May

Scripture Readings: Psalm 103:11-22, 2 Samuel 17-18, I Corinthians 11 Reflection Verse:  2 Samuel 17:14 Prayer:  Father God, You bring down those who rebel against You in Your own way and Your own timing. Absalom accepted the advice of Hushai over Ahitophel’s advice to his own detriment. Thus, Absalom’s rebellious conspiracy did not succeed over…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 103:1-10, 2 Samuel 15:13-16, I Corinthians 10:14-33 Reflection Verse:  2 Samuel 15:30 Prayer:  Lord God, David chose to leave Jerusalem and let Absalom come in, rather than placing its citizens in harm’s way. They left in grief, humility and tears, not knowing the outcome of this conspiracy. Give me wisdom, Lord, to…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 102:13-22, 2 Samuel 12-13:22, I Corinthians 9:1-23 Reflection Verses:  2 Samuel 12:13-14 Prayer:  Lord God, David was confronted with his sins of killing Uriah and taking Uriah’s wife, to be his own wife. Even though You forgave David, his actions gave Your enemies an opportunity to show contempt for You. Your leaders…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 102:1-12, 2 Samuel 9-11, I Corinthians 8 Reflection Verse:  2 Samuel 11:27 Prayer:  Lord God, nothing we do escapes You. We may think we get away with stuff, but we do not. There is a price to pay when we sin. David had a man killed because of his act of adultery…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 101, 2 Samuel 7-8, I Corinthians 7 Reflection Verse:  2 Samuel 7:18 Prayer: Father God, David was astounded by Your goodness to him. He talked to You about the vision You gave Nathan concerning establishing his legacy and David was thankful and delighted by Your blessings to him. Who I am, Lord,…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 99, 2 Samuel 3-4, I Corinthians 5 Reflection Verse: 2 Samuel 3:13 Prayer:  Loving God, David’s condition for a covenant with Israel to be their king is for his first wife, Michal – Saul’s daughter – to be restored to him to rule with him.  He had paid the bride price and…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 98, 2 Samuel 1-2, I Corinthians 4 Reflection Verses:  2 Samuel 2:5-6 Reflection:  After David was anointed king over Judah, he was told that the men of Jabesh-Gilead buried Saul. David declared to them, that God would show them kindness and truth – and that he also would repay them for their…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 97, 1 Samuel 30-31, I Corinthians 3 Reflection Verses:  I Samuel 31:11-13 Reflection:  After the battle the men of Jabesh-Gilead went to Beth Shan, took down the exposed bodies of Saul and his sons, burned them and properly buried them. Then they fasted 7 days. The men of Jabesh-Gilead did what right…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 96, I Samuel 27-29, I Corinthians 2 Reflection Verses:  I Samuel 29:9-11 Prayer:  Holy Father; Thank You for waking me to see another day! Thank You Lord for Your great concern and care for us! Lord God, just as You delivered David from his dilemma, please deliver us when we are in…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 95, I Samuel 24:14-26, I Corinthians 1 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 25:35 Reflection:  Abigail brought David and his men provisions after her husband, Nabal, had refused. David was going to seek revenge against Nabal, but Abigail wisely intervened. Abigail’s wisdom was heeded by David and he showed her great respect. Thus, a…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 94:12-23, I Samuel 23:7-24:13, Mark 16 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 24:6 Reflection:  David could have killed Saul in the cave where David and his men were hiding. However, since God had made Saul king, it was not David’s place to harm him or remove him. Beloved, often, we are critical, even defiant of…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 94:1-11, I Samuel 20:35-23:6, Mark 15:21-47 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 21:1 Reflection:  Ahimelech was surprised and afraid when David showed up at the Lord’s house seeking advice and provisions. David was on the run, exiled, in grief and disoriented, so he did not use wisdom and put Ahimelech and his family in…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 93, I Samuel 19-20:34, Mark 15:1-20 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 20:15 Reflection:  Jonathan and David were really good friends. But what is noteworthy in this reflection today, is that Jonathan had enough discernment and insight concerning the move of God, that he made David promise to take care of his family when…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 92, I Samuel 17:38-18, Mark 14:53-72 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 17:45 Reflection!  