Following God First
1Sam 21-24 The downward spiral of King Saul is revealed, and his jealousy overtakes his ability to make wise decisions. In sharp contrast, David uses…
Deception is like a spider web
1 Sam. 17-20 King Saul needs a warrior to destroy the enemy, but he doesn’t think the shepherd David is up to the task, so…
Fearing God Means Obedience
1 Sam. 14-16 The fear of man emerges in spades in these chapters. First, God tells Samuel to tell Saul to go and exterminate ALL…
Rejection and Decisions
1Sam 13-14 How do we handle rejection? The people rejected Samuel in favor of a king. God reminded him that they were not rejecting him…
Choices
1 Sam 9-12The people reject Samuel’s sons, and rightly so, for they were not men ‘of the cloth’ but of perversion. We wonder why Samuel…
Prayers of the Righteous
1Sam 1-3 The book of Ruth ushered us into the realm of the righteous by one [Ruth] who made the decision to follow God based…
Ruth 1-4 God Directs Our Steps Do we trust God in the hardest of times, or do we follow the example of Abraham and Elimelech…
Pray for Discernment
Judges 1 and Judges 19-21 We remember that the author of Judges opened his diary to show us the ugliness of sin and the contrast…
How to “Not” Honor God
Judges 17 When God is absent from men’s hearts, pursuing God’s kingdom and His righteousness takes a back seat. Meet Micah, whose name means “who…
Crisis of Belief or Believe?
Judges 13-15 Back in the day of the Judges, the Israelites were excited when a baby was coming, but for some, like Mrs. Manoah, there…