Samuel’s Farewell Address
12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6 And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (ESV)
I liked verse 14, because it really stood out to me the most. It talked about obeying God and his commands. I’ve been working on my attitude towards my parnet. Sometime during the week I will slip and stubble,but I remember that God put me with for a reason. It can also related to the serman that Pastor Ben just preach on. Obey the law for Gods sake. We are representive of him and we should dhow people that and that we do obey the laws. We are the ones that should stand out from the crowd. Get excited for Winter Revival!!
great comment Marissa! cool to see you on SOTD!
yeah! i’m so stoked for revival=]
Me too! Heat to the snow!!!
ELLO… I read
I like verse 14,”If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.”
I like this verse because i talks about fearing the LORD. If I fear the LORD I usually obey HIS commands because I am scared of what punishment I would get. If I don’t fear the LORD I end up like everyone else who is not saved I don’t think and usually end up getting into trouble. I need to watch and pray that I am always fearful of the LORD.
CYA
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
verse 15 talks about what pastor ben told us this weekend about respecting authority and not rebeling against the government but showing respect to not only th commandment of the Lord but also to the King. verse 16 isa great verse because it reminds me to take the time to come and stand still before the Lord admire the beauty this world has to offer all of His creation as well as the way He is making himself known in other peoples lives that is really cool!!
i also liked verse 24…
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you
So many delicious morsels in this chapter. Especially in the last few verses…
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
It is important to recognize our sins and previous choices, but it is also important that we not let them stumble us from forging ahead obediently in a right relationship with the Lord that He calls us to. Satan always tries to manipulate us and deceive us by bringing our past to mind, and tempting us to dwell and focus on it all, instead of keeping in hot pursuit of the Lord and His ways.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
Just a SOLID verse to remember on ANY occasion…
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
A humbling reminder that God’s faithfulness does not revolve around US, but rather HIM and HIS character. It is nothing we DO that brings God to deliver us and love us. He loves those He loves because it PLEASES Him.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
Sometimes it’s tempting to concede to the pride that wedges its way above surface in our evangelistic efforts. When we share the Gospel Message with others and they don’t respond positively, we are tempted to be personally offended which can turn into spite, or an, “I Told You So,” attitude when they show evidence of reaping what they’ve sown. Samuel is a great example to us that we must stay faithful in praying for and serving the people in our lives that God has divinely set up for us to share His Message with. We are to stay steadfast in SERVING them, in heart, attitude, and action.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
What a tagline! This is the great warning to all people who make claim that we are believers. There really is no resting as a Christian. Seasons of healing? Yes. But we are always at battle. ALWAYS. There is no time out. The battle still goes on when we have an injury and need to be benched until we’re equipped to get back on the field. We must spur one another on and be mindful of our call to battle. And we must always be reminding ourselves of the faithfulness and good that God has done, not only for US and in our OWN lives, but throughout the history of ALL men. And we must steer clear of giving way to the sin that tenaciously attempts to seduce us away from our perfect King. FEAR of Him is one thing that what will keep us ignited.
You’re right Stacy – no time outs, do overs or mulligans in hte spiritual battle and once the Day of the Lord comes. Until then there is still time and He is a forgiving God so keep short accounts with God, use His power and do what He says!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
In this time period we all, including me. Forget to fear the Lord and think he is the God of the new testament. He is still all powerful and this verse clearly says we must fear the Lord. The book of proverbs is also covered with fearing the Lord and the same with Psalms. Psalms clearly says that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
Another little spiritual snack I got out of this verse is that we need to remember and think about all the great and amazing things God has done in our lives. We cant just let them happen and be like ok great! We need to remember how truly amazing our God is all the time!
Good Morning!!!!
Verse 8
” When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.”
Again and again GOD saved the Israelites from danger and oppression. Yet again and again they rebelled against HIM and strayed from HIS path. They worshipped false idols and completely took their eyes and hearts off GOD. Why does GOD keep coming back to save them? Well our GOD loves us beyond any love you can ever imagine. The Israelites were HIS “chosen” people. HE couldn’t just let them fall into darkness. I can’t even imagine how good our GOD is. You know what, HE is downright perfect!!!
1 Sam 12:22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
Yep, God doesn’t love us because we are lovable but because He is great and it shows His glory and righteousness. So don’t blow it by missing out on the free gift of grace through repentnace and trust in HIm alone! Time is short! The LORD is on His way – be ready!
There wer a couple quotes that were really good,
14) if you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord our God, it will be well.
This quote basically says nothing can ever go wrong if you follow and obey all the things God has set in place for us to follow. That if you just listen to his voice and qdont go against his commandments he is there for you.
The second quote I liked was this one
24) only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you.
This one is kinda short but says so much. It reminds us not to fear or worship anything but God. That if we find ourselves wandering away from him just think about and look around to remember all of the amazing things he has done for us
And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
Samuel has street cred. In the eyes of all Israel no one can say anything that Samuel has done to sin against them or the LORD. That is legit! It got me thinking about something Pastor Ben said in his sermon yesterday. He was talking about how we are first and foremost citizens of heaven and how our reputation is Christ’s reputation. Samuel lived in such a way as a prophet that he brought glory to God and street cred to His reputation. I pray that I could live such a godly life that both men and God would have nothing bad to say against me. That is a high standard, but it is possible. Living by the Spirit and not being led by my sinful nature is the key to living a life above reproach where my rep is solid and it draws people to Christ and not away from Him.
