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Samuel Anoints David
Discover the importance of character in your walk with God as we study Samuel anointing David. This message unpacks why God values what is unseen, how humility and integrity are tested in ordinary days, and how your reactions in disappointment reveal your true heart.
Get inspired to defend others, seek daily renewal in Christ, and let your actions in private align with your public witness.
Scriptures Referenced
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Proverbs 19:17; Isaiah 5:2-3; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 5:3; Galatians 5:22-23
Key Insights
- Character is who you really are.
- Sometimes position and title are the genesis of a downfall.
- Your actions and reactions are your responsibility.
- How you leave a season is probably more important than how you start it.
- God’s plan is bigger than our greatest disappointments.
- God prioritizes relationship over resume.
- The most important season is the waiting.
- Enjoy the gift of ordinary days.
- What we cultivate in private will eventually manifest itself in public.
Prayer Targets
Please join us in prayer for:
- A hunger for the Word.
- Tears for the lost.
- Testimonies to share.
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We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.
Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
Additional Resources
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- Find out what ministries we support.
- Discover Springhouse Theatre Company
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Transcript
Well, good morning Spring House, and good morning to those joining
Speaker:us online. We're glad that you're joining us. You know I was saying in
Speaker:the early gathering, I'm so grateful for a church who
Speaker:does, consider those in need. It's so wonderful
Speaker:and supernatural really to see how the Lord blesses and uses
Speaker:the dollars for a need, people in need and how he stretches
Speaker:those funds for people who really are indeed in
Speaker:need. And so I just wanna thank you guys for your generosity, your
Speaker:intentionality in remembering that. The word
Speaker:tells us that when we give to the poor, we lend
Speaker:to the Lord, and I believe God
Speaker:is, He just so knows how to use
Speaker:the resources coming in in such a powerful way, in a way better than we
Speaker:could even imagine. And so thank you guys for, being
Speaker:intentional with that. Before we get going here, just
Speaker:a couple of things. We are in summer, believe it or
Speaker:not. It's here. And, and so we are not going
Speaker:to have midweek gatherings in the summer. We typically take
Speaker:the summer off in our traditional, scheduling on
Speaker:Thursday night, so in the month of June and July we will not have our
Speaker:traditional midweek gathering, but I do encourage you to continue to be
Speaker:plugged in to the ministries at the church. Pursuit's got
Speaker:a homeroom derby coming up, Bloom is gonna continue to meet,
Speaker:the youth and the young adult groups are also meeting throughout the
Speaker:summer, Evergreen, Everlast. So get on the, app and
Speaker:find out their regimen schedule and plug in that way, but
Speaker:we will not have our regular Thursday night gatherings until
Speaker:August. Okay? And so, no midweek, gatherings, and that starts this
Speaker:week. Okay? So welcome, Summer, and, we're still
Speaker:gonna be plugged into the family, amen? Alright, today we
Speaker:are going to talk about the story where Samuel anoints
Speaker:David in First Samuel chapter 16, and we are gonna
Speaker:read the entire story. So would you
Speaker:stand with me this morning?
Speaker:And we're gonna read it with some gusto. Are we are we ready?
Speaker:Kelsey, you ready to read? Alright. Here we go. I'm glad
Speaker:you're here today. The Lord said to
Speaker:Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul
Speaker:since I have rejected him as king over Israel?
Speaker:Fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I
Speaker:am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have
Speaker:chosen one of his sons to be king. But
Speaker:Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears
Speaker:about it, he will kill me. The Lord said, take a
Speaker:heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice
Speaker:to the Lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice
Speaker:and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint
Speaker:for me the one I indicate. Samuel did
Speaker:what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the
Speaker:elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked,
Speaker:do you come in peace? Samuel replied, yes
Speaker:in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
Speaker:Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.
Speaker:Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to
Speaker:the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw
Speaker:Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed stands
Speaker:here before the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel,
Speaker:do not consider his appearance or his height, for I
Speaker:have rejected him.
Speaker:Heart. Then Jesse called the Benedab and had him
Speaker:pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, the Lord
Speaker:has not chosen this one either. Jesse had
Speaker:Shema pass by and Samuel said, nor has the Lord
Speaker:chosen this one. Jesse had seven of his sons
Speaker:pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, the Lord
Speaker:has not chosen these. So he asked Jesse, are
Speaker:these all the sons you have? There is still the youngest,
Speaker:Jesse answered. He is tending the sheep. Samuel
Speaker:said, send for him, we will not sit down until he
Speaker:arrives. So he sent for them and had him brought
Speaker:in. He was glowing with health and had fine appearance
Speaker:and handsome features. Then the Lord said, rise
Speaker:and anoint him. This is the one. So Samuel took
Speaker:the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his
Speaker:brothers. And from that day, the spirit of the Lord
Speaker:came powerfully upon David. Father, I thank you for your word and it's
Speaker:transformed to truth. I pray Lord that you would anoint us today to
Speaker:be recipients of your truth and transform us for eternity
Speaker:today. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.
