Follow up - When God is Silent

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. (1 Samuel 28:6)

Last week we looked at five reasons that God may be silent in your life:

#1 – To bring us to repentance

In other words, there may be something in your life that is blocking you from being able to hear God's voice.  This was totally Saul’s issue:  Saul was sorry he sinned, he felt bad about it, he made great proclamations about it, but he never repented to the Lord.

Psalm 66:18 says,

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear, (Ps 66:18)

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When God goes silent

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. (1 Sam 28:6)

In 1 Samuel 28 we find both David and Saul in a tough spot.  David is living with pirates, and Saul is facing a huge army. ...and God is silent.  Saul seeks the Lord for direction, and nothing.  Zip. God has his phone on silent, all calls are going straight to voicemail.

Maybe you have experienced a time in your life when God was silent.  In times past God had spoken clearly to you, giving you supernatural words of wisdom, direction, even prophecy.  But now, at a time when you feel you really need Him, He is silent.  You pray, you ask, you worship, you sit on the beach with bible in hand, and nothing.  Then the doubt begins to creep in.  Is God done with me?  Have I gone too far? Can I ever get back to that place? Fret not Christian, there is an answer.

Join us this Sunday at Calvary Chapel of Wilmington, for “When God goes silent”

... till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Replacing Lies with Truth

And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” (1 Sam 27:1)

 

Sunday we looked at David's sudden departure from the truth that God was his source of protection and his refuge, to thinking the only choice that he had was to escape Saul was to go and live with the Philistines, the mortal enemy of God's people.  The key phrase being "And David said in his heart..."  


We learned that what we say in our heart can affect our decisions in some pretty big ways.  The word of God tells us:

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. (Prov 23:7)

What we say in our heart has great power for good or evil, for life or death.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. (Prov 18:21)

We looked at four very common lies that Christians experience, the the truth that we need to replace it with:

Lie: “God doesn’t care about me,”

Truth: “God DOES cares about you”

…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Lie: “God is not going to provide for me…”

Truth: “God IS going to provide for you…”

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

Lie: “This trial is going to overcome me,” 

Truth: “God WILL see you through this trial”

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (Is 41:10)

Lie: “God doesn't have any plans for me,” 

Truth: “God DOES have a plan for you”

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11)

You will notice that each of these lies is contrary to what God's word tells us about Him, and His relationship to us.  Our adversary, Satan, is a liar, and he will attempt to deceive you into believing a lie rather than the truth.  Guys, the key is knowing the TRUTH of the word of God, and how to apply it to our lives. 

Follow up - David's many wives

Last week we looked at David’s multiple wives(1 Sam 25:36-44), and we were able to make a comparison to our own Christian walk:  That trying to walk with God, and dance with the world at the same time is a recipe for disaster!

When we dance with the world, relationships are formed that vie for our attention, we establish a place in the social network, we make compromises that we have to hide.  And these things impact our ability to walk with God

They will pull us away from the people of God

They will pull us away from the house of God

We form connections to people and practices that can impact us for the rest of our lives.  We end up doing things that we cannot undo.

It’s been said that the most miserable place for a Christian to be is to have one foot in the church, and one foot in the world.  Why? Because it places you in the middle of a war