1 Samuel
God prefers to look toward hope, not stew in vengeance. This is a noticeably different perspective from many ancient cultures’ perspective on the gods. Many cultures believed the gods sat upon high, looking down in judgment and holding grudges against people who crossed them. Gods were beings who needed to
1 Samuel
Words are cheap; God expects His leaders to do more than pay lip service to their mistakes. Anyone can say they are sorry. People are sorry things didn’t go as planned. People are sorry they got caught. Just because a person utters the words “I’m sorry” doesn’t
1 Samuel
Sin is evidence of those moments when our heart is not interested in pursuing God. Humanity likes to argue in shades of gray. We almost obeyed. We tried our hardest. Obedience, though, is a condition of the heart. Obedience is not measured in shades of gray. We either want to
1 Samuel
One of the biggest reasons we fail to live up to God’s calling and allow sinfulness to persist in our life is by getting distracted with our personal gain. We want to feel successful. We enjoy demonstrations of success: the fancy clothing, the big houses, the bling jewelry, the
1 Samuel
God calls us to be servant leaders. An act of service frequently goes farther in the life of another than we think. We might consider an act of service to be small or easily managed, but the service we perform might be enormous in the eyes of the one receiving
1 Samuel
Leadership based on rash decisions is always doomed to fail. Sometimes a decision needs to be made in the moment and there isn’t time to think and plan. Those decisions, however, are not the pillars upon which a leader should stand. The thrust of good leadership is one where
1 Samuel
Rash decisions often end in situations where disobedience is the natural outcome. When we don’t think through circumstances, we get caught by the unexpected. Once caught, we make more rash decisions. The cycle continues until we get lucky and escape or we spiral to the point of needing rescue.
1 Samuel
What better way to see God at work than to be the tool in His hand? Our society says being a tool is a bad thing. Nobody wants to be used. People want to be in control. Yet, if we are in control, God is not. If we are in
1 Samuel
We can do amazing things when our heart is open to the Lord and willing to hear His voice. When we wait upon the Lord, we acknowledge His presence and His power. When we listen for God’s voice, we understand it is His power and His wisdom making all
1 Samuel
It is far too easy to evaluate situations based on our understanding rather than evaluating based on the God who fights for us! Compared to the world, we can feel so small and insignificant. Yet, if the Lord goes before us, how can we fail? By the time the sacrifice
1 Samuel
When we make excuses and pass blame to others instead of acknowledging our mistakes, we make it difficult for God to use us. Leadership is about making decisions and acting upon them. Sometimes leaders get it wrong. God can work through mistakes when we acknowledge them and demonstrate capacity to
1 Samuel
Good leaders don’t compound mistakes with even worse mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes; good leaders admit and correct their poor decisions. Almost all mistakes can be overcome, but only those who acknowledge their poor choices and seek to make better ones can genuinely overcome. Saul lives for a year before