GREAT THINGS
Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 11-12
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The Tomb of Samuel is located atop a steep hill at an elevation of 908 metres above sea level. It is situated to the north of the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramot. The tomb is in an underground chamber where a small synagogue is located.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 12:23-24
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
Israel now has a king. Samuel is still very much present as the spiritual leader of the people. Prayer “without ceasing” is the most important leadership quality if we want God’s will to be done. David will be king over the united tribes in about 10 years. A Psalm of David indicates his daily preparation to lead as he writes, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (Psalm 5:3). Psalm 55:17 tells us that David prayed at “evening, morning and at noon.” There is no record of Saul praying like Samuel and David did. Saul’s reign could’ve been so different.
As a New Testament meditation, let us consider 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18: “Pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.” This praying continuously is not as difficult as it sounds. It’s based on the knowledge that I am in Christ and He is in me. We are never apart. Therefore, we are to be ever aware of His Presence.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, Your servant Paul wrote, “We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26b). I pray that Your Spirit will constantly pray within me when my conscious mind is occupied in other necessary matters. I believe this happens continuously as Your promise states. In Your Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Finding the will of God through much prayer and being confident that the right decisions are being made has been my biggest challenge. In several World Expos with our Crossroads’ sponsored “Pavilions of Promise” we had to employ what is called “artistic license” in communicating the message on such a world stage. For example, we had male and female ballet dancers play the part of Adam and Eve in Theatre One. I could give other examples from our production that upset some people, but I was convinced that God was pleased. The entertainment values guaranteed that millions of precious souls heard the Gospel in a way they could understand for the first time. In the overall effort at four Expos, we recorded over 100,000 first-time decisions for Christ, with their names, addresses, and telephone numbers. They signed up for a Bible correspondence course and were followed up in their home countries with diligence. One evangelist was very judgmental toward me. He could not find it in his heart to celebrate with me the fact of thousands of people coming to know Christ. It has been my experience that Christians who are successful personal soul winners (not only pulpit evangelists), understand the creative Holy Spirit-inspired variety that it takes to lead people into a personal relationship with Jesus.
Yours for being personal soul winners,
David
Ruins surrounding the building that covers the tomb of Samuel.
thank you for the short interview I truly enjoyed hearing how he came to the Lord. Such inspiring words. Thank you for all you for this daily blog and information much appreciated Irene
Thank you David for reminding me of Father Bob. Hearing him and seeing his joyful face again just lifts me to heavens gates. His message is so simple, so real. Praise God.
Joyce
Thanks for that prayer, David, and the link to Father Bob MacDougall’s testimony. Please pray for me, saints–for protection and healing from a sinus infection, arthritic issues that are interfering with my physical therapy and strength to keep improving. God, I pray for your miraculous intervention in my life. All for your glory! Giving thanks for this blog and just now the song came to me:
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMQfOp9w8k
Psalm 68:19…Blessed be the Lord day by day. God our salvation who carries us!
Father we pray for healing and your miraculous intervention in the in the life of Beverlee Kay make her strong and healthy and all the Glory goes to God our Father! “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”
Amen!
Praise and thank the Lord for a creative Holy Spirit! What a blessing that so many people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour! Many lives were changed! “artistic license” reminded me of a Bible Teacher who used to come to my school every Friday, her name was Miss Snowball, she drove a horse and buggy, all in black, and she wore black also, but she used flannelgraph to tell the stories from the Bible! I really liked hearing the stories and watching the characters appear on the flannelboard! I used this technique when I taught Sunday School! Thank you Lord God for this blog! The Holy Spirit is working in this blog! There are people who are reading it and one day may post a comment! I appreciate the honesty of the bloggers! The walls come down, as we become more comfortable and feel safe and secure and share on this blog! I sure enjoy it! Blessings to all….
Thank you sah for encouraging my wife and I yesterday to attend a Sunday evening service in our community. We are definitely going to check it out this Sunday…
You also mentioned that there is no Sunday evening service in your area and that due to a sleep disorder you would like to see the development of a Sunday evening service in your community. Perhaps “this” can start out as a home bible study allowing for growth…
Praise you Father! Amen!
thanks David! Let us know how the service goes for you and your wife!
