1. Unfruitful search of the lost donkey

1Samuel 9:1 And there was a man of Benjamin, and his name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

1Samuel 9:2 And he had a son named Saul, a young and handsome one. And there was not a man among the sons of Israel more handsome than he, being taller than any of the people, from his shoulder and upward.

1Samuel 9:3 And the asses or donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Please take one of the servants with you and rise, and go look for the asses or donkeys.

1Samuel 9:4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, and nothing there. And he passed through the land of Benjamin, but they did not find them.

According to the Webster dictionary an ass or a donkey is a quadruped of the equine genus. This animal has long slouching ears (ears that hang down), a short mane, and a tail covered with long hairs at the end. He is usually of an ash color, with a black bar across the shoulders. The tame or domestic ass is patient to stupidity, and carries a heavy burden. He is slow, but very sure footed, and for this reason very useful on rough steep hills. An ass is also a dull, heavy and stupid fellow.

David said: The fool, the stupid (Nabal: the fool, the stupid, the wicked, the vile person, the foolish man and the foolish woman) has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good (Psalm 14:1). Whenever we ignore God and his ways, we are acting like an ass or a donkey. We are being foolish and stupid. People who are unsaved, are definitely acting like the donkey. They are fools and stupid according to the word of God because they say there is no God, and they also do not obey His ways, so they are acting foolishly or like a donkey. Some people may say: I am not a Christian, but I believe in “god”. If you have not received the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through faith in His only begotten Son Jesus, who came on earth to die for the whole world, so that we can be reconciled to God the Father, then you are still according to the bible a fool. There is no other God beside the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Isaiah 45:5); no one can come to Him except through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Unfortunately, even some born again Christians, though they are no longer a fool or stupid according to the bible; because they have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, yet they have not chosen the ways of God. By so doing they act foolishly or stupidly, they act like that ass. God tells us: My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). God has something to say in His written word, about every aspect of our life. 

David had that revelation and said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not asked (Psalm 40-6). Open my eyes, so that I may behold wonderful things out of Your Law (Psalm 119:18). Many Christians want to fast, to pray, to give money, for the kingdom as a sacrificial thing, though we ought to do all those things, but God sometimes does not desire our sacrifices that are made in ignorance, and does not ask for our offerings that are given to try to bribe him, as it were, to have him move on our behalf.

David said that God has opened his ears, and another Psalmist asked God to open his eyes, so that he may behold wonderful things out of the Law. I was always praying that prayer for my eyes and my ears, and it was amazing what God did in my life, even in the books of Numbers, Leviticus, Job, Ezra and revelation, God was showing me, wonderful things and was speaking mysteries to me. 

When I was reading these books, it was no longer “boring”. You need to try that prayer, and I guarantee it is the will of God! For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God contained in the Law which is His written word (Romans 10:17). May your ears be tuned to the frequency of heaven to hear the voice of your Father, of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit and may your eyes be opened to see wonderful things out of the Law.

David continues, saying: then I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of Me; I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, I have not kept back My lips, O Jehovah, You know, I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not hidden Your loving-kindness and Your truth from the great congregation (Psalm 40:7-10). You see everything about your life is written in the word of God, and the will of God is, that your ears and your eyes be opened, to know what is written about you, and that you may act wisely and not foolishly. For acting wisely is acting according to the written word of God. This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely and have good success (Joshua 1:8).

Let us not be like asses, though they have long hanging down ears they are dull of hearing. You and I as born again Christians are sheep, and Jesus says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27). He who has My commandments, and keeps them, it is him who loves Me: and he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21).

Some Christians have been like those donkeys that went astray, and some other Christians have been like Saul, who went out to search for their donkeys. If a person has acted like a donkey and gone astray, let him or her read the bible study:” Come home”. But let us focus on Saul, who is looking for his donkey or his donkeys. A donkey in this case can be a spouse who is not yet saved, a spouse who has left his home, a child who is a runaway, a child that is backsliding, a spouse that is backsliding, a business that is in shambles, a marriage that is being hit by a whirl storm, a house that is being repossessed, failing in schools, wanting to get married, the loss of your health, etc. whatever you are desperately looking for or want to restore, that stubborn situation that is resisting you, or that is getting out of control.

Do not be deceived, the majority of Christians came into the kingdom because they have been looking for their donkey or donkeys. They have searched everywhere for that donkey or those donkeys but they could not find it. Just like Saul searched everywhere for those lost donkeys without any success, people might have given him advice on how to get them back, people might have suggested to him to just forget about that donkey or those donkeys: they were gone for good! Someone else might have found them, and is now using them. The land is too big, where will you start searching for them? The loss of that donkey or donkeys became a burden to Saul. He found out that there was no help in the world, and his human efforts were to no avail.

