Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast
Jessi Morgan in 2023 had a traumatic experience that shaped how she views life and her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has laid it on her heart to share her experiences and inspire others to put God first in every aspect of their life like she finally did in hers. Having her daughter born 4 months early really made Jessi lean on the Lord for comfort and guidance. And today she stands here starting her own 10-15 minute podcast focusing on weekly devotionals about what God can do for you and what He's done for her.
Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast
Faith like Jonathan vs Pride like Saul
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What happens when faith collides with pride on the battlefield? In this eye-opening devotional, we dive deep into 1 Samuel 14, where two contrasting approaches to crisis emerge through a father and son.
The contrast couldn't be clearer: Jonathan moves in selfless faith while Saul operates from selfish pride. I share a personal story from my high school track days about a coach whose rigid, illogical "preparation plan" mirrors Saul's counterproductive oath—both ended in frustration and were ultimately washed away.
Which approach characterizes your life? Are your plans and promises centered on glorifying God or serving yourself? When we trust God with impossible situations, He often delivers in ways we never imagined possible.
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Hello, hello. You're listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast, episode 6-9. This week's devotional is titled Faith Like Jonathan vs Pride Like Saul. Let's go. Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan. I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart my journey and love for Jesus Christ, my Savior. Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hot Podcast.
Speaker 1:This is a weekly devotional. I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier. It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born, four months early in 2023. Through that challenging time, god worked in ways that truly amazed me. On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith, woven together with scripture to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives. My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through. So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together. Let's all pray within. Hello, and welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to be here this week as we continue our study of 1 Samuel. Today we're looking at just chapter 14. There's just so much going on in there I had to just focus on the one chapter. And this chapter, to me, is all about the tale of two men, a father and a son, and we see Jonathan's bold faith contrasted with his father, saul's pride and foolishness. So within chapter 14, we open up with Jonathan. For those that don't know, jonathan is going to be such an important person in the book of 1 Samuel and he's basically the heir to the throne, since he's Saul's son. So keep that in mind. And Jonathan really turns out to be such a faith-driven person. And this is just such an intricate part of the story. And I feel like in chapter 14, this is where we really see his faith in God. Anyways, like I said, back to the story. Israel had just suffered a huge defeat to the Philistines in chapter 13. Now we are in 14. Saul and his 600 men are camped out on the outskirts, discouraged and, of course, upset because they had just lost. But Jonathan steps out in faith.
Speaker 1:It says in 1 Samuel 14, 6,. Jonathan said to his young armor bearer come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men, referring to the Philistines. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. What a statement of faith, you know. I mean, he doesn't need a huge army, he doesn't even tell his father what he's doing and he just trusts the Lord. And then it says in scripture his arm bearer replies in verse seven of chapter 14, do all that you have in mind. His arm bearer said go ahead, I am with you, heart and soul. Then Jonathan sets a sign up for himself. Basically, in chapter 14, verses nine through 10, it says if they say to us, wait there until we come to you, we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, come up to us, we will climb up, because that will be the sign that the Lord has given them into our hands. Sure enough, the Philistines mocked Jonathan and the armor bearer when they saw it and they said come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson. This was verse 12. Jonathan and his armor bearer climbed up and in the first attack they killed about 20 men themselves.
Speaker 1:Then panic strikes the whole Philistine army. There's chaos and earthquake and they begin fighting each other and Saul realizes Jonathan is missing and he joins the fight with his men and Israel secures a massive, massive victory. All of it started because Jonathan believed God could win a battle with many or with few. And it makes me think about those old Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Looney Tunes cartoons, where Bugs dares a monster to step over a line in the sand again and again and again, until the monster finally steps off a cliff. The Philistines' arrogance in saying come up here was their arrogance talking. Jonathan knew that was the Lord's signal. That kind of confidence doesn't come from cockiness, it comes from knowing God is with you.
Speaker 1:So now the second half of chapter 14 shifts to Saul. While Jonathan is moving in faith, saul is like making rash decisions. Let's just say so. In 1 Samuel 14, verse 24, it says Now, the Israelites were in distress that day because Saul had bound the people under an oath saying cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes before I have avenged myself on my enemies. So none of the troops tasted food. Now, y'all can you imagine? Y'all can you imagine His soldiers are in the middle of battle, exhausted, and he forbids them to eat. This wasn't fasting upon onto the Lord, it was pride and control.
