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.

Obey And Live

Obey And Live by Kirk Hunt

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Numbers 21:7-8 NKJV
Please also read Numbers 21:4-9

Not learning enough from Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16), God’s people again spoke against God, and God’s appointed leader. Because of their disobedience and rebellion, God sent “fiery serpents” among them. The cure for the sins of God’s people was an act of submission and obedience.

Moses, at God’s direction, mounted a bronze snake on a pole. Those suffering from snakebite had a simple test: look up and live. God did not remove the serpents, but He provided a way to survive serpent bites. If the people could exercise enough obedience and submission to do as instructed.

The powerless bronze image was a symbol or focus point for a man’s or woman’s obedience and submission. A heart submitted to God would understand the need for confessing sin and obedience. A mind and soul obedient to God’s command would look up and live.

You can choose today. Hearts, obedient and submitted to God, can live. Rebellious and disobedient men and women will suffer and die. Your choices are that stark and clear.

Think: Am I willing to be submitted and obedient to God?

Pray: “Lord, I choose to be submitted and obedient to You.”

Copyright © August 2021, 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.

And Swallowed Them

And Swallowed Them by Kirk Hunt

Now it came to pass, as he [Moses] finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them [the rebels], and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.

Numbers 16:31-32 NKJV
Please read also Numbers 16:1-40

Korah’s rebellion against Moses had a deadly, clear-cut resolution. The dirt beneath the feet of the rebels and mutineers split open, swallowed them, then closed again. The mutineers, their family members, and even their possessions, disappeared in a moment. Please read Numbers 16:1-40 for the complete account.

Why did Korah rebel against Moses? At Jude 1:11, Korah’s rebellion is associated with other notorious sinners and their sins of greed: Cain the brother slayer; Balaam the spiritual sell-sword. Whatever his reasons, Korah, and 250 other men, were destroyed with their families. No one could deny their destruction as a clear move of God. Whatever their motivations, God judged their actions with harsh finality.

There was time between the start of the rebellion and their punishment by God. I believe there was time and opportunity (Numbers 16:16, 23-24) for Korah or his mutineers to repent and receive mercy. Instead of confessing error and sin, the rebels pushed ahead to God’s sovereign judgment.

Often, men and women get minutes, or hours, to confess before God and withdraw from their sin and rebellion. Too often, rebels push ahead to God’s final and very public judgment. In this pause, have you re-considered what you are doing?

Think: Father-God am I in Your will, or am I in rebellion?

Pray: “Lord, help me to be in Your Will and not in rebellion against You.”

Copyright © November 2020, 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 Hears Your Voice

He Hears Your Voice by Kirk Hunt

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.   And he said:

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.”

Jonah 2:1–2 NKJV

Out of the boat and inside the fish, Jonah prayed.  Finally, instead of rebelling, Jonah decided to talk with God.  God had been waiting and listening all along.

Jonah’s naked rebellion could not have been clearer.  God ordered him to walk east to Nineveh.  Jonah sailed west to Tarshish.  A less merciful God could have justly burned Jonah alive on the dock.  God was not obligated to indulge Jonah’s resistance and revolt.

Too often we take our privilege with God for granted.  Men and women respond to God’s commandments and direction with willfulness and defiance.  Then we have the nerve to be surprised and offended when things do not go our way.

Are you ready to speak with God yet?  Are you not tired of your fruitless attempt(s) to flee Him?  Has His discipline not penetrated your willfulness yet?

God patiently waits for you to turn and speak with Him.  Despite it all, He loves you.  No matter what you did or said before, He is waiting for you to come to Him and speak.

Maybe you are angry.  Perhaps you are scared.  You might be confused.  No matter where you are, stop and talk to Father-God.

Like any good father, He is waiting for His beloved child to talk to Him.  The creator of the universe is waiting for you to speak.  Here and now is a perfect time to let Him hear from you.

Think:       When I get tired of my rebellion, God is ready to listen.

Pray:         “Lord, thank you for listening to me.”

 

Copyright © February 2020, 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 Need For Mercy

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The Need For Mercy” By Kirk Hunt

 

So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.

