Bible Study

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1 Samuel: Lesson 1 — Not All Is As It Seems

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 1 (Not All Is As It Seems)
1 Samuel 1:1-20

The Text:

  1. Who are Peninnah and Hannah?  What do we learn about them in the opening verses of chapter 1?  How does God describe their relationship?
     
  2. Who is Elkanah?  What does he and his family have a practice of doing each year?  How does he treat Hannah?
     
  3. What does Hannah do while in Shiloh to worship?  What is her attitude or emotional state?  What is the vow she makes?
     
  4. Who is watching Hannah?  What is his occupation?  What did that mean he should be doing?  What does he assume when he confronts her? 
     
  5. How does Hannah respond to the accusations?  What is Eli’s response?  What effect does this have on Hannah?  What becomes the result of Hannah’s prayer? 

The Application:

  1. What are some things that people would say indicate God’s blessing if present or lack of blessing if absent?  Are these accurate?  How do you treat people who lack, and want, what you have?
     
  2. How important is worship to you even when living in the midst of conflict?  What are some effective ways to encourage someone who feels left out or “unblessed”?
       
  3. How hard/easy is it to pray when it feels like the world, and God, is against you?  What things have you vowed/promised to God?  Have you meant them?
     
  4. What is one role God says you have as a Christian?  What does that mean you should be doing?  How often do you find yourself making assumptions about a person or situation rather than interacting as God would have you?
     
  5. How confident are you in God’s promises?  What effect should this have on you?  What things do you need to pour out through tears in bitter, earnest prayer?

Next week: 1 Samuel 1:21-2:11
Returning The Gift

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Caution: Objects In Life May Not Be What They Appear

You’ve seen the warning on the side mirror of  your car, right?  You know the one, “Caution: Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear”. 

Have you ever observed a specific situation and you just knew what was going on?  Have you watched a person’s actions and were confident of their motives and judged them according to what you saw?  And then when the truth came out you realized just how wrong you were?  Perhaps we need a similar “mirror warning” in constant view as we live life.  I think it would read something like this, “Caution:  Objects in life may not be what they appear”. 

I’m not sure anyone is immune to this, or above needing this reminder.  As a matter of fact, these thoughts come from the preparation I am doing for a lesson series through 1 Samuel this fall.  Listen to what took place and the presumption that followed:  “As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth.  Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.  Eli thought she was drunk  and said to her, ‘How long will you keep on getting drunk?  Get rid of your wine.'” (1 Samuel 1:12-14)

Ouch!  Unfortunately, Eli has plenty of modern-day companions.  How often have you and I observed what takes place on the surface of lives around us and jumped to conclusions that were just as wrong as Eli’s judgment of Hannah?  The pain, the distress, the activity in another person’s life may not always be what it appears to be.  You know that is true in your life, why is it so hard to remember it is true in others as well? 

How can we avoid the surface judgments?  I don’t think there is an easy to do answer but James gives us great insight to this as he writes in James 1:19, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”   This simple statement is so profound but so very hard to remember to do at all times!  Listening with our eyes and ears and heart through the filter of the Holy Spirit will go a long way in keeping us from making judgments based on outward appearances. 

In God’s great sense of humor and/or irony, over in chapter 16 of 1 Samuel God has to remind Samuel (remember that Samuel was the answer to the prayers that Hannah was praying),  “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”   Our reaction is often to pass judgment based on what we see but God is calling us to look beyond what we can see and really notice what He sees.

I pray that I become a better listener — a godly listener — before I am tempted to jump to conclusions that are far from accurate.  I pray that you and I recognize that our need for grace and understanding in regard to our actions is the same need that others have from us.

May God grant us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand the work He is doing in our life and in the lives of those around us!

 

 

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Happy Birth Day!

“Buy the truth and do not sell it;
     get wisdom, discipline and understanding. 
The father of a righteous man has great joy;
     he who has a wise son delights in him. 
May your father and mother be glad;
     may she who gave you birth rejoice!”  (Proverbs 23:23-25)

Another day is gone and this one also marked the completion, or beginning ;), of another year in my life.  God has given me many friends and acquaintances who have kept my Facebook page filled with birthday wishes.

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people wishing me a happy birthday as I’ve had this year!  I appreciate greatly each thought and sentiment expressed.  For me, birthdays are typically just another day.  I don’t keep track of them so I end up having to do the math just to figure out how old I am whenever someone asks.

God knew how much I needed the many wishes for a happy birthday and He used them to encourage me and to make me think about some interesting questions.  What makes a happy birthday?   How do I recognize one?  Who should be happy because of my birthday?  How widespread is happiness, or joy, because of my life?  Do people bless or curse the day I was born?  Do I bless or curse the day I was born?

