“But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.” 1 Samuel 15:3, 9 (NKJV)

God had given Saul very clear instructions on what he was supposed to do. Saul however had a “better idea.” Against God’s instruction, because of pressure from the people around him, he spared King Agag and all the best stuff, destroying only that which was worthless to them. When Samuel confronted Saul on this, he blamed the people instead of taking the responsibility, and he tried to make out that their intentions were good as wanting to give the best as a sacrifice to God. However, that was not what God had commanded them to do and it cost Saul his kingship.

What about when God asks us to do something? Do we follow through according to the instructions that He has given us, or do we have a better idea? When we talk with others about what God has called us to, do we let the opinions or ideas of men compromise what God’s instructions to us are, or do we do it a little different because we are afraid of what others might say?

In stark contrast to Saul’s compromise (costing him the throne), we have Esther’s willingness to obey. Although going before the King without being summoned would normally assure the death penalty, the king actually offered her anything she wanted up to half his kingdom! For a king (a man!) to offer “a  women,” especially in that culture, up to half the greatest kingdom on earth at the time, would have been unheard of. Yet that was the reward offered to Esther for her unquestioning courageous obedience.

What is God asking you to do? Wait before Him until you have clear confirmation of the details and the timing, do not lean on your own understanding and do not compromise to please men. Step up with courage and see how God will move on your behalf and lead you on in Triumph!

”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 heed than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV)

Has God been speaking to you about …

• Leading a prayer group?
• Becoming a domain prayer group leader?
• Becoming a city champion

…find out how to enter into a great prayer adventure with God here at www.breakthroughprayer.com.

My first lesson in cohabitation came during the first week of my freshman year at university.

“What are you DOING?” my roommate demanded in tones usually reserved for horrified Moms.  I couldn’t figure out why she was upset.

“I just turned on the light,” I said, thinking it should be pretty obvious.

“Well turn it OFF,” she told me.  “It’s two in the morning.  I have an eight o’clock lab.” With that she rolled over and dove back under the blankets.

I turned the light off, a little miffed at first. I  wondered how I was supposed to find my pjs in the dark.  The door to our room was still open and I realized that there was enough light from the hallway to find my clothes.  I took them into the communal bathroom down the hall and a few minutes later climbed into bed in the dark.

The next week I bought a very small bedside lamp and I learned a crucial lesson.  When you live with someone you have to start thinking about them.  You have to take them into consideration in all matters.  Yes, it was reasonable for me to expect to not have to hunt for things in the dark.  But it was also totally reasonable for my roommate to expect to not be woken up at two in the morning.  The small lamp was the first compromise.  It wasn’t the last.

Learning to live with another person is no easy feat.

By nature, humans tend towards selfishness.  Left to our own devices, we choose with our own best interest at heart.  But when you choose to share your life with someone, whether that’s in a romantic relationship or not, you have to make room for that other person just as they have to make room for you.

They key is in learning the art of compromise.  There’s a fine line between bending to accommodate another person and bending so far that you completely lose yourself in the process.   In her article “Learning to Live with One Another Without Losing Myself” W. Smith writes:

We’ve often been taught as women that our love should be sacrificial, that we should be willing to put others first. The potential danger in this thinking is that a woman may give up who she is. She may find herself surrendering her own dreams, desires and calling, in an effort to best serve and please her husband. She loses a part of herself, and may find in future years that she lost something precious. Part of the tragedy is that she can no longer bring all of herself to the marriage, either.

So how you bend enough but not to far? You need to figure out which things matter and which don’t.  What are the things that you cannot compromise on? It may a financial matter – I cannot spend more than X amount on cable.  It could be time spent with extended family.  For these issues, hold your ground and make sure your partner knows that these are the areas you cannot bend on.  Once you’ve figured these out you can work through the less important things.

You are going to need to decide how the bathroom will get cleaned even though neither of you really wants to do it.  The bills need to get paid.  Someone needs to grocery shop.  With a little time you can work out a system that works for both of you. It may look nothing like the way your mother did it and that’s totally okay.

