TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Scripture: 1 Samuel 12:4,5, 1 Samuel 7:10,13

In 1 Samuel 12:4,5 we are told, “And they said, ‘You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.’ Then he said to them, ‘The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.’ And they answered, ‘He is witness.’” Why did God not let a single word of Samuel’s fall to the ground? He was an honest, God-fearing leader who refused to take advantage of any leadership position he ever had. He was scrupulously honest and he made sure he treated everyone the same. In 1 Samuel 7:10,13 we are told, “Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. … So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.” God consistently honored Samuel’s prayer against a persistent enemy. We want the same for every Christian today. And the Hand of God moved in such a way as to subdue the enemy of Israel,. The Hand of the Lord subdued the Philistines. This is a yardstick. This is a biblical picture of how leaders are supposed to look today. When we pray, the Hand of the Lord should move! And the Hand of the Lord should move in order to subdue the enemy of the harvest. If the Hand of the Lord does not move to subdue the enemy of the harvest, then we have to go back and look at our foundational integrity as to how we function and how we operate before the King. Because there could be one of two issues. If we are operating in integrity, if we are obedient and we are truly serving, then only one other issues deprives us of victory. That issue could be, we are probably ignorant of the judicial side of Who Christ is. Simple Bible study, coupled with intimate relationship with the Father, will erase that deficit. Is that the issue with the maturity of the church today? Will simple study erase the deficit we find in our churches? Or will it take some serious repentance and return to Samuel’s standard of honesty and integrity?