As I thought about these and other questions, I thought about people like Job.  His suffering made him wish he had never been born.  Yet within the affliction he endured, and the constant questioning of “why?”, he refused to lash out at God and curse Him for the condition he found himself in.  I think Job eventually realized the truth of what God says through Isaiah, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

I believe Job discovered that his birth, his life, wasn’t all about him.  When we look at life, and even our birth, as being all about us, our world becomes a very small place.  God calls us to consider His ways and His thoughts which are much higher than our own.  He not only clearly sees our current situation, he sees why we are here and where we are headed just as clearly! 

God’s concern isn’t so much for my happiness as it is for my faithfulness!  The question isn’t, “Am I getting everything I want or desire?” but rather, “Am I investing what God has given me into others so that my life bears much fruit?”!  It was these questions that led me to verses like the ones at the top of this post.  These verses give characteristics that when lived out give others cause to rejoice and be happy at the day of my birth!   Truthfulness, wisdom, discipline, understanding, and righteousness bring joy and delight — not only to the father and mother of such a person, but to the people around you as you grow in these qualities.

Do I, do you, want a happy birthday that is a true reflection of the joy that God has brought to others through us?  Then let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith so that He can fill us with truth, wisdom, discipline, understanding, and His righteousness through the power of His Spirit. 

May this anniversary of the day of my birth truly be happy for me as well as for each of you that God has connected my life with!

Praying that when your day arrives, not only is it a happy birthday but that many others are happy and rejoice that you have a birth day!

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L.O.S.T – Part 4: Teach

It seems like I’ve gotten “lost” over the past couple of months when it comes to writing.  There are a number of reasons for that which I hope to write about soon.  However, I do want to finish up this 4-part series with this final segment called, “Teach”.

As I looked at in the previous three articles, there is a progression that we move through as we break free from being “lost”.  We begin by learning to listen.  We hear a lot of things, but we are not particularly good at listening — especially when it comes to listening to God.

As an outgrowth of listening, we begin to observe.  We take notice of what God is doing in, through, and around us.  Our observations lead us to see a different path, or direction, we ought to be taking so that we’re no longer in a lost condition.

The hardest part for most people is often the third stage where we must surrender.  All of the listening and observing does little good if we are unwilling to surrender to what God has called us to be.  Surrendering is an admission that we are lost and in need of direction that only God can give.

That brings us to this final stage — one that is often overlooked because we think that completing the stage of surrender brings us out of our lost condition and completes our “quest”.  But there is much more to it.  We don’t become “un-lost” strictly for our own benefit.  We must teach that which we’ve learned on our journey.  Jesus states in Matthew that we are not simply to make disciples through a process of bringing them to full surrender, we must also be busy about “teaching them to obey all that [He] commanded.”

I’ve been taught, and believe, that you cannot teach what you do not know.  I would go a step further and say that you cannot effectively teach what you do not practice.  We teach by what we say, but we often teach much more by what we do.  In order to effectively teach what Jesus commanded, we must be doing what Jesus commanded.  As we live a surrendered life, we must be busy teaching that same surrendered lifestyle to others.  Listening is not natural for most people, so when we use the tool of listening we gain a valuable practice that we ought to be teaching to others.  As we observe the working of God, we ought to teach others to take notice of what God is doing in and around them as well. 

I pray that as you take note of these L.O.S.T. principles, that you would apply them in your life and live them out in a way that teaches others that you have found direction through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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L.O.S.T. – Part 3: Surrender

Okay, it would seem since it has been quite some time since I began this series that I must have gotten lost somewhere in the writing process. 

Maybe part of the delay is that part three is the hardest part for me to actually do.  I can handle the listening and the observing because I’m still involved in seeking out the solution.  Part three in dealing with being lost is that we must surrender.  There, I’ve said the word:  Surrender!  Being lost causes us to surrender our will and desires to one who knows where we are and how to get to where we need to be — that is if we want to be “un-lost”. 

I generally have a good sense of direction and usually can find my way around new places rather easily.  Even when I am out traveling and end up in unfamiliar territory, I often just keep driving, figuring eventually something will look familiar or I will see a needed road sign or somehow discover where I am at so that I can begin to make my way back to where I want to be.  At times I am so confident of my ability to figure out where I am at that I end up in unknown territory, way out of the way, lost, before I finally surrender and pull out a map to help me discover where I’m at and how to get to where I am going. 

While that is hard enough for me to do, the more difficult times are when the map isn’t available, or doesn’t help, and I am forced to completely surrender and tell someone that I have no idea where I am at and need their help to get to where I am going.  You would think that after enough practice having to do that, it would be easier — especially when it becomes apparent how much time and energy could be saved simply by surrendering and asking directions much earlier.

Many times, people remain in their lost state in relationship with God because they refuse to surrender.  There is no way to make it to a vibrant and growing relationship with God except to surrender to the lordship of His Son, Jesus.  He put it this way in Matthew 16:24-25:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses (surrenders) his life for me will find it.”

