November 17, 2025 • 34 mins
We open 1 Samuel and trace the scarlet thread of Scripture to a revealing portrait of Saul—a leader anointed by the Spirit, admired by people, and yet undone by fear of man and a restless heart. From the mountain-top moment of prophesying with the prophets to the valley of hiding among the baggage, we explore how a surge of spiritual power differs from the steady work of intimacy with God.
Together we unpack why anointing is functional—given to serve and to meet the needs of others—while relationship is covenantal, forming character that can carry weight. Samuel lays out order and obedience as the rails for blessing, a framework that protects hearts when the spotlight fades. We revisit Saul’s rally against the Ammonites, a stunning victory fueled by the Spirit’s power and righteous anger, and then face the sobering truth that public wins cannot heal private fractures. God still touches the hungry through imperfect vessels, but He cares deeply about who we are becoming when no one is watching.
This conversation leans into practical, heart-level questions: What happens when the power lifts? Where do we go when insecurity speaks louder than calling? How do we move from self-help to surrender, from hype to holiness? We point back to the atmosphere of God’s kingdom—righteousness, peace, and joy—and to a simple, costly path of obedience that invites lasting transformation. If you’re tired of chasing moments and ready to build a life with God that endures, this one will meet you where you are and call you deeper.
If the message resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find it. Then tell us: where have you seen character carry what charisma could not?
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:37):
For those of you that have been following the
past few episodes, you know thatwe've been studying the book of
1 Samuel and finding some veryrelevant things in that book
that pertain to our lives today,because once again the
(00:59):
scriptures are God breathed.
Yes, men were used to pen thewords down, but they were being
moved along as they were doingit by the Holy Spirit, and their
words contain life.
Actually, they are the Word ofGod.
(01:20):
And we have at hand, in ourhands, a collection of books
that we call the Bible that allhave a scarlet thread, meaning
there's a there's a thread ofblood, there's a bloodline all
the way through the Bible.
(01:41):
It's very consistent, made up of66 books, many of from different
authors, spanning a period ofhundreds and thousands of years,
and yet telling the same story,and the story is a true story,
and it focuses in on theMessiah, that there will be a
(02:06):
Messiah that will come anddeliver us from evil.
And in the old covenant, in theold testament, the people of
that era were looking forward toChrist.
They were looking at things thatthey didn't know yet, they
(02:27):
didn't know who, they didn'tknow when, but they were hoping
for a deliverer.
And sometimes God would give apicture of what that deliverance
would look like by using someoneelse, someone like Samuel.
(02:49):
Samuel was used by God toportray some of God's character,
some of his nature, becauseSamuel had a close relationship.
There's a word right there, man.
If you get anything from any ofthese teachings, the word
relationship, not religion, notour effort of doing things, but
(03:14):
our relationship in life withGod and with one another.
Samuel had a relationship withGod.
And God had initiated that, likehe does in all relationships.
We're not the ones who areinclined to go looking for God,
(03:38):
because we have a nature thatwe're born with that is in
opposition to God.
We're prone toward things thatare unhealthy, unfortunately.
But thank God Jesus came.
And the Old Testament saintswere looking forward to his
(04:02):
coming.
Now we're looking forward to hissecond coming.
He has come, so we're lookingback on, we who are alive now,
can look back on some of thesethings and see his footprints
marching all the way throughoutthe Bible.
But also we can see that when hecame, he came at the perfect
(04:25):
time.
Jesus came at the perfect time.
But we're looking at anothercharacter right now in this
whole long bloodline and seedbattle, a battle against seed,
seed of unrighteousness and theseed of God.
(04:50):
Where there is this tension inseeing evil overcome by the
kingdom of God, by his rule andhis reign, his righteousness,
his joy, his peace.
(05:14):
Amazing.
Righteousness, peace, and joy inthe Holy Spirit make up the
fragrance, if you will, of thekingdom of God, what it feels
like.
What the atmosphere is like inGod's kingdom.
And we get to participate inthat kingdom now for those of us
who place our faith, ourconfidence, our trust in the
(05:37):
works of Jesus accomplished onthe cross.
What he provided for on thatcross is relationship with God
that is right.
We actually can have arelationship with God, not just
religion, not just a works thatdoesn't always work, but a
(05:59):
relationship that is deeper thanany other relationship because
it's based upon a covenant.
Which mine becomes God's, whichGod's becomes mine.
His life is given to me incovenant.
(06:22):
And so we we find in thisparticular portion of the
scriptures somewhat of a it'sit's it's it's at times
difficult, difficult for meanyway, difficult for me to read
because I know the differencebetween having the anointing of
(06:47):
God on me and it not being onme, but I have the benefit of
God dwelling within me, whereasindividuals such as Saul, King
Saul, did not have the samerelationship with God that we
(07:09):
do.
