Month: October 2016

A Foolish Thing (I Samuel 11-13)

Tuesday, October 11th

 

By Terrence Raper

These chapters really shone a light on how great Samuel was. He was completely blameless.  He even offers a penance for anyone who would have ever had a grievance with him. The tragedy of Samuel’s service to the people of Israel is during his old age. He is forced to step down as leader, and knows that things are going to get very bad.  

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Samuel is still clearly displeased with the choices his people have made. This had to be exceptionally difficult for him. He had lead Israel faithfully, and blamelessly, but they continued to reject him and God. Samuel laid out what will happen to his people, and all the trouble that will befall them. They still refused to obey.  

Nothing is as frustrating or heartbreaking as watching someone you love experience hardships that could have been avoided. I know I have struggled with this throughout my life. I have had to watch people that I love harm themselves in unnecessary ways. I have fought with these people. I have tried giving advice. I have conveyed first hand experience with them of the bad choices I have made. Yet, for some people none of that works.  

1 Samuel 13:13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

We Want a King (I Samuel 8-10)

Monday, October 10th

1st Samuel 8:19,20

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

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by: Terrence Raper

I said yesterday that I struggled drawing a parallel with the God of the Old Testament, and the grace of Jesus shown in the New Testament. Jesus represented God, but in a way that seems to us studying the Bible years later completely new. In some ways he made obedience seem more realistic. He also taught us that even though obedience may be more realistic, it will require a lot of forgiveness and a different way of thinking about obedience. We will have to strive for excellence in how we treat each other. We will no longer work out our good deeds on some sort of accounting ledger in hopes that we are in the black with God.

   

Before, it was about how well we followed all of the law. The law seemed tangible, and measurable. In a way, that’s how we like it. We love tracking our progress. At the very least we like noticing the failings of others. Then Jesus tells us, we are missing the point. He explains that God has a plan. We say “okay, what is it?”  We are told to trust in the plan. We ask again, “what is it?” We seem to only trust in God’s plan when we understand it. We have a hard time tracking the measurables within God’s plan. This has been the story of us for a long time. The people of Israel got tired of waiting. So when Samuel got old they told him “appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have (I Samuel 8:4).” Basically we have done it God’s way, now we are interested in the system they have in other nations. This is the longing for more than what God has given us.

 

We all act this way. We act impatiently with our money, our relationships, with our expectations. This is not the behavior of faithful followers of God. One thing I have heard said in every church I have ever attended is “God is good”. Some of us even say this on Sunday mornings to stir the congregation  to comment back “all the time”. Do we truly believe that God is good? Because if we did truly believe God is good, our whole world would be different. We would trust that God had our best interest in mind. We would stop rushing our own plans. We would stop trying to make relationship works that aren’t blessing us. We wouldn’t try to make scriptures and truths fit into our own agenda. We would be more faithful with our time and resources.

 

           The Israelites failed to remain faithful. They stopped believing God was going to do what was best for them. So they wanted a king. King Saul is a fascinating person in the Bible. I find something newly perplexing every time I dive into these Scriptures. I hope I find something new to share with everyone moving forward.

 

          

God’s Sometimes Heavy – and Always Righteous – Hand (I Samuel 4-7)

Sunday, October 9th – Start of Week 12

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By : Terrence Raper

The Philistines capture the ark of the covenant, and it seems like a huge symbolic victory, to accompany the actual victory over the Israelites. Except for the part where God begins to place His “heavy hand” on all those around the ark of the covenant. Steven Spielberg was not too far off with his portrayal of what trouble befalls those who mess with the physical symbol of God’s covenant. Several cases of tumors, and a crushed pagan deity, and now no one wants the ark in their town.

The ark in these few chapters reminds me of the anecdotal nature my parents used to talk about the prospect of my brothers and I being kidnapped. They used to say that they weren’t worried about anyone snatching up one of us. My parents joked that we would have been promptly returned to them due to how much trouble we would have caused. Also, that we would have annoyed the kidnappers so much that they would have risked being caught, and would have given up any hope of ransom just to return us home.

