Category: Faith in the Struggle

If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD . . . it will be well. 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…
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Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 1 Samuel 11:14 Every February means the beginning of a months-long, worldwide competition cycle for those of us at our gym. I placed high enough in February that I graduated to the second step this month, and if…
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Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” 1 Samuel 11:12-13 Since my most obvious…
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Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me. 1 Samuel 9:16…
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There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish . . . And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. 1 Samuel 9:1-2…
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But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations . . .” 1 Samuel 8:19-20 Before I went off to kindergarten, my parents were the dominant voice speaking into my life. With a…
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So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. 1 Samuel 8:10 A couple of years ago, my wife and I bought a property with the intention of building on it. We had, in our mind, a budget that we thought we could afford.…
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But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over…
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Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. 1 Samuel 8:5 I frequently meet patients who have both an alcohol use disorder and an anxiety disorder. They’ve always been anxious, but when they first met alcohol, they…
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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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