Speaker:Have you ever purchased something online on the
Speaker:internet and what you thought you were getting
Speaker:on the screen didn't quite pan out or look like
Speaker:what arrived on your porch? Has that ever
Speaker:angered anybody? Anybody suffered any frustration?
Speaker:I get sucked in sometimes to these schemes, especially when I'm scrolling
Speaker:through social media, Justin, that say, hey, buy this for $9. And
Speaker:it comes in and it's a medium, you know, and I thought it was a
Speaker:large or extra large and, you know, and you know,
Speaker:sometimes when we're we're looking at things on the outside, it doesn't
Speaker:necessarily match what's on the inside. You know, sometimes you might go to the store
Speaker:and buy a can of Pringles hoping to pop till you can't stop
Speaker:and, you open them up looking to enjoy a Pringle,
Speaker:but whenever you dig in, all of a sudden you got a lucky charms.
Speaker:And you're like, what is this? Lucky charms? Lucky charm. Now
Speaker:Ruby would be very excited about this.
Speaker:Sometimes what's happening on the outside
Speaker:isn't indicative of what reality is on the inside.
Speaker:And we blindly go through life often
Speaker:making sacrifices, purchases, giving ourselves
Speaker:to people, things, entities, what be it, that has
Speaker:an
Speaker:marketed or cracked up to be. Is that true? Is that
Speaker:true? We're talking about the greatest
Speaker:stories ever told. And part of the part of the the
Speaker:greatest story ever told as we are a part of the greatest story ever told
Speaker:is that we have this human element in us, within
Speaker:us that says, hey we are growing from the
Speaker:inside out. But also often especially for
Speaker:those who struggle with any type of pride or anything like that we
Speaker:like to try to manifest on the outside things that don't really
Speaker:aren't really happening on the inside. See here's the thing, what we see on
Speaker:the outside should match what's on the inside. What
Speaker:we see on the outside should match what's on the inside and if we're honest
Speaker:with ourselves sometimes what we portray on the outside isn't
Speaker:what's really happening on the inside. Perhaps you've met met
Speaker:someone, gotten in connection or relationship with someone and
Speaker:if you're really close to someone you get a chance to really see
Speaker:who they are. Today, this morning, we're gonna talk about something real
Speaker:important. It's we're gonna talk about character this morning. Character.
Speaker:I like to portray different characters
Speaker:from the stage. Anybody ever been in a show before?
Speaker:Okay. Been in a theater or a show or a play? You know one of
Speaker:the neat things about that is you get to take on the persona of a
Speaker:character that's not you And you get to display
Speaker:attributes, you get to study the character, you get to pretend
Speaker:as if you are somebody that you're not. But here's the problem,
Speaker:many times we take up characters and we use those characters
Speaker:and manifest those characters in our everyday life. And we
Speaker:think that we're fooling the people around us, but we ain't really
Speaker:fooling anybody. I love that the
Speaker:Lord gives us examples of figures in scripture who
Speaker:are human. Can you imagine if scripture was full of
Speaker:perfection? It was here is one person after the other
Speaker:doing the right thing all of the time. Boy, I think
Speaker:a lot of us would probably run, wouldn't want anything to do with Jesus because
Speaker:we just couldn't measure up. Well the truth of the matter is we can't measure
Speaker:up. We can't measure up nor could any of these predominant figures
Speaker:in scripture. They couldn't measure up either. They needed a
Speaker:sovereign God. We need a Jesus in his blood. We need a
Speaker:Jesus in his blood. We're gonna work with this simple definition of character. Character
Speaker:is who you really are.
Speaker:Character is who you really
Speaker:really are. The closer you get to people, the more you
Speaker:see who they really are. The people people closest
Speaker:to you should be able to defend your
Speaker:character. I think probably for most of us in the room the
Speaker:closest relationship we have is that one with our spouse. And
Speaker:maybe, maybe, just maybe, the person that walked down the aisle and
Speaker:gave you their vows, you found out some things about them in the first few
Speaker:weeks. Like they left their their cap off of the toothpaste or they
Speaker:weren't as clean as you thought they were gonna be or they handle situations
Speaker:because it's different whenever you're spending chosen time with somebody as opposed
Speaker:to spending all your time with somebody. They get to see the good,
Speaker:bad, and the ugly. When you're in that courtship relationship, you're bringing out the best.
Speaker:You're putting on the best labels, you're putting on the best things and all of
Speaker:that stuff, but boy when you start living with somebody you really really
Speaker:get to get to know them. But character
Speaker:should be something in our life that could be easily defended
Speaker:in the in the in in the right circles. You see, sometimes we
Speaker:get in circles of people and people get to talking and all of
Speaker:a sudden you start to hear some things about somebody who's not present in the
Speaker:circle, but you've got the insight and the data
Speaker:to the care as to the character of that person. And might I suggest
Speaker:that God has placed you in that environment to open your
Speaker:mouth and defend the character of the person that you know.