And we can see the struggle, andif you don't have a relationship
with God, you'll be able toidentify with these feelings
that Saul had, and perhaps thiscan serve as a wake up from a
bit of slumber that you've beenkind of caught in, and you can
(07:38):
wake up and say, I don't I don'tI don't have to live that way.
Jesus has provided for me theway, the truth, the life, and by
experiencing relationship withhim and forgiveness, release
(08:04):
from the burden of my sins, so Ican have a right, a right, a
real right relationship with myFather, God the Father, God, not
some smart guy or kind woman,but God, God Almighty, creator
of the universe, creator of theuniverse.
(08:25):
And you look around just onplanet Earth, and all that's
here in the fullness of it, andthat it belongs to the Lord.
Amazing.
But for those of you who've beenwith us for a while and looking
at 1 Samuel, you'll rememberthat we in chapter 10 notice
(08:48):
that Samuel the prophet gaveSaul a very clear prophetic word
concerning things that weregoing to be taking place in his
life over the course of the nextcouple of days.
Things that hadn't happened yet,but Samuel said, This is how
(09:10):
it's gonna be, this is how it'sgonna look, this is what it's
gonna look like.
And he told him some veryspecific things, and those
specific things unfolded justlike Samuel said, and at one
point in time, Samuel said, TheSpirit of the Lord is gonna come
upon you, and he's gonna turnyou into a different man.
(09:31):
That anointing, that uponness ofthe Spirit of God, was reserved
for certain situations andcertain individuals.
And Saul was going to be arecipient of that because he had
been anointed with the oil ofGod for the purpose of being a
king over Israel, and he wasgoing to experience what it
(09:57):
would feel like to be under thepower of the Holy Spirit.
Up to this point in time, andhe's probably approaching the
age of 30, if not right at 30years old.
Because that was a time of realmale release into different
(10:21):
aspects of their life where theyreached their full potential.
It was at the age of 30.
And so Saul was a right, he hewas he was the tallest man that
people knew.
He was like a shoulders and headabove everyone else.
So he he was taller thaneveryone else, and he looked the
(10:41):
part, he looked, looked, lookedthe part of a king.
But what people didn't know isthat there was something inside
of him that was going to growand develop into a very
(11:06):
significant problem because itwas not being dealt with.
There were opportunities for itto be dealt with, but Saul chose
not to do it the way the Lordhad prescribed, and he chose to
do it his own way because Saul,in the depths of his heart, in
(11:29):
the depths of his life, was aninsecure man.
He was insecure, he had fear, hehad this severe case of the fear
of man.
He was afraid of the opinionsthat other people had.
And if you're a leader, you bestbe prepared for the opinions of
(11:53):
other people.
As many as there are differenttypes of people, there are going
to be different types ofopinions.
And some of them are going to beencouraging, and some are going
to be not encouraging, man.
They're going to be coming inthe form of attacks, even
against you.
(12:14):
And sometimes by people that youfelt like you really knew well.
But all of those things aredesigned to bring about an
opportunity for us to growbeyond those things inside that
are problems of the sinfulnature.
(12:38):
And insecurity is part of thesinful nature because it's
focused in on self.
Poor me.
And so we find in chapter tenthis wonderful experience is
(13:01):
recorded where in verse ten ofchapter ten, scripture says,
When they arrived at Gibeah, aprocession of prophets met him.
The Spirit of God came upon him,meaning Saul.
(13:21):
The Spirit of God came upon himin power, and he joined in their
prophesying.
When all those who had formerlyknown him saw him prophesying
with the prophets, they askedeach other, What is this that's
happened to the son of Kish?
Is Saul among the prophets?
(13:46):
A man who lived there answered,And who is their father?
So it became a saying, Is Saulamong the prophets?
After Saul stopped prophesying,he went to the high place.
Now the power of the Spirit cameupon him.
(14:08):
Something that he had notexperienced before happened.
And if you ever had the power ofthe Holy Spirit come upon you,
it's the most unique feeling ofbeing empowered, of being
infused with a life that isoutside of your own.
(14:29):
It's the life of God.
And you can see things and yousay things as clear as oracles
that come from the mouth of God.
A prophecy is just absolutelyspeaking, thus says the Lord.
And this group of prophets weretraveling around the country,
(14:54):
blessing communities withprophetic ministry.
I love it.
And Saul was a recipient ofthat.
And you know, when you're underthe power of the anointing, it
feels like it's always going tolast like that.