0 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart
Lately I feel like god is trying to tell me something like this verse. “follow me with ALL your heart” and after reading this i feel like God is telling me louder than ever.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.(this is also soo true lately ive been turning to things that are empty but God is the only thing that can fufill me) 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself (this means to become his). 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
This is truly convinced me to walk 100% for Jesus Christ in every little thing in my life.
Sooo glad i read SOTD :)
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
What an encouraging verse! Out God is a jealous God! And He wants us to serve Him whole heartedly and Him ONLY! But what an encouragement to read and to know that ‘the Lord will NOT forsake His people..’ How awesome! And because we love Him, we should want to serve Him with everything we have!! Like in verse 24, “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” We serve the Lord because we see How GOOD HE IS and because we love Him! This was an encouraging chapter for me!
My prayer is that the Lord would allow me not to be selfish but to see God’s glory in everything He has done and has given us!! I pray that I would Love Him and serve Him ONLY!
Amen Hannah! THis was also an encouraging chapter for me, and an encouraging comment to read! (:
hope you feel better love <3
Thanks Jordan! Love you! I will be praying for you tomorrow and thank you for being an great co-leader, stepping up to the plate at the last second! I appreciate it! :D
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
Samuel leaves the people with but a few short instructions, yet they are so profound and important to follow. He is speaking to the people of how God was displeased with their want for an earthly king, but now they have one. And he was telling them that if either the king or the people turn away from God, things would turn bad quickly. However, if both the king and the people would follow after the LORD, then all would be well. And then he tells them to first, fear the Lord, secondly, to serve him faithfully with all your heart, and lastly, to consider all the great things that he has done. The first instruction is extremely important: the fear of the Lord. Throughout the Bible, it is said of how fearing God is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. It is one of the main bases of godliness. It is so sad to see now-a-days how people, even those who claim to be Christians, have lost such a fear of God. Secondly, Christians are to serve God faithfully with all of their hearts. As he is the Kurious (Lord) and we are the doulos (slave) we must serve God, being his slave as we represent him here on earth. And to serve faithfully is to serve him alone, not letting anything else get in the way or compete for attention. And to serve with all of the heart is pouring out all of the dedication that one has, to strive at serving the Lord with all that one has. Lastly, considering the great things that God has done. If we were to look at the modern-day generation right now, I don’t think that thankfulness would be a very common attribute. This world is all about what you don’t have. It’s about getting caught up in getting all the best that you can get, and then when the next best thing comes out, all satisfaction is lost, and so the cycle repeats. We need to live with an attitude of gratefulness, for God has given us all that we are and all that we have!
I need to live with a fear of the Lord evident in my life. It needs to show by the way that I live and by the conduct by which I conduct myself that God is above all else, and that my attitude toward him is that of falling facedown before all of his glory. I need to be desiring to fear him more and more, and in this, I may be filled more with discernment for what is right and understanding to live my life for the real truth. Next, my life needs to be all about being a slave. i have been set free from sin to serve the Lord, and I must do so with full dedication. I need to give all that I have to be a doulos of the Kurious, and he needs to be the only one whom I am serving. And lastly, I need to appreciate all that I have, even though none of it I deserve. All I deserve is eternal punishment in hell for my sins, yet I have been blessed with so much. Material things which I don’t need, salvation which I don’t deserve, and so much more. I need to constantly be on my knees thanking God for what he has blessed me with!
Goodmorning . . .
I read . . .
1 Samuel 12 . . .
“14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.”
If one serves and fears the Lord, all will be well. If one obeys His voice and doesn’t rebel against the commandment of the Lord, than all will be well. Comforting huh? It’s comforting to know that by just obeying Him and listening to Him, than I won’t be suffering any consequences. Same goes the other way. If one chooses not to obey or listen to Him, & that your better off on your own . . . WRONG CHOICE. It clearly says, if one doesn’t listen to the voice of the Lord and what He’s telling you, “then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.” Pretty scary to think about, huh? As Pastor Ben’s sermon was saying yesturday, even though we might not “feel” like it, we should always submit to God and listen to what He tells us.
“21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”
Empty things : Cars, phones, texting, Facebook, shopping, malls, clothes, jewlery, why are they all familiar? Their all MEANINGLESS things that are completely empty, but non-christians still use them to fill God shaped holes. Sad isn’t it? To think that people, instead of going after their Savior, Jesus, they go after these things and feel that their a-ok because they have these things. It clearly states “things that cannot profit or deliver, ARE EMPTY.” Sometimes, it seems next to impossible to get non-christian friends to understand this. They feel that just because they go to church every now and then, their all right. NOT TRUE. Go to the Lord, and you will be overflowing your God shaped hole.