Speaker:We have often said here that love is my name protected in
Speaker:your mouth. Well, love is being able to recognize somebody's character and
Speaker:speak to it and defend it. Not that people are perfect.
Speaker:Not that people are perfect, but being able to stand up and say, I
Speaker:don't know that what you're saying or trying to say here is absolutely true. Let's
Speaker:get that person involved. Let's get that person
Speaker:involved in in the mix. I want to have a reputable
Speaker:character that can be defended and that should be a desire of all of ours.
Speaker:That we would have a character not a perfection but man, I sure do believe
Speaker:that when he makes a mistake he admits it and he apologizes or he asks
Speaker:for forgiveness or I have seen consistency and change in
Speaker:his life. Whenever somebody accuses him of something he
Speaker:actually leans in and says I want to try to dig in and figure out
Speaker:whether or not this is true or not true or how I can grow from
Speaker:that. That should be the story of every growing Christian
Speaker:in the room. And I believe that this is the number one
Speaker:reason people in leadership don't get close to people.
Speaker:One of the things that was told of me when I was getting into this
Speaker:role as pastor is somebody said to me you're not allowed to have any close
Speaker:friends. And I kind of scratched my head about that
Speaker:and getting being in it now for a while I understand why people
Speaker:would think that, why people would get in that, that mindset
Speaker:as as leaders because if you're a leader of any sort you sometimes,
Speaker:especially if you're on the platform, you live in a glass house. You live where
Speaker:everybody gets to see everything and they get to form opinions about what you're saying,
Speaker:what you're doing, how you're living, all of the different things. But my
Speaker:hope and my prayer for my life and for the leaders here at this church
Speaker:and the leaders that you follow out in the world is that their character, what's
Speaker:happening on the inside matches what's happening on the inside
Speaker:and the outside. We we tend to judge character or what's on the
Speaker:inside based on the packaging.
Speaker:Or what's protected on the outside. Sometimes we'll even judge
Speaker:the character of a person based on someone's description of the
Speaker:outside as opposed to really getting to
Speaker:know the person at all, inside or out. And
Speaker:so this guy named Samuel, he didn't just
Speaker:arrive on the scene. Pastor Ronnie talked about Samuel last week and Saul,
Speaker:And this is the part of the story where Saul's kingdom has been taken from
Speaker:him. Because of choices that Saul made, because of
Speaker:his character, the Lord had to
Speaker:remove the kingdom from Saul and
Speaker:Samuel, we're introduced to Samuel and how we're introduced in this chapter it
Speaker:says that Samuel is mourning. He is grieving
Speaker:over the loss of the kingdom out of Saul's hands. He's grieving. He's
Speaker:mourning Saul. Now this tells me something very
Speaker:interesting. This tells me that if Samuel is mourning or
Speaker:grieving Saul, it tells me how it ended with Saul was not how it began
Speaker:with Saul. How it ended with Saul is not how it
Speaker:began with Saul. God did choose Saul to be king.
Speaker:Samuel recognized Saul as the king
Speaker:of the Israelites, but Saul
Speaker:began to make some other choices. You see here's the thing,
Speaker:sometimes position and title is the genesis of a
Speaker:downfall. Sometimes position and
Speaker:title is the genesis of a downfall. I've seen a
Speaker:number of people change and evolve
Speaker:with their position and end up somebody totally different by the end
Speaker:of their tenure. This is why it
Speaker:is paramount in any position of leadership or anything God has given
Speaker:you to do that you hold it like this.
Speaker:Sometimes our fingers start to coral in just a little bit, just a little bit.
Speaker:We start to we start to form an identity
Speaker:around the positions and the things that we have. And all of
Speaker:a sudden what happens, the reason our character
Speaker:is called into question is because our identity is coming from
Speaker:a position and a title as opposed to the one who created
Speaker:us. And when that becomes the case, the Lord begins to say
Speaker:it's time for you to move on. Saul, you no longer can have the kingdom.
Speaker:You can no longer have the kingdom because what I say, says the
Speaker:Lord, is of less importance than what you think and what you're
Speaker:doing. And so Saul had to render
Speaker:render the kingdom. Even when something is taken away from
Speaker:you, have you ever been in a situation where you felt like a position or
Speaker:a title or something you've been given was unjustly
Speaker:taken from you? It was removed from you. Have Have you ever been
Speaker:in a situation where you thought this situation is not just, it's
Speaker:not right, and it makes you feel a certain sort of way.
Speaker:Can I tell you? Even in those circumstances your
Speaker:actions and your reactions are your responsibility.
Speaker:Your actions and your reactions in those unjust
Speaker:moments are your responsibility and have everything to
Speaker:do with your character. Because see here's the thing
Speaker:while some of us wreak havoc in the midst of
Speaker:an unjust situation all you're doing is really
Speaker:illuminating the fact that you shouldn't be in the position in the first place.
Speaker:We had a situation a little while back at our school
Speaker:where we discovered something about someone, that wasn't in
Speaker:keeping with our values at the school and that person had to be terminated.
