“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” I SAMUEL 8:4-5

When we moved to Vermont in 2008, it was amazing how much God took care of for us. He gave me a great job that allowed me to provide for my family and He gave us the perfect house that was newly renovated. We had everything we needed and so much more. However, deep down in my heart, there was something else I wanted…

JUDGES 13:22-23 “And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.”

I’m kind of a negative person. It’s easy for me to see bad in just about any situation. About five years ago, I had what you might call a “negativity crisis”. To this day, I don’t quite understand what brought it all on or why I felt the way that I did, but this passage in Judges and this man named Manoah reminded me of that time in my life.

Sunday afternoon I received an urgent prayer request from my parents that Pastor John Griswood of Lakewood Baptist Church in Powderly, TX, where I grew up, had a massive heart attack after preaching and that he wasn’t doing well. Shortly after that my dad called me with a broken voice to tell me that Bro. John didn’t make it.

Over fourteen thousand of the children of Israel have died from a plague that God sent. What had they done that was so bad God was ready to wipe them out? Well, they had continued to murmur but now they have tried to take matters into their own hands by removing their God ordained authority. God’s wrath was hot against this rebellious people and multiple times in this chapter God threatens to destroy them all. However, there was someone willing to stand between the wrath of God and this rebellious people.

God had just delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt with the incredible miracle of parting the Red Sea. Now they are entering the Wilderness of Sin. While the name “Sin” refers to a geographical region of desert located between Elim and Mount Sinai, it is very fitting because of the children of Israel’s rotten attitude. God was patient with them… but they never truly got over this attitude and they ended up wandering around the rest of their lives and never experienced the promised land.

Sometimes we can forget to serve and work hard because of our status, experience or position. If we aren’t careful we can expect others to labor and serve but we disregard the command in this passage for everyone to do their part.  Evidently some in Thessalonica were getting the idea that they didn’t have to work. The reality was that there were some that had become lazy, prideful and idle. So much so, that Paul calls them “busybodies”. Paul takes this debilitating sin head on with some words of wisdom on how to deal with those that are disorderly. Here are three things that Paul mentions that can help us avoid being disorderly in our conduct.

Instead of having to confront bad behavior in the church at Ephesus, Paul commends them and spends his time equipping them to BATTLE THE ENEMY that seeks to divide and conquer. Paul had already seen it too many times before and he didn’t want it to happen in Ephesus.

Fast-forward 2,000 years and the verses we read are still as relevant as they ever were. God wants a unified body of believers that is doing His work but there are some enemies that will creep in that we need to be aware of.

Here in the book of Acts, we find Paul giving his testimony. As you read on in Chapter 22, you will find Paul passionately sharing what God has done in his life. The thing that struck me was that Paul wasn’t giving his testimony to people that really wanted to hear it. In fact when Paul was done, this is what they said:

Acts 22:22 “And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.”

If Paul was willing to passionately share his testimony to people that wanted him dead, there is no excuse for me not to share my testimony and plead with people to be saved. My testimony is below and you can click this link to share your testimony with me. I would love to hear it.

Psalms 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.”

Friend, thank you for dropping by this site to read these devotionals. Instead of reading a new devotional, let’s take that time to pray for Israel. They are being attacked on many fronts. Please pray for their safety, security, peace and salvation. Thank you again.

I recently was fishing in a shallow clear stream on vacation in Broken Bow, OK. As my daughter and I walked down the stream we eventually came to a spot that looked promising. It was deeper and seemed to have fish hitting the surface. So we started casting out. Nothing. Not a bite. We noticed at the entrance of this deeper pool there were several fish hanging out, so we started throwing near them… still nothing. We finally realized that all these fish were simply waiting for the stream to bring them food. So we decided to throw our lines up stream and let it drift down toward these fish. Immediately we started getting bites! We caught fish almost every time we threw out our lines! These fish were waiting for weak, unsuspecting prey to drift towards them for an easy meal. I was reminded of some important lessons while reading this passage and thinking about our little fishing trip.

If we are going to be used by the Lord as the disciples were, God must be in His proper place in our lives. Fear, anxiety, worry and stress are all signs of a lack of faith. No matter how “reasonable” our fear may seem… God is greater! We need to trust Him more and we will find rest in the storm and peace that passes all understanding.

II Timothy 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

When you’re dealing with difficulties, run to God like Daniel did. Be persistent in your prayers, even if you don’t see the results. Remember that God is often working in ways that we cannot see. Trust that in the Lord’s timing He will give you the understanding that you seek. No matter the situation, we need to keep the overarching truth of Romans 8:28 in our heart. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Staying true to what is right may not always be pleasant, but in the end you will be much better off by being honest with yourself and others. A weeping prophet is better than a dead prophet. I would say the same of us… a sorrowful moment accepting a hard truth is better than a future filled with regret because we would not listen.