Monday, March 21, 2016

OT DAY 441 - When Holy Spirit Leaves You, Bad Temper Will Come Right Away (Please click here for English podcast)

Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Open your heart to praise the Lord

         Praise him for his mighty deeds;
            praise him according to his excellent greatness!
           Praise him with trumpet sound;
             praise him with lute and harp!
           
                    Psalm 150:2-3

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:

     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

The Word (1 Samuel 16:14-23)


       
       14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.                                            1   Samuel 16: 14-23


Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

My Listening

          Do you think this passage is to tell us that Saul was being controlled by a evil spirit, demon possessed? But the Bible says, "a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him." How can a evil spirit comes from God? So, what really happened to Saul? 


Let's see how Professor John Goldingay tells us: 
    
           The story juxtaposes God's spirit erupting on David with God's spirit leaving Saul, and (worse) a bad spirit from God attacking him. We need to be careful what we read into this statement. The Gospels talk about evil spirits attacking people, and translations of 1 Samuel use phrases such as "evil spirit" in connection with Saul. Yet the Old Testament does not talk about evil spirits in the way the Gospels do, which raises questions about whether the idea of evil spirits is intended there. Furthermore, the Hebrew word in this story is more like the English word "bad" than the English word "wicked". While it can suggest something morally bad, it can also suggest that the thing we experience is bad, something that brings trouble or suffering to us.
         If we think of God's sending Saul a bad spirit, even a bad temper, we will probably get the right idea. It is exactly a bad spirit or a bad temper that afflicts him through the chapters that will now unfold…Seeing that God is involved in sending Saul this bad spirit suggests an awareness that this natural process is God's way of rebuking and chastising Saul. It does not rule out the possibility of Saul changing. The question is how he deals with his experience. The story that unfolds will suggest that he lacks the capacity or the willingness to change. Neither Saul nor David is the kind of person who grows in his human awareness as he grows older…
          
John Goldingay. 1 and 2 Samuel for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011, p.80-81.



           By Professor Goldingay's detailed explanation, do you know what really happened to Saul now? Are you troubled by your bad temper? 

            Let me tell you, you can't control your bad temper, moreover, you can't get rid of your bad temper unless God is with you and you are filled by the Holy Spirit. If you are filled by the Holy Spirit, bad temper will leave. If the Holy Spirit leaves you just like He left Saul, bad temper will come right away! 

    Dear Holy Spirit, 
    Come and fill me now so that I can be refreshed and well, full of peace and joy.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Reflect on these questions:
    1. What kind of new awareness have you received today? 

2. How often do you have bad temper? Do you know the only way to get rid of your bad temper now? 

    3. What have you got from Jesus today?

 Praise and Thanksgiving

10,000 Reasons

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我們愛，因為神先愛我們!

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