The name “Samuel” means “Asked of God.” Hannah had prayed to God for a child and He answered her prayer. He did so through providence and natural law not by a miracle. Hannah and her husband Elkanah also exemplify the value of cooperation between spouses. We can also learn from this chapter that a promise made should be a promise … Read More

God spoke to His people through prophets throughout the Old Testament. Samuel teaches us the value and power of prayer. Saul teaches us the tragedy of a poor ending. And David teaches us the value of a pure heart. Saul and David were anointed king over an earthly nation but Christ would later be anointed king over a spiritual kingdom. … Read More

We need to bear one another’s burdens not add to them. We must not return evil for evil. When we pray we need to make sure we’re at peace with God and with our neighbors. We need to pray without doubting. And we can learn important lessons from solemn occasions.

We must not bind what God has not bound or loose what He has not loosed. We have to be careful not to make foolish vows. We also have a responsibility to warn those who are in danger of losing their lives or losing their souls. Whenever a decision has a spiritual aspect which needs to be considered someone needs … Read More

The Gospel should convict us to be angry about sin. We do not want to go to the grave with something bothering our conscience so we need to work to live faithfully each day and correct our errors hastily.

We need to be careful not to damage someone else’s reputation. We must leave vengeance in God’s hands. We have to maintain humble attitudes. We should recognize that God is on His children’s side. We must love our enemies. And we have to be careful how we treat others because we may find ourselves being treated the same way.

We must to avoid being self-centered. We should have joy and gladness in our lives. We need to overcome evil with good. We should be peaceful rather than obstinate. And we need to take time to calm down before we react to a anything that upsets us.

We need to watch for danger approaching and plan to avoid it so that we can have happy and productive lives. If we allow jealousy to take root within us it may grow to the point that it drives us to hurt our own loved ones. It may even turn us into an embarrassment to our own family members.

We don’t need to trust in our riches but in the God who gives them. The only way to truly hold on to our children is to give them to God by training them to serve Him. We need to be very careful how we behave ourselves because our actions can be a major influence to bring people closer to … Read More