Sun.’s Devo - Retribution

Read: 1 Samuel 24:1-25:44; John 10:22-42; Psalm 116:1-19; Proverb 15:20-21 Saul had gone home to fight the Philistines but he was right back looking for David. Saul needed to relieve himself and went into the very cave that David and his men were hiding in. *** David’s men tried to get David to kill him but instead, David crept close enough to cut off part of the hem of his robe. When Saul had finished and returned to his men, David went out and held up the piece of his robe. He told Saul that he was tempted to kill him but couldn’t kill God’s anointed. *** Saul thanked him for letting him live and even acknowledged that he would be the next king. He made him swear that he wouldn’t kill his family or destroy his line of descendants. David promised and they parted. *** In the meantime, Samuel died and all mourned his death. He was buried in his hometown of Ramah. *** David moved to the wilderness of Maon where a wealthy man named Nabal lived. It was sheep-sheering time where the owner of the sheep would throw a big party to celebrate the harvest. All who had any help in the process of the sheep would be invited to come and enjoy the feast. *** David’s men were very hungry and since they had protected the sheep from being raided out in the wilderness, he asked if they might come and enjoy the food. Nabal was a very foolish man who had a short temper. He insulted the men of David for asking to come and told them they were not invited. *** When David heard what he said, he gathered his men to go and kill Nabal and his men. Nabal’s servants warned Abigail, Nabal’s wife of what had happened and what was about to happen. She quickly prepared enough food to give David’s men a feast and went to meet them. *** She humbled herself before David and apologized for her husband’s temper and ungratefulness. David accepted her apology and promised not to harm them. *** Abigail returned home and waited till the next day to tell her husband what she had done. When she told him, he had a stroke and died 10 days later. *** David was told what happened and he sent to ask Abigail to marry him. She accepted and he married her as well as Ahinoam from Jezebel. Meanwhile, Saul had given David’s wife, Michal to marry Palti. *** In John, Jesus had retuned to Jerusalem to celebrate Hanukkah. While he was there people kept asking him if he was the Messiah. Jesus told them that he had already told them the answer to that. They didn’t believe because there were not his sheep. Only his sheep hear his voice and can receive eternal life from him. *** The people wanted to stone Jesus for this but he asked them which act they were stoning him for. They told him it was not for his acts, but his words. He had blasphemed claiming himself to be God. Jesus referred them to Psalm 82 where God called the judges “gods” since they judged on God’s behalf. *** His works were evidence that he was sent by God. *** Jesus escaped to the place where John the Baptist baptized. Many followed him realizing that everything John the Baptist had said about the Messiah had been manifested in the life of Jesus. *** Lord, we lift up your name for saving us and caring for us. May we bring you joy.

Sat.’s Devo - God, Our Rock of Escape

Read: 1 Samuel 22:1-23:29; John 10:1-21; Psalm 115:1-18; Proverbs 15:18-19 David escaped to the cave of Abdullah and others joined him who were unhappy with Saul’s leadership. David’s brothers and relatives came until there were about 400 men who became a part of his movement. *** David went to Moab and asked the king if he would shelter his parents so they would be safe. The king agreed and David moved them to Mizpeh where they stayed the whole time he was running from Saul. *** The prophet, Gad told David it was time to move back to the land of Judah so David went to the forest of Hereth. When Saul heard that David was there, he was at Gibeah with his officers. He asked them if David had promised them fields and vineyards or promised to make them generals and captains in his army. He berated them for not telling them where David was and what he was doing. *** Doeg spoke up and told Saul what he saw at Nob. Ahimelech the priest prayed with David, gave him food and Goliath’s sword. *** King Saul sent for Ahimelech and interrogated him about his meeting with David. Ahimelech told Saul he thought David was totally loyal to him. He had no idea David was a fugitive. Saul, so wrapt in jealousy, ordered his men to kill the priests but no one would do it. Finally, Saul told Doeg to do it and he killed 70 of them. Then he went to Nob and killed their families and cattle. Abiathar, one of Ahimelech’s sons escaped and went to tell David what had happened. David vowed to protect Abiathar with his own life. *** David learned that the Philistines were stealing grain from the people at Keilah. David asked God if he should go and help them and the Lord told him to go. He went and slaughtered the Philistines and rescued the people. *** Saul found out where David was and knew he could trap David inside the city of Keilah since it was a walled city. Abiathar asked the Lord if the people of Keilah would hand David over to Saul and the Lord said they would. David left Keilah before Saul arrived. Saul continued to hunt David down. *** David got news that Saul was near. Jonathan found him and they had their last meeting. Jonathan assured David to stay strong in his faith in God. He told him he was going to be the king of Israel and even his father knew that . They made a pact to stay true to one another. Jonathan returned home. *** David was betrayed by the men of Zith, and went to the wilderness of Maon. Just as Saul was about to catch David, he got news that the Philistines were raiding Israel again and they had to retreat and return home. David was saved and called the place he was hiding the Rock of Escape. *** Jesus is our Rock of Escape from every enemy that is chasing us. *** In John, Jesus explained that he was the only way to salvation. He was the gate that everyone had to come through to get to eternal life. Those who recognize his voice and discern that he is the Savior will find their way into his sheepfold. But those who don’t know his voice will be deceived by false saviors who give false promises. *** Jesus’ plan for us is to give us a rich satisfying life. Satan’s goal is to steal, kill and destroy us. *** Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for us. He protects us from the wolves. He knows us and loves us. *** God loves Jesus because he sacrificed his life to save us and bring us back to God. *** Jesus told the people all this and some thought he was demon-possessed but others believed because he gave sight to a blind man. Who else but God could do that? *** Lord, our hearts are full of love for you because you first loved us. We are so grateful to have such a loving God who cares, protects and wants only good things for us.

