Marching Forth!

After the people of Israel demanded a king to rule over them, God answered their request and directed the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul, son of Kish, king.  True to form, many people were not pleased with God's choice of king, though he was head and shoulders taller than every other person in Israel coupled with humility.  If they would not have God rule over them, why would they gladly submit to His wise judgments?  While there was a band of men whose hearts God had touched that accompanied their newly crowned king to his home in Gibeah, life in Israel largely continued as it did before.  People did not subject themselves to their king, and thus they remained at the mercy of their enemies. The next chapter starts with  1 Samuel 11:1-2 :  " Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you."  2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, "On this ...

Yesterday a concrete footpath was poured by contractors near our house, and I was left shaking my head when I went to inspect the work.  Someone decided they would be the first to walk on the finished concrete before it was dry and left permanent impressions of their footsteps.  I wondered if the person who walked on the concrete realised it was still wet, and intentionally marring the finish was a twisted way to have fun.  Possibly the person was clueless about the concrete underfoot because of enjoyment of a funny podcast, an engaging conversation or the shock of hearing bad news.  As long as that concrete remains, the wandering footprints will always provoke questions about what that person was thinking--or if he or she was thinking at all. I noticed other, more predictable markings on the fresh concrete:  names scrawled in the surface with the date.  I suspect these are the names of the neighbourhood kids who were hanging around the area after the work ...

" I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might,  a nd have now made known to me what we asked of You,  f or You have made known to us the king's demand ." Daniel 2:23 Daniel and his fellow wise men were in dire need of divine revelation concerning king Nebuchadnezzar's dream, for their lives were on the line.  He and his Hebrew brethren sought God on the matter, and the LORD was merciful to reveal Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the interpretation to Daniel in a vision.  It is no wonder Daniel thanked and praised God for giving Him wisdom about the king's secret and thus spared his life and others who served king Nebuchadnezzar.  God's people ought always to thank and praise Him for answered prayer, yet genuine faith shines brighter when we experience pain, suffering, loss and still praise and bless our good God. When the children of Israel languished in a time of war and trouble, Jeremiah recognised it was only by the...

" These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful ." Revelation 17:14 Jesus is described as one day returning to earth with His saints in judgment over Satan, the antichrist and the world.  God's people, born again by faith in Jesus and given eternal life by Him, are " called, chosen and faithful ."  It is good for us to realise this is not some sort of divine fate at work, but everyone who follows Jesus faithfully has been called and chosen by Him.  We love Him because He first loved us. Judas Iscariot gives us great insight into this matter, for he was called by Jesus to follow Him.  Of the many disciples Jesus had, Judas was chosen to be one of His 12 apostles Jesus sent out.  We know Judas had responsibilities among the apostles to responsibly handle the money of the group, yet sadly he was a thief.  He was called and chosen but n...