God's "harvest of righteousness" is first sown in our hearts.

When we sin in trials, it usually involves our words.

A living faith gets to work. Faith is for the fruit, to the praise of the Juice.

Receive His love, truly. That is enough.

Receive His love, truly. That is enough.

Life's difficulties are not obstacles to our happiness, but a source of happiness.

Our faith needs some muscle. 

God is messing with us, in Advent. We need a hero and He sends us a baby? What are we missing? Jesus, of course.

First, look to a King who will never let you down. Second, look at Jesus' example: the people in our lives are the people of our lives.

The War of 1-2 Samuel points to the Victory of God which came about in Jesus.
For us this means that, in Hannah's words, "the bows of the mighty are broken" and so we do not need to be afraid.

Everything depends on the Word of the Lord in our lives.
Everything. On the Word of the Lord. In our lives.

1-2 Samuel ends by highlighting an essential, but easily-forgotten, character trait of God's great,
promised, King. The story is deliberately placed, and deliberately told, in order to focus the
faithful-reader's prayers on this: a King-shepherd who will lay his life down for his sheep.
John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."