Home

Our Past Experiences Impact Our Present Reactions. 1 Samuel meets Judges.

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 11.

Once again I was reminded of the story of the Levite and his concubine which took place in Gibeah (Saul’s hometown) in Judges 19-21, particularly Judges 19:29 ESV, “And when [the Levite] entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.” Along with Judges 21:14 ESV, “And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead….”

Saul is a Benjaminite from the city of Gibeah. He would have known these stories. In fact, his family would have been directly touched by these events recorded in Judges.

Now notice the connections in 1 Samuel 11. Nahash the Ammonite is attacking the people of Jabesh-Gilead — Was Saul’s mother from there? His aunt? His best friend’s mom?

Saul took the yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them to all the other tribes in Israel — Just like what the Levite had done with his concubine’s body. It had worked last time to get the people involved, and it worked this time for Saul.

Our family’s traditions, the stories we grow up hearing, the attitudes of people around us, they impact our lives. How I react to my husband, my children, and the cashier at Walmart is shaped by my upbringing. The takeaway for me in this is twofold. One, as a mom, I want to consider the impact I’m having on my children. How am I shaping them by how I behave and what experiences I invite into my children’s lives? Two, as a grown person, how are my actions today being shaped not by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God but by my past. How am I following my passions, instincts, and impulses rather than the Lord?

Heavenly Father, I love You. All Your ways are right. All You do is good. Father, I want to follow You all the days of my life. I want to be conformed into Your image. Make me more like You. I pray that all my actions would be led by Your Holy Spirit who dwells in me and Your Inspired Word that is a lamp to my feet. Give me wisdom as a mother to recognize how my attitudes and actions, what I let into my children’s lives, what I put in front of their faces, will shape their lives in the future. Help me to live for Your glory. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

The Tribe of Benjamin. 1 Samuel meets Judges.

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 9-10.

Reading through the Bible book by book has helped me make connections that I’d missed before. The book of Judges ended with the terrible story about the Levite whose concubine was raped and murdered in the land of Benjamin. (Read Judges 19-21). Next, all the tribes of Israel went up against the Benjaminites. Thousands were killed on both sides and the tribe of Benjamin was defeated. In the end, though, Israel decided they didn’t want the tribe of Benjamin to be wiped out, so they devised a plan to repopulate the land of Benjamin by providing the few remaining men with virgin young women from Jabesh-Gilead plus those captured from Shiloh.

Now reading 1 Samuel, Israel demanded a king and God chose a man of Benjamin. Benjamin. And the Lord confirmed this in front of all the people, choosing the tribe of Benjamin, the clan of the Matrites, and Saul, the son of Kish, by lots.

Such a powerful example of God’s ways being higher than ours.

Lord, I often don’t understand what You’re doing, why You lead the way You do. Help me to trust You, to believe that You are at work even in the craziness of daily life in this crazy world. Help me to trust You and walk by faith day by day. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Shane and Shane – Psalm 90

An Earthly King Takes, but our Eternal King Gives. 1 Samuel 8.

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 7-8.

The Israelites already had a king, a heavenly, eternal, sovereign, perfect king, but they wanted an earthly king like all the other nations. Samuel warned the people that an earthly king would take and take and take. He would take their sons and daughters along with their lands and animals and grain.

But to think about our heavenly, eternal king, Jesus, who gives and gives and gives, who gives us sons and daughters, who gives us land and animals and grain. And to think that Jesus gave us eternal life at the cost of His own life.

That’s My King – S. M. Lockridge

That’s my king! He is the All-knowing God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Ruler of Heaven and Earth, and He knows me by name. I am His, and He is mine.

All Glory and Honor to God and God Alone: 1 Samuel 4-6.

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 4-6

Today’s reading reminded me of the first two commandments that God gave to Moses.

1. You shall not have any other gods.

2. You shall not worship idols.

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Exodus 20:1-6 ESV

Reading about the trials of both the Israelites and the Philistines, I was reminded that God will not share His glory with any man or any idol. He alone deserves all the praise, worship, glory, and honor.

We must not honor anything as a representative of Him, whether a priest or a saint or a statue or even the ark of the covenant. We must not honor any created thing, whether it represents a false God or the one true God, for all these things are made by human hands and therefore incapable of being an accurate portrayal of The Eternal, Almighty God.

I am the LORD; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

Heavenly Father, show me my faults, open my eyes, enlighten me to the ways in which I am stealing Your glory or giving Your glory to another. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me. You alone are worthy of all glory, praise, and honor. You are God alone. I worship You in Spirit and Truth. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, Your Only Begotten Son and my Redeemer, I pray. Amen.

Psalm 8. Shane and Shane.