“24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
Some people may ask, well why are you a Christian, or why do you always serve Him? SIMPLE ANSWER . . . BECAUSE HE’S WORTH IT. Just look around, at all the beautiful and marvelous things He’s provided for me. Beautiful earth, wonderful family, and awesome church, but most importantly, HE’S PROVIDED ME SALVATION AND HAS FORGIVEN MY SINS. That’s why I serve Him, that’s why I LOOOVE to shout worship songs to Him. Again, there is a consequence if you DON’T decide to serve Him. God will sweep both you and your king AWAAAAAAY.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~FATHER REIGN DOWN!~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Under His pure mercy,
Ariana Mishreki =)
Lord, I thank you for the upcoming Revival. I ask that my walk with you and my fervor for you would become more FLAMIN’! (more fire for Him) God I thank you for this oppertunity to worship you with AMAZING worship from the Revival band. I thank you for the awesome sermons that we’ll be hearing from Pastor Bobby. Most importantly God, I thank you for your BREATHTAKING beauty that will be up in the snowy mountains. God you know how it’s all already going to go down, so help me not to worry one bit of the way. You are always in control Lord you know EVERYTHING. ~ Amen.
mmm, excellent comment!I love how in depth you get into the verses ariana!please keep it up!your comments are always something i look forward to reading
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
I don’t remember the exact verse but this reminds me ofthe verse that says of you hear under the law then you will be punished under the law. I must rememeber to follow God’s instrustions and do what He wants or else His hand will be against me and I do not want that because He can do immense things.
mhmm. that is so true!
I think it might be ezra 7:26 or it might be in romans?
yeah i think its in romans 4
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you
It is easy to become lax in our prayer life, to start to focus more on ourselves – or even on the Lord – without spending time in prayer for those around us. But this verse makes it very clear that that is sin. The people Samuel was praying for were fellow Israelites, so he prayed that they would continue to follow the ways of the Lord and not turn aside to idols. In the same way, we need to be covering our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord in prayer every day, specifically praying that they will grow spiritually and will not stop standing for Jesus. This verse was a conviction to me to step up my prayer and spend more time focusing on the spiritual needs of Christians in my life, as opposed to making it a passing reference while focusing on other things.
4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
This is a great example of street cred Christianity. Samuel asks a whole country if they can accuse him of sinning against them in anything. Not one person in Israel was able to bring up an accusation. Wow! That’s really amazing. I want to live a life like Samuel, where no one around me can think of any hypocrisy in my life.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”
Finally they get that they did wrong. But they themselves could pray to God. God can hear and knows all that has and will happen. He sees all and that is why He is King. He created all things, knowing what was going to happen. I pray that I don’t put other things before God and that I will worship and praise the one true King! And fear and honor His name and obey all that He asks of me. I love the LORD!!! And want to make His name known to all! For He is GOD!!! :]
4 MORE DAYS!!!!! TIL REVIVAL WINTER EDITION!!! YIPPIE!!!
:]
***PRAISE THE LORD!!!***
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
These verse stood out to me so much! I feel that in these three verses God is portraying the same message; if you follow the Lords commands in everything you do, it will be well. But, if we rebel against his commandments the the Lord is against us. Its such a strong passage! A good way to put it is either your 100% for God or 0% for God. There is no 99% or 50% or whatever. Your in or out. Which also reminded me of “christians” that are hypocrites! Most hypocrite christians say that they go to church or pray but really they are falling away from God. Its up to us to question their faith and help them in their walk with God. Like it says in verse 22, for the the Lord will not forsake his people. This verse really showed me how much love God truly has toward us. He is always taking care of his children. Therefore we must not question Him in anyway. God has given us the ultimate gift; eternal life. :)
4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
This is such a great verse because it kind of goes along with what pastor Bobby has talked about. He said that we need to make sure and take pains to have a clear conscience before GOD and men. This is very important, and I need to strive for this daily.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
What a rich passage! I truly admire Samuel and his faith in this passage. He committed his whole life to serving the Lord- and that meant telling the rebellious Israelites over and over what good plans God wants them to follow, and then he had to see them completely turn and follow their own passions. How frustrating that must have been for him! And yet, verse 4 says that the Israelites testified: “4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.” He was a servant to the Israelites, honoring them. That reminds me of our passage that Pastor Ben preached from this weekend. We are supposed to honor everyone no matter what. Verse 23 says that he was never ceasing in his prayer for these frustrating people of God. I need to have this kind of devotion Samuel had. I will for sure get frustrated with those I share the gospel with. I may even get angry at them for not accepting it. However, I need to be never ceasing in my prayer for them, because that is what the Lord says to do.
They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.
Samuel was a true man of God and he had true “street cred” with all of the Israelites as seen in the verse above. If we have any hope of being an effective witness for Jesus Christ, then we need to live our lives doing the things the Bible commands. As Christians we should constantly be seeking to please God with our actions. The things we do or do not do should reflect the commands found in the Bible. The Bible is after all God’s Holy Word written so that we might know and love him even more. So if I want to have street cred like Samuel, then i need to study God’s word so that sin will not rule over me.
Praying for Revival at Winter Revival.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
This is something to consider daily. To follow Christ I have to keep my eyes on Him and where he is leading and directing me. This needs to be my primary fixation. If my eyes and heart turn aside to other things I will certainly feel empty. Whatever is important to me will be reflected in what I spend my time thinking about and doing. Thus I need to keep my thoughts focused on Christ as I fulfill my day to day responsibilities and look for opportunities to serve Him.
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
Verse 15 stood out to me the most!!! It wad sad to thnik that if I disobey the lord and rebel against him he will be agianst me!!!!!!!!!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
The first thing I thought about after reading these last few verses are the words: Doulos Kurios (I probably didn’t spell it right), but I want to make sure that my life shows that I am a slave of Christ! My actions, what I say, how I am around other people, etc…. need to represent a Christ-like attitude if I am a true Christian. Fearing the Lord is important, and I do not understand why people would not fear God! He is so powerful and can do anything, The Lord is the creator of the world! He should be the only one to which our hearts are devoted to. I want to serve God in all I do and do it all for his glory. I am so thankful for everything Christ has done, and what He did on the cross! I pray that my heart is committed to serving the Lord wholeheartedly and with everything! He deserves my everything for all he has done for me. my life is surrendered to Him and for His will! He is my master and I am his slave, He is the potter, and I am the clay. I hope nothing will ever snatch me out of the Lord’s hands! I will serve him faithfully until I die! MARANATHA!!!!!!
great post Brooke!:) i love this verse too:D
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
woops. i accidentally posted before i wrote my comment.
