APRIL 5, 2022

 “Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear -- and doubt.” 

― H.A. Dorfman

JUDGES 15-17

15Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.^c And his strength left him.(16:15-19)

LUKE 10:1-24

1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two^a others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

JOURNAL 

Samson grows weary and capitulates to Delilah...revealing the source of his strength. Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples ahead of him to help prepare the people for his visit.  They are the first missionaries of the kingdom. Going out into hostile territory. They are to work for what they get as evidenced by the phrase "for the worker deserves his wages". I wonder exactly what they were sent to do? No matter the details...they were sent and were definitely accompanied by the spirit of God, for upon their return they state that "even the demons submit to us in your name".

Thinking about this juxtaposed with the story of Samson gives a very clear picture of life with and without the spirit, Samson lost focus, lost discipline and as a result lost his power. In 2 Timothy Paul describes the effect of the spirit in a human life. He says it is not timid but is of Power, Love and Self-Discipline. So it can be reasoned that operating outside of God's spirit will be plagued by weakness, hate and self-indulgence. The more I read the Bible, the more I live life...the more I see the truth in these words. 

Love is God and everything that he is, perfect complete love. Power is our ability as humans, to act, make decisions, function in complex ways. Self-Discipline is our ability to choose, make decisions and choose God's ways of love rather than alternate actions of hate and destruction.


2 Timothy 1:7 has been one of my favorite verses but reading further it is even more powerful in considering verses 6-14...

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

2 TIMOTHY 1:6-14

APRIL 4, 2022

  “God repeatedly uses the least-likely...to make the deepest impact on our world.” 

― Dillon Burroughs

JUDGES 12-14

2A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”(13:2-5)

LUKE 9:37-62

46An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47Jesus, knowing their thohts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

JOURNAL 

The story of Samson has always been a fascinating one for me. The story plays out like a Greek tragedy. You have the super hero power thing and then the tragic end. So what's the deal with his power and not cutting the hair? In doing a little research...the hair was symbolic of the Nazarite vow...kind of like a wedding ring is symbolic of marriage. So his strength was not because of his hair but rather his hair was symbolic of his dedication to God. 

Jesus says that "it is the one that is least among you all who is the greatest." God works in ways that defy conventional wisdom. We assume that the strongest, smartest, most blessed are who God favors and yet scripture gives us a very different picture. Scripture continually shows us that God takes the least likely and does great things through them. This is a lesson in perseverance and in judging ourselves, others and circumstances. We never really know what God is up to and often it is the opposite of what we would predict. Just as Jesus says "For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest." 

26Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^d

1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31

APRIL 3, 2022

  “Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.” 

― Irving Stone, The Agony and the Ecstasy

JUDGES 10-11

29Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

36“My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

38“You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition 40that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.(11:29-40)

LUKE 9:1-36

23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

JOURNAL 

There are some verses and stories in the Bible that truly are troubling and seem to contradict themselves. The story of Jephthah and his daughter is one of them. It seems inconceivable to me and just simply wrong. How does a man because of a senseless oath that he made with God, kill his own daughter? How does this honor God? I guess when I really research it...Jephthah had embraced canaanite practices even though God used him and he was committed to God. 

Just because we may dedicate our lives to God, it doesn't prevent us from doing foolish things and making foolish promises etc. Jephthah was bargaining with God and didn't trust God to deliver victory as God had promised. So he made a foolish vow...he tried to control God and therefore cost his daughter her life.

This goes hand in hand with the verse from Luke, being willing to abandon my own agenda and surrender to God means accepting whatever may happen as I serve and obey God. It means I don't bargain or try to manipulate...it simply means I trust and obey. 

13You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^a ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^b 15If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

GALATIANS 5:13-15

APRIL 2, 2022

 

“A proud man is always looking down on things and  

people; and, of course, as long as you are looking 

down, you cannot see something that is above you.”  

~ C.S. Lewis

JUDGES 8-9

22The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 

LUKE 8:22-56

38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. 

JOURNAL

Power and influence have a way of corrupting us.  This is precisely why Gideon refuses to be annointed King.  It is also why Christ continually pulls away and always instructs those he heals to praise God.  There is an insatiable danger of wanting to become all powerful and begin to delusionally believe your own press clippings.

This happens to Israel and ultimately plagues all the future kings.  I wonder though how much it is an intoxication with power or rather a form of self-protection due to fear and shame.  In most circumstances of people failing it begins with fear and shame.

17“Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it 

not the blood of men who went at the risk of their 

lives?” And David would not drink it. 

2 SAMUEL 23:17

APRIL 1, 2022

  “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

― Viktor E. Frankl

JUDGES 6-7

11The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”(6:11-16)

LUKE 8:1-21

11“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

JOURNAL 

Gideon comes into power and leads Israel out of the predicament with the Midianites. Jesus confirms that it is the heart that really matters, not he strongest or the one who has the most but those whose hearts are noble and good and that hear the word, retain it and produce a crop. 

I absolutely love the story of Gideon...he is a nobody and yet God uses him, chooses him to lead a band of just 300 men to overcome tens of thousands. It is interesting that these two verses get paired together. Jesus' words confirm exactly what we see in Gideon. It is the heart that matters...The seed needs good soil. We must be the good soil to receive God's power and love in a way that produces fruit. 

I love that our God is a God of underdogs, I love that he continually uses the least to accomplish the greatest feats. The daily challenge in life is to see and truly understand the incredible opportunity that exists no matter our circumstance. The opportunity to live a life of purpose and joy and to share that life with others. That opportunity exists every single day and each moment of that day. To get caught up in the noise and weeds of life is the greatest threat to that purpose and joy. 

22But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forebearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

GALATIANS 5:22-26