On the basis of the Word from 1 Samuel 9-10, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the desire of the Heavenly Father to see every single one of His people in their calling, or rather in the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 4:13).

 

… 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

 

 

In 1 Samuel 9-10 it is about Saul having received the instruction from his father Kish – “bow” (note: governmental presence of the Father; see Ezekiel 1:28 i.c.w. Revelation 4:3), who was a man from the tribe of Benjamin – “Son of the right hand of God” (note: the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ; see Luke 22:69) and a son of Abiel – “My Father is God.” (note: The knowledge of life in the relationship with God the Father; see Galatians 4:6-7) to seek his donkeys who were lost in the land.

 

Saul was accompanied by the servant of his father who accompanied him on the mission to find the donkeys (see 1 Samuel 9:1-3)

 

1 There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

2 Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.

3 Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.”

 

During the search they wandered through different regions and came to the area of Zuph – “honey cell, overflow, honeycomb”, where Saul wanted to stop searching for the donkeys and turn back to his father.

 

 

But his servant did not stop looking for the donkeys, which led them to approach a man of God of whom they knew nothing but that he acted in the prophetic anointing.

 

Because of the prophetic anointing under which the man of God, who was Samuel, the seer or prophet, operated, Saul and his servant were willing to invest in his prophetic anointing because they knew that they would receive guidance through the prophetic counsel of Samuel (see 1 Samuel 9:4-10).

 

4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

6 But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.”

7 Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

8 The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.”

9 (Formerly in Israel, if someone went to inquire of God, they would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a seer.)

10 “Good,” Saul said to his servant. “Come, let’s go.” So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

 

 

It was in the area of Zuph – “honeycomb”, where Saul wanted to break off the search; but thanks to the advice and the willingness of his servant to invest, Saul did not stop searching for his father's donkeys.

 

In the midst of the area of the “honeycomb – Zuph” Saul was at risk not longer to follow his father's instruction and to prepare himself to return to him because he allowed false conclusions to operate in his soul (note: the seat of will, emotion and mind).

 

According to the Word of God, honey is the attribute that leads to the enlightenment of the eyes in order to obtain strength and a great victory (see 1 Samuel 14:29-30).

 

29 Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey.

30 How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

 

And it is the guidance of the Holy Spirit (note: represented by the servant of the father of Saul) who leads with revelation into all truth to bring God's people to the place of destiny (see John 16:13-15).

 

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

 

 

In connection with Saul's search for his father's donkeys, I would like to equate the lost donkeys with the anointing of the tribe of Issachar.

It is the anointing to discern the times and seasons in order to give counsel to those who have no understanding of the times (see Genesis 49:14a i.c.w. 1 Chronicles 12:32).

 

14a “Issachar is a rawboned donkey …

 

… 32 from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do – 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command; …

 

 

In our lives, it also happens that we occasionally find ourselves in similar situations as Saul, who was a beautiful man.

 

In this case, Saul's beauty represents the walk in the glory of God, because he reflected the image of his father.

 

Every single human being has been wonderfully created by the Heavenly Father, but unfortunately not every human being recognizes or acknowledges God as the Father (see Psalm 139:13-14).

 

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

 

As believers in Jesus Christ, however, we have the privilege of knowing God as the Father in order to reflect Him (note: His love) before the people in our environment as Jesus Christ did (see John 3:16 i.c.w. John 14:6.9b).

 

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. …

… 9b Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

 

 

God occasionally lets us enter into similar situations of “loss” so that we may seek to go deeper into the prophetic anointing that He has prepared for us.

 

In short, the prophetic anointing implies to look by faith through the influence of the Holy Spirit into the supernatural realm to see what God is currently revealing.

 

When God, the Heavenly Father gives us a mission, it is connected with His desire to lead us deeper into His being.

 

The divine - fatherly mission has the effect that we feel a desire in us to seek what we lack.

This is a normal spiritual process, which is to be equated with the thirst and hunger for more of God and His presence (see John 7:37 i.c.w. Matthew 7:9-11).

 

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

 

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

 

This kind of search means that we receive from God what we are looking for (see Matthew 7:7).

 

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

 

While Saul and his servant did not abandon the father's mandate to continue their search for the donkeys, they approached step by step the prophetic presence of God (note: represented by the prophet Samuel).

 

 

A very important position in their search for prophetic orientation was given to the young women who were on their way to draw water (see 1 Samuel 9:11-14).

 

11 As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?”

 

It is very important that we, as men in the Body of Christ, do not underestimate the importance of the spirit-filled (note: born from above) women because they are helpful in leading us to fullness!

 

It is not for nothing that Adam needed a female helper for his task (see Genesis 2:18).

 

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

 

True spiritual life can only be created and maintained by men and women in cooperation!

 

The direction of the young women of Saul's time, who honored the movement of the Holy Spirit and the revealing truth of God (note: they were on the way to draw water), led Saul to meet Samuel with his servant and to be anointed by him in a higher authority, which was that of the king.

 

But this, however, was not yet the end, Saul received the direction from Samuel, where he would find the donkeys of his father, in order to fulfill his father's task completely (see 1 Samuel 9:17-20 i.c.w. 1 Samuel 10:1).

 

17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the Lord said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.”

18 Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

19 “I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and will tell you all that is in your heart.

20 As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?”

 

1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?

