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Still Looking for a HERO? Here's one who STARTED Well...and FINISHED Well.... Join us this week for an "up close and personal" look at the life of SAMUEL! So glad you're with us this week! We continue in Hebrews 11:32, looking at just one leader all week long… Samuel. MONDAY..."HANNAH Prays for a Son" I remember my friend and pastor while out in Las Vegas, Gene Appel describing the 5 LEVELS of "Prayers of Parents over their Kids". Prayer #1 is "Lord, GIVE us kids." It may take us a while in marriage to decide that we WANT kids. But when we do, that's our prayer. Prayer #2 is "Lord, BLESS our kids." Once we have them and realize how precious they are, we ask God to "PROTECT them and keep them healthy". Prayer #3 becomes "Lord, SAVE our kids." As they grow, we realize they are pretty human as we are, & they'll go through all the things of childhood and adolescence that kids go through. And there comes a time when we realize we desperately want them to WALK with the Lord. It's a blessing when they do, and a challenge when they don't. Nevertheless, we all get to number 3 as a prayer before very long. We pray God brings them into a SAVING relationship with Him through Son, Jesus Christ! We pray they choose Him! Prayer #4 is Lord, USE our kids. We want them to become unselfish with their life, grow in compassion, and serve the Lord on some level. Now they're influenced heavily by their PEERS, and we knew that day would come. So we hope that they find godly friends who also encourage their spiritual growth and discipleship, while becoming more available to God to help others. But Prayer #5 is a tough one. It's one that only the brave dare to pray. It's "Lord, SEND our kids." Now there are some days in every kid's life, their parents want to "send them back for a couple more weeks of summer camp"… But you know what I mean. Inviting God to use your children, not just doing whatever He calls him to do… but "WHEREVER He calls them".....that one takes a lot of faith…trust me! In the story of Samuel, his life came to be in a unique way. He was "prayed in". In 1 Samuel 1:9-28, his mother, Hannah, being childless, prayed with bitter tears at a spiritual gathering. The priest, named Eli, MISUNDERSTOOD her intent and thought she'd had too much wine, but Hannah clarified his perception with a PRAYER and a PROMISE. She said if God would give her a son, she would give him right back to Him in service. She went straight to praying on Level #5. And God was faithful in giving Hannah a son. After he was weaned, (not sure how long that took), but Hannah brought him back in SERVICE to the Lord. Kind of an "early altar boy", I guess. Now tomorrow, we'll see how God spoke to Samuel at an early age. But for today, think about A CHILD you want to specifically and earnestly pray for. Might be hard to pick just 1, if your quiver is full of kids or grandkids! But if you could… Just for today… Pick one. And would you consider prayerfully speaking God's love and truth "into them" or praying "over them" in some small "focused" way? So Samuel gets started in a very holy way. A prayerful way. A miraculous way, because his mother was unexplainably barren up to this point. Now your prayer today for your "special someone" be as special as Hannah's was long ago! TUESDAY...Samuel & ELI, the Priest I have a good friend, Phil LaMaster, who has preached several places, but had an especially blessed ministry at 1st Christian in Scottsburg. As he tells the story of his coming to faith. He didn't grow up in the church at all, but in the summer after he graduated from high school, he gave his life to the Lord in August and went directly to Cincinnati Bible Seminary that fall. We would tease him that he still "hadn't DRIED OFF completely" from his baptism before he was in the registration line at college preparing for ministry! That's pretty much how it was for Samuel, except at a much earlier time in childhood. As soon as Hannah thought he would be able to live somewhat independently, she took him to Eli , the priest at Shiloh, and he began one of the earliest MENTORING programs we find in the Bible! Now before God speaks directly to Samuel in chapter 3, we get some commentary in chapter 2 about how Eli's family was a mess. His sons, Hophni and Phineas, were very wicked and immoral with the ladies who would volunteer in the religious activities. The problem was, Eli wouldn't CONFRONT his sons in a CONVINCING way. They all appear to be pretty selfish taking at least what the priests were allowed or more and intimidating some of the other servants. And in verse 