Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 11:1-15.  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! 

1 Samuel 11:1-5 (NIV)
1  Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2  But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3  The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
4  When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud.
5  Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with the people? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.

On verses 1-5:  Here we see the first major challenge Saul would face as king:  the Ammonites led by King Nahash were long-time enemies of Israel and lay siege on the Israelite town of Jabesh Gilead.  Saul, with the help of the Holy Spirit, would deal with this challenge incredibly well.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 10:1-16.  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!

1 Samuel 10:1-7 (NIV)
1  Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?
2  When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”‘

On verses 1-7:  Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel by pouring oil on Saul’s head.  What does it mean to anoint?  To anoint means to set apart for a special purpose.

Similarly, to prepare us for our mission and life purpose, God anointed us.  Every Christian is anointed by God to serve Him and to live for Him (see 1 John 2:20).  As 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “…He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 9:1-14.  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! 

1 Samuel 9:1-2 (NIV)
1  There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.
2  He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites–a head taller than any of the others.

On verses 1-2:  Saul was naturally outstanding and outwardly impressive.  But there is a difference between making an impression and making an impact.  Saul certainly made a positive impression on people with his height and natural abilities.  But the impact he would end up making would be a very different story.  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 7:1-17.  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! 

1 Samuel 7:1-4 (NIV)
1  So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD.
2  It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.
3  And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
4  So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.  
 
On verses 1-4:  Verse 2 says that the Israelites “mourned and sought after the Lord”. But Samuel still had to say to them in verse 3, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then get rid of your foreign gods, and He will deliver you from the Philistines.” 
 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 4:12-22.  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! 

1 Samuel 5:1-5 (NIV)
1  After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2  Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.
3  When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

Verses 1-5: To me this is one of the funniest sequences in the Bible. Having captured the Israelites’ ark of the covenant, the Philistines took it to Ashdod, a major Philistine city, and placed it in the temple of their god Dagon.  They put the ark beside the statue of Dagon (who looked like a half-man, half-fish and whose name apparently means “little fish” — he was the original “Little Mermaid”!)  Yet the next morning, the Dagon statue was face-to-the-ground bowing before the ark (v3)!