Month: March 2025

Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 1 Samuel 8:3 Before I had my own children, I’d occasionally observe the terrible behavior of other children and vow that, if I ever had kids, they would never act like that. I assumed that…
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Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 1 Samuel 7:15 As I may have previously mentioned, I enjoy participating in CrossFit competitions which involve various exercises such as weightlifting, pull-ups, and burpees. For the competition to be fair, the same standard of movement must be applied to everyone. It wouldn’t be equitable for…
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As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the LORD thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 1 Samuel 7:10 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was hanged in 1945 for his anti-Nazi…
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So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only. 1 Samuel 7:4 Very early on in my recovery, as I began to accept that I could never return to drug use, I remember this despairing thought, How am I going to live without my pills? For…
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And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”…
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If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence. 1 Samuel 6:9 With repetitive drug use, I eventually…
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The hand of the LORD was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 1 Samuel 5:6 I grew up in the 80s and clearly remember watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. In particular, the opening-of-the-ark…
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As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 1 Samuel 4:18 I’ve always been baffled by those individuals who’ve done…
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And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 1 Samuel 4:3…
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So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” 1 Samuel 3:18 It’s not uncommon for the incarcerated to turn to God in their desperation. Their lives are a disaster and forces beyond their control threaten to dictate their…
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