Emmanuel Okoro (aka MrLift)

I Have Sinned, Yet Honour Me? You want the honour without the humility, the title without the substance, and the respect without the responsibility. Is that not entitlement? Scripture “Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.” — 1 Samuel 15:30 (KJV) Explanation Saul confessed his sin, yet his greatest concern was still his honour before the people. He wanted to preserve his image even after compromising his obedience to God. This is the danger of entitlement: wanting to retain the honour of a position without accepting the consequences of our actions. How often do we behave like Saul, more concerned about what people think of us than what God sees in us? We want respect despite our failures, recognition without responsibility, and honour without the humility that makes us honourable. Beloved, God is more interested in your heart than yo...

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say Your words are a mirror of your heart. If your heart is crooked, your words will eventually expose it. Scripture “Israel's God-of-Glory doesn't deceive and he doesn't dither. He says what he means and means what he says.” (1 Samuel 15:29 MSG) Explanation One mark of a person of integrity is the ability to say what they mean and mean what they say. God demonstrates this perfectly. He does not lie, deceive, or make empty promises. His words reflect His nature. Our words reveal who we really are. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). In other words, our words are the overflow of our inner lives. Our thoughts influence our words, and our words influence our actions and relationships. That is why Solomon gives us this instruction: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”(Proverbs 4:23 KJV) The heart is the breeding ground of our words. What we repe...

A Better Man Than You Are What if God Himself told you that someone else is a better man than you? Not your boss. Not your colleague. Not your competitor. God. That would be a difficult verdict to swallow. We can argue with people, defend our choices and explain our shortcomings. But when God says, “He is a better man than you are,” there is nowhere left to hide. The real question, then, is not “Am I better than him?” It is: “Am I becoming the kind of man God calls better?” Scripture “Samuel said, ‘GOD has just now torn the kingdom from you, and handed it over to your neighbor, a better man than you are.’” ( 1 Samuel 15:28 ) Explanation God had rejected Saul as king. And He did not merely tell Saul that the kingdom would be taken from him; He told him why another would receive it—a man who was better than him . But what does “better” really mean? Is it intelligence? Achievement? Influence? Leadership ability? The capacity to win battles? The ability to relate wel...

Pleasing People The moment pleasing people becomes more important than pleasing God, their approval becomes your prison. It is good to care about people. But when the fear of disappointing them becomes greater than the fear of disobeying God, something is wrong. Saul discovered this the hard way. Scripture “Saul gave in and confessed, ‘I've sinned. I've trampled roughshod over GOD's Word and your instructions. I cared more about pleasing the people. I let them tell me what to do.’”( 1 Samuel 15:24 ) Explanation Saul knew what God had commanded, but he allowed the people's voice to become louder than God's. Earlier, we get a glimpse of how Saul may have struggled with significance. When people saw him prophesying, they asked “What has come over him, who is nobody but the son of Kish?”( 1 Sam. 10:11 AMP ) People saw the son of Kish; God saw the king He had chosen. The Bible does not explicitly say that Saul's people-pleasing came from this ear...

Don't Just Pray Your Frustrations It is possible to pray all night and still pray the wrong thing. When we are hurt, disappointed, angry or frustrated, our natural response is to pour everything out to God. And there is nothing wrong with being honest with God about how we feel. But prayer should not end with our frustrations; our frustrations should lead us back to God's Word. Scripture “I'm sorry I ever made Saul king. He's turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him.” Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. " (1 Samuel 15:11) Explanation There are two people in this verse: Saul and Samuel. While one turned his back on God , the other turned his face to God . Saul responded to God's instruction with disobedience. Samuel responded to the situation by going to God in prayer. But notice what Samuel prayed: his anger and disappointment. It is okay to vent before God. Tell H...

Don't Turn Your Back on God You don't have to deny God to turn your back on Him. Sometimes, turning your back on God simply means knowing what He has told you to do and choosing not to do it. Scripture “I’m sorry I ever made Saul king. He’s turned his back on me. He refuses to do what I tell him to do.” Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night.( 1 Samuel 15:11 ) Explanation Saul did not wake up one morning and announce that he no longer believed in God. In fact, he still looked like a man who served God. But God said, “He has turned his back on me.” Why? God had given Saul a clear instruction to completely destroy the Amalekites. But Saul and his men made an exception. They spared Agag and kept the best sheep and cattle. Saul wanted to obey God—but on his own terms . And this is where many people find themselves today. They profess to know God, but they have turned their backs on Him by refusing to do ...