Beloved, I say to you peace and blessing in the name of the Great and Matchless name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
1 Samuel 15:19-23
19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?" 20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Beloved, what are the fruits of your labor?
Just as Saul, you have been given a specific plan of action that He expects to be followed.
However; Saul, did what he thought would be pleasing to God.
We are alloted various other avenues to pursue; other added endeavors, but most importantly, when He gives us a plan of action, that is what we need to follow AND THEN the extras will be sacrifices unto Him.
Beloved, He has given you something to do and told you specifically how to do it, why are you going around the mulberry bush?
God was not pleased with Saul's intended sacrifices and wanted nothing to do with them, they were not acceptable.
My encouragement today is that you sit down and ask...am I following the path that has been laid before me or am I offering up to God empty sacrifices?
Once He rejects the sacrifice, He then withdraws His Spirit...(read further in the passage). We may not understand the reason, we may not understand the way, but we must be obedient in the action. Pressing on, never looking back to tomorrow.
It's perfectly alright to establish the youth group; but did you establish the addiction group God told you to start? It's okay to start the clothing closet; but did you start the prison ministry?
Yes, it's all for the betterment of the Kingdom, but if He told you to do one thing but you are down the street doing something else, the anointing is not there...and you are yet...sending empty sacrifices up to God...
