the priests.”

King Saul, God’s anointed king of Israel, gave an immoral order based on his anger and frustration. Men and women are responsible for the decisions they make as a leader of God’s people. A good leader would have re-thought his orders when loyal men (or women) refused to carry them out.

Any thug or brute can carry out a malicious order. An honorable and righteous soul is most loyal when they protect a leader from all dangers. And sometimes, a leader’s greatest danger is themselves.

Scripture does not record what happened to Doeg. Saul, who gave the order, died a miserable death, surrounded by enemies. A good leader wants good followers. Men and women who are so loyal, they will protect a leader from themselves.

Think: Even if the order is lawful, it may not be moral. Should I carry it out?

Pray: “Lord, help me to minister correctly, despite my orders.”

Copyright © February 2022, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.

Captain Over Them

Captain Over Them by Kirk Hunt

David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

1 Samuel 22:1-2 NKJV
Please also read 1 Samuel 22:1-23

Unjustly accused, and a death warrant issued in his name, David hid in the cave of Adullam. First, his extended family joined him. Then the losers of Israel came. David became a captain or leader to those shunned and despised by everyone else.

With the elite forces of King Saul looking for him, David gained responsibility for the lowest people in Israel. Some would call those same folk liabilities. Deadbeats, troublemakers, and whiners from across Israel came to David for help and support. Instead of a handout, David gave them courage, valor, skill, and expertise.

Perhaps you think your Adullam experience is the end of you. God is instead setting you up for future success. Those sniveling losers need to be transformed into elite champions. And their captain is a king (or queen) in training.

You will have to stay the course. You will train, educate, encourage and discipline men and women everyone else jettisoned. They do not look like much now, but they will be champions after you become God’s captain over them.

Think: God is setting you up as a future king (or queen) by making you a captain now.

Pray: “Lord, help me to minister Your way, in Your Name, here and now.”

Copyright © January 2022, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.