"Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart." -- 1 Samuel 12:20

Samuel was the premier prophet of Israel who gave to them a king in Saul.  He didn't want to, but the begged him for a king.  The people had drifted spiritually, and it was their pride and hubris that called for a king, so Samuel in his prophesying, tells them that their future wasn't looking so bright because of their sin.  When a prophet like Samuel spoke these things, it was terrifying to the people.  But instead of outright condemning them, he encouraged them, saying that though they sinned, they're calling as a people was to worship their God and to live lives aligned with his purposes.  This is a full dose of grace that they didn't expect.  Here they were undeserving, and Samuel points them not to the past of their sin, but to their future opportunity to be the people God made them to be.

When you feel stuck and frozen over what has happened in the past, fast-forward a bit in your mind and visualize the future you desire.  While you can't change your past, you can change your future dramatically.  It's not so much about what you've done... or even about what your going to do.  It's really about what you're doing now.  So what are you doing?

Readings:  1 Samuel 12:1-13:22; John 7:1-29; Psalm 108:1-13; Proverbs 15:4

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." -- Proverbs 15:1

Politics is heating up.  It's an election year in the US, and the rhetoric is going to be hot.  Between now and November, many unkind things will be said among the candidates and their election teams.  As Christians, we must be careful to not get sucked into the muck.  We can disagree with positions, discuss differences in issues, and criticize constructively, but we must remember who we are.  It is not our place to judge.  Nor is it our witness to spew hate and attack people's character.  Fight for the issues you care about, but care about the people who disagree with you.  They too were created by God.  People on the other side of the aisle are not Satan's minions.  They are people with different beliefs.  Treat each other with kindness and respect.  Play by the rules of your faith, and do not allow the world to set the tone of the political fight.  Remember who and whose you are... now more than ever.

Readings:  1 Samuel 10:1-11:15; John 6:43-71; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 15:1-3

"At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven?'" -- John 6:41-42

How difficult it was for the locals who had known Jesus while he was growing up to accept him as the messiah he had come to be.  When he started speaking to them in ways which were unfamiliar to them, they couldn't comprehend.  It was much easier for him to go into and area where he was a stranger and his reputation preceded him.  There, he would enter like a rock star.  But in his home town, to say he came down from heaven, when his parents' friends knew better was too much.  They couldn't get their heads around the abstract nature of his language.  Metaphor was lost to them.  But more than this, the idea that such transformation could occur in someone they thought they knew was beyond them.

Have you ever had profound transformation in your life only for your friends and family to not believe you, or to treat you more like your old self than your new self?  It's a difficult thing.  It's so difficult, in fact, that the fear of being misunderstood or not believed has the power to keep us from making major life change in the first place.  When we leave who we were behind, we fear that people will reject the "new us" we become.  The fear is valid and warranted.  It takes people some time to adjust, but they do.  Don't fear to make the changes you need to make to be the authentic person God created you to be.   The sooner you do, the sooner you'll be free to be the you God created.

Readings:  1 Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35

"When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.' So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten." -- John 6:12-13

This is the aftermath of the feeding of the five thousand.  With five loaves and two small fish, by the power of God, the crowd was fed, and there were leftovers!  We live in a culture that conditions us to believe that what we have is not enough.  We're told through the marketing machine that what we have belongs to yesterday, and it's time to trade it in.  We need more, we need new, and we need it now.  So many of us live in this perpetual state of want.  We buy and acquire, only to feel let down and feel the need to buy and acquire again.  When we are able to be content with the material things we have, we will find that life is not even found in the material.  Rather, it's found in the spaces in-between.  Remember, God is spirit, and heaven is a spiritual reality.  If we want to live a God-filled life that moves closer to the heaven-on earth reality that is coming, we must transcend our dependance on the unnecessary physical things around us.  Enjoy them, have fun with them, and thank God for them... but don't base your emotions or sense of well-being upon them.  Then you too, will live a life of abundance.

Readings:  1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33

"The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'" -- 1 Samuel 2:10

I've seen few verses, if any, used more than this one when speaking of God's call for our life.  Samuel hears God calling to him, and thinks it's Eli.  After a couple of times of getting up and going to Eli to see what Eli was needing from him, he realizes it must be God speaking to him.  His response, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening" is the response we should carry in our hearts and on our lips throughout our days.  While it was a response for Samuel, it can be either a response or prayer of supplication for us.  How attuned you will be if this is on your lips throughout the day.  How aligned your heart will be to living a life that seeks God first and doing his will!  Some struggle with what their calling in life is.  Scripture answers that for all of us:  "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself."  In every moment that we live, we make a choice on how we will act in that moment.  Our calling is not some ethereal thing out there that we have to make manifest in our time here.  Rather, it is doing the right thing in every circumstance in which we find ourselves.  So may you pray each day and each moment, Samuel's prayer:  Speak Lord, for your servant is listening...

Readings: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31

"The Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked...so, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him." -- John 5:8: & John 5:16

Here we see again, how skewed religion had become and the headwinds Jesus was facing in his ministry. In this scene, Jesus heals a paralyzed man who lives his life sitting on a mat.  Upon healing him, he instructs the man to get up and carry his mat.  The response of the righteous ones wasn't "Praise God!  Our friend is healed!"  Instead, it's "Hey, it's illegal to carry your mat on the Sabbath."  Does anyone see the problem here?  Instead of celebrating what Jesus has done, they persecute him.   It's this misunderstood spirit of the Law that leads them to further detest Jesus.  These things ultimately lead to his being hung on a cross.  When I read this, I can't help but wonder what it is we modern day believers are missing.  Would we also persecute Jesus if he came and disturbed our religious sensibilities?

Readings:  1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." -- John 4:48

There is a growing acceptance of atheism in the western world.  Not agnosticism, mind you, which claims not to know whether God exists or not-- but outright atheism which has great faith that God does not exist.  This truly fascinates me.  I listened to an interview of a minister who "came out" as an atheist, and listened to her reason for not believing... much of it was centered around a rejection of the literal interpretation of Scripture.  More and more I'm hearing things like, "I don't believe in God because I don't think the earth and everything in it was made within a week."  or... "the description of God in the Bible is not consistent, and it's not a God I want to believe in... therefore there is no God."  Truly poor logic.  It seems that just as society in general is becoming more polarized, religion is as well.  If you read the Bible, and study the Bible, and come to understand Jesus' teachings...  how can you not believe in God?   IF you're struggling, perhaps you need to start with your definition of God... who do you refer to when you say, "God"?  Or maybe it's that you aren't seeing evidence of him... you want miraculous signs you say?  Look around you.  You're surrounded by them.

Readings:  Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27