The return of the ark to the Israelites came with even more bloodshed. Some Israelites were killed for looking inside. I still find it hard to reconcile the God of the Old Testament, with the father of Jesus. It is hard to see the forgiving actions displayed by Jesus, connecting to the seemingly static commands of God. I believe God is omnipotent and all knowing. So I wonder sometimes if this is the way it had to be, or was this bloody history found in the Old Testament part of God actually changing his approach towards human kind?

When God Calls, Answer (1 Samuel 1-3)

Saturday, October 8
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Shelby Upton
It is so easy to get lost in our understanding and planning sometimes. We forget just how little a scope we have on life and forget that God’s ways are not our ways and don’t trust what He is doing. Responding to the Holy Spirit and discerning the nudges that it gives is so important. I love the story in 1 Samuel 3 when Samuel is called. It is a powerful and even a little funny story.  I always chuckle a little when Samuel, after hearing God is running back and forth to Eli saying here I am and Eli just sends him back to bed.
I can’t imagine the intensity of that encounter! To hear God and have him tell you his plans.  The wonderful application I believe we can take from this story is to answer when God calls, trust his plans, and stay in the word.  The last few verses sum that up very well I believe. 1 Samuel 3:18-21″ So Samuel tole him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what he thinks is good.” Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh because there he revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.”

Ruth: Faithfulness and Devotion Rewarded (Ruth)

Friday, October 7

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Shelby Upton

It is almost impossible for me to write this devotion on Ruth. There are so many valuable lessons and principles to glean from this 4 Chapter book and it is one of my favorite books of the Bible! For the sake of brevity I want to focus on Ruth’s example of faithfulness and devotion.

Ruth suffered losing her husband and had the chance to start over with a new family. Naomi even speaks of the faithful love that Ruth had shown to the family already. She chose however to stay with the faith of her family that she married into and help take care of Naomi and I believe God blessed her for that faithfulness.

Ruth went to work gleaning in the fields behind the harvesters behind in Boazs’ field and he took notice of her! To prove my point I think Boaz sums it up perfectly in Ruth 2:11-12 “Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

 

Her future with Boaz and Naomi’s family was that reward for her faithfulness and devotion. 💗

A Country in Chaos (Judges 19-21)

Thursday, October 6

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Shelby Upton

Judges 19-21 starts its account by making it known that the events took place when Israel had no king.  Even more than Israel having no king, Samson was the last judge so during this time there was no spiritual leader either.
The accounts in these chapters are gruesome and disturbing. First we read about the Levite staying in Gibeah while traveling. While there perverted men of the city demanded that he be handed over to have sex with him. When they refuse his concubine is handed over then raped and abused all night and dies from her injuries.
When the man returns home, to send a message to Israel he cuts her up into 12 pieces and sends her out to the territories.  This then triggers a civil war in Israel against Benjamin where the Lord does tell Israel to fight against the Benjaminites. God hands over the Benjaminites to the Israelites but tens of thousands of men die during this war.
These accounts of lawless Israel not held accountable by a king or judge are so sad and unfathomable. We see the people not consulting God but trying to figure everything out on their own. When we do whatever we want without regard to God and his laws, life is a mess.  Our understanding and rationale is so flawed–just look at how entrenched in sin and unmanageable Israel had become!
The last verse sums up this section very well, Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted.” And it was chaos.

The Company You Keep (Judges 16-18)