Speaker:And so in that termination, which is never
Speaker:an easy thing, that termination, but that termination happened and
Speaker:months later months later the leader who terminated that
Speaker:person received this text message.
Speaker:Good morning. I Just want to let you know that I really appreciate you
Speaker:for sitting me down and talking to me. I have quit
Speaker:smoking and it's forced me to deal with things that I've been avoiding for
Speaker:years. I honestly didn't think that I would ever could
Speaker:never not depend on marijuana, but I've recently decided that
Speaker:I've got to give it to the most high and heal one day at a
Speaker:time. I love you so much for your kindness. This
Speaker:is to the person who fired her. Thank you for
Speaker:your kindness. I pray that the creator blesses you so much. Thank you
Speaker:again for not condemning me but helping me realize I had
Speaker:a problem. I love you.
Speaker:I love you. Can I tell you how you leave a
Speaker:thing is probably more important than the way that you started the
Speaker:thing? You can redefine
Speaker:your entire whatever it is, organization, ministry,
Speaker:timeline in the last few months by what you say and what you do. You
Speaker:can redefine and overshadow any of the good things you do based
Speaker:on how you leave, how you exit.
Speaker:You want to leave the seasons God's placed you in better than
Speaker:you started. It is a test of character.
Speaker:It is a test of your pride. It is your test of laying down
Speaker:the things that you want, your selfishness because the enemy wants
Speaker:to cause division, the enemy wants to cause confusion, the enemy
Speaker:wants you to react out of your flesh. Can I tell you the world cares
Speaker:less about character? The world is a dog eat dog world
Speaker:and wants you to climb a ladder and it doesn't matter who you hit on
Speaker:the way up as long as you get there.
Speaker:But in the kingdom, the kingdom will say I want you to sacrifice the
Speaker:position that the world is dangling in front of you and operate with
Speaker:integrity and character and then God comes in and he does something
Speaker:supernatural, exceptional, extraordinary beyond your wildest dreams with
Speaker:you.
Speaker:Samuel could have lived in the state of grief. He could have
Speaker:stayed there. He actually could have operated out of insecurity. Why is that?
Speaker:Samuel was the mouthpiece in the face of in the face of the Lord. He
Speaker:was the one that went to all of Israel and said Saul is your
Speaker:king. And then Saul did what he
Speaker:did and now he's not. Why do you think that made Samuel feel?
Speaker:Man, what are they thinking about me? What is Israel thinking about?
Speaker:What what are the what are the people I've gotta go back and Lord you
Speaker:wanna use me? He could have lived in the place of grief but
Speaker:he chose to listen to the Lord instead. Can I tell
Speaker:you this? God's plan is bigger than our disappointments.
Speaker:God's plan is always bigger than our greatest
Speaker:disappointments. I remember I have been a part
Speaker:of three youth transitions here at the church. And I'm one of
Speaker:them, and I'm not gonna go into the story, but I'm one of the youth
Speaker:transitions in this church. It was one of the greatest joys for
Speaker:me to step into the youth and it also launched my deepest
Speaker:pain because overnight I lost my best friend.
Speaker:Have you ever lost a best friend? Ever suffered a
Speaker:hurt, a deep hurt of somebody one day being there
Speaker:and the next day it's like they're gone? There's
Speaker:very few pains especially if you're actually heart connected to a person
Speaker:than to lose a relationship.
Speaker:And as I look back on that season many many years ago, as I look
Speaker:back on that season and I evaluate my choices and the
Speaker:decisions and why I chose, it emphatically 100%
Speaker:was the Lord. But it would have been so easy
Speaker:in that moment for me to lean into how I felt. It would have been
Speaker:so easy for me to look at what I was losing and not pay any
Speaker:attention to the God in the moment even though I couldn't see what was going
Speaker:to be down the pike that I would gain. There was an
Speaker:authority in my life, somebody that I looked at and I said to them I
Speaker:trust the God inside you. Can I tell you if you are
Speaker:in a confusing season, God is not the author of confusion?
Speaker:He will bring along people in your life who hold authority in your life and
Speaker:they may say something to you that you don't like,
Speaker:But as they render that truth it will give you direction,
Speaker:sound direction and I remember that moment telling the person in my
Speaker:life that said I want you to do this transition saying I trust the
Speaker:God inside you. And it meant me
Speaker:sacrificing my best friend. Didn't know it at the moment, but it's what
Speaker:happened.
Speaker:God's plan is bigger than our disappointments. Saul goes out
Speaker:and meets with Jesse and invites he and his sons
Speaker:to this sacrifice and they're all there and he invites the
Speaker:sons and here comes Eliab. Now,
Speaker:Eliab's got that thousand watt smile. He's
Speaker:tall, he's handsome, he's rugged, and he's I mean he's the deal. He's
Speaker:the person that he walks in the room and goes, I'm a follow that person.