Saul might have even consulted some mediums, palm readers, astrologers, card readers, sorcerers, witchdoctors, magicians. For the bible says: In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his eyes (Judges 17:6). And we see later Saul going to a medium in 1Samuel 28. My friend there is no help in those things, they are all of the devil and all the religions of the world are of the devil. Christianity is not a religion, it is the personal relationship with the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The only help is in Jesus Christ, He says: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6).

2. Do not give up your search, try Jesus’ address!

1Samuel 9:5 And they came to the land of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant who was with him, Come and let us return lest my father quit caring for the asses, and be anxious about us.

1Samuel 9:6 And he (the servant of Saul) said to him (Saul), Behold, now in this city is a man of God, and an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can declare our way to us, how to go.

Saul went on that search for the donkey with the servant of his father. The servant had no authority to tell Saul what to do, so he waited until Saul had tried everything to no avail. Saul might have looked down on that servant and said in his heart what does this person have to say to me in my situation? The servant of Saul was most likely an adolescent, for the word used in 1Samuel 9:3 is Nah-ar which means a boy or a girl from the age of infancy to adolescence. Saul was a full grown up adult, but you see when you have searched everywhere, and nobody could help you in your troubles, you have nothing to lose by listening to the advice of an adolescent.

Naaman the captain of the Syrian army in 2Kings 5, had leprosy, I bet he had tried everything to be cured, He was the friend of the King of Syria, and the king was even willing to give a great fortune to whoever could cure Naaman of his leprosy. I bet all the doctors, witchdoctors, magicians tried their best, but they could not. But the little maid servant of his wife, told his wife that if He was in Israel, he could be healed of his leprosy. The Word used for maid in 2Kings 5:2 is Nah-ar-aw which means a girl from the age of infancy to adolescence. At a certain point in your life, when you are in deep trouble even if you are a general of the greatest army in the world, you will listen to the words and advice of a little slave boy or slave girl. You have nothing to lose, you have tried the ways of the world and the ways of demons why not try the ways of God?

You see, if you want God’s help you must be humble because the person that He is sending to you will really help you, it will most likely be a person you might despise after the flesh. God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble (1Peter 5:5). In the case of Naaman when he came to the house of the prophet Elisha, Elisha did not even come out to see him, but sent his servant to instruct the general, to go and wash in the Jordan, which is a muddy river, not as clean as the rivers of Damascus. He was furious because they were making fun of him and ridiculing him, what they were asking him to do, was so below his “social status”. It was offending his intellect: it was foolishness. But when you are desperate, and you have tried everything that the world has to offer and it could not help you, you will even try the ways of the Lord, and Naaman listened to the words of his servants who told him: my father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then when he says to you, wash and be clean? Naaman listened to his servants and the man of God, and as he washed seven times he was cleansed of his leprosy (2Kings 5).

When you want God’s help, look beyond the physical appearances, and see Jesus in that person. You may even be the King of Egypt like Pharaoh, and all your magicians and astrologers could not explain to you the dreams that you had, and do not know the solution for the famine that is to come in the land. But there is a Jewish slave by the name of Joseph, who is in one of your prisons (Genesis 39), the people whom you and all the Egyptians despise and see them as an abomination in your eyes (Genesis 46:34). Will you humble yourself and listen to the words and the solution that the prisoner has to say to you? Will you trust him to give you the word of God that will save your entire kingdom? Pharaoh did and His kingdom was saved from those seven years of famine, in fact the entire world came to buy seeds in Egypt, the wealth of the world was transferred to Egypt, and Pharaoh personally became the richest person on earth in those days, because Joseph bought all the land of the people for Pharaoh (Genesis 40, Genesis 41).

So I am telling you, do not give up, do say like Saul: Come and let us return, lest my father quit caring for the asses, and be anxious about us. I am telling you, like the servant of Saul said or like the servant girl of Naaman said: Behold now, in this city is a man of God, and an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can declare our way to us, how to go. That man’s name is Jesus the Son of Man. Whatever you are looking for he knows where it is, and whatever or whoever you want to save He can save.

I am telling you the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost (Matthew 18:11). Let us go to Him, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8). Instead of the asses carrying the burdens, we are the one who are now burdened by the loss of the asses. It is not supposed to be so, therefore let us cast our care upon the Son of Man, Jesus, and let Him care for us (1Peter 5:7). Let the Son of man be the burden bearer, but as for us he tells us: Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

3. The Son of Man does not seek yours but you.

1Samuel 9:7 Then Saul said to his young man, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?

1Samuel 9:8 And the young man answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have found the fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.

