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Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:20-31 Abigail’s leadership was exemplary. She was a servant leader. The servant leadership model is one where the leader is called to serve and love (as an action), and Abigail indeed did exactly that while the named leader was partying away after causing the problem. She went herself to plead with David and did her best to resolve the issue to avert the danger ahead....

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:23-31    Another leadership trait of Abigail is taking responsibility.    Abigail may not have been the named head or leader of her family. But she was the one who took responsibility to avert danger coming to her household. While Nabal, the named head of the home, was partying after causing the issue, He couldn’t even take responsibility for his own actions, let alone...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:18–24 Abigail was bold! She went with some servants to meet David and 400 men who were determined to kill her family. That was a bold move! What if David did not agree to the pleas of Abigail? What if, when she went to him with the gifts, he did not accept them but went ahead with his vengeance plans? There are so many what-ifs when we take risks with God. Boldness is...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:14–22 Among all the various traits Abigail showed, one trait was that she was not resentful. When she heard about Nabal’s insults to David from the servant, she could have been distracted and become resentful and angry with Nabal, and perhaps even go and confront him. But instead, she focused on her focus and headed out to meet David immediately to correct the evil tha...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:18–19, 27 Today’s emphasis is on giving. We would see the way giving gifts is able to turn hardened hearts. But it is important to highlight here that giving is not limited to monetary value; it includes time, effort, prayer, expertise, encouragement, love, and the list goes on.     Abigail sensed that David must be angry given Nabal’s behaviour towards his men. She ac...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:33–38 NIV It was predestined for Nabal to die 10 days after the very day David, in anger, summoned his men to Nabal’s house to kill him. Imagine if David killed Nabal on that very day. It would have been a waste of time! For both him and his men, he would have sinned against God in the process. Let us not let anger lead us. Let love lead. In anger, we are so tempted to...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:12–13, 32–34 NIV Looking at previous chapters, David has shown such an amazing example to his men by the way he treated Saul. Even when he had the opportunity to kill him. But in this passage, the same David got so angry with Nabal that he aligned 400 men to follow him to Nabal’s house to kill every male in his family. Thank God for Abigail, who came to plead with him....

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:14–19 NIV Wait a minute. Can you imagine how prompt Abigail was? She dropped everything she was doing and headed in David’s direction.    She could have just said, Okay, let’s think about it, or sent some servants to give David some food, or complained about this being her husband's fault and decided to stay put. If she had done any of these scenarios, her family...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:18–22 NIV Discernment is the ability to perceive, understand, and judge things clearly, especially those that are not straight-forward. It is not only the ability to differentiate between good and bad, but also the ability to differentiate the God way from the good. This was one of the abilities Abigail possessed. She knew exactly what to do at every point in time that...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:10–19 NIV Today we start a mini series on Abigail’s leadership. We would be learning the leadership traits that enabled her to avert danger and David killing her family.  When Nabal’s servants told Abigail how Nabal treated David’s men, Abigail responded urgently: she gathered different food items (which Nabal should have given David’s men) and headed straight to David...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:12–13, 22–25 NIV God is so merciful. When David was so caught up in anger, he sent Abigail to David to stop him from seeking vengeance in anger, which would have led him to sin against God by killing Nabal. God is merciful. Today is a reminder that God can always send us help in whatever situation we may find ourselves in. I have found out that one of the most importan...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:1–13 NIV With all that David went through with Saul, David still continued to show love to Saul, no matter what Saul did. His response was always in love because he knew not to touch God’s anointed. One would have thought the same would apply in all cases. But no, Nabal insults David—only insult—and immediately David heard it, he arranged for 400 men to follow him to N...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:9–13, 23–27, 36–39 NIV   In all the events around David’s testing that involved Nabal and Abigail, it’s good to point out that God was in the midst of everything. Yes, it was a test, but the reward was even greater: David found an amazing wife, Abigail.   Imagine if David ignored Abigail and went on to kill Nabal and her children. Would Abigail have become his wife? No...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:20–34 NIV Today, we contrast how Nabal and Abigail treated David. When David learned of Nabal's attitude towards him, he was determined to kill Nabal and any other male in his house. But Abigail interjected his plans and evaded calamity from coming upon her household simply by the way she honoured him. It is so important to treat people with honour, no matter who...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 25:4–11 NIV Honour all men! Not because of who they are or will be, but because of who we are. At the time, David sent men to Nabal, who was a very wealthy man. David and his men had been protecting his flock from robbers. He asked that Nabal help him with any of his harvest to support them, but Nabal disregarded them… he judged David based on his status at that time. Nab...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:14–20 NIV   When Saul saw the actions of David in sparing his life and how David approached and related to him in humility, despite all he had done, he was touched. He was so touched that not only did he call David “son”, he declared for certain that David would become the next king of Israel.    This is the same person who recruited 3,000 people to kill David, as he w...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:8–15 Still on David’s test. David showed an extraordinary example of love. In many cases, when we show love, we think it only benefits the party we are showing it to. We forget that it benefits us as well. I really like this phrase I saw by Ronda Chervin: “Make many acts of love, for they set the soul on fire and make it gentle.” We are beneficiaries when we show love...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:2 David showed love. He knew not to touch God’s anointed Saul. He had so many opportunities to kill Saul, but because of this same instruction, he didn’t. But this Saul had gathered 3,000 men to capture or kill him in battle. It would have been tough if they ended a battle; there would have been two options: David obeying the instruction “touch not my anointed,” and pe...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:8–15 David had an opportunity to kill Saul when the Lord delivered him to his hands at the cave, but in obedience to God not to touch God's anointed, he refused to touch him. But cut a piece of his coat. This was an act of love from David to Saul. As Saul was leaving the cave, David called to him with the piece of his coat in his hand. While speaking to Saul, he c...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:1–7   Remember, the testing season is for you and me, not the other distractions or parties that may be involved. How we show up and respond is very important for us to excel.   David was going through a test. He was close to killing Saul at the cave. People around him encouraged him to finally end the battle. David did know killing Saul was wrong, as he was God's...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:1–7   Yesterday, we began discussing the testing. Today we look at the repercussions of ending seasons early. David was going through a preparation season to become the king of Israel, particularly building character. So this season was very important. If David ended the season too early, it would have meant he wouldn’t have built the character to sustain kingship and,...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:1-7   As Saul pursued after David with his men, he came to a cave and decided to rest there, unknown to him that David and his men were at the far end of the cave. When David’s men saw this, they said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish." I Sam 24:4. They were glad that t...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 24:1-2 When Saul got informed of where David was, he gathered 3,000 able young men to capture David. 3,000 men! to capture just one man? But we see that even though it may seem like David was outnumbered physically, God was with him, and he was never captured. Just like Psalm 91:7 says, a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right-hand side, but they sh...

Send us Fan Mail 𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨?   1 Samuel 23:24-29 Saul left his place of assignment as king to chase after David. He was so focused on killing David that the people that he was meant to protect had to call him when the Philistines invaded the land. The distraction became his focus! When we look at it, it all started with a simple thought: the women of Israel ascribed to...

Send us Fan Mail 1 Samuel 23:19-23    The Ziphites saw David was the enemy and were helping Saul capture him; as such, they disclosed the location David was at so Saul could easily capture him. They based their judgement on what Saul said or what they heard - Saul painted David as the enemy and crafty, and that was what they focused on—not the man who killed Goliath and saved the whole of Israel....