{"id":32920,"date":"2024-10-09T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-7_1-17-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-09-24T15:04:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T22:04:25","slug":"1-samuel-8_1-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-8_1-22\/","title":{"rendered":"The One You Truly Need"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Samuel 8:1-22 \u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 8:1-22.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:1-3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 Samuel was a respected prophet and leader in Israel.\u00a0 He was known for communicating God\u2019s Word to the people and living with integrity.\u00a0 But his sons were corrupt.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know what Samuel\u2019s relationship with his sons was like or what kind of father Samuel was.\u00a0 Based on the information available to us about Samuel and his sons, here are a couple lessons we can learn:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a sobering thought but it\u2019s true: just because a person walks with God does not mean that their children will automatically follow in their footsteps;<\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every person is accountable to God for their own choices and actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:4-6 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the\u00a0LORD.<\/p>\n

On verses 4-6:\u00a0 The people wanted a king just like the nations around them had a king.\u00a0 They also didn\u2019t see Samuel\u2019s sons as fit successors to lead Israel after Samuel.\u00a0 So they demand that Samuel appoint such a king for them.\u00a0 Samuel is hurt and offended by this request.\u00a0 So he takes this request to the Lord and prays about it.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you are hurt or offended by what others do or say, bring the situation to God and ask God to give you the right perspective to see the situation and respond to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:7-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”<\/p>\n

On verses 7-9:\u00a0 When Samuel goes to God with his burdensome situation, God speaks to Samuel and gives him another perspective by which to see the situation: it\u2019s not so much that the people are rejecting Samuel as they are rejecting God.<\/p>\n

When you experience rejection, remember that to this day no one is rejected on a daily basis more than Jesus.\u00a0 No one\u2019s name is more carelessly and disrespectfully used as a curse word.\u00a0 No one\u2019s commands are more disobeyed than Jesus\u2019.\u00a0 No one\u2019s love is more taken for granted than Jesus\u2019.\u00a0 So when we are rejected, we\u2019re getting a taste of what Jesus experiences every moment of every day.\u00a0 Yet amazingly, despite the rejection he constantly faces, Jesus remains sweet, loving, kind, patient, merciful and compassionate toward people.<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:10-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Samuel told all the words of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0to the people who were asking him for a king.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0will not answer you in that day.”
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”<\/p>\n

On verses 10-20:\u00a0 In obedience to God\u2019s command, Samuel tells the people what they can expect once they get the king they have asked for.\u00a0 Samuel warns the people that having a human king over them won\u2019t bring them the happiness that they expected but rather the opposite.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Sometimes the thing we want is not the thing we really want or really need.\u00a0 Rather than believing that a certain person or thing is the answer to all your problems, realize that no one but God can satisfy the deepest longings in your soul and that He is the only one you can\u2019t live without.<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:21-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the\u00a0LORD.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”<\/p>\n

On verses 21-22:\u00a0 Samuel was not pleased with the people\u2019s request for a king.\u00a0 God was not pleased either.\u00a0 Yet God let the people have what they wanted, and so did Samuel.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 One reason is because God respects our freedom to make choices, even if we make the wrong choice.\u00a0 God wants a world where people can freely choose to love Him, choose Him and do good, but a corollary of that is that with that same freedom people can also choose to do evil and reject God.\u00a0 That\u2019s the risk of having freedom: making the wrong choice.<\/p>\n

A second possible reason is that God knew that the hearts of the people were so stubborn that they could only learn the hard way.\u00a0 So God lets them learn the hard way.\u00a0 Sometimes the only way a person will learn is the hard way.<\/p>\n

Jesus, thank You for every lesson we can learn from Your Word today.\u00a0 Thank You that You are the One I truly need, no one else.\u00a0 I love You, God.\u00a0 Thank You for loving me first.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 8:1-22.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 8:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-3:\u00a0 Samuel was a respected prophet and leader in Israel.\u00a0 He was known for communicating God\u2019s Word to the people and living with integrity.\u00a0 But his sons were corrupt.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know what Samuel\u2019s relationship with his sons was like or what kind of father Samuel was.\u00a0 Based on the information available to us about Samuel and his sons, here are a couple lessons we can learn:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32920"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32923,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32920\/revisions\/32923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}