May 16 – Are you a real follower of Jesus?

May 16
1 Samuel 18:5-19:24
John 8:31-59
Psalm 112:1-10
Proverbs 15:12-14

I Samuel 18:10 – Why is God sending an evil spirit? GotQuestions suggests it was part of God’s judgment on Saul.

First, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Samuel 13:1–14; 15:1–35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul; God was now simply giving them permission to do so.

I Samuel 18:14 – A great commendation for anyone.

I Samuel 19:24 – The sad descent of Saul from beginning humility, to arrogant appropriation of the job of the priest, to hubris, to 2 attempted assassinations of David (I Samuel 18:11),  one using the Philistines (I Samuel 18:17) which sounds a bit like what David did to Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:15), a general assassination order (1 Samuel 19:1), another specific personal assassination attempt (1 Samuel 19:10), a delegated assassination attempt (I Samuel 19:11), and the four waves of assassins he sent to Ramah (I Samuel 19:20-24).

John 8:31 – How can we be identified as disciples of Jesus? Paul reiterates the importance in 2 Corinthians 13:5. Not all who appear as real are real, from John MacArthur:

My best friend in high school, we did gospel evangelism together as high school kids.  Went away to college and declared himself an atheist.  My best friend in college, we were co-captains of the football team, was headed for seminary.  He essentially denied the faith and walked way.  One of my best friends in seminary, his father was the dean of the seminary.  After he graduated, he set up a Buddhist altar in his house.  So we all deal with this.  We all are asking the question all the time who is real?  Who is genuine?