Anyways, i think it’s awesome that even when people do evil things against Him, He still loves us enough to stick with us. We need to keep following God even when we screw up, just get back up and keep doing what He wants us to do.
Btw this is max on trevor’s computer.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
This is an awesome verse!!! I want to fear the Lord and serve Him with all of my heart. This is stressed alot in the Bible in verses (like Mark 12:28-30, Luke 10 27, Deut 6:5; 6:13; 10:20). I want to be known as a theophobe! I also want to serve Him in everything I do. The second part talks about all the great things he has done for me. AFter becoming a Christian, sometimes I take things for granted like my salvation, grace, love, answered prayers but I know that I have to continually thank the Lord and remember everything He has done for me! I don’t want the good news to become old news.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
This is a great verse because it is so true that the only one we need to truely fear is the Lord, and we must be faithful to him.
Yeaa billy keep it up! I love your short but sweet comments.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I really like how this verse said that we need to serve the Lord faithfully will ALL your heart. We can’t be one foot in and one foot out. We have to be 100% for Jesus! I also like how it talks about really reflecting on what the Lord does for me and how He blesses me everyday! I need to take more time to pray to the Lord and really thank him for what He does for me and how He answers my prayers.
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
When we sin it is easy to feel like the best thing to do would be to turn away from God…but that is the worst thing that we could do…when we sin we need to seek God, we need to repent and serve him. It is God alone that saves.
17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.”
18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
Wow, that’s pretty intense! It really does show that God will do things if they really should be done, and He really cares about His people! But, in verse 24 it says that I have to fear Him and serve Him with all my heart! That pretty much sums up how a Christian should live! It is amazing how similar how people should live for God in the Old Testament, and how people should live for Him in the New Testament! The consequences if that is not done is pretty harsh! I need to make sure I am serving God with all my heart, 24/7!
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
our God is a gracious and forgiving God! this verse tells us that israel had done “all this evil” but the Lord, speaking through samuel, tells them that they can still serve the Him if they do not turn to idols, and if they turn to God. throughout history israel has sinned against God, and yet still He still provided for them and cared for them. similarly, throughout my life i have sinned against God, both when i wasnt saved and now as i am saved. and nonetheless, God has forgiven me! i need to not take advantage of God’s mercy and forgiveness, but forsake my sin and wage war agsinst it!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you
I really like this verse and how it shows that we should be serving God faithfully with ALL our hearts. Yes god is great, but if we should fear one thing in life it should be Him. I really just like this verse and it kind of sums up a lot of a Christian life, not all but a lot, how we need to be faithfull to him, and serve Him with all our heart, and to fear him. Fearing him is actually a big deal. but He has done so much for us and He deserves to get our lives back.:)
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
This verse is absolutely amazing, I felt the need to comment on it!! Just thinking about what God has done in my life this past year is incredible enough to motivate me to serve and fear him more! All my effort needs to be put into EVERYTHING that I do, and not just “it’s good enough”. If God can suddenly pour rain and thunder on this planet in the blink of an eye, then certainly I need to recognize that I have no control in this world…he does! God deserves all my heart and soul!! :D
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
I love this verse. It applys to us today as well as them back then. If we obey the Lord and his commands his will for our lives will be carried out which is better then anything we could ever imagine.
Idk what my comment, some type of fluke or something…hmm…
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
well this is probably one of the best verses in all of the Bible! What does this verse say to do: #1) only fear the Lord. #2) serve him faithfully #3) consider all the things he’s done for me. The Lord has done a lot of great things for us in our ministry and a lot of great things in our personal lives. Personally, God has blessed me than anyone I really know. Like my family can tell you a lot of things how I get blessed so eaisly.
I think what the heart of this verse is focusing in on God. Only fear Him and serve Him with all your heart, basically saying to not serve or fear anyone else besides God.
I read…
Verse 14… “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.”
In this verse, Samuel was instructing the Israelites on how they should follow the Lord. Notice this first thing He says is to fear Him. If we do not fear God, we will not be motivated to serve Him. I pray that God would reveal more of Himself to me so that I may tremble before Him.
The Israelites forsaked the Lord so many times in the past…my poor God. His people forsake Him all the time because we are sinful. The Lord is merciful though and gives us second chances. :) I love how Samuel was able to point that out during to the people, that God was merciful and loving, even though they had turned away. He was able to recognize that God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good. He also was able to recognize that we humans need to show fear towards Him by obeying. Samuel is such a great example…just not in leading children. XD That’s whyyyyy Jesus is a better example to look up to because He did nothing wrong. :) I shall praise Him today through my worship. Revival, here I come! :D
2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day.
“I have walked before you from youth until this day.” Those are truly words I, in fact ANY Christian, has the desire to be able to say, truthfully and honestly before the Lord God Almighty. To pursue a life pleasing to Him should be my one desire. No matter how intimidating the things keeping me from it may seem, with God at my side, no power can stop me.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
I have always taken this verse very seriously as a pastor. Every time I read it I realize it would be a sin if I wasn’t praying for you guys! And it is so timely for me to read this today as we come into one of the biggest weeks for True North of the year (We have almost 200 high school students signed up!) I am definitely praying that God will revive all of our hearts this weekend! And I am definitely preparing to preach to you guys from God’s Word in 1 Samuel 16, 17 & 18.