It's always going to be likethat.
It's always going to last.
It's always going to last.
(15:16):
The anointing's always going tobe on me.
Thank you, God, I'm chosen.
But the fact of the matter is,the anointing is not a
relational thing.
It's a functional thing.
It's meant for the service ofministry.
(15:39):
But relationship is meant forthe purpose of intimacy.
And when we have relationshipwith God, when the Spirit of God
is not upon us in power, westill have relationship with Him
that's intimate.
And that's what grows.
(16:01):
And that's what deals with thecharacter flaws within us.
It's God who's at work withinus.
Not we ourselves trying toimprove ourselves.
That's self-help.
And that is not very effective.
Granted, it's better thanself-destruction, but self-help
(16:25):
can't put Hump D together again.
We can't find ourselves enteringinto a relationship with God
just because we're trying toimprove ourselves.
Again, it's self-help.
Insecurity feeds on self-help,but it's an endless cycle.
(16:49):
But with God in us, who's atworking within us, he works
within us as we cooperate withhim to overcome these things.
(17:12):
Much like a priest.
And Saul had a taste of it.
He had a major time, a powerencounter, if you will.
Holy Spirit came upon him.
Epi is a Greek term for upon.
(17:35):
Three aspects of the Holy Spiritare para meaning coming
alongside of, and meaning in andepi.
Pero and epi there are threeGreek words that describe the
function of Holy Spirit in ourlives.
(17:55):
He comes upon us, he dwellsaround us, and he lives within
us.
When we place our faith in JesusChrist.
Key point.
Well, Saul experienced theanointing.
He experienced the very lifepower of God.
(18:16):
And undoubtedly it not only blewhis mind, shifted his paradigm,
caused his worldview to change,but also it affected him
inwardly.
It was an experience.
But it wasn't the same as beingborn again.
(18:37):
He was not a born-again man.
He still had this issue insideof him, this nature that would
fight against the things of God.
And we see that taking place inhis life in chapter 10.
(19:00):
Verse, let me see.
Yeah.
Verse 20.
Well sorry, 21.
Then he, Samuel, brought forwardthe tribe of Benjamin.
You see, Samuel had the tribescoming in front of him because
(19:24):
he was going to point out toeveryone who the king was.
And so he had the various tribescome across the procession.
There were twelve tribes, and soall twelve tribes came, and then
the tribe of Benjamin came.
And then Samuel said to them,clan by clan.
(19:45):
And Maitri's clan was chosen.
Finally Saul, there we go,finally Saul of Kish was chosen.
But when they looked for him, hewas not found.
He was not to be found.
So they inquired further of theLord.
Has the man come here yet?
(20:05):
And the Lord said, Yes, he ishidden among the baggage.
So they ran and brought him out,and as he stood among the
people, he was a head tallerthan any of the others.
This is the same man thatpreviously had been under the
(20:28):
power of the Holy Spirit, andnow that which is say it that
wore off.
That wore off, and now Saul isleft with feeling just like Saul
again.
And Saul did not feel at allequipped to be a king.
(20:53):
He knew there were things insideof him, just like we know.
There are things inside of usthat are hindering things in our
lives.
You just know it.
He doesn't know it.
Nobody really has to come outand tell you.
You just kind of get an idea ofthat after a while.
If there is, if there's ifthere's something impeding your
(21:16):
progress spiritually, it's athing pertaining to your old
nature, undoubtedly.
And Saul came face to face withSaul again, and he was full of
insecurities, so much so thathe, at the time of his
(21:37):
inauguration, his publicrecognition as king, one of
them, he was hiding amongst abunch of baggage where the
donkeys hang out.
He didn't want to be he didn'the didn't want he was scared,
(22:00):
man.
He was afraid of what he wasn'table to accomplish.
The anointing, the empowermentis wonderful, but we can't live
our lives waiting for theempowerment and reverting back
(22:25):
to our old way of doing thingsonce that wears off.
Because the empowerment, theanointing of God for a certain
situation eventually wears off.
And sometimes we get accustomedto being under that anointing
for an extended period of time,and when it wears off, we could
(22:47):
think something's wrong.
Like in the case of Saul, I'msure he thought something was
wrong.
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with me, man?
I I don't believe I can't be aking.
I have all this stuff I know.
I have all these things about methat I know.
(23:09):
And yet, God was going to givehim more opportunities to enter
into something that would bringabout a change, and that was
(23:31):
relationship with God.
He didn't have that.
And so the anointing is not areplacement for relationship.
Relationship is greater than theanointing we walk in.
(23:54):
Because relationship is the verybasis for us having our name
written in the Lamb's Book ofLife.
