Jesus invites us, “Come to me.” He wants to take our crushing burdens, and yoke us to himself! Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapters 28-29; Psalm 109; Matthew, chapter 11 Matthew 11:25-30 (NLT): At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! My Father has entrusted... Read more
In Psalm 17, David prays that God will “bend down and listen.” He IS listening! And he welcomes our prayers! Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapter 22; Psalms 17 & 35; Matthew, chapter 6 Psalm 17:6 (NLT): I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Matthew 6:7-13 (NLT): “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by... Read more
The story of Saul, Jonathan, and David demonstrates for us the cost of ultimate commitment to God. Saul disobeyed God and abandoned that commitment. Jonathan and David remained true to God, and to each other. Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapters 20-21; Psalm 34; Matthew, chapter 5 1 Samuel 20:10-17 (NLT): Then David asked, “How will I know whether or not your father is angry?” “Come out to the field with me,” Jonathan replied. And they went out there together. Then Jonathan... Read more
When Saul went to find and kill David, the Spirit of God overpowered him. The people who saw this asked, “Is even Saul a prophet?” The answer is NO. Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapter 19; 1 Chronicles, chapter 7; Psalm 59; Matthew, chapter 4 1 Samuel 19:18-23 (NLT): So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. When the... Read more
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul says that he doesn’t want anyone to give him credit “beyond what they see in my life or hear in my message.” What do people see in our lives? Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapter 13; 1 Chronicles, chapters 2-3; 2 Corinthians, chapter 12 2 Corinthians 12:5-10 (NLT): That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no... Read more
Followers of Jesus are called to be holy, just as God is holy. The last thing we want to do is to “add to our sin”! Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapters 11-12; 1 Chronicles, chapter 1; 2 Corinthians, chapter 11 1 Samuel 12:14-25 (NLT): “Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as... Read more
In a world that is driven by self-promotion, we need to look for those who demonstrate the gentleness and kindness of Christ. Scripture: 1 Samuel, chapters 8-10; 2 Corinthians, chapter 10 2 Corinthians 10:1-2, 18 (NLT): Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ – though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away. Well, I am begging you now so that when I come... Read more
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psalm 61:1). For those who believe in God, there is no such thing as “coincidence”; we don’t say, “As it happened…” We say, “God was at work all the time!” Scripture: Ruth, chapters 1-2; Psalms 56 & 61; 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 Ruth 2:1-12 (NLT): Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech. One day Ruth the Moabite... Read more
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it” (John 1:5, NLT) Scripture: Judges, chapters 19-21; 2 Corinthians, chapter 4 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (NLT): You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God... Read more
There is often a big difference between what God wants and what we “think” God will bless. Scripture: Judges, chapters 17-18; Psalm 89; 2 Corinthians, chapter 3 Judges 17:1-6 (NLT): There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.”... Read more
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