Please join me in praying for REVIVAL in hearts this weekend and please pray for the 3 sermons I will preach!!! I need your help!
Here’s an old blog I wrote about praying for revival: http://www.churchforhighschoolers.com/blog/pray-for-revival
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
Sometimes I never take the time to realize what God has done for me and when I do, it is amazing. He loves and never will forsake me, He keeps me safe. He does so much for me, He is just so awesome. All thanks to Him I am alive!
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
This is a very meaningful verse that is explained clearly throughout the Bible, but in different texts and in different books and stories. I feel that when I am at church or when I am at small groups, I get so pumped up to dig into Gods word and I really feel the presence of the Lord with us when we discuss how incredible He is. I find that when I am surrounded by Chrsitians, and when I am in constant prayer and discussion over the Lord, I am more excited to obey God. To me, I find that I get most excited when i really understand what I am commanded to do and when i know that i have a change i need to make (yes, i actually get excited to make that change)…which i know is good. But the thing is..that cannot be a temporary attitude for me. I need to be wanting to obey the Lord all the time, it needs to be constant. I can go for months obeying the Lord and obeying my parents, and then Satan will come in and tempt me, and ill give in- i will start slipping. I would start disobeying my parents which is disobedience to the Lord and I would know it, yet I would do it. Then I would be called to talk to Pastor Bobby, and i would listen to what he had to say and i would start obeying God again, but only for a certain amount of time…i mean, its not like i planned to disobey God, it just ‘happened’. But as Christians, we cannot let that just happen. It is a command to obey God and to put no other gods before Him. Those gods are idols, and yes, disobedience towards your parents to get what you want because you are selfish can be an idol! As a Christian, I need to be sure that I will get through those rough times and lean on God and not give in to temptation. When i look back and think of how stupid i was to disobey God and His commandments, I know that I want to avoid making those same mistakes. I need to be strengthening my faith so that i can finish the race for the Lord as a strong follower of Him. I dont ever want to imagine the hand of the Lord being against me. He is so powerful, and i know that i cannot grasp His ruling over me, which is why at times i belittle His power…but i do know that i fear Him and I never want to turn against Him. My goal in life is to finish the race strong for Christ for His glory…and i want to bring as many people into the race as well so that they can finish the race and gain the prize that we long for as Christians- eternal salvation!
Maranatha!
love ur comment Michelle!<3 so encouraging! i know you can finish the race:) !
Michelle,
Rockin’ comment girl. I completely agree with you. We can’t let temptation come and then just commit sin cause it “happened”, like you said above. We’re going to be in a constant battle against sin our WHOLE ENTIRE LIVES. Until the day when we go Home, we are to FIGHT against sin and temptation and NOT “just” give into it.
I completely agree with all that you said. =) Thanks for the encouraging post above. Much appreciated! =)
Under His pure mercy,
Ariana Mishreki =)
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”
This verse reminded me a lot of 1 Peter 2:12. It says that we are to live such good lives among the nonbelievers that they will see our good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us. Samuel definitely did this and we should follow his great example.
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
I need to not fear anything in life because God is on my side, but rather fear God, who is not of this world. He is holy and awesome and is a powerful God, not just a loving and forgiving God. I need to fear his judgment and remember every time I do something that what God thinks of me is way more important than what others think of me. This verse motivates me to keep my eyes focused on the Lord and my heart always chasing after Him. It also reminds me that anything else I prioritize over God will be a disappointment. These “empty things” do not satisfy, but God satisfies. He says that once we drink from Him, we will never be thirsty again. I can continually grow in the Lord and love reading his word every day because it always makes me think of how I can improve for the Lord:)
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
we need to only fear GOd, not man, because God is in control
c u all later
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.”
Samuel had something that is so important for us to have as Christians-a clear conscience. As Pastor Bobby talked about a couple of weeks ago, it is so important to know that no matter what, we know that we have done no wrong in both the eyes of man and God I want to make sure I have a clear conscience, that even if people are non-christians and don’t agree with my beliefs, they will have no way to accuse me of wrong. And I will be able to know that I am pleasing God and not sinning against him. Yes, as Paul says in Acts 24:16, it will not be easy, I will have to “take pains” to do so, but it SO important to have a clear conscience like Samuel did!
MARANATHA!!!!!
mmmm im feelin that jackson. keep it up in your walk with the Lord!
24 “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
Samuel lays out the Lord’s message pretty clearly. As our Creator, we should fear, respect and follow God. Even though he has authority over us, he has still shown his amazing love for us and cares for us as parent cares over his children. And just like our parents, when we do wrong, we should be disciplined in a way that is appropriate to learn our mistakes. I need to remember that God is my Creator: He’s in charge, not me. I need to serve, praise and love Him first before anything else. I need to remember that He wants me to care for me and He will encourage me towards righteousness and holiness. I need to follow God’s lead, for He knows all, and put complete trust in Him. For faith in Him will bring great things!
