Lord remember me again (#u5ac3f686-2419-551b-8a60-d4fa8faa6a48)
Samson (#u8b11cf93-814a-52be-94cd-beb4a8026fad)
“The angel of the LORD replied, ‘Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, or eat any forbidden food’. Then Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, ‘Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat’ ‘I will stay’ the angel of the LORD replied, ‘but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as sacrifice to the LORD’. (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the LORD). Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD. ‘What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you’. ‘Why do you ask my name?’ the angel of the LORD replied. ‘You wouldn’t understand if I told you’. Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the LORD. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the LORD did an amazing thing. As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the LORD ASCENDED IN THE FIRE. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground.” (#ue23c0560-00aa-599c-af3d-af7a7055e33e)
“So the philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he has bound with bronze chains and made to grind grain in the prison. But before long his hair began to grow back. The philistine leaders held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, ‘Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson! When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying ‘Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us in now in our power! | Half drunk by now, the people demanded, ‘bring out Samson so he can perform for us!’ So he was brought from the prison and made to stand at the center of the temple, between the two pillars supporting the roof. Samson said to the servant who was leading him by the hand, ‘place my hands against the two pillars. I want to rest against them!’ The temple was completely filled with people. All the philistine leaders were there, and there were about three thousand on the roof who were watching Samson and making fun of him. | Then Samson prayed to the LORD, ‘Sovereign LORD remember me again. O God, please strengthen me one more time so that I may pay back the Philistines for the loss of my eyes’. Then Samson put his hands on the centre pillars of the temple and pushed against them with all his might, let me die with the philistines, he prayed. And the temple crashed down on the philistine leaders and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire life time.” | Judges 16: 21 -30 (#uf45b8d8e-539c-5754-ac78-9d2771657e87)
If I perish, I perish (#u2779255c-d411-53e2-ae5c-fe2d39ccf1c1)
“Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai; ‘The whole world knows that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him in more than a month.” (#ub5ca84b7-ddd0-5bf1-9b96-555a6059b5b2)
“Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai; ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king if I must die. I am willing to die.” (#uda2a2db1-a49d-57a8-ba86-a424d4a7d5ba)
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? (#u9478cdce-5d58-50fb-84bb-aa3fd5daea6f)
“But David persisted, ‘I have been taking care of my father’s sheep’, he said ‘When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb form its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the Jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears...” (#uc22fcf9b-1532-5d7a-95ae-d996a4b612a9)
“Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bonze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield. | ‘Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, ‘Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!’ When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.” (#u4c2bcb52-da92-58dd-a672-866f2726ef82)
“As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine Giant with only a stone and sling. And since he had no sword, he ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head. | ‘When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. Then the Israelites gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the philistines, chasing them as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. Then the Israelites army returned and plundered the deserted philistine camp.” (#u0873703e-859f-51d6-88ac-093500d90729)
Dynasty of kings for you (#ub19f7af5-503c-5e81-87a1-f2e24d88ba12)
“But that same night the LORD said to Nathan, ‘Go and tell my servant David, This is what the LORD says... Now I will make your name famous throughout the earth... | ‘And now the Lord declares that He will build a house for you – a dynasty of kings! For when you die, I will raise up one of your descendants, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house - a temple for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will use other nations to punish him. But my unfailing love will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed before you. Your dynasty and your kingdom will continue for all time before me, and your throne will be secure forever.” (#u78ac8ae3-b7cd-56ce-bca7-fbc13901a681)
Chapter Four | I will pay the price (#u892b92b7-be2c-5b87-82f6-530761974839)
