March 19, 2023
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Judges 4-5
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exposition
What’s God’s calling on your life? Or do you not think you have a calling? You don’t think He could use you? You don’t have any special talent or ability? Awesome! God loves using ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.
Or maybe you’re going through a time of trouble? Sometimes God uses suffering to get our attention, so that we’ll actually hear His call. Receiving His comfort, we also receive His call to comfort others in the same trouble we once had. Are you willing to answer God’s call on your life?
In chapter 4 and 5 of Judges, the people of Israel again rebelled against the Lord and did evil in His sight, but after falling into servitude, they cried out to the Lord, so the Lord called an unlikely duo named, Deborah and Barak, to rescue Israel. And they answered God’s call. We can answer God’s call on our lives.
March 12, 2023
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Judges 3
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exposition
Spiritually speaking, the heart is the seat of the will, the driver’s seat of our lives. Yet we have this human tendency to have forgetful hearts. And when we forget the Lord in our hearts, we put our very lives at risk. For we open our hearts up to temptation and every kind of sin and enslavement. Where have you forgotten the Lord today? Where do you need to be reminded to remember God in your heart today?
In chapter three of Judges, the Israelites were caught up in a cycle of heart-forgetfulness, until they remembered the Lord and repented and the Lord rescued them. We can remind our forgetful hearts to always remember the Lord.
March 5, 2023
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Judges 1-2
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exposition
In these first two introductory chapters today, we see that Israel had not fully placed their hope and trust in God to fully obey Him. They said they “could not.” But God essentially said, they “would not.” This is a question worth asking ourselves. Where have you made flimsy excuses to God because you’ve put your hope in yourself or someone or something else instead of in Him? That’s what started the downward descent of Israel.
In the first two chapters of Judges, Israel failed to fully trust God’s promise and obey His word, so the Lord allowed their enemies to oppress them. Yet, God was moved by their suffering, so He raised up judges to save them. We can learn to fully trust and obey God.
May 3, 2022
MANMADE RELIGION DOES NOT PLEASE GOD What a convoluted story this is! It begins with Micah’s confession that he had taken 1,100 shekels of silver from his mother, who had consequently put a curse on whomever had stolen it. When his mother heard his confession, she blessed him, and told him that she had dedicated
April 24, 2022
STOP THE MERRY GO ROUND! The book of Judges is marked by a repetitive cycle that makes it painful to read. It’s difficult to see generation after generation forget the lessons of their forebears and repeat the same mistakes. A vicious cycle soon becomes apparent: 1) Sin (Rebellion) – “Once again the Israelites did
May 2, 2021
HAVE YOU ATTEMPTED TO MOVE WITHOUT GOD? Samson took God’s presence and power for granted, but when Delilah shaved off his seven locks, the power of the LORD left him. Samson didn’t even notice, until it was too late. We shouldn’t wonder at Samson’s shortcomings. We can be just like him. When we step
May 1, 2021
JESUS NEVER DISAPPOINTS As one preacher described it, Samson was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As chapter thirteen concludes, we have great hope in Samson’s future. Announced by an angel, the only child of faithful and doting parents, and blessed by God, the writer of the Book of Judges has more to
April 29, 2021
DOES GOD GET WEARY? When the Israelites finally “got rid” of their idolatry, so that their deeds matched their words of repentance, God was moved to answer their cry. The description of the Lord’s response to Israel’s true repentance is revealing. For it described Him as being “weary of Israel’s misery.” What does this
April 28, 2021
LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION Gideon, the hesitant judge, would not be coaxed into being king. He recognized that it was the Lord, and not the people, who had called him to be a judge and lead Israel against the Midianites. Therefore, he did not recognize the people’s authority to name him king and rightly
April 26, 2021
BE CAREFUL ABOUT ASKING GOD FOR A SIGN Gideon’s fleece test –– Was it narrative or normative? I believe it must be considered narrative, a true story described, yet not prescribed. It is not to be taken as normative, meaning that it does not teach a norm, or a timeless method, on how to discover