Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 28-29

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

Our key verse underlines the fact that God does speak to people. The Urim was a method, not unlike flipping a coin and believing that God would choose heads or tails. The prophets, both true and false, were silent. The medium, often called the witch of Endor, was dumbfounded that Samuel would appear. Obviously she faked it at other times, as I believe is the case with mediums today. God had a purpose here. If we look to someone claiming to be a prophet, we must recognize that their words are often unreliable because of the human element, and even if the prophet is a man or woman of God, we still must interpret for our needs what he or she has said. This is why God gave us the Holy Scriptures and the historical understanding of their meanings. We can have confidence that the Holy Spirit gave oversight to what was written down in our Bibles, and also gave oversight to the Rabbis and early church leaders as to what writings were to be included in our Bibles. The Apostle John, quotes Jesus in John 16:13, “When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord, I am totally confident that You do speak to me through Your Word and by Your Spirit. Holy Spirit, please continue to guide me into all Truth as Jesus promised You would. Help me to know when You speak metaphorically and when You speak literally. I choose to believe with all my heart that the Bible is Your Word. You have expressed Your thoughts, and because You are God, You have given oversight to the content of Your book. As David prayed so I pray, “Teach me thy Word, O God.” In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’m deeply concerned that we all get it right when God speaks to us. Jesus instructed the Apostle Peter to, “feed my sheep.” Peter wrote that we “have the prophetic word made more sure,” (1 Peter 1:15-21), and that, “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.” Over the centuries, private interpretation of Scripture has resulted in cults, and self-deceived people who lead others astray. The opposite of “private” is “public.” Throughout the centuries, the doctrines of our faith have been publicly defined and published: The Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the writings of the early Church teachers and the writings of the reformers.