Then in John 14, Jesus comforts His followers with the news that He is leaving to prepare a place for them and that He will return for them.  He assures them that He will be back to take them to the place that He is going to and that they know how to get there.  Thomas is not so sure and responds, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  The answer from Jesus in John 14:6-7 is classic and points out that the disciples did know the way to where Jesus was going — that way is Jesus Himself!

“I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Wow!  When I am lost, I must surrender to the only way out.  This cuts straight across the grain of modern thinking — particularly modern religious thinking.  Rather than surrender to God when lost, people have a tendency to “drive around”, thinking that somehow they will find another way to get to where they want to be.  Recent surveys show that many “religious leaders” profess that there may be multiple ways to get to heaven and varied paths to God.  It makes me wonder what they do with the Bible, especially the words of Jesus above from John 14:6.  Jesus could have said, “I am a way” or “I am the primary way” or even “I know the way” but instead He said, “I am the way”!  Just in case we miss the exclusive nature of His statement, He emphasizes it with the next sentence, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

When a person is in a lost condition, separated from God, surrender is absolutely necessary.  There is only one way to go from lost to relationship with God and only Jesus can get us there.  It is time for each of us to really examine our life and commit it to being a life surrendered fully to Jesus.

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L.O.S.T. – Part 2: Observe

In my previous post, I wrote about the need to listen.  In part two, I want us to consider our need to observe.  Just as we often have difficulty listening, we often fail to observe for a variety of reasons.

We use the word observe in a couple of different ways.  We may talk about observing the law and our focus is on obedience.  However, when we talk about observing a sunset, our focus is usually on enjoyment.  As I thought about these two very different reactions to the same word, I began to realize that maybe they are not so different after all.

From a Christian point of view, when we think about observing God’s commands, we define observe as including both the aspect of noticing something and then responding appropriately to it.  God doesn’t simply say, “Look at my commands!”  Yes, we must look at them.  We must take notice of what God has said through His Word,  to “gaze intently into His perfect law”.  We need to pay attention to the work God is doing in and through us in transforming us to be what He wants us to be.  God has given us His very own Spirit and we need to “see” the work He is doing so that we can be a more accurate representative of Jesus.

But we have to move beyond simply noticing, or seeing, when we observe.  To observe correctly, we must respond appropriately.  It is hard enough to “see”.  The distractions and busy-ness of life often keep us from focusing on the things God has placed in front of us to observe.  We stumble through our Christian life because we are not paying attention to where we are going.  Yet many times when we do take in the information that is needed, we still stumble because we fail to have an appropriate response to what is “seen”.  This is where I think the two examples that I started with connect.  The appropriate response to “seeing” God’s commands is to obey them.  An appropriate response to seeing a sunset is to enjoy it as part of God’s incredible creativity.

When we feel “lost” in our spiritual walk, it is a good idea to stop and take a look around.  Ask yourself some basic questions:  How did I get here?  Does anything look familiar?  What do I see and hear around me?  What dangers currently exist?  How do I get back to where I was?  As we ask these questions, and genuinely seek answers to them, we begin to recognize the correct responses that we ought to make.  As we begin to put our faith into action and actually do what we observe needs done, we begin the process of truly “observing all that [He] commands”. 

I pray that when we observe, we do so not only with our senses but with our actions as well.

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L.O.S.T. – Part 1: Listen

I found a Facebook flair button some time back that I really enjoy.  It simply says, “Not all who wander are lost!”  I, like many people, have great difficulty in admitting that I would ever be lost.  “It’s a scenic route,” I might say.  “I’m just exploring,” is another phrase that often comes in handy when I have no idea where I am at.

As one who does tend to wander, take the scenic routes, and simply explore, I’ve learned some helpful tips for those times when I am lost.  It doesn’t matter if we are lost physically or spiritually — if we’ve wandered away from home or from God, these same tips can be of great help to us.

The first lesson of L.O.S.T. is to Listen!  Many times when I am in an unfamiliar place where someone else may say I am lost, my first action is to simply be still and listen.  A period of time focused on listening can tell us many things about where we are at.  Listening can alert a person to potential danger in a certain direction.  It can also help us identify a path, or course of action, that ought to be considered or pursued.  Listening can let us know if anyone is even looking for us and it gives us an idea of where they are.

In John 10, Jesus states that His sheep, those that follow Him, know His voice and listen to Him.  Jesus describes the safety that can be found when we acknowledge Him as the true gatekeeper in our life.  He not only seeks us out when we wander, He guards and protects us as part of His flock.  It is His voice that calls us to safety and the familiar confines of the fold.  We get there and we stay there by listening. 

