KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, April 05, 2018
Chapters: Judges 16-18
Message: There Is But One God
Hello My Friend,
As you read through the Bible one thing is clear, the majority of people who are created know that there is a higher power out there that is beyond this world, one that blesses and curses those whom believe in it. Now, what higher power they believe in is another story, in fact, every country has their own higher power that they have created, and they will tell you that their god is the only god to follow. However, all of these gods are man made, they too know that there is only one God that is more powerful than their god, and that is the Almighty God Himself. Millions, if not billions of gods are created by man because mankind itself wants and believes that a higher power is needed to get them through life, but there is truly only One God, in fact, One living God, and He is the only higher power that gives life to those who believe in Him. “For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” – I Corinthians 8:5-6.
You will often read throughout the Book of Judges that the people did what was right in their own eyes, now, we are getting into the part where we learn of what the people did to provoke God. It all starts with Samson, the Nazarite that God appointed from birth to judge Israel. The only thing, Samson was far from Godly, in fact, he did the very opposite of what a Nazarite was appointed to do. God was about to use Samson to bring judgment upon the Philistines, and he used his love of a Philistine woman named Delilah to do it, but not before bringing judgment to Samson himself.
“And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” – Judges 16:5,16-20.
“And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.” You see, salvation is what keeps us out of hell, it is not what keeps us from the judgments we face in the world for choosing the world over God. Samson’s hair was a reflection of the strength that Christ brings once we are saved, His Spirit indwells us through the Holy Spirit and gives us the strength to overcome this world, and even though God no longer takes the Holy Spirit away from us when we are saved, it can feel that way once the sin catches up to us and we are caught. During his capture, Samson realized that the LORD truly was his strength, and he needed Him.
“But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.” – Judges 16:21-22,25-30.
“And Samson called unto the LORD,” This is why Christians cannot be of the world, we are marked with the blood of Christ, He is our symbol, our strength, the only one who can keep us from giving into the world and being controlled by the enemy. The devil is patient, he will wait until he gets our heart right where he wants it and then pounce on us like a lion. However, anytime we call to God sincerely He hears us, and He will give us the strength to defeat the enemy, even if it is the last thing we do on the earth. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – I Corinthians 15:55-57.
Okay, so to be clear, we all know the blessings that come when God is in our lives, and we also know the curses that come when we turn on Him and turn to sinful living. We must understand that we cannot have it both ways, you cannot worship God and live in the world, it draws a great conflict. God’s first two commandments are, have no other gods before me and make no graven images of me, yet time and time again, people have not only made other gods and images to reflect their own lifestyles they brought God into it as well. Israel did what they thought was right in their own eyes to please God, which broke His greatest commands. A woman had some money taken from her, people want to debate where this money came from and that it happened before Samson, but if you pay attention it sounds to have been used to pay Delilah, her son Micah stole it back, in turn she used some of the money to have idols made for him, together they created their own gods. The strangest thing, they knew these gods were not the Almighty Himself, they ran into a Levite, and hired him to dwell with them, proclaiming that this was a sign from God that they were doing a good thing.
“And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. Yet he restored the money unto his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were in the house of Micah. And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.” – Judges 17:1-4,7-13.
“Now know I that the LORD will do me good,” Micah thought that a Levite priest, one who was supposed to be one of God’s ministers coming to his door was a sign that he was doing right and God was going to finally bless him. How many people do you think get caught up in a religion because they think they are hearing from God. What they really are is lost, and who they really need is Jesus Christ. Contrary to what people believe, there are not several paths that lead to God, there is only one, and that is Jesus Christ. “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” – Acts 4:10-12.
When the promised land was distributed by Joshua, considerable territory was allotted to each tribe, including Dan, but they were not very faithful to God, and as a result not only failed at removing the inhabitants as God commanded, they had been run out of their own towns. Now, they were out to find land of their own and came upon Micah, including his gods and the Levite priest.
“When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and what hast thou here? And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous. And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before the LORD is your way wherein ye go. And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war. And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him. And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye? And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.” – Judges 18:3-6,11,15,18-20.
“Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God,” This goes to show you that so many want God in their lives, and are willing to go through anything to get them. The sad thing is that they go about it the wrong way, and have no clue who they are worshiping. God will have no gods before Him, He is a jealous God, He will not allow His people to worship other gods nor will He accept any kind of worship, we must come to God through Christ, and we must worship Him His way. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.” – Luke 13:24-27.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” – Judges 16:28.
Today’s Prayer: God, You have given us an example of how You want us to worship You and that is first receiving Your Son as our Saviour, a man who was tempted in all points just as we are, a man who gave His life so that we can live with You forever. We are not required to be perfect, just to believe in Your perfect Son, but You would like us to be a reflection of Your Son so that others can worship You in truth. Lord, give me Your power and wisdom to be more like Jesus, keep me in Your word, help me to discern right from wrong, and if there is anything I need to eliminate from my life give me Your strength to do it. As I stick close to You, love You, talk to You, and get under the influence of Your Son, I know that I can do all things. I ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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