There will be a few things you will never agree on, but hopefully they will be pretty minor. In my house it’s scrambled eggs – frying pan versus saucepan.  Silly, right? I like my scrambled eggs light and fluffy which you just can’t do in a frying pan.  So on those Saturday mornings when we cook up a big breakfast the bacon and pancakes and hashbrowns are cooked together and then I’ll hear “Hey these are almost done if you want to cook your eggs.” It’s an easy solution to a small problem and our house remains at peace.

Learning to live together does get easier, although my Mom will tell you that there are still things she’s learning about my Dad 40 years after they married.  I think that’s part of the fun.  If you are getting married or are recently married you can learn more in our special Life Lesson  series Reflections for a Bride.

What do you find is the greatest challenge when sharing your space?

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” Titus 2:11-14

Stuck again. Is that an apt description of your life? It is for many Christians. Some know exactly why they are stalled, but they’ve been unable to move past the sin that trips them up. Others feel blind to the source of their troubles but perceive that all they do is run in place. Many believers have become discouraged about their situation.

Israel, the Lord’s chosen nation, had a history of defeat because they yielded to temptation instead of obeying God’s commands. Compromise defeats us too. God calls His children to live obedient lives, but instead, we are usually occupied with our own self-centered needs. At the same time, we are influenced by both the world and the Devil. The truth is that our selfish side prefers reinterpreting God’s commands to suit ourselves. The world clamors for us to join its way of thinking but shows little or no inclination to follow God’s way. Satan seeks to gain a foothold in our lives through our disobedience and compromise of God’s laws.

The Lord commands us to rid our lives of ungodliness (Titus 2:11-12) and He provides the Holy Spirit’s power, which enables us. He expects us not to yield. When we compromise, we start losing His power that helps us stand firm.

To fight compromise, begin with your thinking. Have you agreed with God that your attitude or action is displeasing to Him? Have you set your mind on obedience, whatever the cost? Only foolish people think they can compromise and live a victorious Christ-centered life.

Question: What kind of compromises have you been taking (or been tempted to take) lately?

About this Author: Charles Stanley

They had much in common. They were university professors, both lived in central Europe during the same century and both made astounding discoveries that would later change the world. But, in the end they chose to take separate responses to similar challenges to their faith and religious beliefs and their choices gave us a real life lesson in how to respond to the pressure of the world when our beliefs are challenged.

Galileo Galilei was the first to use a refracting telescope to make important astronomical discoveries. Galileo made a series of profound discoveries using his new telescope. As a professor of astronomy at University of Pisa, Galileo was required to teach the accepted theory of his time that the sun and all the planets revolved around the Earth. Galileo’s observations with his new telescope convinced him of the truth of a sun-centered planetary system. He is often referred to as the “father of astronomy.”

Galileo’s support for the heliocentric theory got him into trouble with the Roman Catholic Church. He was convicted of heresy and forced to recant and publicly withdraw his support of a theory that said the earth was not the center of the universe. He did so to save his life by simply proclaiming that his discoveries were simply untrue.

Martin Luther was a professor at the University of Whittenberg. He became convinced that the Bible was the true Word of God and had been abused by the Catholic Church. He appealed to the Pope to affirm the Gospel and later posted his 95 Thesis (really 95 points of error between the Gospel and its interpretation by the church) on the door of Castle Church. He sought not a breakaway from the church but a reformation from within.

Like Galileo, Luther was tried has a heretic and brought before the Diet of Worms where he was given the opportunity to recant and get in theological line with the church. He declined to do so saying, “On this I take my stand. I can do no other.” At Worms Luther stood for his beliefs. At Worms, Luther stood alone. At Worms Luther was true to his faith.

As I recently stood before the tomb of Galileo at Santa Croce Church in Florence, Italy, only a few days after kneeling at the grave of Luther in Whittenberg, suddenly the contrast of two similar, yet diametrically different men struck me. One stood at risk for his beliefs, while the other renounced truth and betrayed his faith for his personal safety. I was reminded of the admonition of Paul writing to the church at Corinth saying “Stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” I thought of what my church might be like if Luther had wimped on his faith like Galileo did. Luther stood firm in the faith.

