Why He Lost The Crown
Last night my bible study was on 1 Samuel 15 and as I was reading that chapter, I received an illumination on why King Saul really lost the crown. In this chapter, the Lord had commanded the prophet Samuel to give clear instructions to Saul on how he was to carry out His (God’s) punishment on the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they were coming out from Egypt. God asked Saul to go and attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. He asked Saul not to spare the Amalekites at all but to put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. God instructed Saul to completely wipe out these people off the surface of the earth but what did Saul do? He and his army kept the King of the Amalekites alive, kept some of the best sheep, cattle and goods and were unwilling to destroy completely as the Lord had commanded.
This infuriated the Lord because Saul defied His orders. God deeply regretted making Saul King over Israel and He immediately rejected Him. This troubled the prophet Samuel deeply and he cried to the Lord all night but He was not going to give Saul a pass on this one. What was interesting is when Samuel meets Saul and he admonishes Saul about the decisions he had made to keep items from the Amalekites and defying God’s order. See how clueless Saul was in this situation - he kept telling the prophet that he (Saul) and his army had kept the good stuff to sacrifice it to the Lord. Somehow in his mind, he thought God would be pleased by that decision - to bring back the plunder from the Amalekites to offer them as sacrifices to Him (God). In 1 Samuel 15:20, he (Saul) affirmed that he had obeyed the Lord’s command to the fullest extent. He really saw no wrong in what he had done because to him (Saul), pleasing the Lord should be a priority.
In 1 Samuel 15:17, the Prophet Samuel reminds Saul what a small-minded person he (Saul) is and even with that deficiency, the Lord still anointed him King over Israel. It was obvious that Saul did not grow out of that mindset. This is where the light bulb went off for me - Saul’s behavior; defying the orders of the Lord and trying to offer sacrifices when the prophet who made him king had not commanded it, was over compensation for what he lacked. A lot of times, we have found ourselves in situations or roles that we probably feel undeserved for and think we need to overdo it to be liked or accepted. The saddest part of Saul’s de-throning is what he says in 1 Samuel 15:24, that he (Saul) was afraid of the men (his army) so he gave in to their request. That drives my point home - Saul, although anointed, still lacked the leadership mentality, training and skills required to lead. Being the first King that Israel had, there was no curriculum or onboarding training for him and God even made his reign easy peasy knowing what he (Saul) lacked - just obey Him (the Lord) and His prophet Samuel.
You see, the favor of God can lift a man, but if you do not have the humility to obey, listen and learn the right things, chances are you will be dropped unexpectedly. Saul lost the crown because although he was king, he didn’t understand the rules of engagement with the Lord - that Adonai prioritizes obedience over any amount of sacrifice you can offer Him. Saul did not come into his fullness as a king - he still carried the mindset of a commoner and a donkey chaser. Saul was more interested in people’s approval and acceptance than obeying the Lord who made him King. Even when the prophet refused to go with him, his last request was for Samuel to honor him (Saul) before the people and elders. He was still worried about his reputation before the people.
I can understand - we live in a world of humans. The accolades, applause and approval of men are much desired and rightly so. Unfortunately, this can be a very dangerous trap and many people have fallen victim to this. People have lost their crowns because they chose to prioritize what others say over what God says concerning them. Day in and out I am tempted to stay, bask and flourish in the applause of men but I have to remind myself to take the accolades, applause and affirmations on surface value and not allow it to get into my head. I learned this from a mentor in the Kingdom of God who advises to not let anyone clap you out of your destiny. The sweet nothings, the praises and even encouragements - however honest and genuine has a way of birthing pride in men. I have to make a conscientious effort daily to not be a victim of the praises of men because you can easily fall for it. I sometimes find myself wondering if people thought I didn’t receive or welcome their niceties the way any normal person should. Really, I am more than appreciative of them but I can’t stay in that head space hence Satan capitalizes on that and flips me out. I receive them, give the glory back to God and press on to do more and better next time.
I don’t know about you but I do not want to lose any crown the Lord has given me and the new ones He is molding for me. In urban language, we need to stay WOKE and obedient with the things of God, especially what He is commanding us to do. May the spirit of the Lord convict us to stay in alignment with him and His will for us daily. Amen!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Chasing Donkeys
In the book of 1 Samuel chapters 9, 10 and 11, we are introduced to the story of how God asked the prophet Samuel to anoint and coronate Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin to become the first monarch over His people - Israel. Saul’s father had lost his donkeys so he had sent him (Saul) with a servant to go and look for the donkeys. It was during this time that God led him to prophet Samuel whom the Lord had already spoken to him regarding Saul. In 1 Samuel 9:21 CJB, Saul, understanding the mantle that God was putting on him, made a profound statement which will be the basis for this blog piece:
“Sha’ul replied, “I’m only a man from Binyamin, the smallest tribe in Isra’el; and my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Binyamin! Why are you saying such a thing to me?”.
