1 Samuel 31, daily devotions, Bible reading and occasionally more

 Max Lucado :Grace That Sustains

Grace That Sustains - April 30, 2026

Paul wrote, “There was given me a thorn in my flesh, from Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV).

The cancer in the body. The sorrow in the heart. The child in the rehab center. The craving for whiskey in the middle of the day. The tears in the middle of the night. The thorn in the flesh. “Take it away,” you’ve pleaded.  Not once, twice, or even three times.  You’ve out-prayed the Apostle Paul and you’re about to hit the wall.  But what you hear Jesus say is this, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Sustaining grace. The grace that meets us at our point of need and equips us with courage, wisdom, and strength. Sustaining grace!  It doesn’t promise the absence of struggle. But it does promise the presence of God.

1 Samuel 31

Saul and Jonathan, Dead on the Mountain

31 1-2 The Philistines made war on Israel. The men of Israel were in full retreat from the Philistines, falling left and right, wounded on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, Saul’s sons.

3-4 The battle was hot and heavy around Saul. The archers got his range and wounded him badly. Saul said to his weapon bearer, “Draw your sword and put me out of my misery, lest these pagan pigs come and make a game out of killing me.”

4-6 But his weapon bearer wouldn’t do it. He was terrified. So Saul took the sword himself and fell on it. When the weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, and his weapon bearer—the men closest to him—died together that day.

7 When the Israelites in the valley opposite and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that their army was in full retreat and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines moved in and occupied the sites.

8-10 The next day, when the Philistines came to rob the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. They cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor. Then they spread the good news all through Philistine country in the shrines of their idols and among the people. They displayed his armor in the shrine of the Ashtoreth. They nailed his corpse to the wall at Beth Shan.

11-13 The people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. Their valiant men sprang into action. They traveled all night, took the corpses of Saul and his three sons from the wall at Beth Shan, and carried them back to Jabesh and burned off the flesh. They then buried the bones under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted in mourning for seven days.

Our daily bread reading And devotion

By Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

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Love is not premeditated. Love is spontaneous, bursting up in extraordinary ways. Consider Paul’s description of love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). There is nothing calculating about the kind of love Paul describes. It is free and easy, arriving without conscious effort on our part. When the Spirit of the Lord is having his way with us, we pour out his love spontaneously, living up to God’s standard without even realizing it.

Like everything that has to do with the life of God in us, the true nature of a loving action can only be seen in hindsight. Looking back on some loving action we took, we are amazed at how we felt in the moment: unselfish and uncalculating. That is the evidence real love was there.

Trying to prove to God how much we love him is a sure sign that we do not love him. The evidence that our love for him is true is that it comes naturally, bubbling up without our bidding at the command of the Holy Spirit. That is why we can’t see our own reasons for doing certain loving things: it is the Spirit in our hearts who does them. We can’t say, “Now I am going to always be patient.” The springs of love are in God, not in us. To look for the love of God in our hearts is absurd if we have not been born again by the Spirit: God’s love is there only when he is. “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

In what area of life do we need to “give careful thought to [our] ways”? Let’s ask God to show us and help us follow His correction.

A Word With You A

Ron Hutchcraft 

Someone Else Has Walked There First - #10254

Ron Hutchcraft 

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Series: A Word With You | Topics:Spiritual Growth Tags: Faith, Fear, Trust, John, Your Hard Times

Scripture:  John 10:4 

There's something invigorating about being the first one out and around in the morning; you sort of feel like the conqueror of your environment. Like when you're the first one out exercising in those first hours of the new day. I had that feeling one morning as I went out for my fitness walk.

I really like to walk when I'm away from home, too. And I was in a setting where right behind me there was this really scenic 18-hole golf course. I'm not a golfer, but I am a walker. There was a beautiful path around there, so I struck out on my early morning walk, and the mist was there, and the dew was all over the golf course. And I said, "You know what? I am the first one to conquer this golf course today. There'll be a lot of people out here later, but I have beaten all the golfers." I felt like the world was all mine, or so I thought. Then I got to one hole and I saw a carpet of dew covering the green, and footprints all across the green. Someone had walked there before me.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Someone Else Has Walked There First."