The fact that the Lord knows usand wants to know us deeper,
looks to know us completely, andfor us to know him completely,
to be one as he is one.
(24:17):
And so Saul had this wonderfulexperience of being anointed,
then he had that come downexperience of meeting Saul
again, meeting himself.
And so they get Saul out fromthe place behind the bags, and
(24:43):
then Samuel explains therelationship that the king is to
have with the people, and thepeople to the king, and the
relationship with God.
He wants that to be clear.
This is what will go well withyou if your right relationship
with God is being pursued.
If you're in pursuit of that,that was what the Lord was
(25:07):
looking for.
For that to take place so thathe could begin to prepare them
for more.
And if this is a little caveat,if things aren't happening in
your midst, meaning you're notseeing the power of God's
(25:30):
kingdom, two things.
Number one, it could be thatit's just a waiting time.
Or secondly, things aren't inright order, and God can't
release things more because itwouldn't be beneficial.
If you had a million people inyour fellowship, but you have a
(25:52):
toxic thing going on, or thingsare out of place, not
necessarily even toxic, they'reout of order.
They have to come in orderbefore things can be blessed.
So Samuel gives the people avery clear understanding as to
(26:15):
what their responsibilities wereand what the king's
responsibilities were regardingrelationship with God and with
themselves.
But if you don't, God's hand isgoing to be against you, just
like it was against those whowandered in the wilderness for
(26:38):
40 years, because of theirinternal attitude, their
murmuring and their unbelief.
Unbelief was there, and it justyou know was evident in what in
(26:58):
how they lived.
Unfortunately, God couldn'tbless that.
That had to be purged out.
That's why things in our lifeneed to be purged out in order
for God to bring about a greaterblessing.
But the good news is he wantsto, and if we simply submit
(27:18):
ourselves over to him, he will.
He will, he's faithful, he will.
That's the good news.
Your life can be empoweredtoday, right now, inwardly,
because of the relationship, andthen you can experience the
anointing of God which comesupon that, which turns things
(27:39):
into a much greaterdemonstration of the kingdom
because it's the power of God,not just the power of our good
works.
Good works have power.
Saul was doing good things, hewas a good farmer, but he wasn't
(28:02):
a very good king because hedidn't allow God to deal with
the insecurities in his life.
There's another passage in whichthere was these individuals that
came and they had been oppressedby one of their neighbors, the
(28:30):
Ammonites.
And the Ammonites were alwaysafter these individuals in
Jabbeth Gilead.
And one day these people calledout to their fellow Jews to come
(28:51):
and help.
There we go again.
The spirit of God came upon himin power, meaning it hadn't been
(29:15):
with him the entire time betweenevents, but here we are.
And he burned with anger.
It was a type of anger that wasa righteous anger, and he cut up
a couple of oxen and distributedthem all throughout Israel and
(29:40):
said, if we don't do somethingabout this, this is the way it's
gonna be for us all throughoutIsrael.
They're coming, they're gonnaslaughter us.
We've got to do something aboutthis.
And 330,000 men were rallied ina short period of time, within
seven days, they were rallied.
300,000 men were rallied to comeand fight against the Ammonites,
(30:04):
and they did, and they won.
And Saul was confirmed as a kingbecause he was a great military
leader under the anointing.
But when the anointing had runits course, and Saul was lifted,
(30:29):
excuse me, Saul was left withjust being Saul again.
He disobeyed a direct order.
And we're going to pick that upin the next episode concerning
the issue of obedience as itpertains to leadership, but just
(30:56):
because you are anointed doesn'tmean you have good character.
The Lord is more interested inhaving people of good character
than having more people whodemonstrate their anointing and
draw great crowds, but reallynothing much other than a show
(31:21):
takes place.
Yes, lives are touched, andthat's why the anointing comes.
Because lives, even though themotives behind the scenes aren't
all that good often, becausethere are sincere lives that are
hungry, lives that get touched,and the anointing of God is
(31:42):
effective in doing that.
But God wants character.
Because relationship with God,He wants us holy, because He is
holy.
Let's not rely on the anointing.
Let's cherish it, of course.
(32:04):
But really to rely upon Jesus asour example and to lean on Him.
And as we do, we lean on theFather, our Heavenly Father, and
He supplies our needs as we leanon Him.
(32:26):
Hallelujah.
Let's pray.
Father, I thank you for who youare, God.
Really, and how you're doingthings, why you're doing them,
where you're doing them, howyou're doing them.
(32:46):
Thank you for using us.
For more than anything.
Father, we worship you.
And look for deeperrelationship.
Relationship.
To know your ways, to know you.
