” If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts,
then rid yourselves of the foreign gods,….. commit yourselves
to the Lord and serve Him only.”   1 Sam. 7:3

Samuel…praying for the people…” we have sinned against the Lord”
  The people begged Samuel to keep praying on their behalf, for they
had seen the destruction , the LOSS OF BATTLE, the deaths of  many…

“He cried out to the Lord and on that day the LORD answered him.”

before, they had the ark, they hand this and still destruction came….
   but here the Lord is giving us…
   the insight of how to truly go before the LORD….
   and then for HIM to truly see a clean, pure heart, pure motive…
  and protection came….

the difference,  =  repentence…. “LORD – we have sinned against You”
  ouch…stop….
read the Bible – yes
Pray…. – yes
Worship…. – yes

but clean out our sins….. spend time letting God search, bring to mind…
the sins that we have comitted and have not taken under the blood ?

to get rid of the things that we can truly say, is not before the LORD…
    what has our heart right now ?  family, kids, spouse…
    what has our time…..our money…..
     is our strategy….I want to be financially free so I can give more to the Lord?
    is our strategy for our kid’s life…so they can see JESUS, taste JESUS, walk with ,
          obey JESUS MORE…?

we want protection –   be with my kids as they…
                                         – as we are on the road….
                                         – emergency room
                                         – Dr.’s report….

 the Israelites wanted the LORD to protect them completely…
and God seen their heart – completely….

today  – May 19th, 2010….
may we rid ourselves….of “foreign small “g” gods”
may we commit to HIM….our kids, our lives, our marriages
may we serve Him alone
may we take our sins and ask forgiveness….

” and the Lord answered him….”  God sent a thunder to send the other
army in such a panic…. HE LITERALLY – divinely took care of their need.

to go to God like a check out line ?   not so much.

if you read 1 Sam. 1 – 6….you will see what happened when they
   treated God like Walmart………. Thankyou – drive thru….doesn’t work…..
or the lady – “did you find everything you needed ?”

Do we go to God…for just the things we need with a cart full of sin ?
   a cart full of  small “g” gods….. and still want more ?

God, may I revere who You truly are ….more with my life…… seriously.
may I take the time…to ask YOU to cleanse me from all, unrighteousness…oh GOD.
and then, humbly come to YOU…and still desire Your Mercy, Your grace.