Speaker 1:Jonathan, who hadn't heard the oath ate some honey, and scripture says in verse 27,. He reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and he dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth and his eyes were brightened. That little taste of honey revived him. But when Saul found out he was ready to put Jonathan to death for breaking the oath, the people around him had to intervene and save Jonathan's life, reminding Saul it was Jonathan's faith that brought them this victory in the first place. Insane, just insane. So, saul, I just got to go back to this really quick because it just blows my mind reading this every time. So Saul makes this oath that nobody can eat, reading this every time. So Saul makes this oath that nobody can eat until evening. And I just think about what a ridiculous thing to say in the middle of a war. Your men are hungry, tired and drained and you're telling them they can't eat until you've avenged yourself. It wasn't about God at all, it was about him.
Speaker 1:And you know that part of the story reminded me of something from my own life back in high school, when I ran track and field. We were getting ready to go to the Florida relays, which was always a big deal for us. It's like one of the most premier relay meets in the state of Florida. It's at the university of Florida, which, if people don't know, university of Florida has amazing track and field facilities and probably in the last like four years or so they've won like at least two out of the last like four national championships in college, like they're really a great track program. So back then they were too and their facilities were amazing. So we love going up to Gainesville and racing in it, you know.
Speaker 1:So anyways, like I said, we were getting ready to go to the Florida relays and my head coach had this brilliant idea At least he thought it was brilliant. They were going to. You know, he wanted us to do a special regimen to prepare. None of us had any clue what was coming and what that was Didn't really know. We were doing it, to be honest, but you know, okay, we had an idea at least.
Speaker 1:So we get in the bus five hours up to Gainesville, all of us in sweats and sandals and flip-flops, bags stuffed under the bus and about an hour into the drive coach starts passing water bottles down the aisle. All right, everyone drink half now, save the half. For later he says we all kind of looked at each other like, okay, you know, but we did it and I'll be honest, that water was nasty. I was like what is in this water? And he said it was a special electrolyte or something. And I think back then electrolytes really didn't taste that good. They taste like really good now. So, yeah, that was not good.
Speaker 1:Anyways, so we keep riding and then 45 minutes later he makes the bus stop at a rest area. You know we're thinking get a break. Okay, cool, we're off the turnpike. Cool, shoes on, let's go take a lap. That's what he says. And we were all stunned. We were like coach, around the rest stop. Someone asked yes, around the rest stop, blood flow, blood flow Can't be sitting still this that long. And the problem was half of us didn't have our sneakers. We had flip-flops on, our shoes were under the bus. He wouldn't budge. So picture 50 high school athletes jogging around a gas station in a picnic area in sandals, people staring at us like we've lost our mind.
Speaker 1:We finally get back on the bus, sweaty and annoyed because we are in Florida, humidity, and then coach basically pats us down before we sit back down and he said nobody better have bought candy or soda. He checks our little purses and everything as we get back on the bus. We looked at each other like, is this for real? So yeah, then at dinner that night, it even got better. He takes us to Olive Garden, which should have been amazing, because, you know, those breadsticks are the bomb. We were dreaming of them all the way up the highway. But he stands up at the front of the table and says okay, guys, you can order from this menu, the special menu I made for you. That has three items plain pasta, pasta with a little bit of nothing on it, and some vegan type pasta. And no sauce, no meat, no extras, just carbs. We were stunned. We hadn't eaten all day, mind you, like we really hadn't eaten.
Speaker 1:So my best friend, johanna, who I'm going to feature this week, who is hilarious at times with how she thinks and how she processes things Johanna raised her hand and said coach, can I at least get chicken on the side? We need protein. I'm running the 800 meter tomorrow. That's a long race. He looked at her and he shook his head. No, johanna, we're keeping it clean. Trust the plan.
Speaker 1:She tried again. But, coach, our bodies literally need protein to recover. This isn't logical. He cut her off. That's enough. No chicken, no protein. End of discussion. And of course Joe wasn't having it. She said, coach, you wouldn't put gas in a car without oil. Protein is our oil.
Speaker 1:And at that point the whole table was trying not to laugh, including me. The waiter stood there awkwardly holding a plate of grilled chicken while two of them debated science and nutrition in front of the entire Olive Garden. In the end, coach took the chicken away and said if I see anyone with meat, you're off the relay. We all went to bed hungry and the next morning God sent one of the craziest storms I had ever seen Wind, rain, thunder. The whole meat got rained out, flooded out. We didn't even race. All that random regimen was for nothing.