Speaker:I don't even know their name. I'm following that guy. Right? He is I mean
Speaker:he is all that and a bag of potato chips. He has got it going
Speaker:on, and he walks up and he struts in there and Samuel
Speaker:even, the the one who is hearing from the Lord, he even says
Speaker:this surely the Lord's anointed stands here
Speaker:before the Lord. Surely the Lord's anointed
Speaker:stands here before the Lord. Can I tell you just because you look like
Speaker:a king on the outside doesn't mean you carry the heart of a king on
Speaker:the inside? And if you read the
Speaker:story later about Eliab, you'll find out that he is arrogant
Speaker:and does not trust the Lord. He might look the part but his
Speaker:heart wasn't in it. It's not the one God chose.
Speaker:See we send this We tend to see Eliabs in our life
Speaker:and we make rushed and rash decisions based on what we see on the
Speaker:surface. We sometimes vote this way.
Speaker:We will follow leaders and celebrities this way. We
Speaker:sometimes will even marry this way.
Speaker:This must be the obvious choice. Look
Speaker:at all the external reasons. This must be the obvious
Speaker:choice. When the elders were gathering together to select the
Speaker:pastor after Ronnie whenever I was in the queue or whatnot, you know, the eldership,
Speaker:they were looking for a strong, mighty,
Speaker:warrior, valiant person that could come in and
Speaker:just really lead with strength and and so
Speaker:I sent them my resume and my picture and they saw this and said
Speaker:surely the Lord's anointed stands
Speaker:before the Lord.
Speaker:The minute they saw that photo, it was a shoo in yes. This is
Speaker:our next pastor.
Speaker:Mighty, warrior, strong. I mean, just look at that. We
Speaker:don't need to see anything else. He's strong and mighty.
Speaker:You don't wanna really see what's under here. The
Speaker:Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward
Speaker:appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Speaker:The Lord looks at the heart. The heart.
Speaker:I wish I could stand before you and say my heart's so pure.
Speaker:I wish I could stand before you and say my heart is just, it's great.
Speaker:That's what Jeremiah tells us. The heart is deceitful
Speaker:above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Speaker:I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind to reward each person according
Speaker:to their conduct according to what their deeds deserve.
Speaker:My goodness. I wish I
Speaker:could say I have a heart as your pastor who's totally pure,
Speaker:but even in my best days I'm fearful,
Speaker:judgmental, unkind, selfish,
Speaker:unforgiving, willing to bend the rules to get out of a
Speaker:jam.
Speaker:The heart is deceitful above all things. And this is
Speaker:why we need the blood of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Because every single morning when we wake up, we are
Speaker:nothing more than a filthy rag. Even
Speaker:in our best days, a filthy rag. But
Speaker:here's the thing, the blood of Jesus Christ
Speaker:covers every single misstep.
Speaker:Every single sin, every single thing that we do that's not in
Speaker:keeping with the will of God, the blood of Jesus covers.
Speaker:And we keep coming back over and over and over
Speaker:and over again. And can I tell you don't let anybody fool you
Speaker:that they're not coming back over and over and over again? The minute somebody
Speaker:says I've been there enough, I don't gotta do that anymore is the moment that
Speaker:they feel like the blood is not sufficient enough for them.
Speaker:The blood of Christ is sufficient and you can go
Speaker:daily. You must go daily. You must go daily.
Speaker:His his blood must cover us
Speaker:so that we can take the next step of righteousness, so that we can
Speaker:take the next step of faith, so that we can be in good standing with
Speaker:the Lord and so that our character is not compromised to a
Speaker:dying world who needs to see a Jesus, who needs to see authentic
Speaker:real Jesus living out in our life. You see here's the
Speaker:thing, it doesn't always feel good.
Speaker:It doesn't always feel good.
Speaker:A heart that's being transformed is a heart that's
Speaker:in constant connection with God. In other words, God prioritizes
Speaker:relationship over resume. He
Speaker:prioritizes the relationship over
Speaker:resume. Are you connected to this king? What is your
Speaker:relationship with the God of the universe? Let me tell you
Speaker:some of you don't have an active relationship with God because you
Speaker:feel like you've messed up and fouled up so much that the God of the
Speaker:universe you can't get close to him. And so you come in here on
Speaker:Sunday to get your temporary fix and praise on feeling worse than
Speaker:you did when you came in because you own, you're walking in shame and guilt
Speaker:and then you leave here and you just keep doing the same things over and
Speaker:over and over again. Can I tell you the grace of God can meet you
Speaker:this morning and change everything? Can I tell you that there are
Speaker:testimonies in this house where last week I was a druggie, but this
Speaker:week the Lord set me free? There's testimonies in this house where
Speaker:this week we were not reconciled, but this week supernatural divine
Speaker:forgiveness walked into the picture. The God of the universe will step
Speaker:right into your situation and change everything. That's why he's not split the sky
Speaker:yet. The blood of Christ is sufficient. He wants
Speaker:to reconcile first us to him, but then us to each other. There are
Speaker:things in our lives that we need to get cleaned up because our
Speaker:character is at stake. Why is our character important? Because a dying
Speaker:world's looking at us and they need to see Jesus.