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
This is really empowering and it kinda reminds me of Bobby’s message a couple weeks ago. It’s important to realize when I sin and to repent of it, but its just dumb to go “Weeeell, since I already did it once, its okay to do it again.” No! I can know that the Lord will forgive me through Jesus’ sacrifice and that alone should enable me to continue serving the Lord! I pray that the Lord will give me the strength this week to stand up for Him and do what it right, loving Him with all my heart!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I like this verse because if we dont fear God we will never know how much he loves us to give us a way to get eternal life. This verse shows me that I dont need to fear anything but God. God has blessed me with so much and I need to thank him and serve him with all I have.
Probably the best chapter so far!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
What has God done for us, and who is He?
If only we could list one on top of the other all that God has done for us, all the books in the world could not contain it!
God is merciful, and chose to send his son to die in our place that we could be saved. Not only that, but to give us eternal life in Him, and an inheritance of the great riches of His glory in Heaven.
God has given us a Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who empowers us and helps us to pursue and serve Him. We have been freed from slavery to sin, and have been considered friends of God in peace.
God works daily for the good of those who love him. He has promised to answer our prayers that are in His name. He has not abandoned us, but has promised us victory over sin.
God is truly good.
Then, why should I not serve the Lord?? There is no reason because God is good and has done all of the above and more. Praise the Lord!
God is good all the time!
Amen Spencer! Great comment adn i definitely agree best chapter!!!!(:
Thanks Allie, I’m encouraged :)
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I pray that as a Christian I would live in fear of the Lord. I pray that the fear of the Lord would show in my life by the way that I live and the way that I act. I also am just so thankful for what the Lord has done for me. The Lord has blessed me with so much in my life that I do not deserve.
We must obey what God says to final thing he says even if you do not want to you have to. God gave us homes we live in and we should be thanking him for everthing he does for us even the small things that he does. I pray that we may live to the fullest for God and the word that he gave us to share with others in the world we live in. When he comes back I want him to say to everyone of us good job good and faithful servent. Also that we be brave and spread the word to everyone in our schools even if you loose your rep. I would give up my rep that I have at school so that I can get the word out there to the people. Amen.
Awesome post Riley! I am praying for you brother! How many sentences was that? Nice!!
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
I thought that this was pretty cool how Samuel said that its sin of him to not be praying for Israel. I know that this kinda has to do with Samuel guiding and leading over Israel, but I think it can also apply to me as well in regards to other Christians. Just as Samuel was responsible for Israel as their judge, I’m responsible for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in that I am supposed to be edifying them and encouraging them to grow closer to Christ. This just convicts me on how I need to be praying for my fellow Christians’ spiritual growth for only God can provide that. LORD, please help me to take encouragement more seriously and constantly be praying for others so that they will not fall away from you.
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
This is a great verse, especially after hearing Pastor Ben’s sermon this weekend. It teaches one of the most valuable lessons; we are the representatives of Christianity and Jesus Christ We are the ones that prove God is real and almighty. We need to set the example that we need to respect and obey everyone’s wishes, and consistently show kindness and love among the people we are ruled, surrounded by, related to, and even those that live far away that we haven’t met. We shouldn’t be judgmental, and disagree; but instead be subject to those around us. This was a good chapter(: I cant wait for revival!!
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”
Talk about street cred! Samuel was truly living out 1 Peter 2 well before 1 Peter was even written. As ambassadors of Christ it’s so important that we set ourselves apart from unbelievers and hypocrites so that people can’t use our actions to take swipes at God and Christianity. Like Samuel, I should be able to boldly stand before other people and say “Testify against me.” What a great feeling it would be to know that I haven’t wronged anyone around me and that my actions have only contributed to God’s glory! I’m praying that all of us at TN will really be working on our street cred this week as we prepare to go to Revival! I’m praying that God will use this weekend to teach us and help us all grow in our love and commitment to Him!
11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
Wow what a great chapter. So much good stuff.
We really see how compassionate and forgiving God is. Even though the Israelites had done evil and turn their back on God to worship other gods when they repented of this the Lord delivered them once again. There is such an amazing hope and beauty that is found in Gods great forgiveness if we repent and turn from our sin. And that is the message of repentance that when we turn from sin to God we are completely forgiven. We see this time and time again with the Israelites where after they repent God delivers them from there enemy, and the same is true for us. That is why God is the great deliver because it is only through his son that we are delivered from sin and no longer have to live in the bondage of our sinful nature.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Awesome chapter
16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
Fearing the Lord and serving him are clearly paired in this chapter. Our fear of the Lord leads us to service and obedience. I love how Samuel commands the people to “stand still” to see what the Lord will do. The Lord then delivers thunder and rain in direct answer to Samuel’s prayer. Sometimes the Lord is working right before our eyes but we are busy, and too distracted to realize it. I need to “stand still” and see the faithfulness of the Lord. Even in this chapter, God answers prayer by sending a storm, showing how He is a powerful, faithful God, and a God who listens to righteous men.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
This is a really cool verse!!! It says ONLY fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all of our heart!!! So there is only one thing that we should be doing, and that is fearing the Lord and serving HIm!!!! Having fear for the the Lord will make us do so many things that are not specifically listed here such as, doing his commands or evangelizing. We also need to be serving Him. But why are we doing these things that this verse has told us? Well it tells us in the latter part of this verse!! We will be motivated to fear and serve the Lord when we think of the great things that He has done for us!! So let us be motivated to fear and serve the Lord by thinking of what He has done for us!!!!!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
God has done so many great things for us! Most importantly he has saved us from eternal destruction! Our only response is to turn to Him and fear and serve him faithfully with our lives!