Fri.’s Devo - Eyes to See

Read: 1 Samuel 20:1-21:15; John 9:1-41; Psalm 113:1-114:8; Proverbs 15:15-17 The last time David was with Saul, Saul had tried to nail him to the wall with his sword. David had fled to Ramah to see Samuel. Now he went to look for Jonathan to find out why Saul was so bent on killing him. *** Jonathan couldn’t believe his father would want to kill David but promised David he would do some investigating. He would get back to him in three days. It was the time of the new moon festival and Jonathan would see Saul’s reaction when David didn’t show up. *** Saul was fine the first day, but when David wasn’t in his place at the table the second day, he asked Jonathan where he was. Jonathan told him David had a family issue and went home. Saul was irate. He accused Jonathan of giving his kingdom to David. He told Jonathan to go get David so he could kill him, then he threw his sword and almost killed Jonathan. Jonathan knew he was serious. *** Jonathan met with David and told him what his father had said. They both cried and hugged one another, knowing they might not see each other again. They swore allegiance to each other and their families. *** David went to Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. He asked him for bread and weapons. He was given the old shewbread and Goliath’s sword. He told Ahimelech that he was on a secret mission for the king. *** Saul’s chief herdsman, Doeg, was there and saw David take the sword of Goliath. *** David left there and went to Gath, but the Philistine officers knew of David’s reputation in killing Philistines. David was afraid of what King Achish might do to him so he played like he was insane. King Achish had him thrown out, so David escaped. *** In John, Jesus and his disciples came upon a man who had been blind since birth. His disciples asked him if the man was blind because of his own sins or the sins of his parents. Jesus answered, neither. It was so that the power of God could be seen in him. *** Jesus spit on the ground making mud with his saliva. He then spread the mud over the blind man’d eyes. He told him to go and wash it off in the pool of Siloam. The man did and came back seeing. *** He testified to everyone what Jesus had done. *** His friends took him to the Pharisees because it had been done on the Sabbath. They argued if he could be from God. Would God work on the Sabbath? Who else could do such miracles? *** They finally asked the man who had been healed what he thought about the man who healed him. He told them the man must be a prophet. *** The skeptical Pharisees called in the man’s parents and they confirmed that he was born blind. All they knew is that he could now see. They were afraid they would be cast out of the synagogue so they told him to ask their son. *** They called the man back and questioned him more. He told them that never before had anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. He had to be from God. The Pharisees cast him out of the synagogue. *** Jesus found him and asked if he believed in the Son of Man. The man asked who that was and Jesus said it was him. He told Jesus that he believed and he worshipped Jesus. *** Jesus said that he came to render judgment to give sight to the blind and to show those who thought they could see that they were blind. *** The Pharisees asked if he was talking about them. He told them if they were blind, they wouldn’t be guilty. But since they claimed they could see, they remained guilty. *** Lord, may we be humble and remember that we see only because God gave us eyes to see. May we always depend totally on You. Thank you for opening out eyes to see that You are the risen Christ!

