Judges 16:20

And Delilah said, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” So he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as before, and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Personal Challenge

The story of Samson has many lessons for us to learn about our relationship with our God. God blesses us with His Holy Spirit through our Lord Jesus Christ. He dwells within us and leads us throughout our lives. However, since God also gave us free will, we can choose to quench the Holy Spirit and make decisions that are not in alignment with God’s plan for us. This is what Samson did. He was blessed with the presence and power of God in His life. He chose, however, to flirt with the evils of the world and ultimately lost the precious gift that God had given him. We should learn from this story and strive to listen and submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Lord have mercy on me. the sinner!

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Personal Challenge

No matter how long we have been followers of Christ, no matter how many services we attend, no matter how much we pray and read the scriptures, we are still living in vessels of flesh. These vessels are continually confronted with temptations from this fallen world. Jesus reminded His disciples and us to always be watching and praying so that we might be aware when temptations come our way so that we might be able to fight them off. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Judges 7:9-11

On that same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. Listen to what they shall say, and afterward your hands shall be strong and you shall then go down into the camp.” And he went down with Purah his servant to the edge of the camp of the fifty.

Encouraging Words

Our God is so awesome. He continually shows us what we need to be able to trust in Him. Here we find Gideon preparing to go into battle with the Midianites. Gideon’s army had been whittled down by God from 32,000 soldiers to 300 for this battle. Why did God do that? He needs us all to know that the battles in our lives are not won by our might, but by God’s work in us. God even gave Gideon a chance to eliminate his doubts by going down to the enemy’s camp and hearing for himself their fear and apprehension of the God of the Israelites, our God. God loves us so much that He even cares for us in the midst of our doubts. Glory be to God!

Matthew 25:34-40

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

Personal Challenge

Judges 6:12

And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty one of the armies!”

Encouraging Words

Gideon was very surprised when an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and made this proclamation. His people were under the oppressive role of the Midianites. He was hiding in a wine press threshing wheat so that he would not be discovered. And here this Angel calls him, “mighty one of the armies.” So what is the encouraging part of this verse? It is the truth that our God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are capable of and what battles we have before us. He promises us that He will be with us. We can hold onto this truth through all trials. Glory be to God!

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Encouraging Words

So many religious pundits have come and gone, often leaving behind a trail of misery. We are blessed as followers of Christ to know that He is eternal. He has always been, still is, and always will be, the Son of God. With that truth we can claim this promise that Jesus gave His followers that His words, His teachings. His truths, will always be there as well. His words, His wisdom, transcends all time and has existed before they were ever spoken to mankind. Glory be to God!

Joshua 22:5

But be very careful to do the commandments and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to adhere to Him, and to serve Him with all your mind and with all your soul.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus proclaimed that He fulfilled the Law. This does not mean that we abandon the teachings as defunct and ignore the truth that the law of the old testament portrays. This advice given by Joshua to the tribes remaining on the east of the Jordan is still applicable today as we strive to follow Jesus. Do the commandments that have been given to us, the new covenant. Love the Lord our God. Walk in His ways. Keep His commandments. Adhere to Him. Serve Him. Living this way, loving God this way, leads on our path to theosis. Glory be to God!

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Personal Challenge

It can be very difficult at times to be willing to do what God commands us. We can be very stiff-necked. I guess that is one of the consequences of being given free will. Sometimes we try to blame our defiance on God claiming that He never really gave us a rule book to follow. But that is a lie fabricated by Satan, himself. Jesus summed up everything that we need to do to glorify and honor our Lord with these two commandments. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbor as ourself. If we do this we will need no other rules to live by. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

“Be strong and courageous, for you will divide this land which I swore to your fathers to give them. Be strong, therefore, and courageous to guard yourself and to do as Moses My servant commanded you; then you will not turn away from them, to the right nor to the left. In this way, you will have understanding in whatever you do. The book of this law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may have the understanding to do all the things written therein. Then you will both prosper, make your ways prosperous, and have understanding. Behold, I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be cowardly or fearful, for the Lord your God is with you in all things, wherever you go.”

Personal Challenge

No matter what our age or our background is, we all have a land that we are being asked by God to conquer. It may be sin in our life that we must overcome, or the loss of a loved one that we are mourning, or the loss of a job or a church family that we have grown in, or any other number of battles in our lives that we are called into. Whatever the situation, God encourages us to be strong and courageous and to look to Him to be our fortress and our strength. We must lean on Him and His teachings to lead us through, for He cares for us. Glory be to God!