Josh1Eight

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:40,45-48 "Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine....45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” 48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him." Observations: This has got to be one of the most exciting passages in the Old Testament. This seemingly cocky young kid volunteers to go into battle and take on the Phillistine giant Goliath w...

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 "What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?cListen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.cSo because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." Samuel gave Saul explicit instructions from the Lord (vs. 15:3) to completely wipe out the Amalekites and kill every living thing in sight. But during the battle, Saul and his men failed to kill the king and saved the best of the flocks and herds for themselves. Somewhere that day Saul decided that surely God wouldn't mind if he only completed 95% of the job. As far as all the people were concerned, Saul had been very successful as king based on the results they could see. On the outside Saul looked successful, had great military success, and even had God's anointing and f...

Scripture: Acts 1:2-5 "2 until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Observations: Before Jesus ascended into heaven once and for all, he delivered his final instructions to His disciples who would were about to undertake the most important task in history. The job was so great that there was no way this small group of men would ever be able to accomplish this enormous task of telling the entire world about Jesus. But God already knew this and for that ve...

"A third time he asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you." Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep...19...Then Jesus told him, "Follow me." John 21:17,19 After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to His disciples three different times to show that He was alive. That reality alone changed their lives forever. But Peter was still struggling with the fact that only a few weeks earlier he had betrayed Jesus and virtually abandoned his closest friend- the same guy He just discovered is in fact God! He had not only let himself down, he had failed God- completely and publicly. His reputation was tarnished as a follower of Jesus. His leadership was questionable at best. Yet again, Jesus appears to him and invites this failure of a man to eat as friends and asks Him to continue serving and following Him as before. Jesus picked...