1Samuel 9:9 (In the old days in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said this: Come, let us go to the seer, for the prophet of today was before called a seer.)

1Samuel 9:10 And Saul said to his young man, Your word is good. Come, let us go. So they went into the city where the man of God was.

1Samuel 9:11 As they went up the hill to the city, they found young women going out to draw water, and said to them, is the seer here?

1Samuel 9:12 And they answered them and said, He is. Behold, he is before you. Hurry now, for he came today to the city, for there is a feast of the people today in the high place.

1Samuel 9:13 As you come to the city, you shall immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the feast. Afterwards those who have been invited eat. And now go up, for about this time you shall find him.

1Samuel 9:14 And they went up into the city. When they had come into the middle of the city, behold, Samuel came out to meet them, to go up to the high place.

Paul tells the believers of Corinth: Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you (for I do not seek your things but you): for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children (2Corinthians 12:14). This revelation needs to dawn on every believer, God is not seeking yours or your things, but is seeking you: your spirit, soul and body. And any true man of God or woman of God imitates God, he or she is not seeking you or your things, but your spirit, soul and body. So that you might present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). So that the very God of peace will sanctify you wholly; and your whole spirit and soul and body will be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 5:23).

Saul was thinking that the prophet Samuel was serving God like they serve demons. With demons, you pay for prophecies, you pay for “healing”; you pay for “prayers”. Please read the bible studies on the perfect redemption plan of God, and the application of the perfect redemption plan of God, they will explain in detail why it is wrong, according to the scriptures. Samuel did not take the money of Saul to prophecy to him. In 2Kings 5 also Elisha refused to take the money that Naaman brought to pay for his healing. In Acts 8, Simon who was formally a sorcerer and was converted to Christianity in Samaria, offered Peter and John some money, so that they would give him power. Peter told him: your money perish with you, because you thought that the gifts of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you (Acts 8:20-22).

We have explained in length in the Application of the perfect redemption plan of God, why we should not pay for any gift of God. Freely we have received, freely we give to people, Jesus said (Matthew 10:8). Should we bless men and women of God, the answer is yes, please read the biblical prosperity to know what God says about all those things. Let us serve God acceptably, let us not bring any reproach to the gospel of Christ. God has called all of us to serve Him acceptably, so when God entrusts you with his lamb or sheep, let us not take advantage of them. Let us not help them because we have an ulterior motive, because we are after something they can do for us in the secular world, or because of the contribution they can bring in income. If we do that, we will be partial, God does not show partiality we will be respecter of persons, God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

I charge you before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality (1Timothy 5:21). The wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (James 3:17-18). Naaman was a great person in the secular, but it did not move Elisha, he did not even come out of the house to see him, but sent his servant and did not even collect anything from him, not that he despised Naaman, no but he did what God told him to do. We respect and honor everybody great and small, young and old. Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another (Romans 12:10). Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor (Romans 13:7). Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king (1Peter 2:17).

4. God is not taken off guard by your coming and the loss of your donkeys

1Samuel 9:15 And The Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

1Samuel 9:16 Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin. And you shall anoint him to be captain (leader) over My people Israel, so that he may save My people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked on My people because their cry has come to Me.

1Samuel 9:17 And when Samuel saw Saul, Jehovah said to him, Behold the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall reign over My people.

1Samuel 9:18 And Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said, Please tell me where the seer’s house is.

1Samuel 9:19 And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place. For you shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart.

1Samuel 9:20 And as to the asses which were lost to you three days ago, do not set your mind on them. For they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father’s house?

Nothing can take God off guard, God had already seen your problem long before it happened, and had also provided the solution for your problem. Jesus is The Prophet whom Moses said: The LORD your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of your brethren, like unto me; unto Him you shall hearken (Deuteronomy 18:15). Some of us, including myself came to Jesus not because we are loved by Jesus, no, but because we have tried everything and everyone else, and we could not be helped in our search for our donkeys. We said: why not try Jesus? We do not need to be ashamed of our first motive for coming to Jesus. Before you were even born again Jesus knew that you would be born again.

Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the Prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, Can there be any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile! Nathanael said to Him, From where do You know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to Him, Rabbi, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel (John 1:44-49)!

Some of us, when people around us told us about Jesus, that He was our solution, that He was The Prophet who could solve all our problems if we listened to Him, and do what He tells us to do. We were still skeptics (One who doubts the truth and reality of any principle or system of principles or doctrines); can anything good come out of that person and His land of Nazareth? The Jews despised the people of Nazareth, for they belonged to the region of Galilee, were gentiles, living with the Jews. Your solution can come from a person whom you despise, and he comes from a country or a part of the world that you despise. You must be able to humble yourself, and believe God has sent that person to help you. But before even Nathanael came physically to Jesus, Jesus had already seen him when he was under the fig tree.

