1 Samuel
The only thing God requires from us is to slow down and follow His lead. We do need to follow Him and obey His call. The point isn’t that God wants us to do nothing and let Him work. The point is that we are far more productive when
1 Samuel
Life gets more difficult when we lean upon our own understanding. Relying upon our own understanding opens doors to unintended consequences. We might create more problems for ourselves. We can unintentionally hurt people around us in our inability to predict reaching consequences of our choices. Our decisions create habits affecting
1 Samuel
When we lose sight of God, we find ourselves shifting from God’s truth to a reality we invent to survive. When we lose sight of God’s truth, we can invent lies and begin to believe them. Soon we find ourselves separated from God’s will and chasing the
1 Samuel
God meets all with mercy when we err in our ways, so long as our heart remains repentant and inclined to Him. God is love, and part of love is forgiveness. In our weakness, we stumble and fail. God’s righteousness is bigger than our failings. David is on the
1 Samuel
Diverging from God’s will is a recipe for leadership disaster. Nobody is perfect; we all make poor choices. Being a good leader is about trying to make good decisions and having the humility to make course corrections when a prior decision turns bad. The festival of the new moon
1 Samuel
God’s people watch out for one another, accepting risk in the pursuit of truth, and genuinely desiring the best possible outcome for others. Sometimes this means we become sounding boards and offer verbal guidance. Sometimes we physically walk with members of our community through difficult moments in their life.
1 Samuel
Often, our relationships create blind spots preventing us from seeing a situation clearly. Who doesn’t want to defend their friends? Who genuinely wants to think less of their friends than the ideal? When we love and care for people, we see them as a paragon of themselves. Once Saul
1 Samuel
God is great and glorious, capable of turning evil into His glory. Many stories exist in the Bible where the world comes to foil God’s plan and do harm to His people, yet God wins out. The greatest of these stories brings salvation to those who receive it. God
1 Samuel
People who walk closely with the Lord make it easier for the people around them to also walk closely with the Lord. Sensing the Spirit in someone else increases the likelihood for a spiritual person to reveal the Spirit in them. The Bible tells us that iron sharpens iron, meaning
1 Samuel
God cannot give us free will without also giving us the opportunity to experience the consequences of our choices. To have free will implies we must deal with our mistakes. This does not mean God desires us to make mistakes, but He does let our mistakes impact our life. It’
1 Samuel
We use rational thought to determine courses of action. Leaders are easier to follow when their course is comprehensible. Friendships are easier to manage when acting in predictable manners. This doesn’t mean we cannot be passionate, but the more we are rational the easier people can relate. Saul is
1 Samuel
If God calls us to certain action and we are obedient to Him, we can expect God to fight alongside us and bring us into His vision. He desires His will be done. While He does give us freedom to do our own thing, when we fall in line with