Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / June 13 - The Heart Behind the Action

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June 13 - The Heart Behind the Action · 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 13th.
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  The heart behind the action. Let's be honest for a second.
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  It's possible to look like a good person on the outside,
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  while the inside tells a completely different story.
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  Good grades to impress parents, helping with chores because
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  someone's watching, Being kind to a person's face while talking
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  about them behind their back. We've all been there in some
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  form. And Proverbs chapter 17, verses
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  23 and 24 cut right through it. A wicked man accepts a bribe in
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  secret to pervert the ways of justice.
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  The discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but the eyes of a fool
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  are on the ends of the earth. The fool's eyes are scattered,
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  always looking for the angle, the shortcut, the thing that
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  looks good but costs nothing. The wise person keeps their eyes
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  on what actually matters, truth, integrity, God.
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  Then there's King Saul in First Samuel chapter 15.
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  God gave him a specific command, completely destroy the enemy and
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  everything they had. But Saul decided to keep the
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  best livestock, supposedly for sacrifice.
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  He did some of what God said. He left out the inconvenient
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  parts. And when Samuel confronted him,
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  Saul had a ready explanation. It was for a good reason for
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  worship, but God wasn't impressed and Samuel said one of
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  the most important things in all of Scripture.
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  First Samuel chapter 15, verse 22.
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  To obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of
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  Rams. Partial obedience is still
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  disobedience. Doing the right thing for the
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  wrong reason is still the wrong thing.
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  God isn't fooled by religious activity that masks A
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  disobedient heart. This is so relevant for us
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  today. We can show up to church, follow
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  the rules publicly, use the right language around Christian
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  friends, and still be completely out of alignment with God in our
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  private lives. Not because we're bad people,
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  but because we've confused behavior management with heart
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  transformation. God doesn't want your
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  performance. He wants your heart.
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  A heart that genuinely loves Him, genuinely seeks His wisdom,
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  and genuinely wants to obey. Not to earn something, but
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  because that's who you are from the inside out.
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  That's the kind of life that holds up.
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  That's the kind of person who becomes someone others trust and
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  God uses. Let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for seeing past our actions straight
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  to our hearts. Forgive us for the moments when
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  we've done the right things for the wrong reasons, or obeyed
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  only the parts that were convenient.
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  We want more than that. We want hearts that genuinely
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  love you, that pursue wisdom, and that obey fully, not out of
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  obligation, but out of love. Transform us from the inside in
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  Jesus name, Amen. When a loved one's marriage is
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  under strain, you may not know what to say, but you can still
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  know how to pray. The Marriage Intercessor series
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  gives tender, faith filled language for standing before God
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  when misunderstanding, distance, conflict, and wounded hearts
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  threaten a covenant. These prayer scripts help you
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  intercede with mercy, wisdom, and hope, asking God to soften
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  what is hardened, heal what has been bruised, and restore peace
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  where tension has taken root. From broken communication to
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  division to emotional repair, reconciliation and renewed
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  strength, this series is for every prayerful heart carrying
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  another couple before the Lord. Pray with clarity, stand with
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  compassion. Believe for restoration under
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  the hand of God. 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 17 verses 23 to 24 World English Bible A wicked
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  man receives a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
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  Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the
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  eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
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  First Samuel Chapter 15 World English Bible Samuel said to
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  Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people,
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  over Israel. Now therefore listen to the
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  voice of Yahweh's words. Yahweh of armies says, I
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  remember what a malek did to Israel, how he set himself
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  against him on the way when he came up out of Egypt.
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  Now go and strike a malek and utterly destroy all that they
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  have, and don't spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant
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  and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
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  Saul summoned the people and counted them in telling 200,000
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  footmen and 10,000 men of Judah. Saul came to the city of Amalek
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  and set an ambush in the valley. Saul said to the Kenites, Go,
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  depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you
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  with them, for you showed kindness to all the children of
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  Israel when they came up out of Egypt.
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  So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
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  Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah, as you go to Shur, that
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  is before Egypt. He took Agag, the king of the
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  Amalkites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with
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  the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared
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  Agag and the best of the sheep, of the cattle and of the fat
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  calves and the lambs, and all that was good.
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  And we're not willing to utterly destroy them, but everything
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  that was vile and refuse that they destroyed utterly.
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  Then Yahweh's word came to Samuel, saying, It grieves me
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  that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back
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  from following me and has not performed my commandments.
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  Samuel was angry, and he cried to Yahweh all night.
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  Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning.
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  And Samuel was told, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold,
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  he set up a monument for himself, and turned and passed
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  on, and went down to Gilgal. Samuel came to Saul and Saul
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  said to him, You are blessed by Yahweh.
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  I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.
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  Samuel said, Then what does this bleeding of the sheep in my
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  ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?
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  Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites.
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  For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle
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  to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the
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  rest. Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay,
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  and I will tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.
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  He said to him, say on Samuel said, though you were little in
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  your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of
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  Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over
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  Israel, and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, Go and
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  utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against
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  them until they are consumed. Why then didn't you obey
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  Yahweh's voice, but took the plunder and did that which was
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  evil in Yahweh's sight? Saul said to Samuel.
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  But I have obeyed Yahweh's voice, and have gone the way
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  which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek,
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  and have utterly destroyed the Amalkites.
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  But the people took of the plunder sheep and cattle, the
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  chief of the devoted things to sacrifice to Yahweh your God and
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  Gilgal. Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great
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  delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying
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  Yahweh's voice? Behold, to obey is better than
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  sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of Rams.
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  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is
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  as idolatry and terraphim. Because you have rejected
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  Yahweh's word, He has also rejected you from being king.
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  Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed
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  the commandment of Yahweh and your words, because I feared the
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  people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my
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  sin and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.
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  Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have
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  rejected Yahweh's word, and Yahweh has rejected you from
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  being king over Israel. As Samuel turned around to go
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  away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe and it tore.
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  Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the Kingdom of Israel from
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  you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better
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  than you. Also the strength of Israel will
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  not lie nor repent, for he is not a man that he should repent.
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  Then he said, I have sinned yet please honor me now before the
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  elders of my people and before Israel, and come back with me,
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  that I may worship Yahweh your God.
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  So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshipped Yahweh.
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  Then Samuel said, Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to
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  me. Agag came to him cheerfully.
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  Agag said, surely the bitterness of death is past.
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  Samuel said, as your sword has made women childless, so your
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  mother will be childless among women.
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  Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh and Gilgal.
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  Then Samuel went to Rama, and Saul went up to his house to
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  jiber of Saul. Samuel came no more to see Saul
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  until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and
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  Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
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  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
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  you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
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  you won't miss the next conversation.
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  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope, and
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  walking daily with Jesus.