When Jesus was crucified, there were two robbers crucified on each side of Jesus. One of the hanged criminals blasphemed Him, saying, if you are Christ, save Yourself and us. But answering, the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are in the same condemnation. And we indeed justly so, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this Man has done nothing amiss. And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:39-42).

Jesus looked like an ordinary human being, he was even a carpenter. God uses normal people to be His representatives. They can be going through the same problem you are going through, so that they can sympathize with the feeling of your weakness. They can be in the same prison like you, Joseph was in prison with the two servants of Pharaoh, they believed that God was talking through Joseph and believed the interpretation of their dream that Joseph gave them and it came to pass (Genesis 40). Paul was in prison many times, and he wrote many of his epistles in prison. But if you say, this man Paul, if he was truly a man of God, he would not be in prison! so I will not listen to him! Then you would miss the help God had for you.

Peter, John, Andrew, and James were fishermen, uneducated people, so if you despise them for their profession and lack of education, you will miss what God has in store for you. In Acts 4, Peter and John healed the lame man, it was a notable miracle that no one could deny, but the leaders of the Jews, who were educated, were offended, because they thought God could only use people who were educated like them. Now when they (the priests and Pharisees) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). God is not against education, Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds (Acts 7:22). God used him to build the tent of the tabernacle of meeting. David was a shepherd he did not have the architectural knowledge that Moses had, but God gave David the shepherd the blueprint of the temple that Solomon built (1Chronicles 28:19-20).

So do not stumble you can go to the expert in business and economy of the world, but they will not be able to help you. Pharaoh had the best adviser in business and economy to help him come out of the famine that was to come in the land, but they were of no use to him. But Joseph who was a slave and a son of a shepherd, was the one under divine inspiration that told him what to do to come out of that famine and prosper in the midst of that famine. Do not miss the help God is sending your way because you look at things after the flesh, Jesus was on that cross with two other criminals, but one blasphemed Jesus because Jesus was under the same circumstance as he was, but the other criminal saw beyond the suffering of Jesus, and He being under the same condemnation, recognized that Jesus was the Lord, the Christ who was the solution for his problem, and he said: Lord remember me when you come into your Kingdom. The Lord said to him: today you will be with me in paradise.

Brethren and sisters, before you came to Jesus or to the man or the woman of God; God already knew it, and sometimes he even told that man or woman of God of your coming, or of your phone call. And he told him or her, what you are looking for, and what the solution to your problem is. Many times, before people come to me or call me, God tells me. Some of us think that we have come to Jesus just because of our donkeys that were lost, no my brothers and sisters, there is more to us than our donkeys. Like the Lord prophesied through Sister Louise saying: if only you knew and could see the plans that I have in store for you, you will shout and jump for joy!

I receive that prophecy in Jesus’ name! But let us talk about that donkey or those donkeys you have been looking for. The Lord is saying to you and me; as to the asses which were lost to you three days ago, do not set your mind on them. For they are found (1Samuel 9:20). Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight (Hosea 6:1-2). My friend your donkeys have been found. You will ask Jesus where that donkey is or where those donkeys are? Jesus says: Go into the village opposite you, and straightway you shall find an ass or donkey tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any man or woman says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them; and straightway he will send them (Matthew 21:2-3).

Yes, your donkey is tied up somewhere and has a colt on it, it is bound and it’s evil spirit rides on it. Even Balaam, that false prophet who manipulates people financially, and taught them to put stumbling blocks before the children of God, to worship idols and commit sexual immoralities (adultery, fornication, incest, masturbation, pornography, homosexuality, pedophilia, lying down with beasts) (Revelations 2:14). It is that Balaam Spirit that has been riding on your donkey (Numbers 22:21). But from this day forward the eyes of your donkey will be opened and it will see the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand (Numbers 22:23).

The Angel of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 63:9). Balaam who has been riding on the back of your donkey, will be slain by the sword of the Lord (Numbers 31:8). And Jesus will be the one riding on your donkey. The disciples did what Jesus commanded them to do: they loosed the donkey that was tied up, they set him free. The disciples brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them and set Jesus on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest (Matthew 21:6-9)!