Goliath defied and cursed God as he engaged David. Goliath’s trust was in his strength and his weapons of war. David, however, declared that his trust was in God – and that God would cause him to prevail as he…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 91, I Samuel 16-17:37, Mark 14:27-52 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 16:7 Reflection:  Beloved, God sees our heart. God said to Samuel, when Samuel went to anoint a king over Israel, that “man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” That says to me, that our heart is what…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 90, I Samuel 14:36-15, Mark 14:1-26 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 15:24-25 Reflection:  It seemed like Saul did everything we would think we need to do, in order to get back into God’s and Samuel’s good graces. However, Saul is God’s chosen leader. As such, Saul was to model strong, obedient leadership to…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:46-52, I Samuel 13-14:35, Mark 13 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 13:14 Reflection:  It should be noted, that even though Saul was chosen by God to be king, Saul proved to be untrustworthy, in that he did not obey God fully. Notice, that when Samuel was late for the sacrifice and the people…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:38-45, I Samuel 10:9-12, Mark 12:18-44 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 12:5 Reflection:  Samuel conducted an audit of his tenure as prophet before turning over the leadership to Saul. Samuel reflected upon his ministry and asserted that he had not done anything that would discredit him or God. The people gave witness to…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:30-37, I Samuel 8-10:8, Mark 11:27-12:17 Reflection Verses:  I Samuel 9:15-16 Reflection:  The Lord prepared Samuel for his encounter with Saul the day before it occurred. The people wanted a king and had voiced as much to Samuel. Subsequently, God chose Saul to be that king. Then God spoke to Samuel concerning…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:19-29, I Samuel 5-7, Mark 11:1-26 Reflection Verse:  I Samuel 5:11 Prayer:  The Ark of The Covenant had been seized and taken to two Philistine cities. Subsequently, the people of those two cities were stricken with tumors and even death. The Philistines did not want God’s Presence around them. They did not…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:9-18, I Samuel 2:27-4, Mark 10:32-52 Reflection Verses:  I Samuel 3:19-20 Reflection:  As Samuel grew, God established Samuel as His prophet.  As the Prophet of God, Samuel’s words were reliable and trustworthy. The people knew, honored, respected and listened to Samuel as he spoke forth the Word of God, therefore, God blessed…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 89:1-8, I Samuel 1-2:26, Mark 10:1-31 Reflection Verses:  I Samuel 1:27-28 Reflection:  In today’s reading, Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, made a vow to God that if He gave her a son, she would give her son to the service of God all the days of her son’s life. Eli, the priest,…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 88, Ruth 1-4, Mark 9:33-50 Reflection Verse:  Ruth 1:22 Reflection:  Naomi, who had left Bethlehem during a famine, was now returning in the midst of a life of famine. Her husband and two sons had died in the land of Moab. So, Naomi, now a widow, returned to her home with Ruth,…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 87, Judges 20:19-21, Mark 9:14-32 Reflection Verses:  Judges 20:47-48 Reflection:  What an awful situation in Israel. Most of the valiant warriors, except six hundred men of the tribe of Benjamin was destroyed because they decided to protect the evil in their tribe rather than confronting and removing it. Beloved, sin in the…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 86, Judges 19-20:18, Mark 8:27-9:13 Reflection Verses:  Judges 19:3-4 Reflection:  The Levite in the text went after his wife after she left him to return to her father. Once there, the Levite and her father enjoyed each other’s company for 3 days. The Levite and his wife were reconciled back together with…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 85, Judges 17-18, Mark 8:14-26 Reflection Verses:  Judges 17:5-6 Reflection:  There is nothing in this scenario that suggests that Micah and his family were worshipping God. They had a silver carved image, a shrine, an ephod and idols set up for worship, with one of his sons being the priest in this…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 84, Judges 15-16, Mark 7:24-8:13 Reflection Verse:  Judges 16:3 Reflection”  God empowered Samson to pull up the entire gate system, put it on his shoulders and carry it to the top of the hill facing Israel. God did this to show Samson’s great strength which he had in God. The Philistines had…

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 83, Judges 12-14, Mark 7:1-23 Reflection Verse:  Judges 14:4 Reflection:  For Samson, to even desire to be married to a pagan Philistine woman was unthinkable, because Samson was a Nazarite. However, we are told that this was part of God’s plan, when He chose Samson to judge the Philistines and free the…