Thurs.’s Devo - God Guards the Truth

Read: 1 Samuel 17:1-18:4; John 8:21-30; Psalm 111:1-10; Provers 15:11 David was successful in all Saul asked him to do. He had the favor of all the people. When the army of Israel returned home the women would sing, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” *** When Saul heard the song he was very upset and was afraid of losing his kingship to David. The next day, his tormenting spirit came back and Saul was a mad man. David came to play his harp but Saul hurled his spear at him. David escaped his spear twice. *** David continued to lead his army of 1,000 men and continued to have success. Saul became more and more afraid of David. *** The day came for Saul to give his daughter to David, like he had promised, but he gave her instead to Adriel. Saul had another daughter named Michal who had fallen in love with David. Saul saw this as an opportunity to get rid of David. He had his men tell David that he could have her for 100 Philistine foreskins as his bride price. David gave him 200. Saul had no recourse but to give him Michal. When Saul how much she loved David, he was even more afraid of David. *** Saul tried to get his servants and Jonathan to assassinate David but Jonathan loved David and told David what his father was planning. Jonathan was able to talk his father out of killing David by reminding him of all the things David had done for him. Saul allowed David to come back and serve in the court like before. *** David continued to have success on the battlefield. *** One day Saul was at home and his tormenting spirit came back. David played the harp for him and he hurled his spear at David. David escaped to his house. Saul sent men to watch his house and kill David when he walked out the next morning. Michal convinced David to escape that night. She put an idol in his bed. When the men came to arrest David the next day, she told them David was in bed sick. *** Saul sent the troops back to get David and bring him to him but they found the idol instead. Michal said that David had threatened to kill her if he didn’t go along with his plan. *** David escaped and went to see Samuel in Ramah. Saul found out and sent troops to Ramah to get David but the spirit of prophecy fell upon them and they prophesied, it happened to the next group of troops, and finally to Saul also when he arrived. *** Jesus was still talking to the crowd. He told them if they remained faithful to his teaching, then they would know the truth and it would set them free. They had no idea that they were slaves. Jesus explained they were slaves to sin. Anyone who sinned was its slave. Slaves are not permanent members of the family, but the son is. And if the son sets you free, then you are totally free. *** Even though they claimed they were children of Abraham, by their actions they were proving they were children of the devil. If they were true children of Abraham, they would believe in him and not try to kill him. Instead they were illegitimate children. *** The proof was in the fact that they did evil and loved doing evil. Satan was a murderer from the beginning of the earth. He has always hated the truth. Jesus told them that anyone who believed in him, belongs to God. *** The Jews that heard this were so upset they called him a Samaritan devil and accused him of being possessed by a demon. *** He told them he didn’t have a demon but he honored his Father and though he had no wish to glorify himself, God did, and would glorify him. Anyone who believed in him would never die. *** They were now so upset with Jesus. How could he think he was greater than Abraham and the prophets, who died. Jesus said that Abraham looked forward to the day when he would come to earth, speaking of himself. The people didn’t understand how Jesus who was only in his thirties could claim to have seen Abraham. *** When Jesus said that before Abraham was born, I AM, they picked up stones to stone him but Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple. *** Lord, thank you for always speaking the truth no matter what it cost you. May we be that bold and fearless. May we be adamant about the truth and resolved in our hearts. You are the truth and the life.