So let us do the same thing the disciples of Jesus did; let us pray for your donkeys, or your donkeys that are lost, left the fold, have gone astray, or are missing. Let us pray:

Father we thank you because you said we will know the truth and the truth will make us free (John 8:32). Before we ever came to You, You knew the reasons of our coming and you have told us: as to the asses which were lost to you three days ago, do not set your mind on them. For they are found. So, I thank you for finding my donkey, you have told me that it is tied up and Balaam has been riding on it, I need to loose it and slay Balaam with the sword. Therefore I speak to you donkey in the Name of Jesus: I loose you from your bonds, wherever you have been tied up I make you free in the name of Jesus, as it is written: Jesus has given me the keys of the kingdom of heaven, whatever I bind on earth is bound and whatever I loose on earth is loosed (Matthew 16:19).

I speak to you Balaam spirit that has been riding on my donkey, casting stumbling blocks on my way, teaching my donkey all kinds of manipulations and sexual immoralities, the Lord Jesus rebuke you (Jude1:9)! I slay you in the name of Jesus with the sword of spirit which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). I command you to leave my donkey immediately in the name of Jesus! I speak to you donkey: hear the word of the Lord Jesus, I command your eyes to be open and see Jesus the Angel of the Lord (Numbers 22:23). Just like Elisha prayed, saying: I pray You, Lord, open his eyes so that he may see. And Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw (2Kings 6:17). Thus, I command the eyes of my donkey to be opened that it might see Jesus and follow Jesus. Jesus will ride on my donkey and everybody that will see my donkey will glorify Jesus who is now riding on my donkey that has been loosed and been freed from Balaam, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is Jesus who comes in the name of the Lord riding on my donkey! Hosanna in the highest! In Jesus’ name so be it! Amen!

5. God has anointed you king

1Samuel 9:15 And The Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,

1Samuel 9:16 Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin. And you shall anoint him to be captain (leader) over My people Israel, so that he may save My people out of the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked on My people because their cry has come to Me.

When we came to Christ, we thought it was only about finding our donkeys. But God was looking for a king or a queen to anoint him or her captain or leader over His people. God wants to save, deliver, heal, and prosper His people through His anointed king or anointed queen. God looked on His people and saw how they were afflicted and oppressed by their enemy the devil. God has great plans for every born again Christian. Peter says to every born again Christian: you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1Peter 2:9). Please read the “perfect redemption plan of God” and the “Application of the perfect redemption plan of God” so that you will know succinctly what God has done for you by the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, who you are in Christ Jesus and what God expects you and I to do as kings and queens and priests and priestesses.

1Samuel 9:21 And Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak so to me?

1Samuel 9:22 And Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them into the room, and gave them a place at the head of the invited ones, about thirty persons.

1Samuel 9:23 And Samuel said to the cook, Bring that part which I gave you, of which I said to you, Set it beside you.

1Samuel 9:24 And the cook took up the shoulder and that on it, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said, behold that which is reserved! Set it before you and eat. For until this set time it has been kept for you, since I said, I have invited the people. And Saul ate with Samuel that day.

1Samuel 9:25 And they came down from the high place into the city, and he spoke with Saul on the top of the house.

Some Christians are like Saul, they have an inferiority complex and low self-esteem. When we read Judges 20, Benjamin fought against the eleven other tribes of Israel, and they were defeated, only six hundred men of Benjamin were left alive. That is why, even though Saul saw that the Benjamites were the smallest tribe of Israel, and on top of that, his family were the least of all the families of the Benjamites, we must not look at things after the flesh. People who will follow you, do not have to be of the same family or tribe or country or skin color or mother tongue as you. The leadership of God is a spiritual leadership. If you decide to do things according to the written word of God: God will send people your way and they will follow your leadership, not because you are one of them but because they see Jesus in you, if you understand the perfect redemption plan of God and the Application of the perfect redemption plan of God and become a faithful doer of them, God will be faithful to establish your leadership.

Isaiah prophesied: Sing, O barren, you who did not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: because more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the LORD. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be put to shame: for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and your Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. (Isaiah 54:1-5).

Jesus tells us: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again (John 3:5-7). In that Isaiah 54, Isaiah was taking the analogy of those who are born after the flesh and those who are born after the spirit. Like Paul will explain it in Galatians 4, God promised to make Abraham great and to multiply his descendants as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. But Sarai was barren, though she gave birth to Isaac but Isaac was not the Seed of Abraham that God was talking about, but Jesus is The Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3;16). God gives birth after the Spirit, not after the flesh, His kingdom also is built in the Spirit not in the flesh. Jesus says: It is the spirit that quickens or makes alive; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).

If we decide to do everything according to the written word of God, we will be building it in the spirit, we will be giving birth to things in the spirit. But if we do things after the flesh or not according to the written word of God, we would be building things after the flesh and it does not profit. If you decide to act on the word of God, though you do not belong to people’s tribes, or nationality, or mother tongue or skin color, they will follow your leadership, because they see Jesus in you. Since by doing the written word of God, you are walking in the Spirit, God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, saved and unsaved people (Joel 2:28) and God will stir up the spirit of all His people, and they will come and work in the vision the Lord has given you for His kingdom (Haggai 1:14).

