Month: February 2015

“Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God -of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.”

Like Hannah, we also find ourselves dejected at times.  Reduced to tears.  Feeling unloved.  But God will not forget.  And will not cease to love you despite what it might appear to you.  Take heart in Hannah’s story today!

“A simple life in the Fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.”

For the believer, I suppose that’s a quick-and-simple way of looking at life.  Understanding the meaning of the phrase fear-of-God, however, is key to practicing this lifestyle.  Fear, in this sense of the phrase, is the uttermost feeling of love, devotion, and respect.  The greatest commandment given to us by Jesus himself is to love the Lord with all your heart, and the second one is to love your neighbor as yourself.  May it be that we are mindful of this so as to be able to agree with the author of this verse.

God’s name is a place of protection— good people can run there and be safe.

A place of protection that starts with a mere name, a word, a breath.  For the believer, this is a matter of pure faith, and one that has surely been tested time and time again.