Wed.’s Devo - The Lord’s Victory

Read: 1 Samuel 17:1-18:4; John 8:21-30; Psalm 111:1-10; Proverbs 15:11 The Israelite army faced the Philistine army on opposite hills overlooking the valley of Elah. The Philistines had a champion who would come down into the valley and shout to the army of Israel challenging them to a duel. The man would be fighting for his nation and the losing nation would become the slave of the other nation. *** Their champion was a nine foot tall giant named Goliath. Goliath means “stripped, as a captive.” Day after day he walked out taunting the army of Israel. No one was brave enough to fight him. *** David’s brothers were in the army and their dad sent David to take them some food and find out how things were going on the front. David heard the taunts of Goliath and was surprised that they listened to him day after day and did nothing. He asked what reward would begin to the man who defeated Goliath and they said he would be given one of the kings’ daughters for a wife and the man’s whole family would be exempt from paying taxes. *** David asked around till his questions were reported to King Saul. He had the boy brought to him but when he saw him he was surprised that David was so young. *** David argued that God had helped him kill lions and bears with his bear hands that came to attack his sheep. This uncircumcised Philistine would be nothing for God. *** Saul had no other men volunteering and had to do something, so he tried to put his armor on David. It fell off of him. David said he would fight like he was used to fighting and gathered five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his bag. Then he took his shepherd’s staff and sling and headed out across the valley towards Goliath. *** Goliath saw him coming and was insulted that he only brought a staff to fight him. He cursed David by the names of his gods. He told him he would give his flesh to the birds and wild animals. *** David named Goliath’s weapons then he named his: the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who Goliath had defied. Then he told Goliath exactly what he was goin to do to him. He was going to conquer him and cut off his head and give his body to the birds and wild animals. Then all would know there was a God in Israel who rescues his people. *** David ran to meet Goliath and took one of the stones and hurled it with his sling. It hit Goliath in the forehead and he fell face down to the ground. David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword out and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw this they turned and ran and the men of Israel ran after them killing them. *** David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem. Saul found out who David was and had him brought to live with him. David met Jonathan and there was an immediate bond between them. Jonathan gave him his robe, tunic, sword, bow and belt and vowed a vow of friendship with him. *** In John, Jesus continued speaking saying he was going away to a place they wouldn’t be able to come. Some speculated he was contemplating suicide since they thought there was a place designated for those who committed suicide. Jesus tried to clear it up by saying they were from below and he was from above. He didn’t belong to this world. *** Many still didn’t understand who he was and who it was that had sent him, but he added, when he was lifted up on the cross, they would understand that he was who he said he was. But, there were some who believed in him. *** Lord, thank you for giving us hearts to believe in you. Thank you for eternal life through Christ.

Tues.’s Devo - A New King is Anointed

Read: 1 Samuel 15:1-16:23; John 8:1-20; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 15:8-10 God told Samuel that he was ready to settle an account with the Amalekites who attacked Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. He wanted Saul to attack them and kill them all, people and animals. Samuel told Saul and he gathered 21,000 men. Saul called the Kenites out from among the Amalekites so they wouldn’t be killed along with them. Then they attacked and killed all the people except the king, Agag. They kept the best of the sheep and cattle for themselves. When Samuel rebuked Saul for letting them live, Saul blamed the people for taking the spoil so they could sacrifice them to the Lord. Samuel made it clear that God would rather have obedience than any gift they could give him. God can not be bribed. *** God also said that rebellion was the same as witchcraft and stubbornness was the same as iniquity and idolatry. Because Saul had rejected what God said, God had rejected him as being king. *** Saul repented bitterly for his sin and the fact that he feared the people more than he feared God. *** God told Saul that he was taking the kingdom from him and giving it to someone who was better than him. Ouch! *** Saul proved he was more worried about his outward appearance than his standing before God. He begged Samuel to honor him and go with him to worship the Lord so his elders would see that Samuel was still honoring him. *** Samuel went with Saul to the sacrifice, but then he had them bring out Agag and cut him into pieces. *** Samuel went back to Ramah where he mourned the rejection of Saul. God told Samuel to stop mourning for Saul and go to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse and anoint one of his sons to be God’s king. *** Samuel obeyed and Jesse brought his seven sons to Samuel, but God hadn’t chosen any of them. Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons and Jesse said his youngest son, David was keeping the sheep. Samuel told him to bring him and when he came, God said he was the one. Samuel took a horn of oil and poured it over his head in the midst of his brothers. *** When Saul had been anointed by Samuel, he did it in secret with a vial of oil. He anointed David with so much more and he did it in front of his brothers. *** The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day. It left Saul and God sent an evil spirit to torment him. It was so bad that his men looked for someone who could play a harp to calm him down when he got manic. They found David, who went and soothed Saul with his Spirit and his music. *** In John, Jesus was teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. The scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Where was the man? Then they tried to tell Jesus what the law said. They missed the part where the law says that they both are to be stoned. This proves once again that they didn’t know the law they so piously proclaimed. *** Jesus began to write with his finger on the ground. The only other time we know that the finger of God wrote something was the law. Jesus finally stood and said, that the one who was guiltless should cast the first stone. They started feeling convicted and the oldest turned to leave. They soon were all gone. Jesus asked the woman where her accusers were and she told him there were none and Jesus told her that he didn’t condemn her either but she should go and not sin again. Then Jesus said that he was the light of the world and that anyone who followed him would walk in the light of life. *** The Pharisees argued that he could not be his own testimony to truth. Jesus argued that his record was true because it was based on truth. He knew who he was and where he was going. They judged after the flesh. He didn’t judge, but if he did, his judgment would be the right one because he was judging as God. In their law they had to have two witnesses. He had two: him and his Father. *** When they asked where his Father was, Jesus told them they didn’t know his Father. If they had known him, they would know he came from him. *** Again, Jesus was speaking in the open and no one laid a hand on him because it was not his time. *** Lord, we can rest in this fact also. We do not need to fear death or tomorrow because you hold our times in your hand. When we walk with you, we are walking in the light and no darkness can come in.