(33:08):
So it brings you joy and whatcauses you sorrow.
To laugh with those who laughand weep with those who weep,
but to have that first be withyou.
So we honor you by presentingour whole selves to you as a
(33:31):
living sacrifice.
And invite you, Holy Spirit, toconsume us.
Burn away all the dross, skim itaway.
And cause us to be pure in heartso that we can see God.
(33:53):
And we pray these things.
We stand here and we believe forthat to be true and declare it
to be so.
We say, in the name of Jesus, westand here with the Amen and the
Amen.
Amen.
Alright, folks.
We love you.
(34:14):
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line atLifeRoundTheFire at gmail.com,
or you can type in Life Aroundthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
For those of you that have been following the
past few episodes, you know thatwe've been studying the book of
1 Samuel and finding some veryrelevant things in that book
that pertain to our lives today,because once again the
(00:59):
scriptures are God breathed.
Yes, men were used to pen thewords down, but they were being
moved along as they were doingit by the Holy Spirit, and their
words contain life.
Actually, they are the Word ofGod.
(01:20):
And we have at hand, in ourhands, a collection of books
that we call the Bible that allhave a scarlet thread, meaning
there's a there's a thread ofblood, there's a bloodline all
the way through the Bible.
(01:41):
It's very consistent, made up of66 books, many of from different
authors, spanning a period ofhundreds and thousands of years,
and yet telling the same story,and the story is a true story,
and it focuses in on theMessiah, that there will be a
(02:06):
Messiah that will come anddeliver us from evil.
And in the old covenant, in theold testament, the people of
that era were looking forward toChrist.
They were looking at things thatthey didn't know yet, they
(02:27):
didn't know who, they didn'tknow when, but they were hoping
for a deliverer.
And sometimes God would give apicture of what that deliverance
would look like by using someoneelse, someone like Samuel.
(02:49):
Samuel was used by God toportray some of God's character,
some of his nature, becauseSamuel had a close relationship.
There's a word right there, man.
If you get anything from any ofthese teachings, the word
relationship, not religion, notour effort of doing things, but
(03:14):
our relationship in life withGod and with one another.
Samuel had a relationship withGod.
And God had initiated that, likehe does in all relationships.
We're not the ones who areinclined to go looking for God,
(03:38):
because we have a nature thatwe're born with that is in
opposition to God.
We're prone toward things thatare unhealthy, unfortunately.
But thank God Jesus came.
And the Old Testament saintswere looking forward to his
(04:02):
coming.
Now we're looking forward to hissecond coming.
He has come, so we're lookingback on, we who are alive now,
can look back on some of thesethings and see his footprints
marching all the way throughoutthe Bible.
But also we can see that when hecame, he came at the perfect
(04:25):
time.
Jesus came at the perfect time.
But we're looking at anothercharacter right now in this
whole long bloodline and seedbattle, a battle against seed,
seed of unrighteousness and theseed of God.
(04:50):
Where there is this tension inseeing evil overcome by the
kingdom of God, by his rule andhis reign, his righteousness,
his joy, his peace.
(05:14):
Amazing.
Righteousness, peace, and joy inthe Holy Spirit make up the
fragrance, if you will, of thekingdom of God, what it feels
like.
What the atmosphere is like inGod's kingdom.
And we get to participate inthat kingdom now for those of us
who place our faith, ourconfidence, our trust in the
(05:37):
works of Jesus accomplished onthe cross.
What he provided for on thatcross is relationship with God
that is right.
We actually can have arelationship with God, not just
religion, not just a works thatdoesn't always work, but a
(05:59):
relationship that is deeper thanany other relationship because
it's based upon a covenant.
Which mine becomes God's, whichGod's becomes mine.
His life is given to me incovenant.
(06:22):
And so we we find in thisparticular portion of the
scriptures somewhat of a it'sit's it's it's at times
difficult, difficult for meanyway, difficult for me to read
because I know the differencebetween having the anointing of
(06:47):
God on me and it not being onme, but I have the benefit of
God dwelling within me, whereasindividuals such as Saul, King
Saul, did not have the samerelationship with God that we
(07:09):
do.
And we can see the struggle, andif you don't have a relationship
with God, you'll be able toidentify with these feelings
that Saul had, and perhaps thiscan serve as a wake up from a
bit of slumber that you've beenkind of caught in, and you can
(07:38):
wake up and say, I don't I don'tI don't have to live that way.
Jesus has provided for me theway, the truth, the life, and by
experiencing relationship withhim and forgiveness, release
(08:04):
from the burden of my sins, so Ican have a right, a right, a
real right relationship with myFather, God the Father, God, not
some smart guy or kind woman,but God, God Almighty, creator
of the universe, creator of theuniverse.