Wednesday, October 5

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Shelby Upton

Samson and Delilah is a well known Bible story. He was a Nazarite, his strength lay with that vow and uncut hair, Delilah betrays him and cuts off his hair.  The end.  But this story is much sadder and contains much deeper betrayal than that sparknotes version.
We don’t get much back story on their relationship but he was in love with her. The one person who should never have betrayed him sold him out to the Philistine leaders to discover his weakness. We know that Samson was clever–from his riddles and also telling Delilah multiple ways that would not take his strength. In Judges 16 however it says that due to her nagging day after day she wore him out and he told her the truth of his strength.
It was all over after that. It says that his strength and God had left him when his hair was cut off and his vow was broken.  After the Philistines gouged out his eyes God does return his strength for one last act of vengeance that resulted in his death and the death of a multitude of Philistines by pulling down the pillars of the temple.
When I look over this story I am heart broken for Samson. I truly see that he chose the wrong path and bad company over and over again.  Delilah was not someone to be trusted let alone a woman who would strengthen him as a judge and support his Nazarite vow.  She performed the act that broke his vow and caused God to leave Samson! This is a very extreme case of bad company but in our own lives we are influenced by and become like the people we are around. Bad company can wear us down just like Delilah wore Samson down.  We shouldn’t shut ourselves off from influencing others for good but the closest company we keep needs to be supporting our relationship with God and spurring us on towards righteousness.
Do you feel a divide between you and God? Take a look at the friendships around you, your significant other–what can you say for the company you have been keeping and how they have or have not been helping you grow in your relationship with God.

But I Want What I Want! (Judges 12-15)

Tuesday, October 4

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Shelby Upton
In Judges 12-15 Samson is set apart before birth to be a man of God and his mother remained faithful in the Lord’s instruction. In the following account of his life there are some really strange stories–mostly including animals… the lion, the bees, the foxes, the donkey. Need I go on?
I see Samson’s actions and read and I can’t help but wonder–what was he thinking? You were set apart by God and you are running around doing ridiculous things! At the heart of many of these acts I think Samson’s passion and pride get the best of him.  When Samson sees the Philistine woman in spite of his parent’s suggestion and the fact that she didn’t share his faith he says “I want her!” and gets her.
He thinks he is sooo clever and comes up with a riddle to taunt the Philistines which does nothing but stir up trouble. In these accounts I see Samson using his strength and cunning to serve his own passions and agendas–not to glorify God. Even though the Spirit of the Lord was on Samson to serve God’s purposes I can’t help but come back to Samson’s impulsive selfishness.
God’s blessing does not give us the right to use the gifts he has given us for our own amusement or to do things that go outside of his laws.  What God has given us needs to be used to glorify him in righteousness. Although Samson did some pretty awesome things we need to continue to focus on using our God given gifts to bless God in humility with his direction.

Faithfulness in Spite of the Faithless (Judges 9-11)

Monday, October 3

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Shelby Upton

In Judges there is a reoccurring theme of Israel being faithless, turning to false gods, running into hardships and crying out to God.  Then the judge intercedes for them, they turn back to God and he takes them back once more.
We  see this scenario happening once again in Judges 10. Things are quiet and faithful with two judges for about 40 years until Israel turns away from God, again. God then gives them over to the Philistines and Ammonites. Then they cry out to God once again, recognizing their sin and begging God to deliver them.
I see this situation in my own life. When things are going really well and I forget to keep God as my focus and I let things like relationships, entertainment, my career, my possessions become idols in my life.  Inevitably something happens and I need God to deliver me.
The Israelites then turn from their idolatry and worship God. Even though God is angry with the Israelites He is burdened by their suffering and then does deliver them from their misery.
Repentance is key in this scenario.  We all struggle with sin and losing God as our focus.  We need to learn from Israel’s mistake of turning from our faith at all but when sin does creep in we know that God is a loving God and he will forgive us when we repent because even when we are faithless he remains faithful.
2 Chronicles 7:14
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
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Our Doubts & Fears in the Light of an Awesome God (Judges 6-8)

Sunday, October 2 – Start of Week 11

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Shelby Upton

In Judges 6-8 we see the Israelites in a place where they had turned from God and had been handed over to the Midianites. Gideon, being the judge and spiritual leader, is working to bring Israel back into God’s favor. Throughout these chapters we see a theme of doubt and fear. Not too different from the feelings and struggles we all face today. But the amazing thing we see from Gideon is the way he lays it all down to God. And God shows up! Over and over again proving his awesome power and doing it in the face of even more amazing odds. Whether it was defeating the Midianites with a fraction of the Israelite army or the miracles performed with Gideon’s fleece. In the face of our doubts and fears we serve an awesome, loving God who comes through for us time and time again when we lay it all at His feet.

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