Mon.’s Devo - Jesus, Our Advocate

Read: 1 Samuel 14:1-52; John 7:31-53; Psalm 109:1-31; Proverbs 15:5-7 Saul and his 600 men were camped outside of Gibeah. Jonathan took his armor bearer and went secretly to spy out the Philistine outpost. To get there Jonathan had to go between two cliffs that stood for glory (blessing) and suffering (curse). Jonathan had great faith that God was with them and would help them. *** They found the outpost and let the Philistines see them. Jonathan had told his armor bearer if the Philistines said they were coming to them to kill them, then they would know to run; but if they challenged them to come fight them, then they would know God had given them into their hands. *** The Philistines challenged them to come to them so they went to fight them. Jonathan fought those in front of him and his armor bearer fought the one behind him. They killed twenty men. This threw the whole Philistine camp into panic. Then God shook the earth with an earthquake and scared them even more. *** Back at the Israelite camp the lookouts noticed that the army of the Philistines were melting away in every direction. Saul had no idea who could have caused this. He called the roll, and Jonathan and his armor bearer were the only ones missing. *** Saul wanted to inquire of the Lord, but it happened so fast that they left to fight before they could hear from the Lord. They found the Philistines killing each other. Ones who had defected to the Philistine camp were fighting for Israel. Men who had gone home came out and fought. God saved Israel that day. *** The army of Saul was exhausted. Saul had put a curse on any one who ate anything till they had finished fighting that evening. Jonathan hadn’t heard the vow so he ate some of the honey that was abundant in the forest. One of Saul’s men saw him eating it and told of the curse. Jonathan thought it was a foolish thing Saul had vowed. *** The men were so hungry by the time the curse was lifted that they sinned and ate meat without draining the blood first. Saul rolled a stone over for them to kill their animals on and drain the blood. Then he built an altar to the Lord. He had the priest ask if they should continue fighting the Philistines the next day but God didn’t answer. Saul knew something was wrong and someone must have sinned. *** Saul had the priest draw lots between him and Jonathan, and the people to see who had sinned. The lot fell on him and Jonathan. Saul had said that whoever had sinned must die, even if it was Jonathan. The lot fell on Jonathan. Jonathan told what he had done. Saul was going to have him killed but the men stood up for him and advocated for his life. Jonathan was the reason for their great victory. He did not deserve to die. Jonathan was allowed to live. *** This is exactly what Jesus did for us. Under the law, we should die, but Jesus stood up for us and took our death for us. He advocates for us still. *** Saul had three sons and two daughters. His army officer was his cousin, Abner. *** Saul fought the Philistines all his life and drafted any able man he saw. *** In John, the people stood up for Jesus saying that Jesus was doing the miracles they would think the Messiah would do. When the Pharisees heard what the people were saying they sent the Temple guards to arrest Jesus. Jesus told them that he would only be with them a little longer because he was returning to the one who sent him. They would search for him but not be able to find them because they couldn’t go there. This confused them so much, they didn’t arrest him. *** On the last day of the festival they did a water libation where the priest would carry water from the pool of Siloam to the altar. The High Priest would then pour it at the foot of the altar. While this was going on, Jesus stood and shouted that anyone who was thirsty should come to him. All who believed and drank from his waters would have living water flowing from their hearts. This stirred up the crowd. Some believed in him and others wanted him arrested. No one laid a hand on him. *** When the temple guards returned without Jesus they explained that they had never heard anyone speak like he did. The temple leaders mocked them. When Nicodemus spoke up for Jesus, they mocked him also. *** Lord, help us to stand up against a mocking world that doesn’t believe. Help us to be light in the darkness.