The world tells us to compromise for our personal gain, but the Bible tells us to stand firm for our faith not matter what the world says. It is easy to compromise and conform. There is company in a crowd and it is often lonely to stand alone, but our faith tells us to stick to our ground and in the words of Martin Luther, “we can do no other.”

Question: Who would you say is your role model in your own life?

About this Author: John Grant

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30am EST.

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22-23).

Identity theft is a major and growing problem and as the economy deteriorates and people get more desperate, they are turning to electronic thievery. Identity theft is one of the most serious crimes in the United States – one that can take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars for victims to clean up. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million Americans have their identity stolen each year, including 400,000 children. A person’s identity is valuable to them and to a thief. We should all take care to protect our identity from getting into the wrong hands.

But, as Christians, there is another identity that is more important and more valuable and that is our Christian identity. When we are saved, we are set apart. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)  That is my spiritual identity and far more valuable than any other identity a thief could take from me.

Much like “dumpster divers” who sort through trash to find a receipt, check or anything else that would reveal our financial identity, Satan dives into our heart with his intention to steal our spiritual identity, our moral purity and he does it subtly by using a morally corrupt secular world to do his bidding for him to lure us into compromising our spiritual identity.

If you ever wonder about the kind of world we live in just look around and look at the news. Here are just a sample of headlines from my local paper over the past few days: “Judge Charged in Stripper Inquiry,” “Former State Official Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography,” “Most Floridians Okay With Gays and Lesbians Adopting.” The incoming Secretary of the Treasury, the top financial post in the federal government admits that it was an oversight that he did not pay his taxes over a number of years, notwithstanding repeated notices from the IRS and now he going to be in charge of the IRS.

The most dangerous word for Christians is the “C”, word “compromise.” I can handle it. It’s okay to watch an “R” rated movie. After all the story line is great, the acting superb and I can overlook the profanity and close my eyes during the morally impure scenes. It’s okay for me to regularly go to lunch with my secretary. I can make sure that nothing gets out of hand. And, the list could go on and on.

We are twice born creatures trying to live in but stay apart from a once born world. There are traps everywhere we look and the bait is so tantalizing. We live in a world of moral arrogance and it is spiritual adultery to pursue the pleasing values of this world while pledging our love for God.

That which we observe, we soon focus our lives around and then we accept as acceptable behavior and then embrace it and ultimately participate in it. That is the normal progression for moral degeneration and don’t think for a minute that Christians are immune from Satan’s temptations. I am not and neither are you.

So how shall we then live? The wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure (James 3:17), not the wisdom of the world. If we surrender our lives to God and resist the devil, he will run from us. (James 4:7) James best sums it up, saying that we aren’t faithful to God and are in love with the world then we are God’s enemies. (James 4:4)

The writer of Hebrews summed it up pretty well saying “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:22-23).

Don’t risk losing your spiritual identity for it is the most valuable thing any Christian has, more valuable than anything in this world.
(a thought on life from John Grant)

Questions: How can we keep ourselves pure? Do you spend time watching “R” rated movies or are you indifferent to news articles that oppose the principles set out in the Bible?

About the Author John Grant

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Joy and Gladness, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

What a challenge to live as children of light in an ungodly world today. It is not easy for us as Christians to keep ourselves pure as we live for Christ. We are bombarded from every side with temptations to sin and compromise. Never has a generation in history had such evil audio-visual assaults on its thinking.

God gives us some excellent principles to live by that will protect our minds and hearts so that we can live as children of light, as the Bible calls us to in Ephesians 5:8.

*Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. (Matthew 22:37-38).

Two objects can’t fill the same place at the same time. If we love God the way Jesus said, He will fill our hearts and minds. We’ll have no room for the junk of the world.

*Love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:38). When we do that we can enjoy good relationships with others as well as harmony in our lives.

*Present our bodies as a living sacrifices to God. We’re not to be conformed to this world, but “transformed by the renewing of [our] minds.”

How can we renew our minds? We can renew our minds by ridding them of junk – anger, resentment, bitterness and grudges that grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30-31).

How do we get rid of the grudges? By forgiving. (Ephesians 4:32).

