Wanted: A Warrior Leader
I Samuel 11
Needed: A warrior leader
So, Saul was chosen by God as the first king of Israel, he was mightily anointed by the Spirit of God and ordained publicly by Samuel. As God often does, He chose someone who was ill prepared to be what he was called by God to be; to be the warrior king that Israel. He was a Benjamite farmer minding his own business who lacked confidence.Read more
God Is On The Move! Be Ready!
I Samuel 10
In modern evangelical terms, Saul had an "encounter with God" in this chapter. To use another current term, in this chapter "the Spirit was all over Saul". Samuel had a private ceremony to anoint Saul as King and then sent him to be with the prophets. Samuel tells him that when he meets with the prophets, "then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophecy with them and be changed into another man'" V6. God is on the move!!!Read more
You Asked For It, You Got It
I Samuel 9
Be careful what you ask for
I ended my last devotion in I Samuel 8 with a prayer that I plan to pray often. "These stories of the Israelites in I Samuel are reminding me that I should seek God and His guidance daily and even hourly ---- make that moment by moment.Read more
The Whispers of Discontent
I Samuel 8
I’ve got voices in my head!!!
This is a well-known chapter and a sad one as well. Many years have passed between chapters 7 and 8. Samuel is now very old. Samuel's sons are not following God and the people are worried about the future leadership of Israel. So, do they seek the Lord for guidance? No, they are Read more
I'm Glad You Asked!!!
I Samuel 7
As a reminder, the early chapters of I Samuel chronicle the ordaining & calling of Samuel as the next leader of Israel and the final events of a 20 year run of Israel's national sin and rebellion against God. Chapter 6 ends with the realization of their sin against God when the people say, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?" Read more
I Samuel 5&6 - God Has a Sense of Humor (but not everyone is laughing)
My God is better than your god
So, the Philistines defeated Israel and stole the Ark of the covenant, the symbol of the presence of God, as a trophy. The resulting events struck me as funny-even though many people suffered (forgive me Lord for laughing at the Philistines). First, they placed the ark alongsideRead more
I Samuel 4 - Why Didn't I Just Ask?
Losing is not fun!
Samuel is growing into a young man and moving closer to assuming leadership in Israel as a Judge, (Israel was led by "Judges" during this era before the era of Kings. See book of Judges). Eli is the current Judge and his wicked two sons are the priests. The Philistines are introduced to the narrative in I Samuel 4 and Israel (somewhat arrogantly) goes into battle with them. They are handily defeated in battle losing 4000 men.Read more
My Dreams or His Plans
I Samuel 3
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
The Bible is full of men and women who are specially used of God for a unique purpose in His plan to redeem and raise up a Godly people - whether Israel in the OT or the church in the NT. Samuel was such a man. 2:18 says, "Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy...". God called Samuel at a young age and gave him a large measure of grace to love and serve God.Read more
The Prayer of a Godly Woman
(Pictures from my ministry trips to Malawi, Africa)
I Samuel 2
A high commitment from Hannah
Samuel is born through the adversity of Hannah; her barrenness, her heartfelt pleading and petitions, her commitment to dedicate her son to lifetime ministry should God answer her and then the blessings of God to open her womb. Samuel is born and Hannah praises God with an amazing song of thanksgiving in 2:1-11.Read more