I am praying for the Christian churches to put on Sunday evening concerts in the park during the nice weather probably from April until September…..we had this many years ago, it was a 6:30 p.m. service, with musicians and singing hymns and a short message from the Gospels delivered by a Pastor…..the service awas about 1 1/2 hours long….everyone loved the songs! everyone brought their lawn chairs and it was a very nice service..children playing and there were some actikon songs which children really like……so, I ask for God’s guidance and perhaps we can have this happening again……blessings
Could you pray for me I have pain in my shoulders, and arms its called Rotator cuff
my doctor said probably due to my falling seizures . I knew they were sore before
a couple of years not like this though. I have medication to help them, and there are other things he wants me to do.
Lianne Hogg
Good morning Lianne
I had this and I went to the pool and did exercises for the shoulder and it helped immensely!
Lord I ask that you would heal this Rotator Cuff! It is very painful Lord! Keep Lianne safe and keep her spirits up, let her know that You are watching her! Send a ray of sunshine to her, send the angels to protect her! Send a word of encouragement to her! Thank you Lord, we pray in Jesus Name AMEN
Amen!
Amen. Lord we pray for Beverlee and Lianne that you will touch them mightily today. Lord you know each one of their needs and we know you are able to help us overcome. In Jesus Name. Will keep you in prayer and would you remember me today as I am snowed in as the tractor I depended on is broken down. As you know we got a lot of snow here in the Maritimes and the southern part got a lot more than us. Happy belated birthday, Donna. I really enjoy seeing both of your shining faces David.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray for each person on this blog, that You would help them.
Lord You know all their needs, may your will be done in Jesus Name
I pray, Amen.
Amen.
I remember Fr.Bob Macdougall well and his ministry in 100 Huntley Street…thank you for the link this morning. Also I clicked on the link and enjoyed you and the Children praying for your Grandson Nathan Shaheen. How precious!!!
The Love of God for His people and His forgiveness is revealed in today’s reading. Also Samuel confirms the importance of continuing to pray without ceasing and for each another. How quickly we become discontent with and forget all God has done, how sad.
Your faithfulness and wisdom throughout the years and creativeness as revealed in various ways. Praise God you stood firm you presenting the Gospel as the Lord led in each Pavilion of Promise!!
Isn’t old age grand? NOT! It seems as I get older, that it takes me longer to move each day. I seem more susceptible to catching what ever seems to be going around the neighborhood (especially since I work in a hospital setting…). But I have my faith in God, and we have this powerful faith-filled blog to start our day – every day (though sometimes it doesn’t reach my email ’till later or not at all – glitches… then I just go to 100words.ca and voila!).
Lord Jesus thank you for showing us the “standard”… to put one step in front of the other, to study your word and that we have great leaders such as David Mainse and family and staff to assist us with our daily walk… Help us to do your will each and every day as we share this walk with you… in Jesus name Amen!
Here’s an inspirational video that some of us might like…
http://play.simpletruths.com/movie/212-the-extra-degree/
It is such an encouragement and a joy to see fellow Christians praying for and caring for each other as they do on this site. I add my Amen to all the prayers offered for Beverlee, Lianne and any other today. I ask the Lord to bless Sah for her powerful intercession prayers on our behalf. And I thank both Sah and Ger for the belated birthday wishes.
I also pray Ger God sends someone to help you dig out from the storm. I remember a few years ago, we had a large snowstorm, and I have a long and wide driveway and no snow blower at the time, so I was trying to dig out by hand the heavy wet stuff at the end of the driveway the plows had put there overnight. It was about five feet tall and I was getting exhausted quickly. So I just screamed out “Lord Help me.” And about few minutes later, the city tractor front end loader, that clears away snow from the turnarounds came by. He stopped, he put his fingers to lips and mouthed the word Sshhh because they aren’t supposed to do private driveways, and he cleared out the whole section for me. All I could do was mouth thank you to the driver and wept tears of joy to God — as Scripture says ” I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinks of me.”
