For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23

Over the past several weeks in the daily Masses we have been reading about the first King of Israel, King Saul. We learn that Saul wasn’t a very good King. Before David ever even enters the picture, Saul is in rebellion against God’s commands. We see in the book of Samuel God gave a command to destroy the Amalekites and all the spoils. Saul does not obey, spares the Amalekite King and takes the spoils to “sacrifice to the Lord.” And here we learn;

rebellion is no less a sin than divination.

Rebellion is equivalent to witchcraft, rebellion against God is the same as seeking insight, knowledge and practicing occult. These things seem to go hand in hand. All these things are an effort to control, which really leads to things being out of control. Over and over we think we can control things and save ourselves. Over and over when we don’t turn to God, we get humbled by chaos and fear. When we disobey the commands of God, discord becomes our way of life. Discord is a spirit.

We see later, in Saul’s jealousy and murderousness towards David, that discord has taken over his heart. David on the other hand keeps his eyes on the Lord and spares Saul, even though in human terms it wouldn’t make sense to do so. David is not in rebellion. Even though David is a sinner, he is quick to repent and gentle of heart. A man after God’s own heart.

All of these things make me think of America today. How much of what we see happening is a rebellion against Gods commands and an effort to control. A discord has taken over and along with discord comes lies. It’s as if a demon stands between people like a fun house mirror distorting perception and causing division. Lies of misperception are constantly spewed and demons latch onto the words spewed out carrying discord to each ear that will hear. This is a Principality. Law and order go by the wayside and a stronghold overtakes certain geographical areas. Hatred is fomented.

Last night I dreamt about the movie the Blair Witch Project. It was a movie from the late 90’s. The kids in the movie go in search of the Blair witch. To do something like this is an act of rebellion. We should always go in search of God, not in search of witches. Though I never watched the whole movie, nor do I want to, my understanding is that the kids start to mistrust one another. This is what the spirit of Discord does. This mistrust is cultivated into a frenzy, a frenzy fear feeds, and bad decision after bad decision is made. This is because the mistrust that Discord causes focuses on evil.

When we distrust everyone and everything, we are focusing on knowledge of evil. This knowledge of evil, grasped when we’re not aligned properly with God leads us to judge souls, and have hatred in our hearts about our fellow man. It is why Adam and Eve who grasped at the tree of knowledge of good and evil before God offered it, fell so hard. They weren’t in a place of maturity to repent and ask for mercy. A heart that is not mature cannot handle it. A heart that doesn’t fully know the goodness of God runs with the evil straight into the pit. As it gains knowledge of evil it loses focus on the knowledge of the goodness of God.

Conversely, the one who is in right relationship with God, who does not rebel, who obeys even when it’s difficult, has a mature heart. In fact, this kind of heart has the Holy Spirit. While the Spirit brings peace and joy, that is not the only nor even primary mission of the Holy Spirit;

And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;  and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. John 16:8-11

Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit comes to convict. This means He comes to correct you. He will show you your own sin and how it has harmed the church, that is, harmed your relationship with God and in turn harmed other people. He will show that Jesus is the way. He will show who is the judge. He lets you know who is in control and it is not you. He will show you how demons distorted your vision.

Much of the lies and distortions we are seeing and reading today are distractions meant to make you keep your eyes on a storm rather than on the Keeper of the storm, Jesus Christ Himself. If you allow your soul to focus only on the evil you will eventually rebel. You will think you have some secret knowledge that perhaps others don’t know. And you won’t see that you have been distracted and it will blindside you. You will find yourself trying to control through human means that which only God can set right. You will find yourself in the way of the Holy Spirit. Because of your knowledge of evil you will try to save yourself.

I often ponder the confidence of the prophet Elijah. He walked into the worst of situations, yet his focus was on how good God is. His focus was on the knowledge of the goodness of God. And this focus called down fire on the gods of Baal. Do you realize how fearless he had to be? This too can be said of David. Scripture this past week told us;

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. 1 Samuel 48

David ran quickly towards Goliath… my Lord and my God, that is complete confidence in you. That is total focus on your goodness. That is perfect love of you that has cast out fear even in the face of the knowledge of the evil confronting you. It wasn’t that David wasn’t a sinner, it was that David completely knew who God was and is and who he was in light of that. That is why David was a man after God’s heart. David’s mistrust of others did not keep Him from obeying God and being confident in him. David was laser focused.

Both Elijah and David had time to listen to God. In the stillness and the quiet. There were no 24 hour news reels, no cellphones, no TikTok or Instagram.

I urge you brothers and sisters to turn off the noise and listen in the stillness. Ask, no beg, the Holy Spirit to convict you, and when He does don’t justify, just humbly submit. And remember how good God is. He can shut the mouths of lions. He can send angels to minister to arrow wounds. He can make the sun spin and dry out the wettest of rain. The opposite of rebellion is obedience. A word most of us don’t like. Ponder it though. It is the thing that will help save your soul.

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