Our word for today from the Word of God is from John 10:4. Jesus beautifully, intimately describes His relationship with us here as being like that of a shepherd with His sheep: Him shepherd, me sheep. John 10:4 says this, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and the sheep follow Him."

I discovered this verse many years ago, just before we moved from all of the "knowns" that we had in Chicago, to all of the unknowns of northern New Jersey and New York City. We moved there to begin a youth ministry. We had no supporters, we had no place to live, we had no office, we had no staff. We knew nothing. We just claimed this verse, "when He brings out His sheep, He will always go ahead of them." We got there and we found out that God had picked out an apartment, He picked out friends, He had picked out a church, He had picked out an office for us, He picked out supporters; people who could open doors that we needed opened, and that's what God does for all His kids.

Everywhere Jesus will lead you to walk, He promises to walk there first; He goes ahead of you. That's how a shepherd operates. Wherever he's going to take his sheep, he goes ahead of them to see if there's enough pasture for them to be fed, if there are any wolves there that he needs to take care of, and where the cliffs are that they might walk over. He makes sure that He checks it out before they get there. He prepares it for them. That's just the kind of Shepherd He is.

Think of the fear that takes out of the future; the uncertainty. Like the old song says, "I know not what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." Right now maybe you're looking ahead at the next few weeks, maybe months and you're anxious about it. Honestly, there's a whole lot of question marks; there's a lot of unknown out there.

Well, there is one known in the midst of your unknowns. Guess what? That one known covers all the unknowns. Jesus will always be your "go ahead" Shepherd. He always does that with His sheep. He has promised that He would, and He always keeps His promises.

In fact, today He knows your situation, and I think He brought us together and brought this verse to my heart for you, as a personal assurance from Him to you that He is already stepping ahead of you. There's nothing to fear on a path that Jesus has walked before you. It's the blessed security that only a follower of Jesus Christ can know.

So, wherever He takes you, yours won't be the first set of footprints you'll find there. Your Shepherd got there first.

1 Samuel 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CONFESSION OFFERS FREEDOM - April 29, 2026

Confession! It’s a word that conjures up many images—some not so positive!  Confession isn’t telling God what he doesn’t know.  That’s impossible. It’s not pointing fingers at others without pointing any at me. That may feel good, but it doesn’t promote healing.

Confession is a radical reliance on grace—a trust in God’s goodness. The truth is, confessors find a freedom that deniers don’t! Scripture says “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.  He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done” (1 John 1:8-9 NCV).

Tell God what you did.  Again, it’s not that he doesn’t already know, but the two of you need to agree! Then let the pure water of grace flow over your mistakes!

Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine

1 Samuel 30

David’s Strength Was in His God

1–3  30 Three days later, David and his men arrived back in Ziklag. Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They tore Ziklag to pieces and then burned it down. They captured all the women, young and old. They didn’t kill anyone, but drove them like a herd of cattle. By the time David and his men entered the village, it had been burned to the ground, and their wives, sons, and daughters all taken prisoner.

4–6  David and his men burst out in loud wails—wept and wept until they were exhausted with weeping. David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken prisoner along with the rest. And suddenly David was in even worse trouble. There was talk among the men, bitter over the loss of their families, of stoning him.

6–7  David strengthened himself with trust in his God. He ordered Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the Ephod so I can consult God.” Abiathar brought it to David.

8  Then David prayed to God, “Shall I go after these raiders? Can I catch them?”

The answer came, “Go after them! Yes, you’ll catch them! Yes, you’ll make the rescue!”

9–10  David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They arrived at the Brook Besor, where some of them dropped out. David and four hundred men kept up the pursuit, but two hundred of them were too fatigued to cross the Brook Besor, and stayed there.

11–12  Some who went on came across an Egyptian in a field and took him to David. They gave him bread and he ate. And he drank some water. They gave him a piece of fig cake and a couple of raisin muffins. Life began to revive in him. He hadn’t eaten or drunk a thing for three days and nights!

13–14  David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?”

“I’m an Egyptian slave of an Amalekite,” he said. “My master walked off and left me when I got sick—that was three days ago. We had raided the Negev of the Kerethites, of Judah, and of Caleb. Ziklag we burned.”

15  David asked him, “Can you take us to the raiders?”

“Promise me by God,” he said, “that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my old master, and I’ll take you straight to the raiders.”

16  He led David to them. They were scattered all over the place, eating and drinking, gorging themselves on all the loot they had plundered from Philistia and Judah.

17–20  David pounced. He fought them from before sunrise until evening of the next day. None got away except for four hundred of the younger men who escaped by riding off on camels. David rescued everything the Amalekites had taken. And he rescued his two wives! Nothing and no one was missing—young or old, son or daughter, plunder or whatever. David recovered the whole lot. He herded the sheep and cattle before them, and they all shouted, “David’s plunder!”

21  Then David came to the two hundred who had been too tired to continue with him and had dropped out at the Brook Besor. They came out to welcome David and his band. As he came near he called out, “Success!”

22  But all the mean-spirited men who had marched with David, the rabble element, objected: “They didn’t help in the rescue, they don’t get any of the plunder we recovered. Each man can have his wife and children, but that’s it. Take them and go!”

23–25  “Families don’t do this sort of thing! Oh no, my brothers!” said David as he broke up the argument. “You can’t act this way with what God gave us! God kept us safe. He handed over the raiders who attacked us. Who would ever listen to this kind of talk? The share of the one who stays with the gear is the share of the one who fights—equal shares. Share and share alike!” From that day on, David made that the rule in Israel—and it still is.

26–31  On returning to Ziklag, David sent portions of the plunder to the elders of Judah, his neighbors, with a note saying, “A gift from the plunder of God’s enemies!” He sent them to the elders in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, Jerahmeelite cities, Kenite cities, Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, and Hebron, along with a number of other places David and his men went to from time to time.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

by Sheridan Voysey

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Job 19:5-12

Why do you insist on putting me down,

using my troubles as a stick to beat me?

Tell it to God—he’s the one behind all this,

he’s the one who dragged me into this mess.

7–12  “Look at me—I shout ‘Murder!’ and I’m ignored;

I call for help and no one bothers to stop.

God threw a barricade across my path—I’m stymied;

he turned out all the lights—I’m stuck in the dark.

He destroyed my reputation,

robbed me of all self-respect.

He tore me apart piece by piece—I’m ruined!

Then he yanked out hope by the roots.

He’s angry with me—oh, how he’s angry!

He treats me like his worst enemy.

He has launched a major campaign against me,

using every weapon he can think of,

coming at me from all sides at once.

Today's Insights

In Job 19:5-12, Job speaks with striking candor, not only hurling accusations at his friends but also at God. He says that God has “walled up” (v. 8 esv) his path, a translation of the Hebrew word that conveys building a barrier or enclosing something so it can’t escape. Job also claims God has “set darkness upon [his] paths” (v. 8 esv), suggesting not mere inconvenience but the removal of light itself, a symbol of life and order. He describes himself as a besieged city: God’s “troops” advance together, building “a siege ramp” against him (v. 12), implying a military approach.

Job refuses to sanitize his language. He dares to depict God as his attacker, one who “tears [him] down” and “uproots [his] hope like a tree” (v. 10). This isn’t blasphemy but rather the brutal honesty of a sufferer. His speech can remind us today that we can bring both our praise and our honest anger to God in prayer.

Prayer in Disguise

God has wronged me and drawn his net around me. Job 19:6

After the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel lost his faith. “Where were you, God of kindness?” he asked, recalling the evil he and others suffered. “In my childhood I did not expect much from human beings. But I expected everything from you.”

And yet, Wiesel realized later that his faith had never really left him. “It is because I believed in God that I was angry at God,” he told a journalist, “and still am.” You don’t get angry at someone you don’t believe exists.

We might feel uncomfortable expressing anger at God, but biblical characters did. “You deceived me, Lord,” the prophet Jeremiah cried (20:7). “Will you forget me forever?” David wrote (Psalm 13:1). “God has wronged me,” Job said (19:6). Unaware of Satan’s role in his misfortune, Job accused God of being cruel (10:3) and even subpoenaed Him to court (31:35)! While Job later discovered that his understanding was limited (42:3), it’s important to note God never rebukes his feelings.

Despite his questions, Elie Wiesel prayed, “Let us make up. It is unbearable to be divorced from you so long.” We too might be angry at God for not limiting the suffering in our world, but our expressing it to Him can become prayer in disguise—keeping us close to the God who wants us to bring not just our praise but our anger to Him too.

Reflect & Pray

When have you felt angry at God? How can Job’s story help us express and keep a clear perspective?

Dear God, I'm angry at the suffering in this world, but choose to trust You.

For further study, read Job and the God Who Would Not Be Chained at odbm.org.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

The Graciousness of Uncertainty

What we will be has not yet been made known. — 1 John 3:2

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some goal, but this isn’t the nature of the spiritual life.

The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain of the rest, never knowing what a day may bring. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should be said with a burst of breathless expectation: we’re uncertain of the next step, but we’re certain of God.

The instant we abandon ourselves to God, he begins to fill our life with constant surprises. But when we become advocates of a creed, something within us dies. If we are clinging to a creed or a belief, we aren’t believing God himself; we are merely believing our beliefs about him.

Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children …” (Matthew 18:3). Spiritual life is the life of a child. A child isn’t uncertain of God, only of what God will do next. If we are sure of our beliefs, we are haughty and absolutely set in our opinions. Jesus said, “Believe also in me” (John 14:1). He didn’t say, “Believe your own ideas about me.” When we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.

Leave everything to God. It is gloriously uncertain how he will come, but he will come.

1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them. 

Biblical Psychology, 189 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

A LIFE THAT MATTERS - #10253

She was one of the most admired women in the world - Mother Teresa, that angelic woman who devoted her life to the least of the least in the slums of Calcutta, India. The world's greatest leaders wanted to meet her and to experience her love and her moral authority. And actually, she was just a diminutive woman who made such a difference in the world. Some years ago, a young man wrote a letter to Mother Teresa, asking her how he could make his life count as she had with hers. He waited six months for a reply from this very busy lady. When it came, it was just a postcard with just four words on it - four very powerful words - "Find your own Calcutta."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Life That Matters."

If you do just what comes naturally, you'll live the kind of life most people do - self-focused, self-centered, self-serving. But a life that's only as big as you are is too small to live in. And you might be feeling an emotional and spiritual claustrophobia right now. Business as usual just isn't satisfying that restlessness in your heart is it? Your life is full, but not really fulfilling. Find your own Calcutta. Find some people who need you and start pouring your life out for them. The lid will come off your life.

Jesus gave us an immortal, indelible picture of the two ways to live life in His classic story of the Good Samaritan. It's in Luke 10, beginning with verse 30, our word for today from the Word of God. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side" - as, by the way, did another religious leader who came by next.

Jesus goes on: "But a Samaritan...came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds... He put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him." Then Jesus went on to say that the Samaritan paid all the expenses of the beaten man's recovery; and that this Samaritan was the kind of neighbor He expects all of us to be.

And there in that simple story is a picture of two lifestyles - you can be all about yourself, ignoring the needs of people in your path... or stopping for people's needs, bearing the burdens of a bleeding world. I was really touched by a news report about a man whose choice might help you step up to a life that makes a far greater difference.

It actually happened right after September 11th and it said that "David Townsend's perspective changed profoundly on September 11th." It says, "From that moment forward, (Here's what he said.) I realized that we are not going to live forever. I feel an even greater sense of urgency; feel compelled to leave my mark on the world. It has changed my outlook totally and shaken me to the core." So, apparently, according to the story, Townsend left his job to work in social services with the homeless and with urban churches. Here's his quote, "September 11th reinforced in me the need to live a life that matters."

I think that's the kind of life you want isn't it? So learn to wake up each morning and ask yourself, "Who needs me today?" not "Who can meet my needs today?" There are people in your personal circle - people in your community - who desperately need someone to care, to be there for them. And remember, there is no greater difference you can make in anyone's life than to introduce them to Jesus Christ and take them to heaven with you! That's an eternal difference!

With however many years or few years you have left (who knows?), live to make the greatest possible difference with the rest of your life!