Speaker:They need to see Jesus and guys can I tell you the outpouring of Kevin
Speaker:is not Jesus? If I can give you, I can give you about
Speaker:this much of me and it will be kind and it will be loving, it
Speaker:will be all this, but there comes a point where that line and it's got
Speaker:to default into the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in my life
Speaker:or you're just gonna get filthy rags. And it's gonna smell like filthy rags.
Speaker:I can parade it. I can put a slap of Christian on my shirt. I
Speaker:can look like it all day long, but it's not gonna be anything of Him.
Speaker:I need the Holy Spirit. He prioritizes relationship.
Speaker:How do I how am I able to render forgiveness in a
Speaker:situation where I don't feel like they should be forgiven? How do I render these
Speaker:types of things? I've got to be in relationship, daily constant relationship
Speaker:with the Lord. With the Lord.
Speaker:Yesterday's yesterday's covering isn't enough. I need a new one
Speaker:today. Yesterday's drink, you know sometimes I wake up in the morning I'm
Speaker:parched and I'm thirsty and I've got yesterday's cup of water sitting on my on
Speaker:my thing and I take a drink. It just doesn't taste the same. It's not
Speaker:fresh. I need a fresh touch from the Lord every day.
Speaker:Well, I wait until 9PM at night to do my devotional reading. Well, I hate
Speaker:to see what's going on from eight in the morning to 9PM with you. I
Speaker:gotta wake up in the morning because I'm stubbing my toe on the way to
Speaker:the bathroom and there are things that fly out of my mouth.
Speaker:And I want it to be thank you Jesus.
Speaker:And so Samuel asked this question. He goes through all Eliab comes,
Speaker:all the other kids all the other kids come and they walk through and none
Speaker:of them are chosen and Samuel asked this question, are these
Speaker:all the sons you have? Are these all this I I think
Speaker:this is a this is a funny question to me, but first before I go
Speaker:to the funny, let me tell you what's happening here. Characters being
Speaker:tested in Samuel and in Jesse.
Speaker:Number one, Samuel. He has seven sons in front of him.
Speaker:He's been tasked to identify the one who's gonna be king
Speaker:and the op the options are the seven in front of him. It would have
Speaker:been so easy for Samuel to say well, I guess I've missed it. I've gotta
Speaker:pick one of these. Eliab, you must be the one. But
Speaker:can I tell you, Samuel had a relationship
Speaker:with the God of the universe? He knew what his voice
Speaker:sounded like and knew that none of these seven, even though he said
Speaker:it's gonna be a son of Jesse, none of these were it. And it caused
Speaker:him to ask the question, are you sure all of the sons are here?
Speaker:Jesse, proud dad, marches his kids, Eliab's
Speaker:right out of the gate. He just said, no, I don't got
Speaker:any other sons. These these are the ones you
Speaker:need to choose from. But he said, yes. There is
Speaker:one more. He's out in the field tending
Speaker:sheep. I find this question to be funny
Speaker:because Samuel then says, alright. You didn't bring him here the first
Speaker:time. We're gonna stand until he comes. I think that that's
Speaker:funny. A few weeks ago, we had a service and I don't know if you
Speaker:noticed, it was like the aerobic service with everybody stand and sit and stand and
Speaker:sit and stand and sit. Have you ever been a part of a service like
Speaker:that? Yes, pastor. It happens quite frequently here. Yes, I understand.
Speaker:They're standing. He said we're not gonna sit until he comes.
Speaker:In other words, hasten. Let's go. Let's bring
Speaker:him on.
Speaker:And so David comes and he is anointed.
Speaker:He is anointed to be king. He is told you are
Speaker:the next king of Israel. He knows it. It's not something
Speaker:that has to be mystically discerned. He knows.
Speaker:You are it. You are God's chosen man.
Speaker:And then the story stops.
Speaker:They grabbed David and put a crown on him and row him and put him
Speaker:on the seat and just start worshiping. No. The story stops. You are the
Speaker:king. Now get back to the field. You are
Speaker:the king. Now continue doing what you've been doing.
Speaker:Can I tell you anointing is like the
Speaker:seed, character is the soil?
Speaker:If the seeds not nurtured in good soil, it does not produce good
Speaker:fruit. Let me give you another analogy. Anointing is your wedding
Speaker:day. Character is your marriage.
Speaker:Character is your marriage.
Speaker:I want you to understand that what happens
Speaker:next is everything. The story
Speaker:stops at verse 13 but life doesn't stop.
Speaker:This extraordinary moment is met following
Speaker:fifteen years of a lot of ordinary moments.
Speaker:Lots of ordinary days. Character development is
Speaker:happening. Character development is happening
Speaker:in David before he gets the position for fifteen
Speaker:years. Guys, we can't wait thirty seconds on a cup of coffee.
Speaker:And some of you are willing to throw in the towel because you feel you
Speaker:you you feel you deserve a position, you feel like you deserve the title, you
Speaker:feel like you're supposed to be moving in there, somebody has usurped it and you
Speaker:go God I've been waiting for I've been waiting for three days God, I don't
Speaker:understand why you're doing that. I've been waiting for three years God. I've been waiting
Speaker:for thirteen years God.