“That day Gad came to David and said to him, ‘Go and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite’, So David went to do what the LORD had commanded him. When Araunah saw the king and his men coming towards him, he came forward and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. ‘Why have you come, my lord?’ Araunah asked. And David replied, ‘I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that the Lord will stop the plague’ | ‘Take it, my lord, and use it as you wish’ Araunah said to David. ‘Here are oxen for the burn offering and you can use the threshing tools and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. I will give it all to you, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice’. But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing’. So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped!!” (#ue337e4ab-f0b6-5058-ad8f-9290d05b664e)
David’s mighty men (#u8fc7ed67-229b-5982-b3bf-7e887822ffb2)
Jashobeam the Hacmonite (#u142be1d0-81e4-5ca5-bf91-bc4409aa769e)
Eleazar (#u1ad77ae0-6e89-502d-8ac6-5f8a10d537ac)
Shammah (#ucabc6cf2-283a-534d-a8de-b3d454d77a8f)
And the three broke the ranks (#u51e397f4-c97b-5551-804a-ae7630ce1a4f)
“David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem. David remarked longingly to his men, ‘Oh, how I would love some of that good water, from the well in Bethlehem, the one by the gate’. So the three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from there, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. ‘The Lord forbid that I should drink this!’ He exclaimed. This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me’. So David did not drink it. This is an example of the exploits of the three.” (#ucdeeb37c-8120-56ac-b926-92c7d7b02312)
Chapter Five | Follow me! We came for you! (#ub76b3bbe-1b7b-545b-9b2b-01c90aebb014)
Stephen Bass (#ufbc2506a-ea6b-5abb-97f1-8a9e70b7429e)
“For service as set forth in the following citation for extraordinary heroism while serving with the British Special Boat Service during combat operations in Northern Afghanistan on 25 and 26 November 2001. Chief Petty Officer Stephen Bass deployed to the area as a member of a joint American and British Special Forces Rescue Team to locate and recover two missing American citizens, one presumed to be seriously injured or dead, after hard-line al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at the Qala-i-jangi fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif over-powered them and gained access to large quantities of arms and ammunition stored at the fortress. Once inside, Chief Petty officer Bass was engaged continuously by direct small arms fire, indirect mortar fire, and rocket propelled grenade fire. He was forced to walk through an active anti-personnel minefield in order to gain entry to the fortress. After establishing the possible location of both American citizens, under heavy fire and without concern for his own personal safety, he made two attempts to rescue the uninjured citizen by crawling towards the fortress interior to reach him. Forced to withdraw due to large volumes of fire falling on his position, he was undeterred. After reporting his efforts to the remaining members of the recue team, they left and attempted to locate the missing citizen on the outside of the fortress. As darkness began to fall, no attempt was going to be made to locate the other injured American citizen. Chief Petty Officer Bass then took matters into his own hands. Without regard for his own personal safety, he moved forward another three hundred to four hundred meters into the heart of the fortress by himself under constant enemy fire in an attempt to locate the injured citizen., running low on ammunition, he utilized weapons from deceased Afghans to continue his rescue attempt. Upon verifying the condition and location of the American citizen he withdrew from the fortress. By his outstanding display of decisive leadership; unlimited courage in the face of enemy fires and utmost devotion to duty, chief Petty officer Bass reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval service.” (#u4e848474-8dd0-5689-9a1f-ea6d14125786)
THE UNITED STATES NAVY SEAL CREED (#uaa93205d-c00e-5338-85d4-68f216a6e862)
Chapter Six | I will preserve you (#u379b7c4a-b0f9-52f0-b9ca-2ab087b845ac)
Let there be rain! (#u17e7ec39-6f70-52f1-a0d5-4a6660a64e70)
“Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!’... And sure enough, the sky was soon black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel” (#u35d0c07c-dad3-5e61-8c8d-0c8dd7ed5ebf)
Pay your dues (#u5818a614-24b4-547b-b135-edf53b9bf0aa)
Bitterness into sweetness (#uf8c3b63a-87b1-53fd-9fde-d4046ab058a2)
“Now the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha, ‘We have a problem, my lord’, they told him. ‘This town is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unproductive’. Elisha said, ‘Bring me a new bowl with salt in it’. So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have made this water wholesome. It will no longer cause death or infertility’. And sure enough! The water has remained wholesome ever since, just as Elisha said” (#u5f5255ad-8005-566c-babc-c0b15e721a5c)
Come and eat (#u5a1b1e34-2f49-5093-82e4-cd18f879646c)
“Later Elisha asked Gehazi, ‘What do you think we can do for her?’ He suggested, ‘she doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man. ‘Call her back again’, Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway, ‘Next year at about this time you will be holding a son in your arm!..” (#uabcbbe73-7055-5678-b28c-6b1a703348d4)
