Will you acknowledge your Hope? When you find yourself blessed do you attribute that blessing to your own prowess or your luck? Do you remember that God is that one who is at work in your life? Read the story of Isaiah 22 and learn what happens when selfish pride overwhelms man. “Therefore I said: ‘Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.’ For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains.” Isaiah 22:4,
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Tag Archive - Disobedience
The unstoppable will of God: Isaiah 21 and 22
Complete wholeness for our vaporous existence: Psalm 81
Remember! Will you remember? Remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is eternally faithful. Psalm 81 is a call for the people of Israel to celebrate, remember and worship God. The people of Israel would often forget God and they would be left to follow the wickedness of their hearts. Asaph is calling the people to remember that they are easily unfaithful to God and choose to wholeheartedly turn to God and worship Him alone. The gods of the world that sought to consume the attention of the Israelites were not worthy to compare with the true God. It is just as easy today to run to the idols and gods vying for our attention and worship them thinking that lasting substance can be found in vaporous pleasure. Only God will bring complete wholeness for our vaporous existence. Continue Reading…
Joy returns when God is placed first: Nehemiah 11 and 12
What is happening in Nehemiah 11 and 12? You are faced with many names again which may make you want to tune out the details of the text. What is happening in the story of Israel? “And they offered great sacrifices that and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with a great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” Nehemiah 12:43 ESV Why are details given about the priests and Levites? Why was there such joy in Jerusalem? Why list the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel? Continue Reading…
Calamity ensues and God’s sovereignty endures: 1 Samuel 21 and 22
How do you live with the actions and choices made throughout your life? Are we to live in constant fear of what we do in life? How can we have confidence to press on in difficult times? Did these thoughts of doubt and fear go through David’s mind after the wicked deeds of Saul in 1 Samuel 22? In 1 Samuel 21 David has departed from Jonathan after he learned with certainty that Saul was desiring to kill him. David’s flight from Saul leads him to Nob where Ahimelech the priest lived and served the Lord. Continue Reading…
Many questions answered by God’s sovereignty: 1 Samuel 15 and 16
How are we to look upon failure in light of Saul’s kingship over Israel? What is God rejecting in Saul? Can we ever fail completely before God? Since God chose Saul as king over Israel didn’t he already know that Saul wouldn’t be a faithful king? Is Saul’s kingship an illustration of how apart from Jesus Christ we are unable to follow God? What traits did Saul exhibit that led to his turning aside from God? What does Saul’s failure mean for me today? How do I reject God as Saul did by choosing my own way over the way that God desires for me? How can I guard my heart from turning aside from God? The reading of 1 Samuel chapter 15 caused me to ask a lot of questions about who God is and His sovereignty. It is easy to look at the story of Saul’s kingship and think that he was cheated out of ruling Israel. The choice I make on a daily basis to either follow God’s commands or seek my own glory and way was the same choice that was faced by Saul when he was king over Israel. Saul chose to seek out his own way apart from God. I believe that God is sovereign and whatever He chooses to do is wholly right so when I see that the kingdom was taken away from Saul I can trust that God did it for His purpose and glory. Continue Reading…
Trust and dependance develop by following God: 1 Samuel 13 and 14
There is a distinct change that has takes place between 1 Samuel chapters 12 and 13. The story that concluded in chapter 12 was the start of Saul’s reign where Samuel was telling the Israelites of their disobedience against God by seeking a king to rule over them and at the beginning of chapter 13 we are told Saul was thirty years old when he became king, he reigned for thirty two years, and a war with the Philistines has been ongoing. How much time passed between the events of chapter 12 and 13? Why do we jump to this point in the reign of Saul? What happens in Saul’s reign that makes this time noteworthy? Continue Reading…
One person devoted to God will make a difference: 1 Samuel 11 and 12
How long will the people of Israel stray away from God and not turn to Him for their needs? How often do I stray from God’s desire for my life? This journey that the Israelites have taken mirrors my journey as a christian because I have moments when I am fully focused on God where I have gleaned great truths from Scripture, there are other moments when the flesh within me is raging, seeking to make me succumb to wickedness, and there are moments where I feel lost wondering when I will be delivered. Continue Reading…
God’s sovereignty displayed in the refinement of life: 1 Samuel 9 and 10
What would you do if you were walking down the street and someone came up to you and said that you were now the president? Would you take them seriously? I would think the person was crazy. In 1 Samuel 9 and 10 we are introduced to a Benjamite named Saul who is from the smallest tribe of Israel, and his family was the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul will be transformed from a man of no renown to a man lifted up and blessed by God to lead the Israelites as their king. Continue Reading…
Ichabod – The glory has departed from Israel: 1 Samuel 3 and 4
I have found it important while reading 1 Samuel to remember the overall picture that this book fits into. The book of 1 Samuel is tied to both the books of Judges and Ruth because they are telling the story of the time when God raises up judges over the people of Israel. The people of Israel are doing what they find to be best in their own eyes instead of seeking after God. Upon this scene the young boy Samuel is born and dedicated to God by his mother Hannah. Continue Reading…
A wrong doesn’t make another wrong right: Judges 21
What is the aftermath from the civil war that occurred between the sons of Benjamin and the rest of the sons of Israel? In Judges 21 we see that the men of Israel swore to not give any of their daughters to the surviving men of the tribe of Benjamin. Has the true source of the problem within the Israelites finally detected? They cried out, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” Judges 21:3 Did the men not see that they were straying from God and falling under the curse of which Moses spoke in Deuteronomy? Continue Reading…