17, it says that in doing so, the sons were treating the Lord's offering with CONTEMPT. Not a good commentary on your ministry life. In 1 Samuel 2:25, we see how very clearly Eli's sons would have nothing to do with their father's correction. Chuck Swindoll says that Eli's FAMILY DISINTEGRATION was because he was preoccupied with his profession, he refused to listen to the severity of his sons' bad choices, he failed to respond correctly to the warning of others, and he simply rationalized wrongly, which made him a part of the problem. So in verse 26, it says Samuel started to grow up a bit, which gets us to this pivotal moment of God speaking to him in the night. Now Eli is getting pretty old & nearly blind. Not many people are having visions from the Lord in those days, the Bible says. But on one specific night, the Lord called Samuel, to which he replied to Eli rather than the Lord. Eli said, I didn't call you, go back to bed. After that happened a couple more times Eli began to catch on and said, the next time this happens Samuel, say "SPEAK LORD, your servant is listening". And God spoke judgment to Samuel concerning Eli and his family. Of course, the next morning Eli demanded to know everything God told Samuel. So Samuel LET HIM KNOW he and his sons are gonna be taken out at some point. Later, Eli's sons are killed in battle by the Philistines and a messenger comes to let Eli know. Eli falls off of his "lifeguard tower", where he was perched to see how the battle was going. He breaks his neck in the fall, so they all three died the same day. Now it doesn't appear that Samuel is thrust into LEADERSHIP immediately at that point. Actually, there are two more chapters that the Ark of the Covenant goes back-and-forth a little bit, but in chapter 7, he steps to the forefront. But we'll get to that tomorrow. Let's take a moment to focus in on Samuel. He's been SET APART from birth as a special prayer request by his Mom. Now he's been raised by a dysfunctional priest, who's winked at the corruption of his sons and all three are gone. There's no mentor mentioned for Samuel now. So what do you do when you lose your mentor? The same thing you do when you're looking for a leader and can't find one. You BECOME ONE! Maybe you've had to navigate some negativity in your life. Maybe even though we've got SOME MILES ON US, we can recall back to our childhood and what we perhaps had to overcome. Maybe you've found yourself closer to God than the person "above" you, who was supposed to be. Samuel has pretty much up to this moment, had to just be QUIET. He doesn't GRAB the reins and try to take over as the "priest replacement". He doesn't BASH his former boss Eli. He doesn't BLOG about how his mom and dad neglected him in the name of the Lord, but weren't there for him emotionally through the years! Maybe you've had to just sit tight a time or two in your life and wait for God to give FURTHER instructions. Maybe you're there right now. Maybe some of us are waiting and honestly have been for quite a while. Samuel was patient. And I bet that's where God has some of you right now… Waiting for other things around you to be accomplished so you can become the servant or leader in this season of your life. You're right where God wants you to be! And I'm right there with you… Love you guys...and looking forward to talking to you tomorrow. WEDNESDAY...Samuel as the PROPHET We pick up our story of this hero mentioned as one of the many fine examples (from Hebrews 11) in 1st Samuel 7 today. What's crazy is there's only 1 chapter that talks about Samuel's life as a SPIRITUAL LEADER. God calls the people to serious repentance and a desire to return to the Lord. He says if you do, then you've got to get rid of your foreign gods and images and determine to be DEDICATED to the Lord or else He won't rescue you. He calls them to repentance, all the people got rid of their idols and worshipped the Lord only! Way to go Samuel, way to go…You're stepping up! Samuel calls the people to repentance and they confess their sinfulness. The Bible says it was there at this town of MIZPAH, that Samuel became Israel's JUDGE. If you're looking through chapter 7 with me, notice in verse 8, the people literally BEG Samuel to keep praying and pleading with God to save them. They're scared. So Samuel, this combination of prophet, priest, and King, all in the role of a judge, as he sacrifices, a young lamb as a burnt offering and pleads with God to help Israel and God ANSWERS. In the midst of the sacrifice the Philistines arrive. God immediately speaks with a mighty voice that is thunderous and throws the Philistines