(08:25):
And you look around just onplanet Earth, and all that's
here in the fullness of it, andthat it belongs to the Lord.
Amazing.
But for those of you who've beenwith us for a while and looking
at 1 Samuel, you'll rememberthat we in chapter 10 notice
(08:48):
that Samuel the prophet gaveSaul a very clear prophetic word
concerning things that weregoing to be taking place in his
life over the course of the nextcouple of days.
Things that hadn't happened yet,but Samuel said, This is how
(09:10):
it's gonna be, this is how it'sgonna look, this is what it's
gonna look like.
And he told him some veryspecific things, and those
specific things unfolded justlike Samuel said, and at one
point in time, Samuel said, TheSpirit of the Lord is gonna come
upon you, and he's gonna turnyou into a different man.
(09:31):
That anointing, that uponness ofthe Spirit of God, was reserved
for certain situations andcertain individuals.
And Saul was going to be arecipient of that because he had
been anointed with the oil ofGod for the purpose of being a
king over Israel, and he wasgoing to experience what it
(09:57):
would feel like to be under thepower of the Holy Spirit.
Up to this point in time, andhe's probably approaching the
age of 30, if not right at 30years old.
Because that was a time of realmale release into different
(10:21):
aspects of their life where theyreached their full potential.
It was at the age of 30.
And so Saul was a right, he hewas he was the tallest man that
people knew.
He was like a shoulders and headabove everyone else.
So he he was taller thaneveryone else, and he looked the
(10:41):
part, he looked, looked, lookedthe part of a king.
But what people didn't know isthat there was something inside
of him that was going to growand develop into a very
(11:06):
significant problem because itwas not being dealt with.
There were opportunities for itto be dealt with, but Saul chose
not to do it the way the Lordhad prescribed, and he chose to
do it his own way because Saul,in the depths of his heart, in
(11:29):
the depths of his life, was aninsecure man.
He was insecure, he had fear, hehad this severe case of the fear
of man.
He was afraid of the opinionsthat other people had.
And if you're a leader, you bestbe prepared for the opinions of
(11:53):
other people.
As many as there are differenttypes of people, there are going
to be different types ofopinions.
And some of them are going to beencouraging, and some are going
to be not encouraging, man.
They're going to be coming inthe form of attacks, even
against you.
(12:14):
And sometimes by people that youfelt like you really knew well.
But all of those things aredesigned to bring about an
opportunity for us to growbeyond those things inside that
are problems of the sinfulnature.
(12:38):
And insecurity is part of thesinful nature because it's
focused in on self.
Poor me.
And so we find in chapter tenthis wonderful experience is
(13:01):
recorded where in verse ten ofchapter ten, scripture says,
When they arrived at Gibeah, aprocession of prophets met him.
The Spirit of God came upon him,meaning Saul.
(13:21):
The Spirit of God came upon himin power, and he joined in their
prophesying.
When all those who had formerlyknown him saw him prophesying
with the prophets, they askedeach other, What is this that's
happened to the son of Kish?
Is Saul among the prophets?
(13:46):
A man who lived there answered,And who is their father?
So it became a saying, Is Saulamong the prophets?
After Saul stopped prophesying,he went to the high place.
Now the power of the Spirit cameupon him.
(14:08):
Something that he had notexperienced before happened.
And if you ever had the power ofthe Holy Spirit come upon you,
it's the most unique feeling ofbeing empowered, of being
infused with a life that isoutside of your own.
(14:29):
It's the life of God.
And you can see things and yousay things as clear as oracles
that come from the mouth of God.
A prophecy is just absolutelyspeaking, thus says the Lord.
And this group of prophets weretraveling around the country,
(14:54):
blessing communities withprophetic ministry.
I love it.
And Saul was a recipient ofthat.
And you know, when you're underthe power of the anointing, it
feels like it's always going tolast like that.
It's always going to be likethat.
It's always going to last.
It's always going to last.
(15:16):
The anointing's always going tobe on me.
Thank you, God, I'm chosen.
But the fact of the matter is,the anointing is not a
relational thing.
It's a functional thing.
It's meant for the service ofministry.
(15:39):
But relationship is meant forthe purpose of intimacy.
And when we have relationshipwith God, when the Spirit of God
is not upon us in power, westill have relationship with Him
that's intimate.
And that's what grows.
(16:01):
And that's what deals with thecharacter flaws within us.
It's God who's at work withinus.
Not we ourselves trying toimprove ourselves.
That's self-help.
And that is not very effective.
Granted, it's better thanself-destruction, but self-help
(16:25):
can't put Hump D together again.