Give me a guarantee (#ud66a7d8e-1697-5b7e-9e50-00d566079a39)
“Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families” | We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety; the men agreed. ‘if you don’t betray us, we will keep our promise when the Lord gives us the land..... Before they left, the men told her, ‘we can guarantee your safety only if you leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window. And all your family members - your father, mother, brothers and your relatives-must be here inside the house.” (#u6553e3e2-a604-5679-b022-c80814134936)
Where you go I will go (#ue46a053c-3d35-52ac-9e9f-383f4a51dc4d)
“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” (#u3f479310-ed92-5943-b4c9-fd72ed8fc6fa)
“Yes, I know’, Boaz replied ‘but I also know about the love and kindness you have shown your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge reward you fully” (#u93572732-6583-5793-8f8a-2521a88c2e00)
Chapter Seven | Cook that last meal (#u1f1c6d71-a4d4-5648-b18c-c93b616a5d59)
“So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a window gathering sticks, and he asked her, ‘Would you please bring me a cup of water?’ As she was going to get it, he called to her, ‘Bring me a bite of bread too.’ But she said, ‘I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of a jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.’ | “But Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and cook that last meal, but bake me a little loaf of bread first. Afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again.” (#uce7baf6b-0f8f-5db7-bd3e-dccbece9a9f3)
“Some time later, the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. She then said to Elijah, ‘O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son?’ But Elijah replied ‘Give me your son.’ And he took the boy’s body from her, carried him up to the upper room, where he lived and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy on this window who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?’ | And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him’. The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer and the life of the child returned and he came back to life! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. ‘Look, your son is alive! He said.” (#u69c263a2-c26c-57c8-bca0-fb64fdfee36e)
Few loaves and a little fish (#ue4e335f1-6034-5c5d-9877-5e4e94b38771)
Others (#u0c79ebd5-d97c-511e-a1d9-206daa58aa7c)
“So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administration responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t have a worry in the world, except to decide what he wanted to eat. Now Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and about this time, Potiphar’s wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her. But Joseph refused. ‘Look!’ He told her, ‘my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do! He had held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” (#u22a1c80d-a396-52f3-9833-ae16023ca6ed)
Chapter Eight | The power to save (#u169ff037-f03c-5454-ae48-ee4502d93813)
“Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him. Stepping forward to meet them, he asked, ‘Whom are you looking for?’ ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ they replied. ‘I am he’, Jesus said. Jesus identified himself. And as he said ‘I am he’, they all fell backward to the ground!” (#u6cf85aee-9b63-51b2-a52e-8b716cca0f6e)
“Meanwhile, all his disciples deserted him and ran away. There was a young man following along behind, clothed only in linen night shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, they tore off his clothes, but he escaped and ran away naked. Jesus was led to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, other leaders, and teachers of religious law had gathered. Meanwhile, Peter followed far behind and then slipped inside the gates of the high priest’s courtyard. For a while he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.’ | “Meanwhile, Peter was below in the courtyard. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest noticed Peter warming himself at the fire, she looked at him closely and then said, ‘You were one of those with Jesus, the Nazareth’ Peter denied it. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about’, he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed” (#u1a350d22-2e69-58f2-821f-7205c20f7e76)
“At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three 0’clock. At about three 0’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli lema sabachthani? Which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?... | “Then Jesus shouted out again, and he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the Temple was torn into two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead after Jesus’ resurrection. They left the cemetery, went into the Holy City of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, ‘Truly, this was the Son of God!” (#ufd6ad0a3-cb92-54e0-b0f2-ea88bb22f308)
The Third Day (#u2302b508-8e7c-5a18-99f8-02c02abba27a)
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shock with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women ‘don’t’ be afraid! He said, ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He has been raised form the dead.” (#uf9881821-cf8f-5634-9486-852b86ade620)