into confusion, and Israel defeats them. So Samuel takes a large stone, which he named EBENEZER, meaning the "stone of help", and he says “up to this point the Lord has helped us”. What a beautiful reminder that "we didn't do this by ourselves". The chapter goes on to say that throughout Samuel's lifetime, the Lord's powerful hand was raised against the Philistines, and the villages were restored back to Israel, and there was peace. Samuel continues to judge Israel for the rest of his life, pretty much as a circuit judge from place to place and he would hear cases and make judgments. The chapter ends by Samuel building an altar to the Lord. In the movie "UP", the voice of Ed Asner is an older man that loses his wife, and yet sets out on the dream that they had of an adventure even after she's gone. There's about a five minute clip in the movie that shows they got married and went through all the joys and struggles of life until there was just one of them. It's a tough clip to watch for me even though it's an animated movie. Life seems pretty short. Here’s the link if you would like to see that video clip. Samuel's life flew by and in only 1 chapter, there was drama to get him into a place of leadership. For six chapters, there will be some more drama. But the prime of his life was captured in only chapter in the Bible. Today has been a very unusual day for our family. It's the one year anniversary of the loss of my wife's stepfather, Larry. He was a great guy. We had air-conditioning trouble today at home and if there was ever a guy who could fix anything, it was Larry! I was thinking about him already, but especially today, when I got a call about a lady in a nursing home passing away with her husband also living there by her side. Within an hour I got another call about another lady who had fallen and had a brain bleed, and she will most likely pass away before I finish this article tonight. I've had the opportunity to go be with & pray with those folks. One in a nursing home and the other in a hospital room. Life is short and we want to tell those near to us that we love them, as often as we can. We have this moment, just as Samuel had his own "chapter 7", the prime of his life. May today be a great day for you that God lifts you up as an example to your family for them to see what it looks like to be your age, whatever it is, and still passionate about the God who calls us all to STEP UP when we have the chance! Bless you guys and talk to you tomorrow… THURSDAY...Samuel hands off to SAUL Most of you can remember the Carol Burnett TV variety show. She was incredible as was her cast of Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Wagner, if I remember correctly. She had a song that she would end with that simply stated… "I'm so glad we've had this time together… just to have a laugh or sing a song… Seems we just get started then before you know it… Comes the time we have to say, so long". The comedic timing and incredible talent of Carol and all of her cast and guests could make an hour go by really quickly for our family. The only other show I remember seeing my dad laugh so much (apart from the Little Rascals) was Red Skelton. I saw my dad fall off the couch and laugh till he cried when Red would dress up like Freddy, the Freeloader, Sheriff Deadeye, or Clem Kadiddlehopper. Laughter does make things a little more pleasant and certainly makes time fly. But I'm not sure that our hero in chapter 7 of first Samuel would've said there was a lot of laughter. I believe there was a lot of meaningful ministry in keeping the people close to God. I think Samuel was at that point in his life where we pretty much are now… For some of you young ones you're in the second half… I'm at least in the fourth quarter… And I know some of us may feel like we're in extra innings. But no matter what's on the clock, it's just good to be in the game together, isn't it! Today in our reading it is somewhat of a sad day because Samuel has to hand off to Saul. The scenario is that Samuel grew old and his sons didn't have as much integrity as he did. They weren't as bad as Eli's boys but still something was missing. You'll find it all in chapter 8, and beyond. So the people say, we want to be like the other nations having a king that we could look up to. God coached Samuel through the whole thing and said you need to realize Samuel, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me. So let them know what they're in for. And he did. He painted the picture of how much the king would take from the nation itself if they want that model. Then God selects Saul, who was head and shoulders