Speak, Lord, for Your Servant Hears – A Prayer from 1 Samuel 3

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 3

Heavenly Father, You are the Lord, the only Lord, Supreme ruler over heaven and earth. I am Your servant. You created me. You redeemed me out of sin and out of the kingdom of the evil one. You bought me with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the unblemished, perfect Lamb of God. You own me. I am Yours.

Speak to me, Lord. Speak truth into my soul. Speak peace into my mind. Speak life into my weary heart. Speak to me.

You have said that Your sheep hear Your voice and they follow You. Make me an obedient, submissive, gentle sheep.

Help me to hear, to listen, to understand, to trust, and to obey. Keep my mind from distractions and confusion. Help me to be attentive to Your voice, especially when it is not much louder than a whisper. Give me discernment to clearly recognize Your voice in the midst of the cacophony of distractions that the enemy has buried like land mines all around me.

Thank You for the pure milk, the pure light, the pure water of Your Word. Fill me. Wash me. Guide me. For the glory of Your Name and the edification of Your body.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.

A Prayer from Hannah’s Prayer in 1 Samuel 2

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 2.

Let’s pray and worship the Lord together with Hannah and believers around the world.

My heart rejoices in You, Lord, for You have raised me up from the ash heap and set my feet on the solid rock of salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

I rejoice in You, my God, for there is none holy like You. There is none besides you, Father. Indeed, there is no rock like our God.

Keep me humble, Father. Let me not become arrogant or proud. Help me to remember that You are a righteous judge, knowing and seeing all things, both visible and invisible. Help me to see the log in my own eye. Keep me on my knees in humility before Your throne of grace.

Increase my faith, Lord. You break the bows of the mighty, and You give strength to the weak. You make the full hungry and the hungry full. You give children to the barren, and You take children from those who have many. The number of every man’s days are held in Your hand.

You have given Your only Son, Jesus Christ, that we may be forgiven and redeemed and receive the gift of eternal life with You. Make us ambassadors for Your kingdom, sharing the good news to all four corners of the earth and making disciples of all the nations.

You, Father, are the giver of every good gift, of children and wealth and power and wisdom. Help us to be good stewards of these gifts. Make us instruments of Your peace, blessing the needy with all that You have blessed us, our time, talents, treasures, and testimonies.

The whole world is in Your hands, Father. We pray for the leaders of our nation and the nations around the world. Guide them. Grant them wisdom. Give them strength. Humble and exalt in Your perfect wisdom and timing, and help us to trust and worship You no matter the cost.

In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we pray. Amen.

Instruments of Your Peace

For These Children I have Prayed – Raising Your Children for the Lord. 1 Samuel 1.

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Samuel 1

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.

1 Samuel 1:27 ESV

I prayed for each one of my children, the ones waiting for me in heaven, the ones delivered out of my womb, and the one brought to me from a foreign land. Each one of them is a gift from the good, sovereign hand of the Lord. And I have given each of them back to the Lord – not literally, I suppose, but given back to the Lord nonetheless. Ever since they were infants, I’ve seen myself as a steward of God’s creation.

This belief that I am a steward, a caretaker for God, of my children has had huge implications for my life. How would God want His children raised?

Read the Bible to them.

Teach them to read the Bible for themselves.

Pray for them.

Pray with them.

Worship the Lord with them on Sunday and everyday.

Sing with them.

Teach them to sing to the Lord for themselves.

Be a godly model for them to follow.

Teach them to go through life seeking God first.

Raising children for God is so much more than just teaching them about right and wrong, the Ten Commandments, and Jesus Loves You. Raising my children for God has been my full-time pursuit for over twenty-five years, a pursuit that won’t end when my youngest goes off to college.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the children that You have given to me and my husband. They are a gift from You. Help us to train them up in the way they should go, to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Help us to be faithful stewards, day after day and year after year, remembering that You are their Creator and that their lives are in Your hands. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

What does Redeemed Mean? Thoughts from the Book of Ruth

Published on by kendraske1 Comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Ruth 3-4

In April 1994, I was having another discussion about religion with a young man I was interested in. For the dozenth time I was arguing with him about my inability to believe in a God that I couldn’t see with my eyes or touch with my hands. Suddenly, in a brief moment of humility, I asked a simple question, “What do you mean when you say, ‘saved’?” To me, “save” was a word associated with money and stray puppies, not college valedictorians. And for the first time I heard clearly explained the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Reading through the book of Ruth, I noticed the words redeem and redeemer used over and over again, but do we as 21st-century adults understand what ‘redeemed’ means?

Do we see our own abject lostness and our need for a counselor and guide to show us where to go and lead us by the hand to get there?

Or do we think we’ve already arrived, already know all the answers, and we don’t need anything beyond what hard work, Google, and the government can provide.

