Days of the Judges, Day 11 Who do you surround yourself with. Take a few minutes and read the sad story of Jephthah in Judges 11. This is such a difficult chapter and a sad story. With so much going on in this chapter, my eyes were drawn to this verse. While it doesn’t say that Jephthah was seeking these types of people out, it also doesn’t say that he tried to get rid of them. Who do we associate with? What is the character of those that we spend our time with and allow to influence us? We often take on the traits and characteristics of our 5 closest…

Days of the Judges, Day 10 In trouble, again. The people of Israel have served other gods again, and now they are in trouble. Read Judges 10. It always seemed like when things were going well, the people fell away from following God. Then when things got difficult again, they would return to God and ask his help. Do we only follow God for what he does for us? When times are good and things are going well do we forget God and all he does for us? God asked the people why they didn’t just run ro the false gods they had been following up to things point. What…

Days of the Judges, Day 9 Jealousy, anger, and a thirst for power. All of these things became stumbling blocks that ultimately ended up in leading the entire country of Israel down the wrong path, again. Read Judges 9. Gideon had 70 sons. And you would think, with all of the success and blessing that Gideon experienced that his sons would have learned or understood where that came from. However they did not have the same relationship with God that Gideon did. That became obvious when one of the sons killed all of the other sons except one. How are we sharing our relationship with God with others? Do those…

Days of the Judges, Day 8 Who leads you? As we think about the next day and read through Judges chapter 8, we see the rest of the story of Gideon. Gideon did amazing and phenomenal things through the Lord, and God used him in truly spectacular ways to save the people of Israel. However, the people didn’t understand and they wanted Gideon to rule over them. In this verse above, we see Gideon remind the people that it should be the Lord that rules over them. Who rules over us? Who do we turn to each day as the one we give our allegiance to? God is worthy of…

Days of the Judges, Day 7 God knows us. God knows everything about us and is aware of even our insecurities. Read Judges 7. The Lord knew Godeon. He knew what he struggles with and what he felt. God allowed Gideon the opportunity to hear what he needed to hear in order to remind him that God is with him. God is going to keep his promises and fulfill what he says. I love how well God knew Gideon and how much he wanted to make sure that Gideon knew that God was with him. There are days that I need extra encouragement from God. I need to be reminded…

Days of the Judges, Day 5 Praise. As we go through the day, we are to give praise to God. Read Judges 5. Here we see the victory party for the amazing victory over Sisera from yesterday. The people are rejoicing for all that God has done for them and his deliverance. Do we celebrate the victories that God gives us? Do we take a moment in the midst of the craziness to stop and thank him for his provision? God does phenomenal things in our lives ever day and he deserves to be praised for all that he does.

Days of the Judges, Day 4 No matter what. When we think about how we obey God, do we obey him no matter what? Read Judges 4. Here we see a great history about the judge Deborah. While we could focus on many things in this recount, I want to look at the role of Barak. He is willing to be obedient, but only if certain circumstances are met. Is our obedience to God based on circumstances? Will we only follow him if he meets our criteria? Instead of setting limits and criteria for God, our response to God is to say, yes Lord. Unlike Barak, our obedience to God…

Days of the Judges, Day 3 Tales of greatness. While the book of Judges tells many stories about the sin and evil of the Israelites, we can see many great and amazing stories as well. Read Judges 3. We see the journey of 3 different men. These three men all save Israel from people who were overpowering them. These three men all do amazing things for God and through God. Yet, the scripture gives more verses to some than to others. We see the story of Othniel, which doesn’t have much detail. Then we see the story of Ehud, which is very detailed (and one of my favorite stories in…

Days of the Judges, Day 2 Continued failure. As we continue through the book of Judges, we read chapter two and we see see just how far the Israelites fall. The people don’t pass on the stories to their children. That’s the only reason why the children didn’t know the stories and didn’t have a relationship with God themselves. As parents, we have a responsibility to share our relationship with God with our children. Do they see Christ in us? Do they understand how he has influenced us? Do they see our commitment tho him? We have a responsibility to share with our children, but not just share the facts…

Days of the Judges, Day 1 The days of the judges. As we start this new study through the book of Judges we are taking a look at a much different period of time and a much different people. Israel was trying to lay claim to all that God had promised them. Read Judges 1. Now remember, God had given them the victory and promised them the land. All they had to do was go in and take it. There was fighting that had to happen, and they had to work for it. However, as we read over and over again in this chapter, we see the people didn’t fully…