taller than everyone, but there was a lack of character in Saul as king. He is one hot mess. Here's just a few highlights & lowlights... But before dealing with Saul, let me mention what was pointed out by James Dobson years ago in his teaching at "FOCUS on the Family". Dr. Dobson pointed out that there is such a tremendous power in MODELING. In other words, we can't tell our kids to do something that we don't do. Values are CAUGHT, more than they are TAUGHT. If there was anybody who would've taken a vow saying "I'm not gonna let my boys turn out like Eli's sons", it would've been Samuel. And he did much better than Eli. But something was still lacking. It might've been that he became too passive and not as consistent in the shaping of his sons’ hearts who struggled with integrity. When I heard Dr. Dobson say that in 1978, it stopped me in my tracks. The power of MODELING is huge! There is a problem with the ‘do as I say not as I do’ approach. Even though the situation was NOT as bad as Eli's sons, it was bad enough that the people didn't want to continue with the same type of spiritual/political structure. They were seduced by wanting to be like the other nations and have a King. Now for the other high & low lights... Saul hides in the baggage and is reluctant at the inauguration…Not a good sign. Samuel reminds the people in chapter 12 that he's doing this with a clear conscience, having fully warned them of what they'll be in for. And in verse 23 he has a beautiful phrase, saying, “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right.” And of course he ends it with a warning as all good Old Testament leaders do. Follow God or face the music! Within another chapter Saul has disobeyed and has to be rebuked by Samuel even though he's retired. And by chapter 15, Saul has messed up so royally (no pun intended), that God has to reject him from being king, even though he'll finish out his term so to speak. The problem was he should’ve gone to Sunday school and known how God felt about the Amalekites, and how they had hurt the Israelites years before, and how God promised to wipe them off the map, and Saul should've utterly destroyed them as he was told to do. But he didn't, and he made excuses when Samuel showed up. So Samuel has now been retired, and yet he's called back to straighten out what Saul has done. He wouldn't even execute the king of the Amalekites, so Samuel has to pick up a sword and do that for him. So in chapter 16, God sends Samuel to anoint the next king who would be David. And I'm guessing you know the famous quote from that experience. Where God sends Samuel to see Jesse's sons, who lineup and parade and Samuel thinks it's got to be this one, no, it's gotta be this one, hey, how about this one? And God simply tells Samuel to remember one thing… "Man looks on the outer appearance, but the Lord looks upon the heart"! Now that is a "mic drop” Scripture if there ever was one! It takes 9 more chapters of conflict between Saul and his hired warrior / Shepherd / musician, David, who had just killed a giant named Goliath, shortly after the secret anointing, and then and only then do we get to Samuel's death in chapter 25, which is very brief with a big funeral. So to focus our thoughts today with this hero, Samuel in mind, I think it's good to know that even when you think you're finished, God may not be done with you yet! We've said that several times at our gatherings… If you ain't dead, then you ain't done! I know that kind of rolls off the tongue in a funny way, but I really believe it's true. God set eternity in our hearts! The Bible says when we become followers of his Son, Jesus, then eternity begins! So when this life is over, we just transition to what He has for us next. Now, there will be some waiting involved, for God to move His hand and things to kick in, no doubt. But the time we have left here is not just precious, it's crucial. This is our time not to just lay low, tee up, & reflect. Those things are good. But who does God want you to encourage for the sake of eternity? For Samuel that question was answered pretty quickly. It's the correction of Saul and the anointing of David. Samuel was the "in between guy". And we stand in between our neighbors, in between our kids, in between our parents (if they're still with us), in between our grandkids, in between our friends, and in between WHOEVER God puts "on our heart or in our path". May we be ready to speak words of LOVING CORRECTION in a humble way in the spirit of Ephesians 4:15, which simply says "speak the truth in love". May we be ready to speak words of FUTURE ENCOURAGEMENT to those