From the Lord
I Samuel 19:9, “Now there was an evil spirit from the LORD on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear…”
The Word of God says there was an evil spirit from God that came upon Saul. I read these words, and immediately my mind says, “WHOA!NOT MY GOD!” My God is all about love and forgiveness; He would never send an evil spirit or allow a bad thing to happen. But, there’s no escaping what the Bible says plainly the evil spirit came from God.
The God who created the universe and searches the heart of man sometimes uses evil to accomplish His goal, and I believe sometimes He causes what we think is evil to happen to complete His greater purpose. The Bible plainly tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and we read in John 12:38, “This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke : “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT ? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED ?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM”41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. 42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue ; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”
God has sent the evil spirit into the world, and that spirit can destroy us if we choose to allow it in our lives, but more than that God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world that we might believe in Him and Him and have eternal life. Ultimately the choice is ours, and we can choose the path to destruction or the path to Life.
We read in Deuteronomy 30:15, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity ; 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 17 “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” God has placed evil in this world, but He has placed life eternal; and He desires that we would choose life, so we can embrace His fellowship.
One of my favorite songs is MercyMe’s “Jesus brig the rain”. The chorus to that song says,
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
God does bring rain into our lives, and when we praise Him in the rain it is the sweetest sound we can ever make!
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Father God, I thank You for allowing evil into my life, and I ask that You would help me remain faithful to You even in these evil days. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The image above can be found at:http://we-r-never-alone.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html
Yes, You Can Ministry 