Saul was reminding God through prophet Samuel that by virtue of earthly qualifications, he is not fit to be a King. His own vision of himself, his calibre and all does not even align with Kingship. I mean the guy was chasing after lost donkeys so go figure. Kings came from royal seeds, men of valor and power, warriors who could take on nations, etc. It was no surprise that even when Prophet Samuel anointed him, there were still some Jews who refused to accept him as their king and would not pay respect to him or give him gifts.
Honestly this has been the story of most men and women and I am here to remind you that where you are today or how small your vision of yourself is does not mean that is what God sees in you. Your reality is not a limitation to God’s manifestation in your life. God takes the ordinary to do extraordinary things. All through the bible - He empowered men who didn’t qualify or had some defect to become tools for the manifestation of His power and glory. I tried to cast my mind around all the great men who have done extraordinary things in life and none of them came from greatness. From Bill Gates to Bezos, Steve Jobs et al, these were men who started from nowhere and now they control the wealth of over 7+ billion humans. Some of them even barely made it through college but see where God has allowed them to be. Reality can limit our vision and that is why it is important for us believers to know what God has spoken over our lives. Saul thought chasing donkeys was his call when God created him to be a King over his own people. When he called him to be king, He (God) gave Saul a new heart and poured His spirit on him to be able to fulfill the assignment.
There is nothing God cannot do with your life. Your destiny is not tied to your place of birth, your location or even the family you come from. What you need to do is start prophesying to yourself everything you desire to become, including the ones God has revealed to you through visions and dreams. Your reality will not add up if you try to do the math but HE IS GOD - He owns everything in the world including the means and strategies to lift you to where He wants you to be. Stay in alignment and expectation and develop yourself and your capacity while you wait for His manifestation. It will not be by might, nor by any power that we will prevail in this kingdom. It is just by the Spirit of God, His mercy and His Compassion. He is the lifter of men! Believe that because I am a living testament of this.
I pray for you this week - that if you have been lost in the wilderness chasing after donkeys, may the Lord align you with His vision of you and call you to your place of Kingship. May the Lord align you with the people who will anoint and propel you into your destiny. May the Lord give you a spirit of discernment to be able to discern who your helpers of destiny are when He sends them your way. May He give you the grace to endure and the spirit of wisdom to guide you through. May the Lord give you a new heart and pour His spirit on you to enable you to fulfill your destiny. In Jesus’ name - AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
When Jesus Heals
In Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48, there’s a story of a woman who had suffered hemorrhaging for over 12 years. With faith, she touched the fringes of Jesus’ garment as He was on His way to Jairus’ house to heal his sick daughter. Yesterday the Lord gave me an opportunity to share this woman’s story on our weekly broadcast called “Woman To Woman”. The Holy Spirit did something beautiful during the ministration. When I got to the part Jesus had stopped and asked the crowd who touched Him and waited for the woman to come out and He blessed her for her HEALING FAITH - the Holy Spirit spoke to me and elaborated more on that part - that Jesus didn’t just call her out to confirm her faith but it was really to restore her dignity, honor and bring her out of her hiding place. That really wasn’t in my notes and during my reading and preparation for the broadcast that never crossed my mind either. I love the Holy Spirit and how He downloads stuff into my heart, mind and ears when I am ministering.
Everything we learned about this woman was that she was ostracized from her society because she had an unclean disease. Bleeding from a woman at the time was treated almost like leprosy. It really was that serious and I urge you to listen to the broadcast here The Woman With The Issue of Blood. Jesus really could have just walked on because He being God knew who exactly had touched Him. Ignoring that woman would have meant confirming that how the society at the time treated her was acceptable but He refuted that by calling her out in front of the thousands of people that she had been hiding from for over 12 years. Then He honored her and restored her back into society. This is what happens when Jesus Heals you. He restores everything else that was broken in your life. He doesn’t just heal - He brings fullness and wholeness to your life.
In whatever area of your life that you are trusting the Lord for healing, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, trust that He will heal you completely and perfect everything else that concerns you. As you walk into this new week - know and believe with all your being that EL-RAPPHA, the Lord our Healer is restoring everything that concerns your life in His mighty name! Amen!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.