we see great potential in & how God might use them, though we might not be around to see that totally unfold. So if you're Samuel today… Who is your Saul, to lovingly correct before it’s too late? And who is your David, to lovingly encourage while you have the opportunity? The Lord is not done with us. He's not done with ANY of us yet! FRIDAY...Samuel out of RETIREMENT & even a "Cameo appearance back from the DEAD"! Wow, what a title for what we look at today! I'm thinking Lazarus is the only guy (in a whole different context) that could even begin to relate to what we look at in Samuel's "AFTERLIFE", if you will. Before we begin the last day of the devotion of the week and you head off to church, plugging in to worship and fellowship on the weekend, making your version of the "Sabbath as holy as possible", I just want to say THANKS. Thanks for dialing in to the devotional teachings of Finishing Well with us . Thanks for letting God use you and whatever church you're attending at the time, whatever ministry you sense God calling you to, and being faithful in this season you personally are in. The "55+ season" is challenging and we need ALL the spiritual encouragement we can get. And we need to GIVE all that we can give to those around us! So let's take a final look at the chapter of Samuel's biblical record and see the hero of faith that he was! Now, if you'll look at 1 Samuel 28, you'll see Saul is getting very DESPERATE. The Philistines are rising up against him and the Israelites. In verse 3, there's a reminder that Samuel has passed away and Israel has mourned for him. It's also noted that Saul had banned all the MEDIUMS and those who consulted the spirits of the dead. It was a major violation if anyone was caught doing that. Then the chapter unfolds as the Philistine army increases, Saul's fear overwhelms him, and he DID ask the Lord what to do, which was not the typical thing that he did. But God REFUSED to ANSWER him either by dreams, by sacred lots, or the prophets around him. So what do you do when GOD'S SILENCE IS DEAFENING? He took a walk on the wild side. He violated his own commandment & consulted a psychic, fortuneteller, medium, or whatever you would call the person. The King James version said she was a "WITCH". I know a lot of you grew up in the era that I did with certain TV shows. Some are in syndication and some never to never heard of again. I'm guessing you remember the TV show with Elizabeth Montgomery and the three Darin's, I believe, that she went through as Samantha, entitled, "BEWITCHED". Now the reason I make reference to that is because the witch that that Saul consulted to call up the spirit of Samuel was from a place called "Endor". Does anybody see the correlation? Trivia time. What was the name of Samantha's mother in the TV show "Bewitched"? If you recalled "Endora", you are correct! I’m always amazed when our entertainment culture takes a direct reference from the Bible, and in this case, from Saul's terrible mistake. What happens next is Saul asks her to "call up someone from the dead". To her credit, she tries to resist knowing it's illegal. But Saul assures her no harm will come to her, then he asks her to call up Samuel. When Samuel appears, no one is more shocked than the witch! She realizes who they both are and Saul then asks Samuel for wisdom since God has "gone quiet on him". Samuel complains about being disturbed, and after Saul shares his burden, Samuel then enlightens him that he and his sons will be WITH HIM tomorrow, as they will be killed in battle with the Philistines. And now Samuel, FINALLY gets a weekend off! It's one thing to come out of retirement and volunteer a little… And a totally different thing to be brought back from Hades, the "abode of the dead", just to give the bad news to Saul. But God "permitted" that to happen. Just as God told Cain that "his brother Abel's blood cried out to Him from the ground", Samuel now speaks "once again from beyond the grave". We need to change our phrase in Finishing Well from, "If you ain't DEAD, you ain't DONE"…to "God's gonna use you LONG AFTER you're gone!" And He will. So maybe today is a good time to decide to let God use you. In your family, if they'll listen to you, or an occasional loving teachable moment you might have with a grandchild. Sorry to take you guys into overtime, however, I believe God wants our lives to reflect the "faithful passion" of these heroes we've looked at. Go make it a great day in the Kingdom! You're doing more than you know right now… And the Lord is proud of you! Love you guys , gr
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