The Attributes of God:

20/20 Spiritual Vision 1 Samuel 16-20 “The Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”                   Without my glasses, life is blurry.  Having worn glasses since 4 th  grade, I can barely make out the biggest letter on the eye chart.  If it were not for glasses, the world would look very differently.  The same is true of our spiritual vision. Without spiritual vision, we cannot fully see God’s plan.  Instead, our world becomes very confusing and foreboding.                     The story of David’s rise to prominence is a story of spiritual vision.   When God instructed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint a new king, Samuel’s vision was becoming cloudy.  When S...

The Failure of Disobedience 1 Samuel 11-15 “But now your kingdom shall not endure, The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart.”                   It seemed like a small thing—a simple act of disobedience driven by the expediency of the moment.  Faced with a coming battle, Saul was waiting for Samuel to arrive so that Samuel might offer a sacrifice to God to ensure God’s blessing upon the armies of Israel and secure a victory over a formidable force of the Philistines.   When the Israelites drew near to the battle, they were struck with fear.  Fear is the product of doubt that comes when we look at the challenges before us rather than the empowerment of God with us.  When we are confronted with challenges that exceed our ability, we can become frightened and hesitant. To calm the people's fears, Samuel was to come and ask for God’s bles...

The Danger of Cultural Accommodation 1 Samuel 6-10 “Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, ‘No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king will judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”          For 400 years, Israel has been a nation without an earthly king.  God’s intent for Israel was that they would be a theocracy in which God himself would be the king.  But this was not enough; the people looked about them and saw that every other nation had a king to lead them into battle, and so they wanted to be like them. For the past 400 years, they had experienced turmoil from military attacks by the neighboring nations.  However, rather than recognizing that it was a result of their sin, they attributed it to not having a king.  If they had a king to lead them into battle, then it would solve their problems...

The Grace and Holiness of God 1 Samuel 1-5 “Therefore, the Lord God of Isarel declares, “I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.”             We cannot conform God to our understanding; instead, we must conform our understanding to God.  The Book of Samuel opens with a story of God’s grace upon a heartbroken woman who sought Him and a story of God’s judgment upon a household that dishonored Him.  The two-fold theme of God's nature and activity is one that is woven throughout the entire Bible.  Indeed, to have a right perspective of God, we must maintain a perfect balance between the grace of God and His holiness.  His grace gives us the hope of salvation, His holiness reminds us of His divine judgment up...

The Danger of Self-delusion Judges 21-26 “In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (26:25).             We live in the age of feelings.  A new national survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University revealed that 74% of adults trust feelings over facts to discern moral truth, and two-thirds reject the belief that there is absolute moral truth.  Today, the majority of people, including those who identify as Christians, believe in moral pluralism; that multiple, even contradictory, moral viewpoints can be valid. Even among those who identify as born-again Christians, only 32% believe in moral absolutes. Without any belief in absolute moral truth, the majority of people trust their emotional response to determine right from wrong.  If the age of Enlightenment was the age of reason, today it is the age of feelings. ...

Unlikely Heroes Judges 11-15 “And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah.” Hebrews 11:33               One of the most incredible testimonies of God’s grace, providence, and power is the fact that God uses unlikely people to accomplish His purpose.  Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Faith Hall of Fame” because it lists individuals who exemplified incredible faith. Many of the individuals listed were renowned for their unwavering devotion and commitment to God, as well as obedience to His law.  Men like Enoch, whose depth of faith results in his being taken up into heaven without experiencing the tragedy of death.  People like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David, who trusted in God’s promises and acted upon them.  However, when we come to verse 32, we find four of the judges mentioned.  When we examine their life, we see...