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June 26 - The Choice That Shapes Your Future · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, June 26th.
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  The choice that shapes your future life is full of forks in
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  the road. Some of them are obvious big
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  decisions with clear stakes, but most of them are small, quiet,
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  daily choices that seem insignificant in the moment and
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  yet over time define the direction of your whole life.
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  Where you end up five years from now will be largely determined
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  by the small choices you're making right now.
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  Proverbs chapter 18, verse 22 says he who finds a wife finds a
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  good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.
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  Now in context, this is affirming something profound.
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  The right relationships, once built on godly wisdom and
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  genuine character, carry God's favor.
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  This isn't just about marriage. It's about the principle that
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  choosing well in your close relationships, in what you're
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  building toward, and in who you're becoming, these things
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  invite blessing into your life. But First Samuel chapter 28
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  shows us the devastating alternative.
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  Saul, who was once chosen and anointed by God, had spent years
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  making choices that moved him further from God rather than
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  closer. And when he finally faced a
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  crisis that terrified him, the Philistines gathered for battle.
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  God was silent. He had pushed God to the margins
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  so consistently that when the moment came when he needed him
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  most, Saul found himself reaching into forbidden
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  territory. He consulted a medium.
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  He sought answers from the dead rather than from the living God
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  who had once spoken to him. Clearly, the summary of Saul's
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  choices is heartbreaking. He didn't seek the Lord.
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  He consulted sources that were completely outside of God's
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  will, and the consequences that followed were devastating, not
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  just for him, but for his family and his legacy.
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  Here's the thing about Saul's story that we need to sit with
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  for a moment. It didn't happen all at once.
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  The drift from God was gradual. Each individual compromise
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  seemed manageable. Each shortcut seemed justified.
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  Each moment of impatience with God's timing led to another and
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  another, until Saul found himself so far from where he
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  started that he no longer even recognized the distance.
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  Teen and young adult life is full of these same kinds of
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  gradual drift moments. Who you spend your time with
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  slowly shapes your values. The content you consistently
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  consume slowly shapes how you see the world.
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  The habits you form right now of prayer, of reading God's Word,
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  of seeking wise counsel, or the absence of those habits are
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  quietly building the person you're becoming.
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  God's favor is real. Blessing is real, but it flows
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  toward lives that consistently choose to seek Him.
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  Not perfectly but persistently, not without mistakes, but with a
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  heart that keeps returning. Don't wait for a crisis to seek
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  God. Don't wait until you're
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  desperate to make the choice to turn toward Him.
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  Make that choice today in the small things, in the daily
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  habits, in the decisions that seem too ordinary to matter.
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  They are not ordinary. They are the architecture of
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  your future. Let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank You for guiding us in every choice we
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  face. Forgive us for the times we've
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  taken shortcuts or sought answers in the wrong places when
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  we should have sought You. Help us to build daily habits of
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  seeking You not just in crisis, but in the quiet, ordinary
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  moments. We trust that Your plan for our
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  lives is better than anything we could choose for ourselves, and
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  we choose to walk in it today. In Jesus name, Amen.
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  What if the night was never meant to be ruled by fear, but
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  covered by the presence and authority of God?
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  Command Your Night is a prophetic prayer script series
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  created for believers who want to pray with confidence before
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  sleep, stand firm in spiritual warfare and invite divine
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  covering over every hour of darkness.
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  These prayers help you quiet anxiety, guard your home, resist
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  oppression, sanctify your dreams, cover your family, and
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  recognize sacred moments when God may be calling you to
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  intercede in the night watches. From peaceful sleep to midnight
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  breakthrough, this series gently strengthens your faith and
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  reminds you that no night season is beyond God's power,
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  protection, and voice. Order now on Amazon or visit
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  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
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  with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
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  Proverbs chapter 18 Verse 22 World English Bible Whoever
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  finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of Yahweh.
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  First Samuel chapter 28 World English Bible In those days the
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  Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to
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  fight with Israel. Achish said to David, Know
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  assuredly that you will go out with me in the army, you and
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  your men. David said to Achish.
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  Therefore you will know what your servant can do, a chish
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  said to David. Therefore I will make you my
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  bodyguard forever. Now Samuel was dead, and all
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  Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Rama.
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  Even in his own city Saul had sent away those who had familiar
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  spirits and the Wizards out of the land.
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  The Philistines gathered themselves together and came and
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  encamped in Shunam. And Saul gathered all Israel
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  together, and they encamped in Gilboa.
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  When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and
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  his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of Yahweh,
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  Yahweh didn't answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.
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  Then Saul said to his servants, Seek for me a woman who has a
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  familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her.
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  His servant said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a
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  familiar spirit at Endor. Saul disguised himself and put
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  on other clothing, and went he and two men with him, and they
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  came to the woman by night. Then he said, Please consult for
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  me by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomever I shall
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  name to you. The woman said to him, Behold,
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  you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have
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  familiar spirits and the Wizards out of the land.
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  Why then do you lay a snare for my life to cause me to die?
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  Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, no
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  punishment will happen to you for this thing.
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  Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up to you?
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  He said, bring Samuel up for me. When the woman saw Samuel she
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  cried with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul
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  saying, Why have you deceived me, for you are Saul.
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  The king said to her, Don't be afraid, what do you see?
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  The woman said to Saul, I see a God coming up out of the earth.
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  He said to her, What does he look like?
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  She said, an old man comes up, he is covered with a robe.
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  Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his
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  face to the ground and showed respect.
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  Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me to bring me up?
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  Saul answered, I am very distressed, for the Philistines
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  make war against me, and God has departed from me and answers me
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  no more by profits or by dreams. Therefore I have called you that
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  you may make known to me what I shall do.
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  Samuel said. Why then do you ask me, since
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  Yahweh has departed from you and has become your adversary,
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  Yahweh has done to you as he spoke by me.
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  Yahweh has torn the Kingdom out of your hand and given it to
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  your neighbor, even to David, because you didn't obey Yahweh's
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  voice and didn't execute His fierce wrath on a Malek.
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  Therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today.
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  Moreover, Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the
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  hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will
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  be with me. Yahweh will deliver the army of
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  Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.
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  Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and
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  was terrified because of Samuel's words.
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  There was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all
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  day long or all night long. The woman came to Saul and saw
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  that he was very troubled, and said to him, Behold, your
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  servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in
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  my hand, and have listened to your words, which you spoke to
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  me. Now, therefore, please listen
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  also to the voice of your servant, and let me set a morsel
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  of bread before you eat, that you may have strength when you
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  go on your way. But he refused, and said, I will
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  not eat. But his servants, together with
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  the woman, constrained him, and he listened to their voice.
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  So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.
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  The woman had a fattened calf in the house.
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  She hurried and killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it,
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  and baked unleavened bread of it.
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  She brought it before Saul and before his servants, and they
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  ate. Then they rose up and went away
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  that night. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.