Category: I Samuel

Posted on

The Gift of Strength

Don’t you love looking at the presents under the Christmas tree? There are all shapes and sizes, some in plain paper and others with big fancy bows. As a kid it was torture to have them out too early and yes I admit there was one year in particular that my sister and I opened some to see what was inside and then carefully wrapped them again.

The gift I’m giving you this morning also comes in all shapes and sizes and so I’ve included several boxes for you to open. I have for you this morning the gift of strength. Yes, strength. Lots of different examples in the Bible for you to see on this one.

Most notably we have Samson who destroyed God’s enemies with his great strength. But we must also be reminded of Noah who took on a huge construction project with just his 3 sons to help; David, a young shepherd who killed a lion, bear and a giant; Elijah, the prophet, who called down fire from heaven, defeated 400 prophets of Baal and outran Ahab’s chariot all in the same day. Then there was the woman who had bleeding condition for over 17 years and she faced a hostile crowd to get to Jesus; Paul was shipwrecked numerous times and was also beaten for his preaching but he kept going. Peter needed moral strength and failed when he denied Christ but went on to be a powerful preacher after the Lord forgave him.

The Bible is full of examples for people needing and finding strength; some was physical strength, while other strength came in the form of courage and mental fortitude. Some challenges were common and others were life threatening; sickness, emotional distress, financial ruin, failed relationships, fractured families, perilous circumstances.

Any of those sound familiar? God is so practical. He isn’t just concerned about the “religious” part of our lives, He desire is to fill every area of our life with His life changing relationship. I’m going to take a moment to run through a few Scripture verses on strength so bear with me.

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Isaiah 40:29 KJV

“The Lord is my strength. He saves me, and I sing songs of praise to him. He is my God, and I praise him. He is the God of my ancestors, and I honor him.” Exodus 15:2 ERV

“God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.” I Samuel 22:33 KJV

“Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.” Job 4:3

” God is the one who gives me strength. He clears the path I need to take.” Psalm 18:32 ERV

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 KJV

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

“The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14

“But he replied, “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am.” II Corinthians 12:9 CEV

“Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” Philippians 4:13 ERV

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 KJV

Each verse is like opening another package – more treasures inside each one – more strength when it’s needed.

I don’t know what situations are working to deplete your strength today but I do know the one who steps in and takes over when we feel we have come to the end of what we can do. Instead of coming to the point of exhaustion start out by saying this little prayer.

“Father, today I don’t want to operate in my power. I’m prone to fail. I want to have Your strength in all that I do, in every situation I want to depend on You and Your abilities.”

Enjoy the gift of His strength!

Posted on

Can You Hear the Music

A few days back I reminded you of how the Lord protected the three young men in the firery furnance. God took them through and brought them out victorious. The same was true for another young man named Daniel. He was friends with those three.

Jealousy caused the palace rulers to look for a way to trap the King into relieving Daniel of his position and his life. They got the King to pass a law that anyone who prayed to the Lord and not to the King should be thrown into the lions den.

Sure death!

Daniel remained loyal to the Lord and he was taken to the lions den and thrown in. The King regretted his decision because he trusted Daniel and knew him to be a man of integrity but the law was the law. The next morning the King came to check on Daniel.

He was alive.

Then the King had the men who had deceived him into making such a law thrown into the same lions den and they were destroyed. Lest you think I’m completely off point for my title, look at this verse.

“The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you.
He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.”

18 The Lord has promised: Your sorrow has ended, and you can celebrate.Zephaniah 3:17-18 ERV

Life’s battle will seem overwhelming and exhaust us if we try to fight them on our own. How much better it is when we trust God – He fights with us and for us. He takes joy in us and showers us with His love. The Lord sings and celebrates when we win.

Now, do you hear the music?

Remember a young boy by the name of David who faced a giant of a problem. If God protected David in his fight, we can trust Him to do the same for us.

