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Christian Devotional – February 15, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 15 Only when it’s “needed.” Read Judges chapter 15. As I read the story of Samson, one thing that becomes very evident is that he only calls upon the Lord when he “needs” him. Most of Samson’s life and actions are certainly along the path that God desires for him, but he doesn’t come to the Lord. He doesn’t seek the Lord. You don’t get the idea that Samson is striving to follow the Lord. He’s just doing what he wants to in these circumstances. Then, he’s only turning to God when he needs him. Do we seek God all the time, or only when it’s…
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Christian Devotional – February 14, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 14 Ahh, love at first sight. Read Judges chapter 14. This seems an appropriate story for Valentine’s Day. Here we see Samson going out on a walk and he spies a beautiful woman. He goes home and tells his parents that she should be his wife. Only problem is that she is one of their enemies and one of the people that are oppressing the Israelite people right now. God has a plan for all of this, and he wants to bring judgment on the Philistine people. But as a general rule, our emotions should not dictate our actions like they do for Samson. So much…
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Christian Devotional – February 13, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 13 It’s ok to ask for a repeat of instructions. Read Judges chapter 13. A couple who has never had any children receives an interesting visitor. This angel comes to the wife only and tells her that she will have a child and that she is to care for him in a specific way. She goes home and tells her husband who immediately wants to hear the instructions for himself. I find it interesting that even though he didn’t have to, God was willing to send the angel back and repeat the instructions again. He didn’t tell them anything more than what he’d already told the…
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Christian Devotional – February 12, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 12 I’ll just do it myself. Read Judges chapter 12. In reading through this chapter, we see snippets of multiple judges’ lives and their time leading Israel. For one of these judges, we get the idea that people weren’t moving fast enough or doing what he said quick enough. So he did what needed to be done. He just decided he would go do things himself. He does give God the credit for the victory, but I really wonder how much he believes the God saved them. His statement leads to the idea that he felt that he was the main person and everything revolves around…
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Christian Devotional – February 11, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 11 Who you surround yourself with matters. Read Judges chapter 11. Reading through this chapter, there were a couple major thoughts that stood out to me. One was the reminder to not make stupid promises, which is certainly important and did not turn out well. The one we are going to focus on for today is that it matters who your friends are. Jephthah found himself surrounded by scoundrels. But instead of separating himself from them, he hung out and called them friends. Our friends matter. If we are not surrounding ourselves with people who encourage our walk with the Lord, then we will find ourselves…
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Christian Devotional – February 10, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 10 What to do if you realize you’re on the rollercoaster? Read Judges chapter 10. Israel was back on the rollercoaster. They were full swing into the ups and the downs that come with obedience and then disobedience. What should we do to get off the rollercoaster? Repent! The people of Israel repented of all they were doing and they got rid of all the things they were worshipping instead of God. When we find ourselves on the rollercoaster, the most important thing we can do is repent and then get back to being obedient. As soon as possible! Video devotional here https://youtu.be/K9CInpRyy_4
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Christian Devotional – February 9, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 9 What it’s like riding the rollercoaster. Read Judges chapter 9. Often, roller coasters in amusement parks are some of the most favorite attractions. People love the sensation of going up-and-down and side to side quickly. Roller coasters are much less fun circumstances in life. Having circumstances moving up-and-down that quickly doesn’t generally lead to the same level of excitement and joy as they do in amusement parks. In this chapter, we see what happens to Israel after Gideon. We already know that they weren’t following the Lord because we saw that at the end of the last chapter, but here we get to experience what…
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Christian Devotional – February 8, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 8 We must be careful of our examples. Read Judges chapter 8. As we follow the story of Gideon, we see that he continues to have tremendous success and victory. God gives him wins in battle over the enemies that had been oppressing the children of Israel. However, Gideon was not perfect. Gideon chose two build a golden ephod, which became a source of idol worship for people. Then when he died, the people reverted back to the evil ways they followed before. We need Godly and Christian examples to follow. But one piece of the rollercoaster to avoid is putting too much faith in other…
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Christian Devotional – February 7, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 7 Get up! Read Judges chapter 7. To me, this chapter may be one of the funniest stories to read in the Bible. Here you have Gideon, a reluctant leader who really doesn’t want to be the one leading the people. He is terrified of his own shadow, it seems. He is trying to find an army and puts together 32,000 people. And then God eliminates 31,700 of them, leaving only 300 people to go attack. The first elimination question God gave him was telling people if they were afraid, they should go home. I almost wonder if Gideon wanted to go home at that point!…
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Christian Devotional – February 6, 2025
Avoiding the Rollercoaster, Day 6 Divided allegiance. Read Judges chapter 6. Sometimes, when it comes to that spiritual rollercoaster up-and-down, we are our own worst enemy. The people of Israel had been experiencing peace, but then they started worship other gods along with the one true God. You see, if we are going to avoid the rollercoaster, we can’t have a divided allegiance. We must be following God, and God alone. When Gideon obeyed the command to destroy the temple of Baal, people were angry with him and upset. Do we defend the “extra” things in our lives? Do we try to keep them instead of allowing God to destroy…