June 13 – The Heart Behind the Action

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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
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Until next time, stay rooted in
truth, anchored in hope, and

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walking daily with Jesus.