In 1 Samuel 9 & 10, Saul is looking for donkeys but finds his calling and God's will for his life. Samuel anoints Saul privately first, then gives him the confirmation he needs so he'll know this call is from God. The confirmation points to exactly what happens when we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. What was lost is now found, a hunger will be fed, you will desire to praise and worship to God, and the Holy Spirit will empower you making you into a different person. There will...
May 10, 2023•19 min
In 1 Samuel 7 & 8, revival falls on the nation of Israel. They join together, hunger for God, and humble themselves before God. They repent and turn from sin and pour their hearts back to God. The Philistines attack and they cry out to God and God answers. God doesn't depend on us, we depend on Him. He is not a genie or something to be used when we think of it - He is God. Just that quickly, they forget who He is and decide they want a different king that is not God. They want to suddenly lo...
May 09, 2023•16 min
In 1 Samuel 5 & 6, the Philistines have the Ark of the Covenant and think that their false pagan god defeated God. They place the Ark right next the the statue of their god, Dagon. They look the next day and find Dagon face down in front of the Ark. They put it back up and again the following day it is face down in front of the Ark and this time its arms and legs are broken off. They are struck with a plague of tumors and rats and start playing who gets it next within the Philistine cities b...
May 04, 2023•15 min
In 1 Samuel 3 & 4, God calls out to Samuel. Once Samuel realizes it is God speaking, he answers "Speak, your servant listening." God gives Samuel the very same message the man of God gave Eli in the previous chapter. God is sending the same message through a different messenger. God is validating the ministry and call on Samuel's life. He tells Eli the message from God which is a warning of what is to come due to the choices he and his sons made in the priesthood. The Philistines come i and ...
May 03, 2023•16 min
In 1 Samuel 1 & 2, we find a man after God in the midst of all the evil during the time of Judges. Elkanah had two wives, he wasn't perfect - but he was seeking after God. His wife Peninnah would bully and taunt Hannah because she had children and Hannah did not. Hannah fervently cries out to God promising God that if He blesses her with a child, she will give him back to God. God hears her prayer and blesses her with a child. Samuel is born and Hannah rejoices. She honors her vow to God and...
May 02, 2023•17 min
A message of encouragement to rise up and go. Life's circumstances are real and very difficult. We face many challenges this side of heaven. We are not called to face them alone and never should. We have Jesus in us if we accept Him as our Savior and that means we have all of His resources. He can give us the strength to rise up and keep going even when we feel like we just can't. God is always with us and we are never alone in or through any of it. He also calls us to have community and find ou...
May 01, 2023•16 min
In Ruth 4, Boaz goes to meet with the nameless potential family redeemer who has a right to redeem Ruth before Boaz. He risks the girl to follow God's ways. He's not willing to budge when it comes to his character with God - not even for a girl he's swooning over. He meets with this nameless man and the man says - no thanks - and passes on the offer. Boaz gets the girl! God's will is coming forth and this family is being redeemed wholly. They are married and given a huge blessing over their live...
Apr 27, 2023•13 min
In Ruth 3, Naomi plays matchmaker and devises a detailed plan for Ruth to marry Boaz and allow him to be their family redeemer. Ruth is all in and she takes a bath, puts on perfume, dresses in her nicest clothes and goes to the threshing floor. Jesus is our Redeemer. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, He cleanses us of all sin and impurity. Then we are supposed to anoint ourselves in the fragrance of Christ allowing His love, integrity, and character to emit to others through ...
Apr 26, 2023•11 min
In Ruth 2, Ruth goes out to glean the edges of the field and she found herself right smack in Boaz's field. This is also right smack where God intended her to be. She works hard gleaning the edges of the harvest and Boaz takes notice. He inquires of her. He sees her character, integrity, honor, and humility and is drawn to her - even in her sweaty, dirty, messy state. He gives shows her kindness, comfort, provision, protection, and community. She appropriately responds in gratitude. This should ...
Apr 25, 2023•18 min
In Ruth 1, Naomi and her family move to Moab due to a severe famine in the land. They settle there until Naomi's husband and two sons pass away. Naomi is hurt and mourning her husband and sons. They decide to return to Judah since the famine has since subsided. Naomi's two Moabite daughter-in-laws head back with her. The Moabite women were not looked on favorably by the Israelites. They were considered as outcasts. Naomi tells them to go back to their own homes since she has nothing left for the...