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you
Mike had a great comment about this. IT’s too easy to get caught up and pray for only yourself and about God. I need to pray for the others around me and for their spiritual walk. I didn’t know this was sin!
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
Even after God tells them how bad it will be to have a king (& the people STILL want one!), God is gracious to them by giving them a “second” chance. IF they & their king can manage to obey God, things will be peachy…otherwise…well… This quid pro quo treaty is ongoing with Israel throughout the OT! God is constantly saying “If…then…” to his people, & they still manage to spill the fries all over. It’s easy for us to look back at these examples & point our finger, but when I exam my faithfulness to God, many of those “ifs” have been the negative ones. May I make them the promises of faithfulness that God wants!
I really need to step up my prayer life. In reading the book of 1 Samuel, it is obvious how much Samuel and the other relied on prayer because they relied on God. I need to be the same way, and be in “continuous prayer.” The Lord is always there. He always listens!
I am to serve the Lord and the Lord only in my life. No idols put before Him, nothing can come between the relationship i have with the Lord. He gets all of me, all of my heart, and everything i do is for His glory. I strive to live my life as a representation of Him, and encourage and evangelize to others. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” The Lord has given me everything! He has saved me from the eternal fire, and i get to live with him forever in heaven MARANATHA!! I am so thankful for everything the Lord has given me. (:
AMEN !!!! praise the Lord(:
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
I always want to be obeying the Lord, and the hand of God is definitely not something i want against me. I need to be constantly not giving into temptation so that i am obeying what the Lord has commanded me to do. In our small groups we are memorizing 1 Corinthians 10:13, and it is such a great reminder that God provides a way for us out of temptation. I need to be making sure that the fear of God and love for Him keeps me obeying his commands.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
Verses like this one are great to read because they make you think the most. This tells me to “consider what great things he has done.” The people in 1st Samuel were told this a lot-to fear the Lord. I definitely need to sit back and think about all the good things he has done for me-like the wonderful church, friends, and family he has given me. I also need to start realizing the good things he does for me daily that I take for granide (sp?). I need a view of God that is so high I can’t help but serve him and think about him all the time!
samuel was amazing, he had a very clean concious. so much that he told everyone that if he did anything wrong to them that God would be their whittness for them to tell him what he did. i need to continue striving to live such good lives among the pagans that they wont be able to call me a hypocrit at all.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
What strong encouragement, I should take notes and really learn from such a man.
What a great chapter!! It was tough picking a verse to post.
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
I really loved these verses! It is essential for a Christian to obey the voice of the Lord and follow the commandment of the lord! I have noticed that the more i am in the Word and hear Gods voice speaking to me, i am joyful and i have been trying my very hardest to follow His commands and not stray away. If i obey Him and follow his commands, it will be well! (verse 14). I also loved verse 16 because i get anxious and nervous a lot, but i need to be calm and stand still so that i can see the great things that the Lord has prepared for me (: Love that verse!!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I love this verse (: It is also essential to fear the Lord and serve Him. Fearing the Lord brings knowledge and that is necessary for a Christian! earlier in the chapter, it talks about how even though we are in sin and we are not worthy, we must devote and love God with ALL of our heart! God cant jsut be a love in your life, like one boyfriend in your life or a close friend, he needs to be #1 because we are on Gods team and he is worthy of everything! FOr consider what great things he has done for me!
PRAISE THE LORD<3
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.—This is so true! It’s hard to get caught up in all of these hards times but I need to remember that I should always be going back to the LORD for everything! During hard times I know I can trust him to protect me and to bring good out of the situation. I need to remember that these things are happening so I may grow closer to God. He will never leave me and he loves me I know this because he showed his unfathomable love for me when he died for me on the cross! I need to serve him with all of my heart, including these finals that are coming up! Though I may not like them, I need to shine his light through my work! All of my attitude needs to be in for working full-time for the LORD!!
MARANATHA!!!!
revival is coming up!! woooo!! :D
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
Wow God really used these verses to speak to me! I should not, because of fear of punishment for my sin, run away from God because of His perfect holiness. But instead I should increase my obedience and devotion to Him because it is what He has saved me for. He did not save me and redeem me so that I could live a life in fear and cling to idols of this world to find security…He redeemed me to have a relationship with Him for His good pleasure and glory. He will never leave me or forsake me (Deut.31:6) and for that I am grateful!
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
The things of this world DO NOT MATTER and when they become distractions is when we start losing sight of the real goal. I pray that God keeps me focused on the eternal not the empty!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
This verse very simply tells us what our main goal and focus should be in our lives. We are to FEAR the Lord our God which will bring reverance and respect. And also we are to Serve Him faithfully with all of our heart, which will bring everything else that is good into our lives because if we are serving God in everything we do we would not do anything that is sinful or undesirable to Him.
I saw this coming!
The people knew that they were in the wrong when they asked for another king while having God over them, and at last, they are punished for their deeds.
But notice the outcome!–they are scared of God and Samuel, of being punished again, and so now they are in a situation that would keep them from sinning again.
“Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart”
He has forgiven them! and now is only asking that they don’t let him down again.
(which they should be more hesitant to do if their fear is genuine)
- – - – - – - – - – -
God brings trials so that we might grow by them in our journey of sanctification.
