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Christian Devotional – July 17, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 11 VERSE: 1 Samuel 11:6–When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. TRUTH: Saul heard what the evil people wanted to do to some people of Israel and that is when God’s Spirit came upon him. He became angry. Often we assume that god doesn’t get angry, but when things go against Him and people are sinning, God does get angry. Do we get angry about the things God gets angry about? Anger is not a sin. The reasons for the anger and the actions that we take while angry are where we must be careful…
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Christian Devotional – July 16, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 10 VERSE: 1 Samuel 10:27–But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. TRUTH: Two things stand out here. First, even though God gave Samuel permission to do exactly what the people asked, not all the people were happy about it. It doesn’t matter what we try to do, if we are doing it to please people, we’ll never be successful and never will everyone be happy with us. We must work to please God and Him alone. Second, Saul was offended and he had every right to get upset about it, however,…
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Christian Devotional – July 15, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 9 VERSE: 1 Samuel 9:6–But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” TRUTH: Whenever we are feeling lost and uncertain, the best course of action is for us to seek out God for our direction. Saul didn’t know what to do, so his servant gave him this advice. When we are having difficulty know what way to go, do we stop and seek God? RESPONSE: Father, I will stop and seek You. My life gets so busy…
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Christian Devotional – July 14, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 8 VERSE: 1 Samuel 8:22a–The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” TRUTH: When we pray and beg God for things, sometimes God gives us what we want. In this case, having a king did not turn out well for the people. We must be careful what we are praying for and make sure that it is in line with God’s will for us. If not, God may give us what we ask for, and we end up wishing He hadn’t. RESPONSE: Father, I want You , so I will pray to have more of You. I desire You in my life. Thank…
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Christian Devotional – July 13, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 7 VERSE: 1 Samuel 7:5–Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” TRUTH: The people had sinned and Samuel was willing to stand in the gap between the sinful people and a holy God. Samuel called the people to come and assemble together so that he could pray for them. Thankfully, we have One who intercedes on our behalf as well. In Hebrews, the author discusses how Jesus Christ came to intercede on our behalf and stand in the gap between our sin and a Holy God. We can come to God through Jesus Christ who stands…
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Christian Devotional – July 12, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 6 VERSE: 1 Samuel 6:20–And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” TRUTH: The Philistines got so sick and tied of God’s ark that they gave it back to Israel and it came to the town of Beth Shemesh. While there, the people rejoiced, but some of them were disobedient and looked into the ark. Since it was considered the place of God’s presence, they were not allowed to do that because they were not holy and those people were killed. We must remember that even…
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Christian Devotional – July 11, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 5 VERSE: 1 Samuel 5:4–But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold only his body remained. TRUTH: The Israelites had been disobedient, so the Philistines had defeated them in battle and captured the ark of the covenant. The Philistines mistakenly believed that God was just like any other god so the placed the ark in their temple with their other god Dagon. But, God is God and He is over every other thing and so that feeble…
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Christian Devotional – July 10, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 4 VERSE: 1 Samuel 4:11–When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” TRUTH: The Israelites had been defeated in battle and they started out asking the right question. The problem was they didn’t actually answer that question. So often we treat our plans just like that. We make a plan, go out and try it, then when it doesn’t work, we look up to…
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Christian Devotional – July 9, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 3 VERSE: 1 Samuel 3:10–The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” TRUTH: How many times does God have to call us before we start to listen to what God has to say? Each day God is seeking us and desiring to communication with us so that we can learn more about Him and glorify Him even more. Are we listening or do we get confused about who may be calling us? We must learn to hear God’s voice in our lives and respond to Him with listening ears. RESPONSE: Father,…
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Christian Devotional – July 8, 2015
Read 1 Samuel chapter 2 VERSE: 1 Samuel 2:17–This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt. TRUTH: The Bible is very clear that what we offer the Lord in sacrifice is to be our very best. These men were taking that lightly and were choosing the best portions for themselves. How do we approach the things that we give God? In Romans, God indicates that as believers in Christ, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God. We must treat ourselves as the Lord would have us treat the very best. We often treat…