1 Samuel 17:10
“And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”
The condition of a nation is always set by her men. When the men of
a nation are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, that nation
will find itself in disarray. God meant for the men to be the leaders of
a nation.
1 Samuel 9:27
“And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.”
In the verse above, Saul had yet to find that God’s will for his life was to become king of Israel. Up to this point in his life, he was still involved with cattle. It was when Saul was searching for his livestock that he found the man of God and discovered God’s will for his life.
Ruth 1:1
“Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.”
Elimelech and his wife, Ruth, made the same mistake that many still make today in that they didn't learn that you don't follow bread.
Joshua 17:14
“And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?”
One of the greatest enemies of success is success. Success will give a person confidence, and confidence is a very necessary ingredient to building upon success. However, if confidence is not carefully guarded, it can turn into arrogance. When arrogance takes over confidence, the seed of pride is planted, and that seed will lead to destruction.
Joshua 1:18
“Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and
will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he
shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.”
Everyone deals with influences every day. You have outside,
personal and inside influences that you are around every day. Outside
influences are those who come from associations, friends or daily
acquaintances. Personal influence are those which come from your
personal life; they are the things that you read, see, hear and
research. Inside influences are those who associate with you through the
church, work or daily activities. One of the keys to keeping yourself
from doing wrong is to avoid the negative influences in each of these
areas.
Deuteronomy 28:12
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
The best book on money principles is God’s Word. Throughout its pages, you will find principles placed in verses like the verse above. It should catch your eyes when God says, “The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure…” No one has more treasure than the LORD. If He is willing to open “his good treasure,” you would be wise to learn what you must do for that treasure to be opened. God shows four principles you must follow to open “his good treasure.”
Deuteronomy 19:21
“And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
At the end of the day, your credibility is the balance on your character’s bank account. Your handling of difficult situations determines the credibility of your leadership. As a Christian, people should observe how you handle controversies and sin and say that you are just in your dealings with wrong. When people feel that you are just, your credibility will allow you to continue to lead and influence more people for Christ.
Deuteronomy 5:24
“And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.”
The children of Israel were afraid to talk to God. When God told Moses to go to the top of the mountain to receive His commandments, the people of Israel were afraid that he would not live. However, when Moses came off the mount, the people saw“that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” For the first time, these people realized that man could talk with God.
Numbers 22:7
“And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.”
We are often reminded of the importance of prayer and the need of boldly going to God’s throne to ask Him to give us a desire or a need. Certainly, every Christian could improve their prayer life; however, there are some times when you don't need to ask God if He would give you something or if you should do something.
Numbers 14:2
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!”
Have you ever walked down the street and felt a little pebble inside your shoe that caused discomfort to your heel? Every time you put your foot on the ground, you felt that poking on the heel that hurt. You have two choices at that point; you can leave the pebble in the shoe and continue to experience discomfort, or you can stop and take your shoe off and remove the source of the irritation.