*Follow the Lord, walk in love toward others, and live godly lives. (Ephesians 5:1-11).

*Do all to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:13). “And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).

Jesus said if we truly love Him, we will keep His words, and He and the Father will make their abode with us (John 14:12).

*Trust God and think only on what is good and true (Philippians 4:6-8).

*Put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18), so that we can stand against the temptations of the enemy of our souls.

Lord God, help me to follow Your principles by the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Keep me humble and walking as a joyful testimony to the exciting truth that You make children of light out of those who truly trust You as Savior.  Amen

Questions: How can we keep our minds pure as we are bombarded from every side with temptations to sin and compromise?

About the Author Muriel Larson

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Perfect Love, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Are you feeling discouraged and need someone to pray for you?

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30am EST.

Do you notice how easy it is to get a hard heart? God’s value system is so often in direct contrast to the values of our world.

God knows that our hearts will be pulled in directions away from Him. He also knows that when we go with that pull we will find our hearts hardening.  We will become aware of a nagging sense of dissatisfaction and impatience with life and with those around us. He cautions us…

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3: 12 & 13).

Many times we don’t even notice the hard crust that settles around our hearts.
We compromise in “little” things and think it won’t matter. Yet for the believer, there is inner frustration when we allow things into our hearts and minds that we know are in contrast to God. When we ignore that we find our heart moving toward unbelief. God calls us to be vigilant about keeping our heart soft. It’s not always easy but it is always worth it.

1)    Keep tabs on sin in your life. It slows down your reflex to God.

Be sensitive to the nudging of the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t cancel out the warning when your conscience bothers you. It’s easy to justify “small” wrong doings as we live in this world’s economy. Yet the toll it takes on a believer’s heart is simply not worth the momentary satisfaction.

2)    Guard your heart against unbelief.

If you find yourself justifying wrong doing and telling yourself it’s just small or it’s justified because of someone else’s actions toward you … be careful. This path will take you down a road of unbelief. The joy and blessing comes in the obedience to the ways of God. He warns us that these compromises are deceitful and the end is a hard heart.

3)    Don’t blame God in the midst of hard times.

Run to God when the storms of life come. Let His arms of comfort enfold you. Let His Spirit empower you with wisdom and help from God as you ask Him about each step in the midst of difficult days.

4)    Give encouragement daily and seek it as well.

We sharpen each other’s faith as we share together.

Father God,
Keep my heart soft. Don’t let me allow sin to slow down my reflex to You. I need You in my life. Increase my faith and help me to encourage someone else today to stay firm in their faith too. Guide me and hold me close to Your heart. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Questions: What steps can you take you keep your heart soft to God’s leading? What happens in ones life that causes one’s heart to become insensitive to God’s guidance?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Praising God for Answered Prayer, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

My fiancee has a 5 year old daughter by a previous marriage. His ex-wife has remarried, and along with her new husband, causes a lot of conflict regarding visitation and other custody issues. We have tried counselling together, but after two sessions his ex and her husband quit, saying my fiancee did not have the “right attitude.” He has the need to discuss this situation with me, but after a while it really upsets me. The little girl is just precious and I know that she is being hurt because of the unwillingness of the adults to forgive and compromise.

Probably the best advice I can give you is, “Listen, but do not offer an opinion or advice.” Probably anything you say will be held against you and it is just too hard not to get emotionally involved.

Unfortunately, your scenario is just all too common. Unresolved hurts from the first marriage will keep coming up until your fiancee resolves them, usually through good counselling (and it may be time consuming and expensive). There are some good books out now for the step-parent. My favourite is a tape on step-parenting called Secrets of Step-Parenting that can be ordered by phone, 1-800-338-4065, through the “love and logic parenting” people. They have a lot of good parenting tapes and books. It seems to me that you are making the best you can of a bad situation and you are right–you have to take care of your own emotional health.

If you find yourself slipping, pick up a copy of Codependent No More by Melody Beatti. It may seem mean to some people, but this is basically your fiancee’s problem. You can support him by listening but not much more. You have no authority or responsibility. Let me know how it goes.