Today's Bible Reading:   1 SAMUEL 30:1-31:13; 1 CHRON, 9:40-10:14,12:20-22;2 SAMUEL 1:1-27, 4:4   1 Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.   There are many things that can bring distress in our lives; situations can sourer, circumstances can crush us, predicaments with family can frustrate us and incidents

Today's Bible Reading: PSALM 56;1 SAMUEL 26:1-7, 27:8-29:11; 1 CHRON 12:1-7,19 Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.   Everyone is afraid eventually. Our text doesn’t say “if” I am afraid, but “when” I am afraid. Fear is unavoidable. It is certain. Most think of fear as terror or fright, but it can manifest itself in various ways such as dread, dismay, disillusionment, depression and doubt. Anxiety and angst also are forms of fear. Even uneasiness and worry can

Today's Bible Reading:   PSALM 54; 1 SAMUEL 23:13-25:44 Psalms  54:4   Behold God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life   There are times that we need help. We all have moments when we just can’t seem to figure things out, we can’t move past something or we don’t have the strength to bear it. We all need someone to help us through crisis, conflict and life’s complexities. The Lord is that helper.   Saul’s forces were finally closing in on David and his companions

Today's Bible Reading: PSALM 52, 57, 142; 1 SAM, 22:1-23:12; 1 CHRON. 12:8-18   Psalm 52:8-9 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.   There is a marked difference between the godly and the ungodly. Their pursuits and passion are diametrically opposed to one another. Their beliefs are

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 20:1-21:15, PSALM 34      Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.   Trouble will find us. Difficulty will devise its destructive measures against us. Trials will taunt us. There is no way to evade or avoid them, but there are those that stand with us in them.   David had a dilemma. His enemies were all around him. Saul was pursuing Him and the Philistines were in front of Him. He was alone and afra

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 17:32-19:17-24, PSALM 59 1 Samuel 17:37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”   One writer said of this text: He did not save us from the beasts of the forest to let a giant kill us.  (Spurgeon)   As David did, we encounter battles in our life. His struggle was against paws and Phi

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 15:1-17:31   1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearances, but the Lord looks on the heart.”   We are a world deceived by appearances. What looks good on the outside may not be good. What appears to be acceptable may be rejected. We select by sight. We choose by countenance. We pick b

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 CHRON 9:35-39, 1 SAMUEL 13:1-23, 14:1-52 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”   Many times, we find our faith floundering when we face impossible situations. Too often during these encounters we find ourselves restraining God. We do this either by unbelief

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 9:1-12:25   1 Samuel 12:23 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.   There is no greater gift we can give to someone than to pray for them, to place their name before the Lord, to intercede on their behalf and to let their need be made known to the one who meets needs.   Samuel had served the people well. His name was honored by

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 4:12-8:22 1 Samuel 5:2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.   Here is a great picture of God’s greater purpose in the midst of peril. We often can’t see God’s plan played out when our problems present themselves. We can’t always understand the deeper workings of God’s hand whose ways are higher than our ways and whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Is 55:9). Somehow

Today’s Bible Reading: 1 SAMUEL 1:9-4:11 1 Samuel 3:10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant hears.”   Most of us want to hear from God. We want Him to speak to us directly. We want to have a divine dialogue with Him. There are some though who have no desire to hear from God. They have no interest in any communication from Him or with Him.   Our text presents this contrast in the stories of th

Today's Bible Reading: RUTH 4:13-22, 1 CHRON 2:9-55, 4:1-23, 1 SAM 1:1-8 Ruth 4:17 Also the neighbor women gave him the name, saying “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.   Reading genealogies doesn’t typically excite most Christians. They often skim over them or overlook them entire as they systematically read scripture. They are not the go to passages for practical insights or principles to live by. Th

Today’s Bible Reading: RUTH 1:1-4:12   Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.   Our God is daily on display. Not only through His creation, but in the lives of those who confess Him. We are witnesses of Him. Our life displays Him and our lips declare Him. What we do and what we say reflect on Him. How we handle cris

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 19:1-21:25   Judges 20:28 . . . and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” And the LORD said, “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”   Our tendency is to give up when we are defeated; we stop when we are stopped. When our battle is lost we bail. But one defeat doesn’t mean we are d

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 16:1-18:31   Judges 16:22 However the hair on his head began to grow again after it was shaved off.   Many of us have experienced spiritual failure. We have fallen. Our faith has failed. Temptation got the best of us and we sinned. We are not proud of it and wish that we never fell, but we did. We would give anything to go back and change it, but we can’t. We are stuck with the guilt and the consequences of our actions. For some the words of our

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 11:29-15:20   Judges 14:8-9 After some time, he returned to get her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass   Appetites must be addressed. They crave fulfillment.

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 9:22-11:28   Judges 10:6 The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him.   We all encounter times of temptation and testing. We have moments when we are misguided and misled. Our journey is riddled with times when we are de

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 7:1-9:21   Judges 7:10-11 But if you are afraid to go down, go down with Purah you servant, an you shall hear what they say and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.   There are times when we know what God has directed us to do but we have doubts in doing it. There is no ambiguity in what He has asked, but there is apprehension in acting upon it. Our confusion confounds us and constrains us from complying. The wa

Today’s Bible Reading: JUDGES 3:31-6:40   Judges 5:3 I even I will sing to the Lord. I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel   Songs are written all the time. They tell stories of our struggles, our loves, our pain and our victories. We all have songs embedded in our heart and implanted in our memory. When recalled, they help us remember life’s happiness and hardships. They give us a handle for hope and a reason for rejoicing.   Music touches our heart and soul. Through

Today’s Bible Reading:  JUDGES 1:1-3:30   Judges 2:7, 10 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. . . And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.   Accountability makes it easier to follow the Lord. To have someone wh