Do we see ourselves as hopeless, helpless beggars all searching for a morsel of bread?

Or do we see ourselves as wealthy, capable, able-bodied people in need of no one and no thing to help us?

Do we see our sinful nature and recognize our need for forgiveness and rebirth?

Or do we think we’re really pretty good, decent people who’ve never killed anybody or done anything all that bad, especially compared to all the good things we’ve done?

Naomi, a Jew, and Ruth, a Moabite, both needed to be redeemed and so do you and I. Naomi and Ruth’s earthly lives were redeemed by their kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, but their eternal souls were redeemed by looking forward to that sinless Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for their sins with His own sins blood, something much more precious than all the gold and silver all the world over.

Have you been redeemed? Have you been washed in the blood of that Lamb? Were your sins been fully paid for when Jesus, that spotless Lamb, was nailed to the cross 2,000 years ago?

Read more about redemption at Blue Letter Bible.

Are you Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?
Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb
I Know that My Redeemer Lives

Foreigners Made Citizens of Heaven – From Abram to Ruth to Me

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 years: Ruth 2

Ruth, a widowed Moabite woman, found safety in the providence of God and in the fields of Boaz, her Israelite kinsmen redeemer.

Have you ever considered the fact that God called Abram, a man living in Ur of the Chaldeans, to come to Canaan and be the great father of the Israelite nation? God could’ve chosen someone already living in the Promised Land, but He didn’t. God called Abram to leave his people and his land and to go to a land that he would show him, and he did.

God chose a foreign-born woman, Ruth, to be the great grandmother of King David, the forefather of Jesus Christ Himself. God could’ve chosen Naomi herself, a Jew, but He didn’t. God called Ruth to leave her people and her land and to follow her mother-in-law back to her land, and she did.

And now, three thousand years later, God chose me, a young woman running from God, blaspheming His name, scoffing at His followers, to carry His Word across the world wide web to foreign nations around the world. He could’ve chosen my sister-in-law who grew up in church, but He didn’t. God called me to wake up before dawn, to turn on my computer and teach, morning by morning, and I’m trying. 😁

Heavenly Father, have Your way with me. Help me to trust You and walk humbly with You, my God. You are the God of Redemption and Power, the God of Holiness and Second Chances. You are the Tapestry-Weaving God of Life and Purpose. We worship You, Lord, and thank You for Your mercy. Help us to reach out to the foreigner dwelling among us for Your glory, never forgetting that You desire the worship of people all over the globe. We want to be faithful to make disciples of all nations. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Are you looking for a family friendly advent devotional? Two years ago I got in print what had been in my heart, head, and mouth for the last decade with my own kids. I hope it blesses you. It’s available in paperback or ebook versions. Download a PDF of all 25 ornaments free here.

“From Creation to Christ: A Family Advent Devotional Tracing the Story of the Savior Through Scripture, Stories, Songs, and Pictures”
by Kim Endraske

Day 11 of the Devotional is about Ruth and Boaz. Enjoy!

The Blessing of a Christian Mother-in-Law: Naomi, Ruth, Jan, and Me

Published on by kendraskeLeave a comment

Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Ruth 1

Did you know that the famous words from Ruth 1:16, “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God,” were spoken by Ruth to her mother-in-law, not her husband? Well, now you do. In fact, Ruth said this to her mother-in-law after her husband’s death.

My grandma made this for me as a wedding gift. Ruth 1:16.
Baby #1 – very tired parents, very happy grandparents

Little did my Grandma know when she cross-stitched Ruth 1:16 for a wedding gift for me what an enormous impact my mother-in-law would have on my life. To be honest, as a young bride I struggled in my relationship with my mother-in-law, but God…. God used my mother-in-law’s patience, kindness, and forgiveness to draw me to better understand God’s patience, kindness, and forgiveness.

How’s your relationship with your mother-in-law? Rather than looking at all the things she’s done wrong, try looking instead at all the things she’s done right. You married her son. She must’ve done something well. Next time you start thinking about all the ways you’d like her to change, try looking at what you could change to improve your relationship with her. Could you be more patient, kind, and forgiving toward her? Start there and see what God does. And if you need to make a call or have a face-to-face chat about some hard feelings from something that happened days, months, or years ago, do it. Today. Don’t let bitterness take root and spoil the good fruit that God wants to bear through you.

At Baby #1’s wedding shower

Heavenly Father, Thank You, Lord, for the gift of a mother-in-law who loves You and who loves me. Help me to be grateful and to recognize that this truly is a gift. Thank you for blessing my son with a wife and my daughter with a husband. Give me the wisdom and strength I need to be a patient, kind, and forgiving mother-in-law myself. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.