“Today the Lord will let me defeat you. I will kill you. I will cut off your head and feed your body to the birds and wild animals. And we will do the same thing to all the other Philistines too. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel. 47 All the people gathered here will know that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to the Lord, and he will help us defeat all of you.”

48 Goliath the Philistine started to attack David. He slowly walked closer and closer toward David, but David ran out to meet Goliath.” I Samuel 17:46-48

Give your battle, whatever it is, to the Lord. Let Him defeat the enemy and get invited to the celebration when it over!

Posted on

He Knows My Name

From time to time I like to watch movies I’ve seen before on television. One that I particularly like is “Ever After” with Drew Barrimore. Cute movie – close to the end Henry, the prince, realizes he can’t live without Danielle, Cinderella, so he rides out to save her from her indentured life to Jacque LePew.

As he comes up the hill to the fortress walls, she is walking out, having gained her own freedom. He apologizes, tells her he loves her and can’t live without her. She stops him in his conversation and says, “Say that again.” He starts to apologize again for failing to trust her and then she says “No, not that. Say the part where you call me by name again.” And then he says her name, Danielle, and declares his love. AWWWW!

There is nothing so sweet than to hear the one you love say your name. It stirs the heart and words can’t explain fully explain the feeling it gives you. WOW! It is completely over-the-top.

I’ve been reading about Samuel and how God called him to service.
“The boy Samuel was Eli’s helper and served the LORD with him. At that time the LORD did not speak directly to people very often. There were very few visions…. 4 The LORD called Samuel, and Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 Samuel thought Eli was calling him, so he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”
…Finally, Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Eli told Samuel, “Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, LORD. I am your servant, and I am listening.’”
So Samuel went back to bed. 10 The LORD came and stood there. He called as he did before, saying, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel said, “Speak. I am your servant, and I am listening.”I Samuel 3:1-10

Can you imagine? The voice of God calling your name, what a joy! God who created the universe knows my name.

Then I remembered that God called others by name as well. It started with Adam & Eve; Noah, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zacchaeus, the disciples, Mary at the garden tomb, Saul on the road to Damascus and John on the Isle of Patmos; all of these and more had that same wonderful experience of hearing God call them by name.

See what Isaiah says to the children of Israel.
“Descendants of Jacob, I, the LORD, created you and formed your nation. Israel, don’t be afraid. I have rescued you. I have called you by name; now you belong to me.
2 When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won’t drown.
When you walk through fire, you won’t be burned or scorched by the flames.
3 I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, the God who saves you. I gave up Egypt, Ethiopia, and the region of Seba in exchange for you.
4 To me, you are very dear, and I love you. That’s why I gave up nations and people to rescue you.
5 Don’t be afraid! I am with you.” Isaiah 43:1-5

God the Father has called us by name as well. Yes, He has! In His love He called our name telling us that He has a plan for our lives; a plan to be in fellowship and relationship with Him; a plan of adoption so that we can call Him “Abba Father.”

Hearing God speak your name shouldn’t be a one time experience, limited only to the day you accepted Him as Savior. How sad it would be if I only heard David say my name the one time when he made me his wife. No, daily he says my name and tells me he loves me and it never gets old.

Daily God is calling our name and telling us He loves us. Do you hear it or are you too busy and distracted?

Take time to listen…and take time to respond. Can you imagine how it thrills His heart to hear you say, “Abba Father, I love you. I want to spend time with you today.”?

Posted on

Don’t Quit!

Today we have a spelling lesson. How do you spell defeat? It’s spelled q-u-i-t. How do you spell quit? It’s spelled n-e-v-e-r!

Things come up in life and it looks like you’ll be defeated. The hard things make you want to quit but don’t! It could be a relationship, an illness, financial problems, a continued process of setbacks but don’t quit!!! Fight the battle – victory will come.

The Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians “But thanks be to God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus”! ALWAYS!!!!!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 ERV

I’m reminded of the story of the Israelites after they had been delivered from Pharaoh and Egypt. They had seen God do mighty things for them and now they were standing on the edge of the Promised Land. The Lord had told them they would go in and possess the land so they sent in spies to see what the land was like.

Do you remember the story? Twelve spies went in; they brought back clusters of grapes so big that two men had to carry them on a pole. It truly was a land flowing with milk and honey as God had said it was (He doesn’t lie you know). The land was lush and beautiful. A land to be desired but…the spies reported there were giants in the land.

Don’t you think God knew the giants were there when He said He would give them the land? Were the giants really any bigger an obstacle than the Pharaoh’s army or the Red Sea? If God had provided victory for them in the past, why would they doubt His ability now? The account goes on that the spies said they were as grasshoppers in the eyes of the giant and “we were but grasshoppers in our own eyes”. They took their eyes off of their God and looked at their own ability. They quit! They were defeated!

Joshua and Caleb, two of the spies tried to get their eyes back on the bigness of God but the Israelites were ready to stone them. Look at this!
“ It is a land filled with many good things. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. And he will give that land to us. 9 So don’t turn against the LORD! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land. We can defeat them. They have no protection, nothing to keep them safe. But we have the LORD with us, so don’t be afraid!” 10 All the people began talking about killing Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the Glory of the LORD appeared over the Meeting Tent where all the people could see it.” Numbers 14:8-10 ERV

Have you ever had somebody get mad at you because you wanted to trust God? It doesn’t seem rational or logical or make any kind of sense at all but that’s why it’s called faith! Trusting God isn’t “a way” to get things done, it’s “the way”. Jesus didn’t say I am “a way”, “a truth” and “a life” – NO! He said I am THE way, THE truth and THE life. You must be focused on what’s above – the greatness of our God or you’ll be like the Israelites and quit before you really get started. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones over the age of 40 that entered into the Promised Land. The rest of those who left Egypt and doubted God’s ability to give them victory in the Promised Land died in the desert.

I’m telling you this morning. I don’t know what your situation is or what battles you have been fighting but don’t quit! You’re not in this alone – God is there to fight the battle with and for you! Don’t quit – don’t give up – don’t accept defeat and you will ALWAYS TRIUMPH!

So I’ll say it again – don’t quit! As David said to Goliath “And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.” I Samuel 17:47

Posted on

Encouragement… August 12, 2017

Encouragement…we all need it from time to time. Maybe you know someone who has been going through a really tough time or maybe you see a stranger and sense that they just need a smile or a kind word. It might be your child or spouse, it could be a waitress or checker at the grocery store.

Keep your eyes open and your heart ready – ask the Lord to use you to bring hope, strength and joy to someone today.

But maybe you’re thinking, I wish someone would do that for me today. I need to be encouragement – I need a kind word! Take heart. I have good news for you!

“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” I Samuel 30:6 KJV

David’s wife and children had been stolen along with the wives and children of his men. His men were so distraught they were considering killing David because they felt it was “all his fault”. David needed someone to encourage him but there was no one so he encouraged himself…one version says he strengthened himself.

“All the men in the army were sad and angry because their sons and daughters were taken as prisoners. The men were talking about killing David with stones. This upset David very much, but he found strength in the Lord his God.” ERV

Maybe that’s how you feel today. If you need to encourage yourself today start with this verse. Look in the mirror and read it to yourself.

“You formed the way I think and feel.
You put me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was!

15 You could see my bones grow as my body took shape,
hidden in my mother’s womb.

16 You could see my body grow each passing day. You listed all my parts, and not one of them was missing.”
Psalm 139:13-16 ERV

If no one else is there to offer words of encouragement this should put a smile on your face and hope in your heart! God formed you and He saw to it that nothing was missing in your development. He is still with you promising to never leave you or abandon you! You’re not alone!

Now take what the Lord has done for you and give to hope to others. It’s wonderful to know that you can be used even in your toughest moments!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress