What power is there in the idols of your life? Can you find true and lasting fulfillment in your iPhone, does Facebook satisfy the deep desire for fellowship that you have, can the joy you find in your family and friends carry you through the difficult moments of life, does the money you earn working incessantly form the foundation of who you are, or will the praise and adoration of men give you a sense of fulfillment on your death bed that you can die confident of what lies ahead? What is the driving motivation in your life? The state of our sinful inclination has not changed since the time of the old testament. We live in a sex saturated world that seeks to satisfy all the needs we have in an instant but the one true need we have for fulfillment can only be satisfied in God. Continue Reading…
Idolatry leads toward unfaithfulness and death: 1 Kings 13 and 14
Many questions answered by God’s sovereignty: 1 Samuel 15 and 16
How are we to look upon failure in light of Saul’s kingship over Israel? What is God rejecting in Saul? Can we ever fail completely before God? Since God chose Saul as king over Israel didn’t he already know that Saul wouldn’t be a faithful king? Is Saul’s kingship an illustration of how apart from Jesus Christ we are unable to follow God? What traits did Saul exhibit that led to his turning aside from God? What does Saul’s failure mean for me today? How do I reject God as Saul did by choosing my own way over the way that God desires for me? How can I guard my heart from turning aside from God? The reading of 1 Samuel chapter 15 caused me to ask a lot of questions about who God is and His sovereignty. It is easy to look at the story of Saul’s kingship and think that he was cheated out of ruling Israel. The choice I make on a daily basis to either follow God’s commands or seek my own glory and way was the same choice that was faced by Saul when he was king over Israel. Saul chose to seek out his own way apart from God. I believe that God is sovereign and whatever He chooses to do is wholly right so when I see that the kingdom was taken away from Saul I can trust that God did it for His purpose and glory. Continue Reading…
A wrong doesn’t make another wrong right: Judges 21
What is the aftermath from the civil war that occurred between the sons of Benjamin and the rest of the sons of Israel? In Judges 21 we see that the men of Israel swore to not give any of their daughters to the surviving men of the tribe of Benjamin. Has the true source of the problem within the Israelites finally detected? They cried out, “Why, O Lord, God of Israel, has this come about in Israel, so that one tribe should be missing today in Israel?” Judges 21:3 Did the men not see that they were straying from God and falling under the curse of which Moses spoke in Deuteronomy? Continue Reading…
Obedience to God found in deliverance from servitude: Judges 3 and 4
My journey through the Bible has brought me to the book of Judges. As the generations go by and motives of the sons of Israel have changed the knowledge of God’s faithfulness and leadership of Joshua becomes just a faint memory. The sons of Israel have forgotten the Lord their God as they choose to intermarry with the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Judges chapters 3-16 tell of how God raises up judges to bring Israel back to Him and away from false gods. Continue Reading…
Disobedience kindles God’s anger towards Israel: Judges 1 and 2
In Judges 1 we see the first key to the falling away of the Israelites which was mentioned in Joshua. The Israelites conquered many areas of the promised land and drove out many inhabitants. Why did some of the sons of Israel not drive out all the inhabitants of the lands of their inheritance? The people did not follow God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of the land. What stands out to me is how both Moses and Joshua told the Israelites that this would be a problem for them. Continue Reading…