We can't find ourselves enteringinto a relationship with God
just because we're trying toimprove ourselves.
Again, it's self-help.
Insecurity feeds on self-help,but it's an endless cycle.
(16:49):
But with God in us, who's atworking within us, he works
within us as we cooperate withhim to overcome these things.
(17:12):
Much like a priest.
And Saul had a taste of it.
He had a major time, a powerencounter, if you will.
Holy Spirit came upon him.
Epi is a Greek term for upon.
(17:35):
Three aspects of the Holy Spiritare para meaning coming
alongside of, and meaning in andepi.
Pero and epi there are threeGreek words that describe the
function of Holy Spirit in ourlives.
(17:55):
He comes upon us, he dwellsaround us, and he lives within
us.
When we place our faith in JesusChrist.
Key point.
Well, Saul experienced theanointing.
He experienced the very lifepower of God.
(18:16):
And undoubtedly it not only blewhis mind, shifted his paradigm,
caused his worldview to change,but also it affected him
inwardly.
It was an experience.
But it wasn't the same as beingborn again.
(18:37):
He was not a born-again man.
He still had this issue insideof him, this nature that would
fight against the things of God.
And we see that taking place inhis life in chapter 10.
(19:00):
Verse, let me see.
Yeah.
Verse 20.
Well sorry, 21.
Then he, Samuel, brought forwardthe tribe of Benjamin.
You see, Samuel had the tribescoming in front of him because
(19:24):
he was going to point out toeveryone who the king was.
And so he had the various tribescome across the procession.
There were twelve tribes, and soall twelve tribes came, and then
the tribe of Benjamin came.
And then Samuel said to them,clan by clan.
(19:45):
And Maitri's clan was chosen.
Finally Saul, there we go,finally Saul of Kish was chosen.
But when they looked for him, hewas not found.
He was not to be found.
So they inquired further of theLord.
Has the man come here yet?
(20:05):
And the Lord said, Yes, he ishidden among the baggage.
So they ran and brought him out,and as he stood among the
people, he was a head tallerthan any of the others.
This is the same man thatpreviously had been under the
(20:28):
power of the Holy Spirit, andnow that which is say it that
wore off.
That wore off, and now Saul isleft with feeling just like Saul
again.
And Saul did not feel at allequipped to be a king.
(20:53):
He knew there were things insideof him, just like we know.
There are things inside of usthat are hindering things in our
lives.
You just know it.
He doesn't know it.
Nobody really has to come outand tell you.
You just kind of get an idea ofthat after a while.
If there is, if there's ifthere's something impeding your
(21:16):
progress spiritually, it's athing pertaining to your old
nature, undoubtedly.
And Saul came face to face withSaul again, and he was full of
insecurities, so much so thathe, at the time of his
(21:37):
inauguration, his publicrecognition as king, one of
them, he was hiding amongst abunch of baggage where the
donkeys hang out.
He didn't want to be he didn'the didn't want he was scared,
(22:00):
man.
He was afraid of what he wasn'table to accomplish.
The anointing, the empowermentis wonderful, but we can't live
our lives waiting for theempowerment and reverting back
(22:25):
to our old way of doing thingsonce that wears off.
Because the empowerment, theanointing of God for a certain
situation eventually wears off.
And sometimes we get accustomedto being under that anointing
for an extended period of time,and when it wears off, we could
(22:47):
think something's wrong.
Like in the case of Saul, I'msure he thought something was
wrong.
What's wrong?
What's wrong?
What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with me, man?
I I don't believe I can't be aking.
I have all this stuff I know.
I have all these things about methat I know.
(23:09):
And yet, God was going to givehim more opportunities to enter
into something that would bringabout a change, and that was
(23:31):
relationship with God.
He didn't have that.
And so the anointing is not areplacement for relationship.
Relationship is greater than theanointing we walk in.
(23:54):
Because relationship is the verybasis for us having our name
written in the Lamb's Book ofLife.
The fact that the Lord knows usand wants to know us deeper,
looks to know us completely, andfor us to know him completely,
to be one as he is one.
(24:17):
And so Saul had this wonderfulexperience of being anointed,
then he had that come downexperience of meeting Saul
again, meeting himself.
And so they get Saul out fromthe place behind the bags, and
(24:43):
then Samuel explains therelationship that the king is to
have with the people, and thepeople to the king, and the
relationship with God.
He wants that to be clear.
This is what will go well withyou if your right relationship
with God is being pursued.
If you're in pursuit of that,that was what the Lord was
(25:07):
looking for.
For that to take place so thathe could begin to prepare them
for more.