Speaker 1:And when I think about it now, it reminds me of Saul's oath. He made his men miserable in the middle of battle with a plan that didn't make sense and wasn't for the Lord, and just like that, it almost cost him everything, including his son. Looking back, it's almost funny. But it taught me something too, with my relay story. We can come up with our own oath, with your own plan, basically, but if God isn't in it. He can wipe it away in a moment, just like he literally rained out that meat. He can wash out any plan that isn't aligned with him.
Speaker 1:So Jonathan's faith was self, know, was selfless. He simply trusted God. And it says perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. And then Saul's oath was selfish. Before I avenged myself on my enemies, as he said. That's the difference One acted in faith and the other one acted in pride. So here's a question for you or for us in general when we make plans or promises, are they about glorifying God or are they about serving ourselves? If it's only about us, it won't last.
Speaker 1:Jonathan's story, you know, reminds us that nothing can hinder the Lord from saving 14.6 for Samuel. Saul's story warns us that empty, self-driven plans only lead to exhaustion and frustration. So my encouragement this week is be a Jonathan and don't be like his daddy. Put the Lord at the center of your decisions. Walk in faith, not selfish oaths. Let's pray.
Speaker 1:Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this study of 1 Samuel. Thank you so much for this amazing chapter that really, you know, combines how we need to understand faith and how we need to understand being selfless. And Lord, we thank you so much for your love and compassion. We thank you so much for the lessons that you bring us every day through your word and Father. We hope that we can be a Jonathan, we can show faith, we can see a tough situation and still believe that God can deliver at the end. Help us to not create our own plans, create our own oaths, and in the end, it's always about delivering it just for us and our needs and our glory, and not yours. Lord, father, we love you and we praise you. I pray for everybody listening to this podcast this week. Be with them, encourage them. Lord Love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen, love you all till next time.
Speaker 1:Well, that wraps up this week's episode. My prayer is that these devotions bring you a little closer to God each day. If you felt encouraged, don't keep it to yourself. Share this episode with a friend or loved one who could use the same reminder. Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss a weekly message and, if you like, leaving a kind review means so much For more. Check the show notes or connect with me on Instagram or TikTok at jessimorganfaith Until next time. This is Jessi Morgan praying off. Jessi Morgan Devotions behind the scenes, starting right now. Hello, hello and welcome back to Behind the Scenes Today.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to say something really quick that was on my heart and I know that there's been a lot of just fighting and hate within our country right now, and you know I'm a person that I don't talk about politics like that on my podcast. I do that on purpose, because my focus is I want you to focus on the scripture, god's word, and I just feel like when you add in your political views, you will alienate somebody else, and because that's just how heightened it is right now in our world. So I don't discuss it, but I will say this it has turned into the mouthpiece, it has turned into everything that people live and breathe by. And I just want to just say this that when you are criticizing, when you are sharing your viewpoint and it's aggressive, or you're calling somebody, oh, they're demons, oh, they shouldn't be parents, they shouldn't be this, they don't deserve this, they're awful, they're this Like.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes we do a really bad job of forgetting why we are here as Christians, job of forgetting why we are here as Christians. A lot of times, I think we speak to our audience and that's what social media is. It's about having a following and you speak to your audience and you try to appeal to your audience, but sometimes you got to remember that people can just wander onto your page and they're a newcomer. So what does your profile showcase? And if you are just on a rant at the moment, criticizing something that you disagree with per se, and somebody random goes and sees your stories for the first time and you might be that first beacon of a Christian that they see and it comes off like you are just being ruthless or you just think that your way is the right way and it is what it is, how is that witnessing? How is that sharing god's word or representing what it is to be a child of god? So I just encourage you to think about those things.
Speaker 1:Your instagram stories are a reflection of what you stand for, and just make sure that it's in a way that does not alienate or discriminate or just make somebody not even want to look in your direction and just give them that reason. See, that's why I don't want to deal with Christians. So I just encourage you to just think about that Now that we're in this day and age of social media. Your profile, your stories is a lot of times the first thing people see. So I just want you to think about that, my fellow Christians, children of God, think about that, because we're here to encourage and to witness and to bring more people to Christ. We can't do that if we are firing off at every cylinder on our stories, being overly aggressive. That's not getting the point across. Love you all, till next time.