Apr 24, 2023•13 min
In Judges 21, the Israelites have remorse for the Benjaminites and are concerned about losing an entire tribe due to the destruction that erupted from all the sin that has encompassed their nation. There are 600 Benjaminites left and their loophole of a solution is to kidnap women and give them to the men that are left so the tribe can repopulate. God's will is for His people to love Him and love people. Sin has taken root and they are definitely not doing either. The events in the final chapter...
Apr 20, 2023•8 min
In Judges 19 & 20, Israel reaches the bottom of their sin spiral. They have been living life doing whatever they please and what is good in their own eyes instead of God's. They see the earthly consequences of those choices spring forth and how bad things have gotten. A civil war breaks out and many of the tribes unite, tap out, and submit to God to fight this evil. God answers their cry. God always responds to repentance. They end up destroying themselves and each other in this war which is...
Apr 19, 2023•19 min
In Judges 17 & 18, we no longer have any judges or kings leading anyone. People are doing what they see as right in their own eyes rather than checking with God on what He wants them to be doing. We often find ourselves doing the same thing. We tend to want to ask God to bless our moves through life rather than asking Him what those moves should be. We fail God time and time again. The Good News is that our faith in Jesus outweighs our failures and we can run to the cross and repent once aga...
Apr 18, 2023•13 min
In Judges 16, we have Samson's final chapter. He falls in love with a prostitute named Delilah who tricks him into telling her what keeps him so strong. It is truly the Lord who keeps Samson strong. God set Samson aside as a Nazirite which is a 3-part covenant to be set apart for God by following God's direction in 3 lifestyle choices. He was not to drink, he was not to be near death, and he was not to cut his hair. So far he had only kept one of the vows - his hair had not yet been cut. God was...
Apr 17, 2023•11 min
In Judges 14 & 15, Samson's rebellion shows through. He touches death and has a seven day wedding celebration while preparing to marry a woman from the very nation he was called to conquer. He even eats honey from the dead carcass of the lion he killed. But God. God still uses him. God is still moving through him to bring forth His will. Selfishness and sin hurts us, not God. God uses Samson to overtake the Philistines regardless of Samson and whether he's perfectly right with God at the mom...
Apr 14, 2023•14 min
In Judges 12 & 13, Ephraim rises up against Jephthah because they want a part in the glory for the victory against the Ammonites. They wanted to take credit but didn't want to do the work when the war started. Jephthah does the right thing and gives all the glory and credit to God. Eventually, Jesus visits the would-be parents of Samson. They are told Samson would be set apart as a hardcore servant of God - a Nazirite. He must never go near wine or anything that is used to make it, must not ...
Apr 13, 2023•13 min
In Judges 10 & 11, the downward spiral of the Israelites continues. They completely turn away from God. The Philistines oppress them and again they cry out to God. Their misery grieves God but it isn't until they fully repent and submit to God that He comes to their rescue. God moves mightily in a repentant heart. He raises up Jephthah, another unlikely hero and son of a prostitute. God does not care about our pasts. He redeems our lives and uses our lives for His glory if we submit to Him. ...
Apr 12, 2023•16 min
In Judges 8 & 9, God gives Gideon victory over the Midianites. In that feat of great strength and success, it causes him to forget and slowly slip from God and His direction. He stops praying and seeking God's plan, he becomes resentful towards others, he becomes concerned about material things and worries about his reputation rather than what God thinks of him. He starts veering off God's path to do whatever he wants which includes compromising with sin. He builds a gold ephod and the Israe...
Apr 11, 2023•17 min
In Judges 7, God works through Gideon and 300 men to win the battle against the Midianites. God reduced the number of fighting men to a mere 300 so no one could boast that the battle was won by anyone other than God Himself. When we get ourselves out of the way, God can finally move in and through our lives. God equips those He appoints with exactly what they need. He doesn't call the brave, He makes brave the called. He works through us when we make ourselves available and yield to Him. Nothing...
Apr 10, 2023•10 min
In Judges 6, God raises up the next unlikely hero to save His people from their enemies. He chooses Gideon - a scaredy-cat. He is so fearful that he asks God to prove that God will be with him and give them victory 3 times in one chapter. He even tells God that he is the least of his whole family and even they aren't all that great. In spite of all this, God calls him a "Mighty hero". God calls us and sees as as who He made us to be, not what we are not or were before. He knows our personal best...