And if this is a little caveat,if things aren't happening in
your midst, meaning you're notseeing the power of God's
(25:30):
kingdom, two things.
Number one, it could be thatit's just a waiting time.
Or secondly, things aren't inright order, and God can't
release things more because itwouldn't be beneficial.
If you had a million people inyour fellowship, but you have a
(25:52):
toxic thing going on, or thingsare out of place, not
necessarily even toxic, they'reout of order.
They have to come in orderbefore things can be blessed.
So Samuel gives the people avery clear understanding as to
(26:15):
what their responsibilities wereand what the king's
responsibilities were regardingrelationship with God and with
themselves.
But if you don't, God's hand isgoing to be against you, just
like it was against those whowandered in the wilderness for
(26:38):
40 years, because of theirinternal attitude, their
murmuring and their unbelief.
Unbelief was there, and it justyou know was evident in what in
(26:58):
how they lived.
Unfortunately, God couldn'tbless that.
That had to be purged out.
That's why things in our lifeneed to be purged out in order
for God to bring about a greaterblessing.
But the good news is he wantsto, and if we simply submit
(27:18):
ourselves over to him, he will.
He will, he's faithful, he will.
That's the good news.
Your life can be empoweredtoday, right now, inwardly,
because of the relationship, andthen you can experience the
anointing of God which comesupon that, which turns things
(27:39):
into a much greaterdemonstration of the kingdom
because it's the power of God,not just the power of our good
works.
Good works have power.
Saul was doing good things, hewas a good farmer, but he wasn't
(28:02):
a very good king because hedidn't allow God to deal with
the insecurities in his life.
There's another passage in whichthere was these individuals that
came and they had been oppressedby one of their neighbors, the
(28:30):
Ammonites.
And the Ammonites were alwaysafter these individuals in
Jabbeth Gilead.
And one day these people calledout to their fellow Jews to come
(28:51):
and help.
There we go again.
The spirit of God came upon himin power, meaning it hadn't been
(29:15):
with him the entire time betweenevents, but here we are.
And he burned with anger.
It was a type of anger that wasa righteous anger, and he cut up
a couple of oxen and distributedthem all throughout Israel and
(29:40):
said, if we don't do somethingabout this, this is the way it's
gonna be for us all throughoutIsrael.
They're coming, they're gonnaslaughter us.
We've got to do something aboutthis.
And 330,000 men were rallied ina short period of time, within
seven days, they were rallied.
300,000 men were rallied to comeand fight against the Ammonites,
(30:04):
and they did, and they won.
And Saul was confirmed as a kingbecause he was a great military
leader under the anointing.
But when the anointing had runits course, and Saul was lifted,
(30:29):
excuse me, Saul was left withjust being Saul again.
He disobeyed a direct order.
And we're going to pick that upin the next episode concerning
the issue of obedience as itpertains to leadership, but just
(30:56):
because you are anointed doesn'tmean you have good character.
The Lord is more interested inhaving people of good character
than having more people whodemonstrate their anointing and
draw great crowds, but reallynothing much other than a show
(31:21):
takes place.
Yes, lives are touched, andthat's why the anointing comes.
Because lives, even though themotives behind the scenes aren't
all that good often, becausethere are sincere lives that are
hungry, lives that get touched,and the anointing of God is
(31:42):
effective in doing that.
But God wants character.
Because relationship with God,He wants us holy, because He is
holy.
Let's not rely on the anointing.
Let's cherish it, of course.
(32:04):
But really to rely upon Jesus asour example and to lean on Him.
And as we do, we lean on theFather, our Heavenly Father, and
He supplies our needs as we leanon Him.
(32:26):
Hallelujah.
Let's pray.
Father, I thank you for who youare, God.
Really, and how you're doingthings, why you're doing them,
where you're doing them, howyou're doing them.
(32:46):
Thank you for using us.
For more than anything.
Father, we worship you.
And look for deeperrelationship.
Relationship.
To know your ways, to know you.
(33:08):
So it brings you joy and whatcauses you sorrow.
To laugh with those who laughand weep with those who weep,
but to have that first be withyou.
So we honor you by presentingour whole selves to you as a
(33:31):
living sacrifice.
And invite you, Holy Spirit, toconsume us.
Burn away all the dross, skim itaway.
And cause us to be pure in heartso that we can see God.
(33:53):
And we pray these things.
We stand here and we believe forthat to be true and declare it
to be so.
We say, in the name of Jesus, westand here with the Amen and the
Amen.
Amen.
Alright, folks.
We love you.
(34:14):
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line atLifeRoundTheFire at gmail.com,
or you can type in Life Aroundthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
Adios, amigos.
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