{"id":33475,"date":"2024-11-22T22:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T05:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-29_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-11-05T17:58:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T00:58:36","slug":"1-samuel-30_1-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1-samuel-30_1-20\/","title":{"rendered":"A Double Portion of God\u2019s Strength in Your Weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Samuel 30:1-20 \u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Samuel 30:1-20.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 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 30:1-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David’s two wives had been captured–Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0his God.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him,
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and David inquired of the\u00a0LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind,
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat–
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-20:\u00a0 Having been honourably discharged by King Achish from serving in the Philistine army, David and his men return home to Ziklag, only to find that the Amalekites have raided their town and captured all the women, children and elderly in Ziklag (v1-5). Devastated and looking for someone to blame for their loss, David’s men threaten to stone David (v6).\u00a0 But under the pressure David does the wise and best thing: he finds strength in God (v7).\u00a0\u00a0David inquires of the Lord and gets the go ahead from Him to go and reclaim what they had lost from the Amalekites (v8). 200 of David’s men are too exhausted to go, so David lets them stay and guard their supplies while he and his remaining 400 men go and reclaim what belongs to all of them (v9-10). They come across an abandoned and ailing Egyptian slave.\u00a0 They feed him and find out that prior to being abandoned he had the helped the Amalekites raid Ziklag (v11-15).\u00a0 The Egyptian promises to take David and his men to the Amalekites if they guarantee his safety (v16).\u00a0 David and his men launch a successful rescue operation against the Amalekites, not only taking back their women and children but also plundering the Amalekites (v17-20).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0You don\u2019t have to fight your battles alone.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When you’re facing pressure from people, like David find your strength in God.<\/strong>\u00a0 Look to Him for wisdom and direction.\u00a0 God is here to strengthen you and guide you in the way you should go.<\/p>\n

2. When we were captured and held captive by Satan our enemy, Jesus the Son of David came and rescued us because we matter to Him.<\/p>\n

3. We are also like the 200 of David\u2019s men who stayed behind: we had no power by ourselves to reclaim or recapture what the enemy had stolen from us.\u00a0 But Jesus is like the 400 men who went in pursuit on our behalf. Jesus pursued the enemy, defeated him and recaptured for us all that we had lost.\u00a0 When we were powerless to do anything, Jesus came and did everything for us.\u00a0 That is God’s grace. \u00a0Just as God gave David two strong and courageous men for every weak and exhausted man (400 vs. 200), God has a double portion of strength to give us for every area where we are weak.<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Just as David came back not just with what he lost but with additional plunder as well, praise God that\u00a0the restoration Jesus brings doesn’t just put you back in the same position you were in before the loss. Rather Jesus makes you whole and then some!<\/strong>\u00a0 God\u2019s restoring power makes you better off after the loss than before. With man this is impossible but with God such restoration and then some is possible.<\/p>\n

4. David shows grace to the Egyptian, not knowing at first that the Egyptian was part of the group that raided and kidnapped his women and children.\u00a0\u00a0When David found out that\u00a0this Egyptian had helped to kidnap their women and children, why didn\u2019t David strike the Egyptian down?\u00a0 One reason of course was because the Egyptian had important information that could lead David to the Amalekites.\u00a0 But perhaps there is another reason:\u00a0 maybe it\u2019s because David had just come out of a season where he had committed so many mistakes himself \u2013 cutting himself from God and God\u2019s people, allying himself with people of the world, pretending to be someone he was not, weaving a web of lies, and causing the death of many innocent people.\u00a0 So when David saw the Egyptian, I believe David looked at him with eyes of compassion.\u00a0 Seeing himself in the Egyptian, David decided to show him grace.\u00a0Our biggest mistakes, struggles and failures help us to have compassion for those who struggle in similar ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are some struggles, hurts, or defeats you have experienced that can help you identify with and reach out to people who experience something similar? Maybe it’s the pain of divorce, or the pain of losing someone you love. Maybe it’s losing a job or living a rebellious life before Christ rescued you.\u00a0All of our experiences, even our most painful and embarrassing ones, God can use to help others in similar situations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank You Lord Jesus that I was like the 200 men who were powerless to recapture what the enemy had stolen, but You are like the 400 men who went and recaptured everything on our behalf.\u00a0 Thank You that in every area when I am weak, You supply a double portion of strength.\u00a0 I claim that double portion as my own today and I thank You.\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 29:1-11.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\n1 Samuel 29:1-11 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”<\/p>\n

On verses 1-11:\u00a0 The Philistines and the Israelites are preparing to go to war against one another.\u00a0 David is still hiding among the Philistines and pretending that he is on the Philistines\u2019 side. \u00a0 But now he is in the incredibly difficult position of having to actually fight his own people Israel.\u00a0 While King Achish of the Philistines is happy to have David fighting for them, the Philistine commanders urge Achish to prohibit David from fighting for the Philistines because they do not trust David.\u00a0 So David and his men are saved from having to fight their own people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33475","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\/33475","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=33475"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33478,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33475\/revisions\/33478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}