“And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.” – 1 Samuel 23:16 

During terrible times, a friend in the Lord can be a powerful encouragement! David was being hunted relentlessly by murderous King Saul. He’d been on the run for a very long time. Innocent and godly people who’d helped David were being slaughtered for their kindness. His family was in danger and the kingship that rightly belonged to him seemed impossible to attain. David had to have been frightened, frustrated, exhausted, angry, and discouraged all at the same time! 

Then, when he needed it the most, David received this beautiful encouragement from his best friend Jonathan. Jonathan encouraged him about God’s plan for his life and his future. Jonathan didn’t just give him a pep talk, he encouraged his faith in God’s promises, protection, and provision. He strengthened his hand in God. That’s a true friend in the Lord! 

As followers of Jesus, we will go through long and discouraging seasons in life. May we have friends like Jonathan who strengthen our hands in God. Likewise, our brothers and sisters in Christ will suffer setbacks, disappointments, and discouragement. It’s very likely that someone in your life is currently in such a season. Who needs to hear a word of encouragement from you today to strengthen their hand in God? 

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:20-21

What a comfort to know that Jesus was already praying for us nearly 2000 years ago! We are those who believe in Jesus through the word of His original disciples. That’s us that Jesus was praying for as His crucifixion drew near! As impending suffering and death weighed on His heart, we were on His mind!!! Praise God!

What an incredible prayer! Our Savior prayed for our unity. That we would be one. That what unites us in Christ would always be more powerful than what previously separated us in the world. Our unity in Christ is greater than differences of gender, ethnicity, race, social standing, economic status, education, employment, or earthly achievement!

Moreover, we aren’t just united together, we’re united in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit! We are invited and united with our Creator through faith in Jesus! Our vertical unity with Christ and our horizontal unity with neighbors who look and act different from us are meant to be powerful testimonies to a watching world that Jesus is truly the life-altering, soul-saving, world-redeeming Son of God.

All of which means, we need to take unity very, very seriously. Rather than dividing over petty things, we must battle to be united. We might fight to love our brothers and sisters in Christ even when we disagree with them. We must strive to stay together rather than simply walk away. Our unity is a precious gift, a powerful prayer, and a deep responsibility. We must live this prayer by the power of this prayer. Let us be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one!

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows  
is God in his holy habitation.  
God settles the solitary in a home;  
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,  
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.”  
– Psalm 68:5-6 

God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, care, and concern for the most vulnerable shines throughout the Bible from beginning to end. God is the perfect, holy Father to those without an earthly father in their lives. He champions vulnerable widows. He gives the lonely fellowship with Himself and leads those imprisoned, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually to freedom. How? 

One critical way is through the actions of His people! In every generation, God appoints His people, the followers of Jesus, to share and act on His love, to demonstrate His concern in practical ways, and to minister to deep physical and spiritual needs. Throughout history, God’s people have stepped up to the task, founding hospitals and orphanages, providing desperately needed relief and aid, battling for the abolition of slavery, the education and uplift of the poor, and the rights of the disenfranchised.  

Each generation of Christian must actively cultivate God’s passion for those hurting and left behind by the world in their own hearts. We must care for those most easily taken advantage of and having the fewest protections. What practical things can you, or are you, doing as a child of God to provide God’s care and reveal His love for those in need? 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

We live in a culture that elevates and celebrates busyness, productivity, and accomplishment. That culture easily spreads into our spiritual lives as well. Thankfully, Jesus gave us this beautiful teaching to remind us that when it comes to accomplishing things that truly matter and that will last for eternity, it isn’t about how busy we are or how many things we can check off a list. True Kingdom productivity flows naturally out of our ongoing relationship with Christ our King.

As we nurture our relationship with Jesus – in worship, prayer, study, meditation, and obedience to His commands, we will be fruitful. As we pause our activity to just be with Jesus and abide in Him, we will accomplish more that we could imagine. It will happen by His power and we couldn’t stop it if we tried! On the other hand, when we get so busy doing good things for Jesus that we neglect our relationship with Him, we aren’t fruitful. We get frustrated, exhausted, resentful, and burned out. But we aren’t be fruitful.

Though we’ll work hard as followers of Jesus, we must do so out of our regular rest and relationship in Christ alone. When we find our spiritual batteries running down, our heart in the wrong place, and our fruit non-existent, we mustn’t double down and try harder. Instead, we must refocus on abiding in Jesus. Invest in your relationship with Jesus at all times and let Him direct, guide, and empower all your activity on His behalf. Apart from Him, you can do nothing!

“And Samuel said,  
‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,  
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,  
and to listen than the fat of rams.’”  
– 1 Samuel 15:22 

God gave clear instructions to King Saul. However, King Saul had a “better” idea! Rather than obey God, Saul convinced himself that God would be more pleased if he made a spectacular sacrifice. Thoroughly convinced that he was bringing God greater glory through his “improvements” to God’s plan, Saul was surprised when God not only rejected his sacrifice, God rejected him. 

This disobedience was the final straw resulting in God’s rejection of his leadership over Israel. Though Saul would reign for many more years, God’s favor was gone and He raised up David to be king instead. Lest we merely consider this to be an interesting historical story, we must realize just how often we Christians can act like King Saul! 

God made His will clear through Jesus: believe in Him, follow Him, act like Him, obey Him. We do. To a point. However, inevitably we bump up against clear commandments of Scripture that are inconvenient, uncomfortable, feel dated, or seem irrelevant to our life. We rationalize doing something better, more loving, or more in line with God’s character instead of simply obeying. 

We rationalize our compartmentation of the sacred portion of our life from the religious portion of our life. We distract, deflect, and busy ourselves with things only loosely related to making disciples, going, baptizing, and teaching to obey all Christ commanded. We explain away differences between our churches’ priorities (or our priorities for our churches!) and the priorities displayed by the early church. This is no different than what Saul did. We must be different! God still finds our obedience better than any sacrifice, gift, or offering!