Archive for month: September, 2024

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 2:12-26.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
In 1 Samuel 2:12-26 we see the stark contrast between Samuel and the sons of Eli.  All of them were priests serving in the same place of worship, but they were worlds apart in terms of character.  As a result, though you could find them in the same place, they were moving in opposite directions.  It’s your character, not your surroundings, that matters most.  Let’s take a look in more detail.

1 Samuel 2:12-17 (NIV)
12  Eli’s sons were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD.
13  Now it was the practice of the priests with the people that whenever anyone offered a sacrifice and while the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
14  He would plunge it into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

Hi GAMErs,

 I’ve got some powerful lessons to share with you from 1 Samuel 1:19-28.  

1 Samuel 1:19-20 (NIV)
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.
20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.” 

On verses 19-20:  The Lord honours Hannah’s prayer for a son.  Hannah names him “Samuel”, which means “the name [of God] is El”, a name which speaks to God’s power. Hannah picked a name for her son that would remind herself and others that Samuel was the result of God’s power at work.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 28:17-31.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
Acts 28:17-20 (NIV)
17  Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
18  They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death.
19  But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar–not that I had any charge to bring against my own people.
20  For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
 
On verses 17-20:  Having received so much opposition in the past from certain Jews in the various cities where Paul had gone, Paul decides to take the initiative to reach out to the Jewish leaders in Rome and explain to them plainly where he is coming from.  His hope was to avoid misunderstanding based on possible rumours and hearsay.