Apr 06, 2023•12 min
In Judges 4 & 5, a woman is judge over Israel. She is a prophet of God. She gives word to go and fight the evil king Jabin who was oppressing them ruthlessly during this time. Deborah and Barak went and fought and Jael finished the battle. What a team of girl power under God! Deb never once wavered. She faithfully trusted God and God gave them the victory over their enemies. She brought encouragement to the team. We need to stop seeing things we are not and believe in a God who is. We need t...
Apr 05, 2023•14 min
In Judges 2 & 3, we see the sin cycle quite clearly. The Israelites refuse to turn from their sins and stubborn ways. They end up falling under evil and corrupt rulers and then cry out to God for rescue. God will always respond to cries of salvation. He wants us to choose Him and be in a relationship with Him. He loves us so much and only wants our hearts. After God's people cry out to Him, God sends a rescuer who provides freedom from their oppression. This repeats again and again, but God ...
Apr 04, 2023•13 min
In Judges 1, we have the beginning of 300 years of chaos due to disobedience. There is a sin cycle of false idols and disobedience, judgement being brought forth, a deliverer being sent to save them, and God's people then repenting and turning back to Him. Then, they do it all again. This is the exact same thing we do in our lives today. We are human. We fall short. We make mistakes. It all proves how much we desperately need Jesus. Instead of extinguishing and getting rid of all the sin in the ...
Apr 03, 2023•11 min
In Joshua 23 & 24, God's people are reminded to cling to God and God alone and turn away from the wickedness of the world. God reminds His people of everything He has brought them through and has done for them. None of their past sins or mistakes are mentioned. Not one. It is not about what we do or don't do. It is ALL about what God does. God brings us where we are. We are all sinners and will fall short from time to time. God gave us Jesus. We can choose Jesus and He will cleanse us. God c...
Mar 30, 2023•15 min
In Joshua 21 & 22, the Levites are given their cities and pastures within the tribes of Israel. The Levites are missionaries and God is their portion but they still get a place to live within the cities they are working. God takes care of His people. This completed the final distribution of all the land and cities and God's promise is officially completed and fulfilled. God is always faithful to every one of His promises and He always will be. An issue of gossip and assumptions arises and th...
Mar 29, 2023•15 min
In Joshua 19 & 20, the land division is completed as God's promise to give His people this land is brought to fulfillment. God honors His promises. The tribe of Simeon is given land out of Judah's portion. This is a perfect picture of how we should live our lives. We should quickly give anyone anything needed out of our extras. All we have is from God and is truly His so we should eagerly and joyfully give our extras among our church families and communities. This is a clear example of how w...
Mar 28, 2023•11 min
In Joshua 16 - 18, the land God promised the Israelites continues to be divided among the remaining nations. God's fulfillment of His part in the covenant is coming to fulfillment. One of the tribes started complaining about not yet receiving their land. Joshua basically told them to stop complaining, get up, and go get God's promise for their lives. Faith is active. Blessings come through our active obedience to God and His direction. It takes work. Blessings aren't just going to be poured out ...
Mar 24, 2023•12 min
In Joshua 14 & 15, the Promised Land continues to be divided as God's promise to His people is coming to fulfillment. Caleb was promised the land he stood on when he went to go scope out the land originally because he faithfully trusted God wholeheartedly. He is 85 years old but still wants adventure and to go out and help take his land himself. He trusted God and stood firm on God's faithfulness to take down the giants ahead of them and bring forth His promises. No giant is too big in our l...
Mar 23, 2023•11 min
In Joshua 11 - 13, God defeats the enemy nations, drives them out of the land promised to His people, and settles them into the land He promised His people. These chapters have a lot of names that are hard to pronounce but they are a direct fulfillment of God's promises for His people. He promised them the land and He gave them the land. Israel is very large now and it all started with one man (Abraham) and one promise. In order to fully participate in this covenant with God, the Israelites will...
Mar 22, 2023•15 min
We are going to face storms in this earthly life. The great news is we have Jesus and we don't have to and shouldn't try to face them alone. We can trust God and His timing, power, and peace. We can eagerly choose to invite and keep Jesus in our boat through every day, hour, and moment we live through. God promises to always be with us through every thing - all the good and all the bad things. We can trust Him and know that we are not alone in absolutely anything.
Mar 21, 2023•5 min