We must become familiar with the voice of Jesus and live in obedience to it.  Listening is so much more than simply hearing.  As James puts it, we must hear the Word of God and put it into action.  That is true listening — it is responding appropriately to what is being heard.  Jesus lets us know that there will be “strangers” who call us to follow them.  Satan himself calls to us with the purpose to “steal, kill, and destroy”. 

Feeling lost?  Why not take the time to seriously listen?  Listen intently for God to speak through His Word and through His Spirit and then respond appropriately to Him. 

I pray that you and I would be better listeners — not simply hearers of the Word, but doers of it!

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Thrown Out, Left Out, or Sent Out (part 3)

Thrown Out, Left Out, or Sent Out?

Part 3 – Sent Out  

In Part One of this series of articles, I introduced the concept of three major approaches to occupational ministry change that can be seen in Biblical example and in churches today.  In that first post, I wrote about the change method of being Thrown Out.  This is a harsh practice born out of arrogance and pride.  While it causes much hurt and long-term issues to deal with, God has an incredible way of picking up the pieces and putting them back together when a Thrown Out person turns to Him in complete humility and trust. 

In Part Two, I wrote about being Left Out and the issues that come from this approach to change.  While gentler than Thrown Out, Left Out still leaves people hurt and disillusioned.  Even in this, a consistent pursuit of God can transform a less than ideal situation into something that accomplishes great things for the kingdom.  When faced with being Left Out, we must hang on tightly to our trust and obedience to God.

As I finally get around to writing part three, it is with great pleasure that I can say there is a better way!  God has used, and will use, Thrown Out and Left Out to accomplish His will rather than allow them to defeat His purposes.  It is possible to learn great and valuable lessons through being thrown out or left out, but let me write of a more excellent way — Sent Out!

As I thought about this series of writings, I kept thinking of the New Testament church and how God used these various methods to accomplish the spreading of the gospel.  Yet as I considered the New Testament itself — the content of the writing, the planting of churches, and the equipping of young evangelists — I couldn’t help but notice that this one technique had a greater benefit in the kingdom of God for all involved.  It is a process that began with Jesus as He implored His followers to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers into His harvest fields.”  As they did just that, He answered their prayers by sending them out in pairs to carry the message of the kingdom of God.  (Matthew 10 & Luke 10)

And then there is the following text from Acts 13:1-3:

“Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’  So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

Here we have the early Christians worshiping God and listening to Him for direction.  As they worshiped and fasted, God spoke to them through His Spirit about a work that needed done.  Their response is to seek God further in prayer and fasting, leading Barnabas and Saul to be Sent Out. 

I love this approach!  Barnabas and Saul went on to accomplish the work God had for them through the sending out of them by the Christians at Antioch.  They were going with a purpose.  Not only did they know that God was behind it — it was a work to which He had called them — they also knew a group of believers were backing them as well.  I don’t think we can accurately estimate the power of being Sent Out.  The hurts, fears, and doubts of Thrown Out and Left Out are completely out of the picture.  Instead, you have strength, faith, and confidence, knowing that you have a job to do that someone else believes that you can do because God has called you to it.  We see this as Paul and Barnabas travel from place to place boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.  We see it in Paul’s writings as he instructs, challenges, and calls Christian believers to walk in a manner worthy of their calling in Christ Jesus.

I thank God that I have finally experienced the joy and pleasure of being Sent Out by a group of people.  It has been remarkable to watch God work to bring about this change of ministry I went through a couple of years ago.  In many ways, it seems like the script was taken directly from the passage in Acts above.  In a time of worship and prayer, God called me to a greater involvement in prayer with Impact Ministries International.  I had already experienced being Thrown Out and Left Out in ministry and just knew there had to be something better.  And so I prayed and I fasted.  I went to the elders of the Deer Run Church of Christ where I was on staff at the time and asked them to join me in seeking God’s direction and timing for His purposes in my life of ministry.  After several months of meeting and discussing with each other — but more importantly, with God — we all knew God was calling me into this prayer ministry and giving them the opportunity to partner with me and see that I was Sent Out well.  They responded to God’s leading and continue to stand with me, giving me strength, faith, and confidence to do the work God has called me to.

Sent Out — it is a more excellent way!  As you serve others in the name of Jesus, I pray that you are one who is Sent Out.  Even if no one else has acknowledged it, you have been Sent Out.  Jesus said to His followers — to you and I if we are His followers — “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)  You and I have been Sent Out.  We have been given the authority we need to share the message of the gospel.  Yes, it is much more pleasant when people participate in sending us out rather than throwing us out or leaving us out, but regardless of the actions of people, we are Sent Out!

I pray that you take seriously the fact that you have been Sent Out by God.  May He bring healing to you in the times that you are Thrown Out and Left Out by people.  I pray also that God will help you to be one who participates in others being Sent Out, rather than being a part of someone being Thrown Out or Left Out.  May Jesus be honored as we go about the work that He has called us to.