A Dead Giveaway!

Posted on 2013/11/22 by Shawn Thomas

In I Samuel 28, King Saul could not get an answer from the Lord for his request (because of Saul’s disobedience and inconsistency) and so he decided to take another course: he sought out a medium at En-dor. Verse 8 says: “Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two other men with him, and they came to the woman by night.” It is interesting that Saul “disguised himself.” It is obvious that he was ashamed of what he was doing. Continue reading →

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Glorious Saints

Posted on 2013/11/21 by Shawn Thomas

In I Samuel 28, the medium at En-dor brings Samuel up from the dead for Saul. Verse 12 says she cried out with a loud voice, and Saul asks her what she saw. She responds: “I see a divine being coming up out of the earth.” In Hebrew, “divine being” is literally “a god.” Was the woman exaggerating? I think not. We have evidence from scripture that God’s people will be endowed with great glory in heaven.

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So Easily Entangled

Posted on 2013/11/20 by Shawn Thomas

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” It is instructive to us that the verse calls it: “the sin which SO EASILY entangles us”! The Bible indicates that it is not difficult to become entangled in sin; in fact it tells us here that it is “easy”! You don’t have to go out looking for it — it is coming after you! Continue reading →

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“The Little Condo on the Prairie” (11-19-13)

Posted on 2013/11/19 by Shawn Thomas

FFB WOES
Monday night, Cheryl and our daughter-in-law Ashley were virtually tied in their fantasy football matchup for the week, and each had a couple of players left in the game that evening. But Cheryl’s hopes vanished when her quarterback, Green Bay’s Aaron Rogers, went down early in the game with an injury. Then her other player, a wide receiver, left with an injury later and it was all over but the crying.
As they hauled her player off the field, I turned to Cheryl and sympathized: “Some people get all the breaks — and some get all the, well … BREAKS!”

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Just A Number of Days

Posted on 2013/11/19 by Shawn Thomas

I Samuel 27:7 says: “The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.” The chapter begins with David thinking that Saul would eventually kill him if he stayed in Israel, so he fled to Philistia, to live with Israel’s enemies. Verse 7 then tells us that the number of days he stayed there was only a year and four months. At the time it must have been very difficult, to live among the very enemies of God’s people, and he must have wondered how long it would last. Continue reading →

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Book Review: THINK: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God by John Piper

Posted on 2013/11/18 by Shawn Thomas

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In the introduction to John Piper’s Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, Piper writes that his book is a plea not to be “either/or” regarding thinking and feeling, that we need them both. And he asserts: “thinking is one of the ways we put the fuel of knowledge … on the fires of worship.” The former is surely an appropriate admonition, and the latter is one of the salient points made in his book. Thinking is NOT intended to be fuel to “puff us up” (which in reality it too often does!) but fuel for us to appreciate God more specifically for Who He is and what He has done. I believe that although Piper was inconsistent (and sometimes frustrating to this reader) in places, that he achieved his main goal for the book, which was to encourage people to better love God through the discipline of thinking. Continue reading →

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The Race That is Set Before Us

Posted on 2013/11/18 by Shawn Thomas

Hebrews 12:1 encourages us: Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
There is so much we can learn from this verse, but let us focus for a minute on the words: “the race that is set before us.”

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The Obedience of Love

Posted on 2013/11/16 by Shawn Thomas

In Psalm 119:57 the Psalmist writes: “Yahweh is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.” Here we see the key to the kind of obedience that God wants from us.

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The Counsel of the Word

Posted on 2013/11/15 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 119:24 says: “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” In Hebrew, “they are my counselors” is literally: “the men of my counsel.” What a picture God has given us here: that those who testify to us about their experiences with God through the word of God are in a very real sense “counseling” us and giving us insight and direction! Continue reading →

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When Doing Nothing Is The Most Important Thing

Posted on 2013/11/14 by Shawn Thomas

There are times when we should trust God, but then act, knowing that He is working through us (see devotion here) but there are also times when we are to totally leave things in God’s hands, and when we are to do NOTHING but allow Him to act.

David was in a situation like that here in I Samuel 26:9-11. He definitely wanted Saul “out of the way” so that he would stop persecuting him without cause. But despite several opportunities which presented themselves to him, David was NOT going to raise his hand to do anything against Saul. Here a second time (see chapter 25) David could have easily killed Saul, but did not.
Instead he trusted that God would do it without his help. David said: “As the Lord lives, surely

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