Numbers 12:11 NKJV
(Please read Numbers 12:1 – 10)

 

Aaron and Miriam chose to sin in public, in addition to humiliating their brother, Moses. They knew better. God decided their punishment would be public, humiliating and without mercy.

 

Aaron, the mediator for the people to God, now needed a mediator to God for himself (and his sister). The sibling squabble was now settled, or at least set aside, as Aaron begged his little brother to go to God for mercy.

 

Consider for a moment your family and other close relationships. Who needs your mercy? Whose mercy do you need? Have you not been separated long enough?

 

This was not the first time Moses had been asked to intercede with God for the erring people of Israel. Still, this time he pleaded for elite leadership. This time he pleaded for his closest kin.

 

Someone among your friends, family or yourself, needs mercy. Reach out in love. Speak in humility. Listen with grace. Take, or forget, the blame. Just get the job done.

 

You can create a miracle of reconciliation and restoration with just a little courage. Do what must be done to start the flow of life-giving mercy among you and yours. You are just a call or text away from healing and renewal.

 

Think:             I have the means and ability to give, or receive, mercy. Do I have the courage?

 

Pray:             “Lord, help me to give and receive mercy, especially regarding friends and family.”

 

 

Copyright © April 2015, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is a ministry of https://devotionals.cadremenpress.com.

Miriam’s Judgment

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Miriam’s Judgment By Kirk Hunt

 

So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.

Numbers 12:9–10 NKJV
(Please read Numbers 12:1 – 8)

 

The Shekinah, God’s glory cloud, departed the Tabernacle. The presence of God had left, but His judgment remained. Miriam was completely engulfed in leprosy, a slow, disfiguring and finally deadly, disease. The ancient Hebrews say it as symbolic of sin in the life of men and women.

 

As High Priest, it was Aaron’s job to diagnose lepers, then banish them from any contact with family and friends. Aaron would now have to designate his own sister as unclean and drive her out of the camp. There, on the outside of life as she knew it, Miriam would suffer disfigurement, disability and eventually death.

 

God’s judgment of Aaron and Miriam’s rebellion against Moses had been swift and final. They wanted to dwell in God’s presence, like Moses. They found out, there are more things in God’s presence than mercy and revelation. There is also justice and judgment.

 

Aaron and Miriam were right to seek God’s presence for themselves. They were wrong to seek Him in an attitude of envy and presumption. There are many things in God’s presence. His judgment is not the least part of His presence.

 

Think:             God’s presence is to be sought, but in reverence and humility.

 

Pray:               “Lord, I seek You in humility and reverence. Accept me in grace and mercy.”

 

 

Copyright © April 2015, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is a ministry of https://devotionals.cadremenpress.com.

Stay Afraid

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Stay Afraid By Kirk Hunt

I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?”

Numbers 12:8 NKJV
(Please read Numbers 12:1 – 7)

 

Miriam watched over her baby brother, Moses, in the bulrushes. Moses’s older brother, Aaron the High Priest served as Moses spokesman. Miriam and Aaron were skilled, insightful and anointed of God.  And not afraid to bad-mouth their brother.

 

They should have known better. Moses was the God-selected leader. They let their family spat boil-up into a mutiny against Moses’ God-spoken position and authority.

 

God-chosen leaders are God-chosen leaders. That does not make that man or woman perfect, but God’s authority rests on them. Rebellion against that anointed one is rebellion against God.

 

The Hebrew word for ‘afraid’, yare, can be translated as reverence. Miriam and Aaron lost their reverence for Moses’ position and place in God and before God’s people. They may not have been afraid to disrespect their brother, but they were afraid (not just reverent) to be confronted by God.

 

Should the spiritual leaders in your life live up to their assignments from God? Of course they should. Still, you should approach God’s men and women in light of their anointing by, and appointment from, God. Do not wind up standing before God as a mutineer.

 

Think:             My reverence for God should echo in my respect for His servants.

 

Pray:               “Lord, help my respect for You show in my respect for Your men and women.”

 

Copyright © April 2015, Kirk Hunt

This devotional is a ministry of https://devotionals.cadremenpress.com.