Sun.’s Devo - Saul Disobeys

Read: 1 Samuel 12:1-13:23; John 7:1-30; Psalm 108:1-13; Proverbs 15:4 Samuel addressed all the people who met at Gilgal for a solemn assembly to the Lord. He reminded them that as their judge, he had never taken a bribe or perverted justice. The people agreed. They and the Lord were his witnesses on that day. Then Samuel reminded them of all the things the Lord had done for them as a nation and how they had so quickly forgotten the Lord and turned from him to worship other idols. *** Samuel reminded them that it usually didn’t rain during this time of year, but to show them how unpleased the Lord was, God would send thunder and rain. When Samuel prayed, it thundered and rained that day. The people were terrified and realized their sin in asking for a king. *** Samuel told them though they had done wrong, they must change and do right. They must worship the Lord and not their worthless idols. *** If they feared the Lord, and faithfully served him then God would do wonderful things for them. *** Saul was 30 years old when he became king and reigned 42 years. *** Saul selected 3,000 of his best troops and gave 1,000 of them to his son, Jonathan. They went to the country of Bethel to attack the Philistines. Johathan’s group attacked first and Saul sounded the ram’s horn to rally all Israel to revolt. They won the battle. *** The Philistines retaliated with 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers and an uncountable amount of soldiers. They camped at Micmash. The Israelites were in a tight spot and began to panic and many deserted. *** Saul stayed at Gilgal waiting for Samuel to come and present the sacrifice to the Lord. Saul was losing his army so when Samuel didn’t arrive soon enough for Saul, he presented the burnt offering himself. As soon as he had finished, Samuel walked up. *** When Samuel heard Saul’ excuse for not waiting for him he told him he was foolish. Since he hadn’t kept the command of the Lord, his kingdom, that would have lasted forever, would be taken from him and given to a man after God’s heart. *** Samuel and Saul went their own way from there and Saul only had 600 men left. He took them with him to meet the rest of his army in Geba. *** None of the Israelites had swords or spears because they were not allowed to have them under the Philistine rule. *** In John Jesus traveled around Galilee and stayed out of Judea because they were plotting his death there. *** It was nearing the Feast of Tabernacles and his disciples wanted Jesus to go to it so he could do his miracles and become famous. Jesus told them it was not the right time for him to go but they could go anytime. Jesus remained in Galilee. *** His brothers left for the festival and Jesus went secretly. The Jewish leaders were looking for him at the festival and the people were all giving their opinion about Jesus. No one had the courage to speak about him favorably in public. *** In the middle of the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. The people were amazed at his wisdom and knowledge of God and the scriptures. Jesus explained that his message was not his own but God’s message to the people. He accused them of no obeying the Law given by Moses. The crowd shouted that he had a demon. *** Jesus showed their hypocrisy. They got mad at him for healing a man on the Sabbath when they circumcised their own children on the Sabbath. What was the difference? *** The people wondered why the religious leaders weren’t arresting Jesus and thought it might be because they thought he was the Messiah. But the fact that they thought the Messiah would just appear and no one would know his origin, it made them question if Jesus was the one. *** Jesus answered their question. He told them that they did know where Jesus came from, but he wasn’t here on his own. God had sent him to them. The leaders tried to arrest him but couldn’t lay a hand on him because it was not the time. *** Lord, may we be bold like Jesus and speak without fear of consequences. Thank you for your example. Thank you that you did all that for us. Increase our faith.