Speaker:Can I tell you the most important season that you will be in is
Speaker:in that waiting room season? Because
Speaker:when you get into the position and you have to start putting that into action
Speaker:it needs to be the outflow of the Holy Spirit not you at all anyway.
Speaker:You are wrestling with the Lord. I've I've gone to recently have had to
Speaker:go to doctor's appointments. Can I tell you? I don't understand why they schedule you
Speaker:at the doctor's office for 11:30, make you come in at 09:00 and sit
Speaker:there two and a half hours in the waiting room looking at magazines.
Speaker:It's a test of my character. I'm a tell you right now.
Speaker:Patience. Patience. And then when somebody else comes in after you and they get
Speaker:seen before you. Oh, Jesus.
Speaker:The word says that the spirit of the Lord fell on David. Who else did
Speaker:the spirit of the Lord fall on in the new testament? It fell on Jesus
Speaker:and what happens immediately following? He gets tested in the
Speaker:wilderness. He gets tested
Speaker:Landon, you're starting a new thing. Is that what I understand? Start a new business?
Speaker:Is that what you said today? Okay, guess what? You're you're being tested.
Speaker:And guess what? Here's here's the thing. You said I know I was supposed to
Speaker:do it. Well guess what? If God chooses not to give you the check,
Speaker:chooses not to bless you in the next season, chooses not to do that, do
Speaker:you know that you're still called? That's the test. That's the real truth.
Speaker:And guess what? He's putting you all through this. Why? Because he you are
Speaker:not a doubter. You call yourself a doubter. That's not what he calls you. And
Speaker:the more you keep confessing that out of your life, you're gonna get to get
Speaker:tested in over and over and over again. That's not who you
Speaker:are. I know that's not who you are. You begin to own that truth as
Speaker:as well. He's testing you. He's testing you. You're
Speaker:in the waiting room. Get ready. And he's gonna bust the doors open. He's
Speaker:gonna bust the doors open.
Speaker:When Margaret Meek passed away many years ago,
Speaker:Arwen Jones got up and she did a speech, and one of the things she
Speaker:said that always stuck with me was enjoy the gift of ordinary days. And within
Speaker:that week, I was mourning, I was grieving, and I went to a store and
Speaker:I saw this planter here, and I had to pick it up. I thought the
Speaker:Holy Spirit led me right to it, and I had it for a while in
Speaker:my face every day. Enjoy the gift of ordinary days. Guys,
Speaker:God rarely, rarely is looking to
Speaker:curb your character in those extraordinary moments. It is in
Speaker:that ordinary, mundane, stubbing
Speaker:your toe moment, getting cut off the road moment of
Speaker:your life, going into work, going to bed, eating, all of
Speaker:these relationship, he is cultivating your character
Speaker:in these ordinary moments. And in these
Speaker:ordinary moments, and this is a misperception when it comes to Christianity,
Speaker:in those ordinary moments there is going to be suffering.
Speaker:There is going to be suffering in these ordinary moments.
Speaker:For those who I'm so sorry that you were introduced to a Christ that
Speaker:you thought went to the cross so that you can have the best life here
Speaker:on earth. Guess what? He gives us the most important things
Speaker:such as peace, passing, understanding. He does some things to
Speaker:it for us that are excellent, but let me tell you he did not die
Speaker:on the cross so that you could climb the corporate ladder and become the big
Speaker:CEO.
Speaker:We suffer for him. We rejoice in our suffering, Paul says, because we know that
Speaker:suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character,
Speaker:hope. I hate this phrase or
Speaker:this quote that I learned from AW Tozer this week because it's so true,
Speaker:but I just can't stand it. When God wants
Speaker:to use someone greatly, he first hurts them deeply.
Speaker:God, break me. Because in order for you to use me, I
Speaker:gotta look like you and I don't look like you right now.
Speaker:Can I tell you that what we cultivate in private will eventually manifest
Speaker:itself in public? Come on out worship
Speaker:team. What we cultivate in private will eventually manifest
Speaker:itself in public. And this is why
Speaker:character is so important. I went to Alabama this
Speaker:week with my family. My kids love the beach. I don't really like the beach,
Speaker:but I went. And, have you ever been in a car ride with your
Speaker:kids and your kids are telling you how to drive?
Speaker:Have you ever been in a car ride and your spouse is telling you how
Speaker:to drive? Have you ever been frustrated
Speaker:by these comments of back seat and side seat drivers?
Speaker:Well, this happens, you know, I'm the I'm the world's greatest driver and this
Speaker:happens quite frequently
Speaker:in in my car where my people
Speaker:are sharing their opinions about
Speaker:my driving. Well,
Speaker:on the way back from Alabama, I was ready to get home.
