Spiritual Awakening – Already Approved!
1 Samuel 15:9, 12, 17-31 (NIV)
But Saul and the army spared Agag…Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."…Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. [18] And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' [19] Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?"
[20] "But I did obey the Lord," Saul said. "I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. [21] The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
[22] But Samuel replied:
"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
[23] For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king."
[24] Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. [25] Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord."
[26] But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!"
[27] As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. [28] Samuel said to him, "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors--to one better than you. [29] He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
[30] Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God." [31] So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
It is virtually impossible to encourage an insecure person from the outside-in because the problem is inside-out
When we are small in our own eyes, that insecure hunger for approval will drive us to do anything to convince others and ourselves to that we are “bigger”
Some of the characteristics of insecurity – it is more difficult to admit our own faults, mistakes and failures especially because we are small in our eyes
1 Sam. 15:30 (NIV)
Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel
Mark 8:34-35 (NIV)
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
1. Realize that the drug of approval is a program, an emotional program that was un-thoughtfully given to many of us growing up that we can just as well reject today
Matthew 20:20-28 (NIV)
Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
[21] "What is it you want?" he asked.
She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."
[22] "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?"
"We can," they answered.
[23] Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
[24] When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. [25] Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. [26] Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- [28] just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Matthew 5:6 (GW)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for God's approval. They will be satisfied.
2. The very first thing that Jesus came to restore through the Gospel of Grace was to satisfy once and for all our deep insatiable need for unconditional approval
Romans 1:16-17 (GW)
I'm not ashamed of the Good News. It is God's power to save everyone who believes, Jews first and Greeks as well. [17] God's approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, "The person who has God's approval will live by faith."
By Grace, we have been examined, scrutinized in our darkest sins and devastating mistakes and yet approved and accepted from the inside-out
Galatians 2:16 (GW)
Yet, we know that people don't receive God's approval because of their own efforts to live according to a set of standards, but only by believing in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Jesus Christ in order to receive God's approval by faith in Christ and not because of our own efforts. People won't receive God's approval because of their own efforts to live according to a set of standards.
Jesus is the inside-out solution we have been yearning for since the solution for our approval-need requires an inside-out solution.
3. Simply receive the Gospel of Approval and establish that as our new foundation that overwrites any previous program
Galatians 1:10 (NLT)
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.