In the book of Judges 9 and Judges 10, Abimelech, the son of Gideon, that he had with his concubine of Shechem, went to his mother’s brothers and conspired with them to kill all the other sons of his father Gideon, so that he would become their king. They agreed, because he was one of them and they did not want someone, who is not one of them, to be leader of Israel. They carried out their plan and killed the seventy other sons of Gideon. But at the end they were having problems, the people of Shechem were fighting Abimelech and Abimelech was fighting them. Some of the people said: who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Gideon and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the Father of Shechem; but why should we serve him?

You see in the eyes of the people of Shechem, though at first, they were happy to have Abimelech rule over them, because he was their half-brother, but as time went on, they started to say that Abimelech was not truly of the pure blood of Shechem, for his father was not a son of Hamor, the father of Shechem. And at the end of the story, they rebelled against the leadership of Abimelech, Abimelech killed them and they killed Abimelech. Do not waste your time building anything in the flesh, the flesh profits nothing. 

People will receive you today, but tomorrow they will tell you: you are not truly one of them, because of one reason or another. Moses also understood that His leadership was to be done in the spirit, not in the flesh, so when the people complained against him because of his wife who was black, even his elder sister Miriam and elder brother Aaron, Moses did not marry another wife who was a pure Israelite, so that people would accept his leadership. God fought for Moses and plagued Miriam with leprosy, to let everybody know that this kingdom of God is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Numbers 12:1-16).

So let us not be like Saul, he was so afraid that people would leave him, that he compromised the word of God. In 1Samuel 13, he went with his army to fight against the Philistines, he had two thousand men with him and his son Jonathan had one thousand men with him. The Philistines gathered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people like the sand on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. And the men of Israel saw that they were in a tight place (for the people were distressed). And the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

And the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. And Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. And he waited seven days, according to the set time with Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal. And the people were scattered from him. And Saul said, Bring a burnt offering here to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. And it happened as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and to kneel to him. And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and you did not come in the days appointed, and the Philistines gathered themselves at Michmash, and I said, The Philistines will come down now on me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to Jehovah. And I forced myself and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom upon Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah commanded you (1Samuel 13:5-14).

So why did God say to Samuel to come make the people wait at least for seven days, and Samuel came late. God already said to Moses that when they go to battle: the officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, Who is the man that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brothers’ heart faint as well as his heart (Deuteronomy 20:8). They already spent forty years in the wilderness because of the evil report of ten of the twelve spies that went into the promised land. They made the heart of their brothers faint. But Saul was not bold enough to say it to the people, because he was looking at the things after the flesh: how can we with three thousand men fight more than thirty six thousand Philistines? But God said: one of us should chase a thousand and two should put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30).

Since Saul was not bold enough to tell them to return to their houses, God delayed Samuel so that the people would leave by themselves. Gideon also had an inferiority complex, but when God called him to go to deliver Israel, the Lord said to Gideon, go in this might of yours, and you will save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Gideon said to the Lord, O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s house. And the Lord said to him: surely, I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man (Judges 6:14-16). Gideon decided to believe the report of the Lord. When we read in Judges 7, Gideon was not afraid to tell the people, who were fearful to return to their houses, and also the people who could not give the glory to God, to also depart at once. 

Gideon was left with three hundred men to fight the Midianites.

But Saul did not obey the commandment of God, he acted foolishly, he offered that sacrifice to make the people stay with him. God found a man after His own heart, even David the son of Jesse who would keep His command and the Lord had anointed him king over Israel. David was a man after God’s own heart not because he was singing all the time, no, because he was doing what God was commanding him and not compromising with the standard of God. Jesus says: If you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15). If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:23). Yes God loved David because he did his best to keep His commandment. For instance, in 1Samuel 17, when Saul and all the army was in their hideouts, David went on his own to fight Goliath and all the Philistines army.

All born again Christians are kings and priests or queens and priestesses, but it is up to us to make God establish our leadership. If we act like Saul, God will not establish our leadership, because we are not doing things according to His written word, but according to the flesh. But if we decide to do things according to the written word of God, God will establish us. Jesus gave us the parable of the talent in Matthew 25: 14-30, one servant was given five talents the other two talents and the other one talent.

