Posts from 2023 (Page 5)

  DISCUSSION:                                     We are always encouraged from youth to do the best you can at what you choose to do. That is good advice, but we must be careful what we choose to do. Life is full of choices. Making the right choice is not easy and many times the right choice will not be the choice we make. So the question…

  DISCUSSION God gave the children of Israel physical signs (cloud by day and fire by night). This provided direction of where to go and comfort that God was with them. They often ignored that and displeased God, but God always provided them with hope and direction. Today the same God guides us with His word. He provides us with direction (straight path) and a comfort to know He is there for us. Do we often ignore His word for…

  DISCUSSION:                                           A disaster strikes suddenly and usually without warning. Even though we know tornados, floods, lightning storms, accidents and deaths are going to occur, we are still shocked when they do. The tragedies that claimed Job’s possessions and family came suddenly and without warning. Job and his family were living out their lives in a day to day…

  DISCUSSION:                             As we raise our children we all notice things about them that remind us of either their mother or father. We are proud of these similarities and consider it to be a genetic trait. It is easy to assume that if you didn’t cause your parents grief growing up, your children probably want cause you much either. Eli and Samuel would be the first…

  DISCUSSION: In this current society, as well as the society as it existed when Hannah voiced her song, there is always a debate about the limits of big government.  Hannah’s song answers this question for us. It doesn’t matter who is ruling us in our government positions, the Lord is the true ruler; salvation is from Him, and God’s concern is often for the poor, the people at the “bottom of the heap”. Hannah’s prayer helps us to not…

  DISCUSSION: Hannah was truly a godly mother. Hannah was ridiculed daily by Peninnah for an issue she had that was not her fault. Hannah believed in the power of prayer, and the comfort it brought her. Hannah’s attitude when accused of drunkenness was that of calmness and self-control and she answered with dignity though she had been falsely accused. Hannah did not ask for vengeance on her adversary, nor did she request a son for selfish reasons. Fervently, Hannah…

  DISCUSSION      I Timothy 4.12 says, “Let no one look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in your speech, conduct, love faithfulness and purity.” Maturity is not always something you grow in to. Sometimes older people do not act in a mature way. Many young people set great examples to older people. Young people are so talented and have so much energy, what a great time of their life to…

    DISCUSSION    The famous UCLA basketball coach and motivator John Wooden once said, “Don’t measure yourself on what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your abilities.” The children of Israel had a real problem; they could not stop focusing on where they came from and where they were. There was no way that they would ever be able to get out of their current situation and see where God had planned for them…

  DISCUSSION    Isn’t it just awesome how God has strategically placed things within the Scriptures to give us a progression of how He was going to do things in the future? Just take for instance the similarities of the offering of Isaac that God had asked of Abraham, and Jesus. Both were led by their father to the place of the sacrifice, both involved their only son, the mountain on which they were to do the offering is the…

  DISCUSSION        Have you ever been at that point in your life when every force in the universe seems to be going against you? It may be that you can’t catch up on your bills, your marriage is in shambles, you are hearing rumors of lay-offs at work, you are having to sit and care for your parents, your car needs a new engine, the doctor told you that it may be cancer and, oh yeah, someone ran…

  DISCUSSION        As Jesus closes out His ministry here on Earth, he seized an opportunity to bond with His disciples. He had just sent Judas out of the room after washing their feet and was now giving them His final instructions before His arrest. He knew they were troubled; he could see it in their eyes. I don’t think they could help it. They had never been in a situation like this before, nor did they understand Jesus’…

  As David is now king over Israel, he must have been reminiscing about all the good times he had with his friend Jonathan. “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”(2 Samuel 9.1). What usually happened when a new king would take the throne, his first order of business was to kill all the family of the previous king so that no one could make a claim to…