 

 

Saul entered deeper into the prophetic anointing by the mission of his father Kish (note: to seek the donkeys), which brought him into a higher sphere of authority.

 

It was the prophetic anointing that transformed Saul into a new man (see 1 Samuel 10:5-6).

 

5 “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.

6 The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.

 

Through the process of Saul's searching it becomes clear that God, the Heavenly Father, has a greater plan for us than we primarily think.

 

His mission to us in our process of searching is not only to find what we are looking for, but to enter an even higher realm of His presence and authority to administer His plans and high thoughts on earth (see Isaiah 55:8-9).

 

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm

Reflecting on the aspect of unity of the people of God before the world it is essential that each saint is personally aware of his position in Jesus Christ and of his personal affiliation in the respective fellowship of saints (note: locally or in his region).

The People Of Israel And The Body Of Christ

The alignment of the people of Israel at the time of Moses should serve as an example, consisting of twelve individual tribes divided by Moses into four units of three tribes in a certain direction by God's instruction (see Numbers 2).

The apostle Paul used the image of the human body (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) in connection with the different fields of responsibility and the importance of unity within the Body of Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 12:12-27:
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Faithfulness To The Assigned Community Of Saints

In order to see the unity of God's people being properly recognized, it is crucial that one shows loyalty to the community of saints with whom one is territorial aligned. This faithfulness can be recognized, among other things, in the fact that a believer continuously participates in the meetings of the assigned fellowship, which also provides protection for each individual (see Hebrews 10:24-25).

 

Hebrews 10:24-25:
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

God has chosen us regardless of our works by grace, which is only active through faith (see Ephesians 2:8-10).

 

Ephesians 2:8-10:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God's grace should be our motivation to walk in the light (note: truth, truthfulness) and in the unit that is given to us by Him, so that His love for the people of our environment or in society can be recognized (see John 13:34-35).

 

John 13:34-35:
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

The Requirement Of True Unity

Unity within the people of God is the required key for God to act in order to entrust us to receive more of Him as one unit. God can only call us a formation as believers in Jesus Christ if we fulfill the basis for being “one people”, presupposing unity and cohesiveness.

If, however, we do not fully position ourselves in the respective formation within the Body of Christ, it becomes clearly obvious that we do follow our own beliefs and ideas. Then the result will be also that we do not want to be truly led by anyone but ourselves.

And if someone doesn't feel sincerely connected within the assembly, this can be reflected in the behavior of being absent at events and meetings.

Where the (note: remarkably frequent, repeated) absence of a believer is conspicuous, the sense of duty towards the community is neglected, so that one is not therefore a bearer of the voice of the community.

 

 

If this consciously lived absence gets cultivated, the sense of cohesiveness or “being one people” of the respective fellowship is questioned, so that the Lord cannot lead these persons into the promise of the community or ministry.

 

 

In connection with the importance of faithfulness, I would like to mention the lifestyle of the Rekabites at the time of the prophet Jeremiah. The LORD commanded Jeremiah to bring wine into the house of God for the Rekabites to drink, but they refused.

 

The reason for them was that their deceased leader Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, instructed them among other things not to drink wine (see Jeremiah 35:1-8).

 

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: 2 “Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons – the whole family of the Rekabites.

4 I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

5 Then I set bowls full of wine and some cups before the Rekabites and said to them, “Drink some wine.”

6 But they replied, “We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab gave us this command: ‘Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine.

7 Also you must never build houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things, but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.’

8 We have obeyed everything our forefather Jehonadab son of Rekab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine …

 

The exemplary faithfulness and loyalty of the Rekabites to their deceased leader, whom they recognized as their father, prompted God to send the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel to visualize them their faithfulness and obedience, as to make clear to them the result of loyalty and disloyalty (see Jeremiah 35:12-14.17-19).

 

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 13 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the Lord.

14 ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab ordered his descendants not to drink wine and this command has been kept. To this day they do not drink wine, because they obey their forefather’s command. But I have spoken to you again and again, yet you have not obeyed me. …

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’ ”

18 Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered.’

19 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.’ ”

 

Therefore, it is God who is the same yesterday, today and forever (see Isaiah 41:4 i.c.w. Hebrews 13:8) who obviously cares much about that we as His chosen ones are faithful and obedient (note: an expression of love; see John 14:21) to Him as LORD OF HOSTS by constantly following Him and living according to His ordinances.

 

As a result of this faithful lifestyle, the Lord goes ahead and becomes the breakthrough (see Proverbs 3:3a i.c.w. Micah 2:13).

 

3a Let love and faithfulness never leave you; …

 

13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.”

 

The manifestation of God's leading is only taking place where the willingness to be instructed by Him is found in a constant and authentic way of living. So, if someone joins a community of saints this should purposely happen by one's sincere decision making in connection with one's own commitment.

 

Otherwise, it is necessary to check whether for any reason one has a wrong/twisted attitude and therefore should be corrected, because God delights in our sincere and trustworthy way of going ahead in obedience (see Proverbs 11:20).

 

20 The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse (note: twisted), but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

 

Since there are no “lone fighters” in the kingdom, but only units (note: resulting from unity and obedience) according to the functions within the human body, God's majesty, strength and beauty of His being will only become visible if saints do live sincerely submitted to Him, His ordained times, orders and to one another.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm