Posts with the category “1samuel”

Fight the Good Fight and Finish Well Reading: 2 Timothy 4:6-8 and Hebrews 12:1-3 Paul wrote from the end of his race, not from a place of comfort but from a place of hard-won faithfulness. He had endu...  Read More

Sound Doctrine in a World With Itching Ears Reading: 2 Timothy 4:1-5 Paul warned Timothy that people would seek out teachers who told them what they wanted to hear rather than what they needed to hear...  Read More

The Danger of Fearing People More Than God Reading: Proverbs 29:25 and Galatians 1:10 Saul confessed plainly: he was afraid of his men. That fear drove him to disobey God. The desire for human approva...  Read More

Partial Obedience Is Still Disobedience Reading: 1 Samuel 15:7-23 Saul destroyed what was weak and kept what was valuable, then called it faithfulness. But God had said everything. Partial obedience l...  Read More

The Cost of Impatience Reading: 1 Samuel 13:8-14 Saul could not endure the wait. Rather than trusting God's timing, he acted on impulse and paid a lasting price. Impatience is rarely just about time —...  Read More

He Is the Goal, and He Always Makes a WayReading: John 14:6 (Jesus declares Himself the way, the truth, and the life); Revelation 21:3 (God Himself will dwell with His people, and they will be His peo...  Read More

The Cost of ImpatienceReading: Isaiah 40:31 (those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength); Psalm 27:14 (the call to wait on the Lord and be of good courage)Saul had clear instructions. Wait...  Read More

Free Will and Its ConsequencesReading: Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (God sets before His people life and death, blessing and cursing, and calls them to choose life); Joshua 24:15 (the call to choose whom you ...  Read More

God Does Not Abandon the WaywardReading: 1 Samuel 11:6; Romans 8:38-39 (nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God)The Spirit of God came upon Saul even after the people had knowingl...  Read More

Set Apart for Something BetterReading: 1 Peter 2:9 -- This verse describes believers as a chosen people, set apart to declare the praises of the One who called them out of darkness and into His remark...  Read More

The Cost of Rejecting God's KingshipReading: 1 Samuel 10:17-19 -- Samuel reminds the people that in demanding a king, they have rejected the God who delivered them from every hardship and oppression.S...  Read More

Looking for the Wrong ThingReading: 1 Samuel 9:2 and 1 Samuel 10:23-24 -- Saul is described as the most handsome man in Israel, standing a head taller than everyone else, and the people celebrate him....  Read More

When God Gives You What You Ask ForReading: 1 Samuel 8:22 -- God instructs Samuel to listen to the people and give them a king.God's response to Israel's demand is one of the most sobering moments in ...  Read More

The Danger of Wanting to Fit InReading: 1 Samuel 8:4-5, 19-20 -- The elders of Israel demand a king so they can be like the surrounding nations.There is a pull in every human heart to belong, to blend...  Read More

Responding When God ActsReading: Joshua 1:1-9 — God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous and to move forward, assuring him of divine presence every step of the way.When God acted at Mizpah and ...  Read More

Watching for God to AnswerReading: Habakkuk 2:1-4 — The prophet stations himself to watch and wait for what God will say, trusting that the answer will come even if it requires patience.Prayer is not ...  Read More

Seeking God Before ActingReading: Psalm 27:7-14 — The psalmist pleads for God's presence, refuses to act in fear, and resolves to wait on the Lord with confident expectation.The Israelites at Mizpah m...  Read More

The Long Road Back to GodReading: 1 Samuel 7:2-4 — After twenty years, the people of Israel finally turn back to the Lord with whole hearts and put away their foreign gods.Twenty years is a long time ...  Read More

The Danger of Using God for Our Own PurposesReading: 1 Samuel 4:1-11 — Israel presumes upon God's presence by bringing the Ark into battle, expecting automatic victory, and suffers devastating defeat....  Read More

Seeking His Direction, Not Just His BlessingReading: Psalm 46:10 -- God calls His people to cease striving, to be still, and in that stillness to know and recognize who He truly isThere is a significa...  Read More

Speak, Lord, I Am ListeningReading: 1 Samuel 3:7-10 -- Samuel, still young and unfamiliar with God's voice, is instructed to respond with openness and availability rather than his own wordsSamuel's re...  Read More

Holy GroundReading: Exodus 3:1-6 -- God instructs Moses to remove his sandals because the ground on which he stands is holy, establishing the weight and reverence due to God's presenceMoses was not pe...  Read More

God Will Not Be ManipulatedReading: Isaiah 55:8-9 -- God declares that His thoughts and ways are entirely beyond human comprehension and cannot be reduced to human strategies or formulasThe Israelites...  Read More

When Our Plans FailReading: Proverbs 3:5-7 -- a call to trust God completely rather than leaning on human understanding, acknowledging Him in all directions of lifeThe Israelites marched into battle a...  Read More

Entering His Presence IntentionallyReading: Hebrews 13:5, James 4:8God has made an unbreakable promise: He will never leave nor forsake His people. Yet so often we live as though He is absent, simply ...  Read More

Present in the Religious System, Absent from GodReading: Matthew 7:21-23, Isaiah 29:13Jesus warned plainly that many who performed religious acts in His name would hear the devastating words, "I never...  Read More

The Noise That Drowns Out GodReading: Psalm 46:10, Mark 1:35Psalm 46:10 calls us to be still and know that God is God. In Mark 1:35, we see that even Jesus withdrew from the noise of ministry and crow...  Read More

Tuning In to the Voice of GodReading: 1 Samuel 3:8-10Three times Samuel heard his name called, and three times he missed it. It was not until Eli gave him the framework to listen that Samuel could res...  Read More

The Silence Before the VoiceReading: 1 Samuel 3:1-7Samuel lived at the center of Israel's religious life, yet the text says he did not yet know the Lord. This is a sobering reminder that proximity to ...  Read More