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
God truly has done amazing things for us. He continues to shower his astounding, never-ending blessings on our life, and how do we repay Him? I know that the blessings in our life tend to be forgotten about or looked over. We need to consider our blessings and who contimues to give them to us. I can name hundreds of things God has put in my life and blessed me with! Do we seriously repay Him?!? Our Devotion to God is very important. We devote ourself to God by fearing Him and serving Him with every fiber of our being. All of our hearts. I know that personally, I need to think about God more. There is never a big enough amount of time that I can donate to God. Whether it be praying, serving, or just marveling at his phenominal creation!
4 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.
” if you will fear the Lord” that isn’t to hard for me especially if you have read the old testament.
14 If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
Disobeying God brings judgment. All throughout the OT we see that when the Israelites followed the Lord things went well for them but when they rebelled and served idols God would judge them and other nations would come and defeat them in battle. I do not want to face the judgment of God. I don’t want God to have to punish me because of my rebellious sin. I need to be constantly aware of my sin and aware of the situations in which I’m tempted so I can flee.
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty
This is such a true verse. There is nothing in this world that will satisfy you except for Jesus. No matter what sin you pursue and commit, they will always leave dissatisfied and empty. There have been so many times that I listen to what the devil is saying by saying that sin is more satisfying than the Lord, and every time I sin I realize that I am left way more empty than before when I was praising the Lord. I pray that my life would be a devotion to the Lord and that I would realize that no matter what the devil says, JESUS IS THE ONLY THING THAT SATISFIES!!!!!
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”
Wow, I want to be like Samuel. He could stand up before the Israelites after years and years of faithful service and no one could speak against him. He didn’t use his position of power to acheive advancement or monetary gain, but served the Lord faithfully. May I have the same reputation after years of ministry and serving God’s people!
16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
Sometimes as Christians and students we get extremely busy and have no time to just stop and relax. This verse reminds me that I need to remember the simple, loving, crucial things that the Lord has done for me. I need to just take some time to meditate on God’s grace and gifts to me, and thank him for the great work he’s done for me. For the non-believers it is our job to show them the great thing that God has done for them so that they too can know God. This week I’m going to step it up in the evangelism and try and reach to more people. Praying for a REVIVAL on the O.C. High school campuses! Maranatha!!!
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4 Days until Revival!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pray that people get saved!!
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
For me sometimes it is easy to remember some of the sins I have committed and to start feeling really bad about what I did!! But God wants us to forget all that because we are a new creation in Christ and the old things fall away and all of our sins fall onto Jesus on the Cross!! God wants us to remember that each and every day!! He wants us to remember that we are covered for our sins and also remember why we are covered; because Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins!!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand.”
As I was reading through the first part of this chapter I could not help but think about how awesome Samuel was. He was striving to be righteous and serve God in a pure way beofre the people. I want to live like Samuel and be known for being a Godly man. Nobody could accuse him of any fault because he kept his life clean and striving for God. I want to strive to be like Samuel and have my reputation as a man of God follow me and be seen by all as a christian so that God may be glorified through it
“Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers.”
God stays righteous even in the midst of His people’s unrighteousness. The point Samuel was driving home was that God remains completely faithful to His people, despite the fact that the people have a track record of abandoning Him. That’s a consistent God, not a fickle one. That’s the God that deserves our full devotion. That’s a God I need to emulate.
18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
This chapter is loaded and God definitely spoke some mighty words through Samuel.
God said he was going to bring thunder and rain, but you used Samuel’s prayers to do it! This is a reminder to me to be in prayer for Revival: Winter Edition!
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16)
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
What an awesome chapter!! This verse stood out to me because it applies so much to things of this world. They are empty and will not profit in the long run. They are temporary, so why pursue them? I want to be pursuing eternal things and things not of this world but in heaven! I have my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ and the goal! I want to be pursuing him with all my heart without distractions this world brings!!!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
God is so amazing!
He was so patient with the Israelites and didn’t give up on them, no matter what.
Even when the turned him away multiple times, He still didn’t give up on them.
And when they finally came to terms with His awesome and mighty power after everything He did for them, they trembled before Him, asking what they should do to get His love and protection.
And they had to completely devote their lives to God.
That kind of step is a HUGE one in everyone’s spiritual life and either they hit it right on and walk in the way of the Lord, or they walk down the path of evil and destruction.
I want to be walking in the way of the Lord with a huge fire in my heart to burn for Him forever more.
I want to always fear Him in remembrance of what the almighty God has done for the likes of me, an undeserving sinner.
I want to serve the Lord forever with all my heart! That is my prayer and soul desire, Lord.
Help me to be the humble servant You created me to be for the rest of my life.
I’m here for You, my God!
Not my will Lord, but Yours be done!!
21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.
The things that this world have to offer lead to nothing but emptiness. I was with my family all weekend and some of my cousins are not saved. We talked about the gospel and they admitted to feeling so empty and agreeing that the world doesn’t fill that emptiness inside of us. It’s so heartbreaking to know that without God, you have no hope in a savior, like we do, in Christ. I am praying DAILY for God to save people before he comes back. That means sharing the gospel like there is NO TOMORROW!
24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I think we should all be doing this regularly. And the next verse:
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
I don’t know about you guys, or how the Israelites felt when they heard this, but I would be really scared. It’s one thing to have one person swept away, which I am not promoting, but to have a king, which leads a the nation of God’s chosen?! I would be pretty freaked
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.
We need to obey the voice of the Lord we can not ignore Him. He knows what is best for us. We can not rebel against the commands the Lord has given us. I pray that I take more time to admire Gods things and look and admire the things I see and he has made.