Speaker:And I had a little blue light
Speaker:special. I got pulled over and, I got a
Speaker:ticket on the way home. And,
Speaker:the police officer, you know, puts his head in the window and we talked for
Speaker:a minute and he says, man, I would hate for something to happen to those
Speaker:four precious girls back there. I go,
Speaker:Yeah. I drive to the gas station right after
Speaker:that, and we get to the gas station and I
Speaker:look in the rear view mirror and I see see Adasa, and she is just
Speaker:weeping. And so I say, Come here,
Speaker:Adasa. And I pull her up in the front seat,
Speaker:and I look at her, she's weeping, and she looks at me with her glass
Speaker:eyes, and she looks at me, and I say, What's wrong? And she
Speaker:says, I just don't understand why you don't have to follow the
Speaker:rules.
Speaker:And I just broke.
Speaker:I don't want my kids to see something different
Speaker:than what I want to manifest on the outside to everybody
Speaker:else. You see, she heard loud
Speaker:and clear the police officer say, I would hate for you to lose one of
Speaker:these precious girls. And I looked at Edessa and I
Speaker:said, I am so sorry.
Speaker:Please forgive me for not listening to you, when you were telling me I
Speaker:needed to slow down. All the times you're telling me to slow down.
Speaker:And in that moment with humility, I believe that my child was
Speaker:able to see me chip away at my pride, my
Speaker:arrogance, my need to be right, and to
Speaker:say, I hear you.
Speaker:Because what we cultivate in private is gonna manifest itself
Speaker:in public.
Speaker:The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, gentleness
Speaker:and self control. These are some benchmarks of what
Speaker:our life with Christ looks like if we're walking with the
Speaker:Spirit. These are indicators of what our
Speaker:character truly looks like. But it's not just for
Speaker:the grandiose population. It's in those one
Speaker:on one moments with your closest friends, with your spouse, with your
Speaker:family. What
Speaker:you're projecting on the outside isn't happening on the inside.
Speaker:Jesus, can I tell you, we would have not chosen Jesus to be our King?
Speaker:This is what the word says in Isaiah about Jesus. Who has
Speaker:believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Speaker:He grew up before Him like a tender shoot and like a root out of
Speaker:dry ground. He had no root out of dry
Speaker:ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in
Speaker:his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and
Speaker:rejected by mankind. A man of suffering and familiar with pain.
Speaker:Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised and we held
Speaker:him in low esteem. We would have not chosen Jesus to be
Speaker:our king. But despite that
Speaker:truth, he
Speaker:believed. Guys we want to be like
Speaker:Jesus. We wanna be like Jesus, our character
Speaker:needs to emulate Jesus, but in order for us to look like Jesus,
Speaker:you see that hand there with that nail? That's what we're supposed to look
Speaker:like. Dying to our selves every single
Speaker:day. Looking at people who have wronged us and saying I'm
Speaker:gonna give you the upper hand. I'm gonna love you so much more
Speaker:even though you're unlovable right now, I'm gonna love you so far high, much higher
Speaker:above that. I'm gonna sacrifice. I'm gonna sacrifice. I'm gonna lay down my
Speaker:life. That is looking like the Lord Jesus Christ, the one whom
Speaker:we say, we love. Do you look like Christ?
Speaker:If you'll stand with me and we're gonna end with this poem,
Speaker:and I'm gonna release you this morning.
Speaker:In fields unseen where sheep once grazed, a heart was
Speaker:shaped through simple ways. Not crowned with gold nor
Speaker:clothed in quiet
Speaker:night. The world may chase the grand and bright, the
Speaker:dazzling stage, the fleeting light, but God, he looks
Speaker:beneath the praise to hearts refined in hidden
Speaker:ways. Character whispers when no one
Speaker:sees. It holds the line with humble ease.
Speaker:It stands in truth, it loves through pain. It
Speaker:bears the cross and shuns the game. Oh Lord, may
Speaker:I in every place enjoy the gift of ordinary
Speaker:days. For there you mold and there you
Speaker:mend. In simple tasks, your truth
Speaker:descends. A heart that waits and walks by grace
Speaker:that trust your hand through every space. For crowns will fade and
Speaker:fain depart, but character remains the heart. So
Speaker:build me strong in quiet ways through
Speaker:unseen nights and waiting days. Let Christ
Speaker:be formed in every part. A life that beats
Speaker:with your own heart. May we be a
Speaker:people who look like Christ, not in our
Speaker:shirts and what we manifest on the outside. But may our
Speaker:hearts and our presence and our character
Speaker:be reflective of Jesus Christ in those intimate
Speaker:moments when nobody else is looking. So that when the
Speaker:dying world is looking at us, they get a true picture
Speaker:of Jesus, the hope of the world. Raise
Speaker:your hand, let me give you a blessing. May the God of
Speaker:the universe, the God who breathes stars continue
Speaker:to help us grow in character that is becoming
Speaker:of the kingdom. Whether we are serving in a
Speaker:season we're serving in or we're in that waiting room.
Speaker:And may it all be to glorify him and that we would look
Speaker:more like Jesus. In Christ's name we
Speaker:pray, Amen. Be blessed Spring House. I love you today.