So I’m asking the Lord extend the same mercy to Ger as He did me that day.
Again such a encouragement to participate on this site, God has blessed me so much by all your fine examples of fellowship to each other.
Amen!
Thank-you Reverend Mainse for todays 100words and for your family that is also involved.
What ghastly procedures in this a.m.’s study of gouging out people’s right eyes! Talk about evil. Such a violent culture in those days and I keep wondering how far they’ve come when listening to the t.v.
Great video of Fr. Bob MacDougall. He certainly pulled himself up by his bootstraps, actually it was God who did that for him, and turned his life around.
Loved the guest talking about man’s best friend, the dog, on 100 Huntley yesterday. We have always had a dog in our lives and he is right. Dogs teach us such a lot and bring us much joy and laughter.
Thought this was a great write up by Dr. Jim Denison:
“Last Sunday I was sitting in an airplane waiting to fly from Dallas to Midland, Texas, where I was to lead a spiritual awakening conference. Then something happened I’ve never witnessed in all my decades of flying. The pilot came out from the cockpit, took the microphone from the flight attendant, and spoke directly to us.
He told us that the weather forecast called for significant turbulence on our flight. He then assured us that we were not in danger: “I’m not going to take you anywhere that is unsafe,” he promised. But the predicted rough air would be sufficient to endanger the flight attendants if they got up during the flight, so he had decided not to allow anyone to leave their seats during our 50-minute flight.
As it turned out, the flight was smooth. But the pilot’s actions impressed me on two levels. First, they modeled an important leadership principle: give the story nowhere to go. If you’re a leader, tell the bad news quickly and fully. You can delegate the good news, but you need to deliver the bad news in person.
Second, the pilot reminded me of Jesus’ warning: “In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). But like our pilot, he promised to be with us throughout our flight (Matthew 28:20). And he will take us to a destination more glorious than we can imagine.
What security issues worry you today? Will you trust your Pilot? Will you share his assurance and hope with your fellow passengers? Corrie ten Boom was right: “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”
1 Samuel 12 v 22
“For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it pleased the Lord to make you His people”.
I really needed this encouragement this morning, also thinking about the elections in Israel. God has not, and will not forsake us. He has promised to be with us, never give us more than we can bear, and always work everything out for our good. Praise His Great Name.
I also have shoulder problems, and need a “reverse shoulder replacement” so I know the pain, I also need a “hip replacement,” and these problems make life difficult, it would be nice if I did not have to take pain pills. But God is still Sovereign, and in His time all things can change, even if it is when I get to Heaven!!! Because of His Great Name’s sake, He will never forsake us. Have a great day. May God Bless all who know and love our Lord.
I pray for you Mary Stewart that the Lord will anoint those joints with His anointing Oil, that the pain would subside.
I also join in prayer for Beverlee and Lianne for total healing in Jesus Name…He is the Great Physician…and trustworthy…He hears us even before we call on Him. Lord Jesus thank you for your healing Power to flow through each of these in need of your healing. In your Holy Mighty Name I pray…AMEN!!!
Thank everyone for your prayers guess what sah the sun is shining just outside my
window now during these storms over the last while all was grey or you could not
see outside
Lianne Hogg
Isn’t God just out of this world wonderful and so AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! You gave me goosebumps Lianne! May the SON continue to shine in your life May God heal the hurts in your body, and may the “sun” shine tomorrow! Blessings…..
David, and fellow bloggers, what encouragement today! Thank you for the story Donna M. Thank you all for your prayers. I have a similar story. My next door neighbor came along unsolicited as a good Samaritan with his orange Cabota(spelling?) snowblower and starting attacking this 6ft snowdrift at the end of my driveway. This happened immediately after I posted my need to you bloggers and after I had agreed in prayer with a friend for help today as the tractor was not fixed. He did an amazing job and could get close to my buildings unlike the tractor so God sent the best help possible. God is so faithful! Amen?
AMAZING GRACE! the tears are rolling down my cheeks, the wonder of God and His constant care and love and concern are “out of this world” God bless you Ger!
Thank you Ger for sharing…Truly God is Faithful…