The master gave it according it each one’s ability. God knew they were able to handle what they were given. Some people God knew they could handle five talents, they worked and got five other talents and the master now gave them ten. Those who had two, some worked with their two talents and had two extra talents, so the master gave those four talents, but some had one talent and they did not work with that talent, so the master removed that talent from them and gave it to the one who already had ten, because the master could trust him with more. The same way, God can give a person one talent, he works with that and he gets one extra, so God now gives him two, and he works with those two, and he has two extra so God gives him four, he works with his four and gets four extra so God now gives him eight talents. God looks at the one to whom he gave five talents, but did not do anything with those talents, God will take away those five talents and give it to the one who had initially one talent but has worked his way up to eight talents.

Saul had everything delivered to him on a golden platter. Physically Saul was built up to be a warrior, so he was the five talents person. But David, was not initially a five talents person, he was not a warrior, but a shepherd, he was not even of the age of being enlisted in the army. But he started by killing the bear and then the lion that came against his father’s sheep, and now he came against Goliath (1Samuel 17), he was working his initial one talent and God was watching him. David had to fight the battles of Israel before being enthroned king of Israel, he had to be in the wilderness, he had to build his own army for the Lord, starting with people, who were destitute, indebted, the outcast of the kingdom. Sometimes some of us are like David, we were not the best that the world had to offer, we were not the most eloquent, the most articulate, our speech might even be contemptible to some people, we might not have the best education of the seminaries, but we have been with Jesus, like his disciples.

The Scribes, Pharisees and the priests in the days of Jesus they were the most learned people, they could recite the bible off the tops of their heads. They were the potential five talents people of God, but the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the fishermen were not as educated in the letters, they did not memorize all the bible, they were the one talent people, but they decided to do the will of God, and God made them five talents people and took the five talents of the scribes, Pharisees and priests and gave it to them. Jesus told those Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and priests: You are those who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail (Luke 16:15-17).

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in (Matthew 23:13). Verily I say unto you, That the publicans or tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not: but the publicans or tax collectors and the harlots believed him: and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterward, that you might believe him (Matthew 21:31-32). No matter what our background has been, and after the flesh people think we are a one talent person it does not matter, let us learn what God expects from us since we are anointed, kings. Let us study the perfect redemption plan of God and the application of the perfect redemption plan of God. As we become doers of them and what is written in the bible, God will entrust us with more talents.

Sometimes when you see people great in the kingdom of God it is not because they were the best in the kingdom, but because they learned to stay when everyone else was scattered. When the teaching of Jesus became tough, many of the disciples of Jesus stopped following Jesus. Then Jesus said to the Twelve, Do you also wish to go away? Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:67-69). So the twelve that stayed with Jesus, see how God used them mightily after His death burial and resurrection. Because God could trust them with more for they had been with him when everybody else was scattered from Jesus.

Paul says: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we do not believe Him, yet He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (2Timothy 2:12-13). People want only to reign with Christ, or to come when the job is finished and share in the glory like the Ephraimites in Judges 8 and Judges 12, they did not fight with Gideon or with Jephthah, they did not come when they called them to come fight, but now that God has given us the victory they want to come and take all the glory without even suffering with us. Peter also denied Jesus three times, but he repented and Jesus forgave him, if we have been like Peter and denied Jesus, there is room for repentance. For unto you it is given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake (Philippians 1:29);

6. God has a specific promise for you

1Samuel 9:26 And they arose early. And it happened about the spring of the day that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, so that I may send you away. And Saul arose, and both of them went out, he and Samuel outside.

1Samuel 9:27 They were going down to the end of the city, and Samuel said to Saul, Tell the servant to pass on before us and pass on. And you stand still awhile, so that I may cause you to hear the Word of God.

1Samuel 10:1 And Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed you for a leader over His inheritance?

When we are anointed king and priest, the moment we are born again, there are general promises that apply to all born again Christians: please let us learn and meditate on what has been succinctly written on the perfect redemption plan of God and the Application of the perfect redemption plan of God. All the succinct bible studies that I write, are the promises that God has given to all born again Christians, as we read them and as we read our bible, God will give us a specific promise concerning our family, our marriage, our children, our professions, our investments, our disciples, our house group, our church, our business, our studies, etc.

Samuel told Saul to send his servant ahead, so that he would tell him something. God will speak to you promises concerning your life. Share them with very few people, because people will fight you for some of the promises of God in your life. See how Joseph suffered because he shared his dream with his envious brothers. When God gives you an invention or business idea do not share it with people who are your competitors, they will steal the idea from you or the invention from you. Whenever you read the bible or these bible studies, pray that God will speak specifically to you. 

When people call me, they tell me they have read the bible study and I was saying something that ministered to them. But I know I did not say it in the bible study, but as they were reading that bible study, God spoke to them and gave them a specific promise.

May God bless you and keep you and stir up your heart, to become a doer of His words. To God be the glory, the honor and the power, God forever more, Amen!

