WALKING WITHOUT STUMBLING – PART 2 of 5: SAMUEL: FAITHFUL JUDGE and PROPHET

A Five Part Series Examining the Lives of Samson, Samuel, Saul, Solomon and the Savior

~ by James Fire

Moses had been dead a long time ago; Joshua, who led the children of Israel into the Promised Land was gone as well. In their place GOD raised up various ‘Judges’ who were defenders of the nation against foreign powers, such as the Philistines. The likes of Samson and Jephthah and others. Then came Samuel, who was also a prophet as well as a priest.
This is the account of this man of GOD; his strengths, his weaknesses, his high points and low. We begin with his mother, Hannah, before Samuel was even born. . .

1 SAMUEL 1:9-11
9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head" (And Hannah makes good on her promise as we see in vs. 22, 27-28).

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WALKING WITHOUT STUMBLING: PART 1 of 5 - The LIFE and TIMES of SAMSON The JUDGE of ISRAEL

~ By James Fire

A Five Part Series Examining the Lives of Samson, Samuel, Saul, Solomon and the Savior

The Scripture admonishes us as believers to “walk in the Spirit” and by so doing, we will not “fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (GAL 5:16). 

We want to walk in victory, in the life that the Spirit gives to us, without stumbling, and falling into sin.

This is not to say that we will ever – (while in these corrupted bodies upon which the curse of sin remains until they too, like our hearts, are redeemed at the coming of the LORD; ROM 8:23) – walk in sinless perfection, as is believed by some, but that we are to grow in the knowledge and grace of our LORD and in holiness (2 PET 3:18; 2 COR 7:1).

Just as babes take their first steps, they tumble and fall as they teeter, trying to gain a sense of balance and coordination but grow and mature and finally walk effortlessly with assured confidence; we also as saints, should mature spiritually until we walk with assured confidence in Christ and His enabling Spirit. 

Yet just as we adults may still stumble and fall occasionally, so too we saints may do so. It should be the aim of every disciple of Christ to establish safeguards and parameters, lessons and living in such a way that promote a walk without stumbling.

In this study we will examine the lives of five men; their challenges, struggles, weaknesses, their downfalls as well as their victories and successes: Samson, who was a Judge of Israel; Samuel who was also a judge as well as a prophet of Israel; Saul, the first King of Israel; Solomon, the second King of Israel from the tribe of Judah and finally the LORD Jesus Christ the Messiah and Ultimate King of Judah – in whom there was never any downfall, though He had met many challenges, and succeeded with unequaled supremacy!

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The GOSPEL of MATTHEW: Ch. 26 – Part 2 The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE

By James Fire

We left off in the first half of MATTHEW 26 where the LORD dropped a bomb-shell on His beloved – basically declaring that He would soon die by the most excruciating means possible: crucifixion (MATT 20:19).

Peter made an oath, that though all the others might be offended in Him, He would never be (and the other disciples said likewise). The LORD prophesied that he would deny Him not just once or even twice, but three times!

The LORD lets it rest and leads His followers to Gethsemane – and we witness all of that which transpires; everything from the unlawful trials He went through, the Satanic influences that inflamed the Sanhedrin as well as the society in Jerusalem – this is where we pick up on PART 2:

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The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH - Part TEN

By James Fire

Previously, after a brief interlude of treating the idea of national Israel being reborn and brought back into the land as the expressed plan and purpose of God, and how such prophecy clearly indicated that this would happen, and has, we now return to the primary subject of this ongoing series, the Millennial Reign of the Messiah.

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The GOSPEL of MATTHEW: Ch. 26 – Part 1 The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE

By James Fire

We all have hopes, dreams, even ambitions that we look to in our future; aspirations for greatness can be a tremendous motivator to ‘give it all we got’ in making our dream a reality.
When these apostles were just fishermen, tax collectors, carpenters and what not, the most they probably hoped for was a fairly prosperous life, being successful at their trade, blessed in their families and friends.

How surprised, shocked even, they must have been when this One, Jesus of Nazareth beckoned them to follow Him. Gradually they came to know Him as a man Who was unique above all others, with remarkable power, wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures; they recognized Him as prophet, but eventually, as the very Messiah of Israel.
From that point on, they realized that they had it made! These twelve were specifically chosen to be leaders in the Messianic Kingdom, the reborn Kingdom of Israel in accordance with the Davidic Covenant! This far exceeded their wildest expectations – but then came the events as we find here in MATTHEW 26. To say that their dreams and aspirations were crushed would be a horrendous understatement . . .

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The PORTENT of PERSECUTION and PERILOUS TIMES

By James Fire

This is not my typical sort of article to write – when it comes to political commentary and our biblical perspective on such, in light of what the Bible says is in store for the church of Jesus Christ, that’s usually Anne Kisly’s – my co-writer – sort of thing.

Be that as it may, this subject is coming up more and more frequently and as Christians, particularly American Christians, we need to keep our eyes open, aware of the country’s political/social climate, and understand the times in which we live (1 CHRON 12:32).

We realize that most of the church, in most nations, during most of her 2000-year history has suffered, to one degree or another, persecution; and most especially from the various religious groups and idolaters of this world.

America has been one of the exceptions in history . . . so far.

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