God Bless you,

Gery Malanda

Important Series Note

Remember the Bible has the final authority, therefore brethren, whatever you read in this letter, be like the Christians of Berea who went back and checked in the scriptures if it was so.

These Bible studies are written and recorded for everyone who wants to learn the true Word of God in order to build themselves up in faith, enabling them to stand and not fall when the storms of life come their way. You will be taught what you receive when you become born again by Jesus’ death burial and resurrection and the authority you have been given to fulfil the will of God on earth. And as you learn this, you will realise what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. You will be a true disciple by the time you have finished them.

We all read and hear the same promises of God contained in the Bible. But the manifestations or fulfilment of them in our life is based on our obedience to the conditions attached to each one of those promises. Unfortunately, some Christians are disobedient and only think they can “claim it and grab it” and they end up frustrated. 

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. 

Hebrews 4:1- 2, 6 

T

ruth be told, God can veto your unbelief, provided you obey the conditions attached to the manifestation or fulfilment of that particular promise. 

For what if some did not believe (including myself, yet I obey God’s commands in spite of my unbelief)? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. Romans 3:3-4.

If we are faithless or unbelieving, (provided we obey what God commanded us to do) He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13 

Some Christians think they can twist God’s arm with their sacrifices: long fasts, long prayers on their knees, generous and sacrificial giving of money. All those we ought to do, yet as long as we are disobedient concerning the conditions attached to the fulfilment of that particular promise, our sacrifices are in vain. 

So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams – For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” I Samuel 15:22-23 

In the entire Old Testament, the word FAITH is only mentioned TWICE. 

The first time is in Deuteronomy 32:20 And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is No FAITH.

Here God was referring to the fact that He gave them commands to follow through Moses, and the moment Moses went up onto the mountain, to them it seemed like God had hidden His face, for they could not see Moses physically, so they made a golden calf, thus breaking God’s commands. And the moment they had hardship in their wilderness life, they sinned sexually against God, and raised other leaders instead of Moses. God had to send those leaders Dathan, Korah and Abiram to hell in Numbers 16 and 18.

According to Moses, a Child of God has NO FAITH in a particular promise of God, whenever they disobey the commands or instructions of God attached to the fulfilment of that particular promise. 

The second time is in Habakkuk: I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am CORRECTED. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the JUST shall live by his FAITH. Habakkuk 2:1-4 

Habakkuk was expecting God to give him instructions or commands, and to correct him in his ways and thoughts, as written in Isaiah 55:9-11, so that as he blindly followed those instructions or commands written down, he would see the manifestation or fulfilment of the God given vision. 

Therefore according to Habakkuk the just or the righteous has FAITH, or lives by FAITH, whenever they simply obey the commanded instructions and corrections the Lord prescribed, in order to see the fulfilment of that particular promise contained in that vision. 

Apart from those two times, no mention of faith is made again in the Old Testament, for they understood that it is simply to do God’s word obediently.

That is why Moses told us the secret of having all those blessed promises in our life, saying: – “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: Deuteronomy 28:1-2 

Your confession of the word of God is worth nothing, until you deliberately decide to act on what you have been confessing. You can show God and men that you have faith by what you are doing, not merely by what you are saying. 

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. James 2:18 

We show God and people our faith by our works or obedience to the word of God. 

Faith is not a feeling or an emotion. In fact, you can be crying, trembling and fearful as you are obeying that particular command or instruction from God that conditioned the manifestation of that promise. That’s why throughout the Bible God says 366 times – fear not, do not be afraid: for each day of the year God says to you – trust Me, I am not a liar, fear not – only obey and I the Lord will be faithful to watch over My word and perform it Jeremiah 1:12.

FAITH is simple, it has to do with obeying God’s word concerning a particular promise. As you read the Bible and the thousands of promises contained in it, you will start noticing a small word: IF- Either before the promise or just after the promise that is the condition to fulfil. Go and obey it and God will do the same thing in your life, stop deceiving yourself, claiming the promise when you do not obey the conditions, nor intend to obey them at any time. 

You will also start noticing a second small word: WHEN. You will discover that as far as God is concerned those blessings are already yours, all His promises in Christ Jesus He has already said yes and so be it in your life. 

2 Corinthians1:20. 

God is not trying to make up His mind to give them to you, He already gave them to you. They will be manifested or fulfilled on earth in your life, when you start obeying God’s word, to meet the requirements attached to each one of those promises. 

That is the purpose of the My Weekly Milk Bible studies, we tell you your part to play to see the manifestation of the promises of God in your life, so that you stop living a frustrated Christian life, thinking that God has some favourite children. No, He has no favourite according to Acts 10:34-35.

Presented to you by 

Gery Malanda