Sat.’s Devo - Israel’s First King -

Read: 1 Samuel 10:1-11:15; John 6:43-71; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 15:1-3 Samuel anointed Saul with a flask of olive oil and told him God had appointed him to be the ruler over Israel. Then he gave him a list of things that would happen on his way home to prove that what he was saying was true. All of them happened just as Samuel said they would. *** When Saul arrived at home, his uncle asked him where he had been. Saul told him they had inquired of Samuel where the donkeys were and he told them they had been found so they came home. He didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel had said about him and the kingdom. *** Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet at Mizpah before the Lord. Samuel told them that because they had rejected the Lord, he had given them a king. Then he chose lots of all the tribes and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Then the family of the Matrites were chosen and finally, Saul was chosen. When they went to find Saul, he was hiding. They brought him out and shouted, “Long live the king.” *** Samuel read him all the rights and duties of the king and wrote them in a scroll. He then sent the people home. *** A group of men followed Saul, but others rejected him. *** About a month later, the Ammonites came to Jabesh-gilead and told the citizens there that they would make a treaty of peace and the terms would be that they would let them gouge out their right eye as a disgrace to all Israel. *** The men of Jabesh-gilead asked for 7 days to see if Israel would come to their rescue. When Saul found out about it he took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent them with messengers to say that this would happen to the oxen of these who don’t come to fight. Three hundred thousand came from Israel and 30,000 from Judah to fight the Ammonites. Saul sent a message to Jabesh-gilead that they were coming to their rescue. *** The men of Jabesh-gilead told the Ammonites that they would surrender to them the next day, but instead, Israel launched a surprise attack against the Ammonites and Israel got a great victory. *** The people wanted to kill the people who had opposed Saul becoming king but Saul wouldn’t let that happen. He proclaimed it a day to celebrate instead. They all went to Gilgal to worship the Lord and thank him. *** In John, Jesus told them to stop complaining that he had said he was the bread of life. No one can come to him unless the Father draws them to him and He will raise them up in the last day. They are the ones who will be taught by God, although he was the only one who had ever seen the Father. Anyone who believes in him has eternal life. *** Jesus continued saying God gave them manna in the wilderness and they all died, but anyone who eats this bread, speaking of his flesh, will never die. *** The people had a hard time with this concept. *** Jesus went further and told them that not only did they need to eat his flesh, but drink his blood to have eternal life. Even the disciples had a hard time understanding what he meant. *** Jesus told his disciples that if they had a hard time with this then they would really have a hard time when they saw the Son of Man ascend to heaven. Only the Sprit can give eternal life. Only the ones who believed in Spirit could come to the Lord. Many turned away from him at that time. *** Jesus asked his twelve if they would desert him also but Peter answered that there was no where else to go to receive eternal life. Peter said that they believed he was the Holy One of God. Jesus answered that one of them didn’t believe because he was a devil, speaking of Judas Iscariot. *** Lord, may we understand spiritually who you are and how your kingdom works.

Fri.’s Devo - Only Believe

Read: 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27; John 6:22-42; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 14:34-35 Samuel appointed his sons to help him judge the people but they were dishonest and took bribes. They loved money more than justice. *** The elders of Israel met with Samuel and told him his sons were not like him and he was old and would soon be gone. They wanted him to give them a king to rule over them. *** Samuel was displeased with their request but the Lord told him they were not rejecting him but God. He was to give them their king but first warn them of what this king would do. He would initiate a draft and draft their best men into his army. Some would become generals and captains while others would work his fields, make his weapons and chariots. The king would take their daughters to work for him and take the best land for himself. He would take a tenth of their income for himself and to run his organization. The day would come when they would regret asking for a king. *** The people refused to hear this and still wanted a king, so God told Samuel to give them what they wanted. *** Meanwhile there was a man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He lost some of his donkeys and sent his son, Saul to find them. After three days, Saul and his men had not found the donkeys and were out of food. They planned to return home when one of them suggested they ask the prophet, Samuel. *** Samuel had just arrived to bless the sacrifice for the nation. God told him he was sending him the man who was to be the king. When he met Saul, he invited him to eat with him. He told Saul that he and his family were the focus of all Israel’s hopes. He honored him above everyone there and gave him the best meat. Then he had Saul stay with him that night. When he went to bid him good-bye he asked to speak privately to him and give him a word from God. *** In John, the people remembered seeing Jesus send his disciples across the lake, but couldn’t find him anywhere. They followed the disciples and found him on the other side. When they asked Jesus how he got there, he told them that they came to him because he fed them. They hadn’t understood the meaning behind his miracle. He told them not to be so concerned about the things that are earthly like food, but to spend their energy seeking the eternal life that only Jesus could give them. *** The people said they wanted to work miracles too. Jesus told them what they needed to do was to believe he was sent by God. They asked for a sign to prove this. They said that Moses had given them bread from heaven. Jesus corrected them. God gave them bread from heaven, not Moses. God’s true bread was the bread that comes down from heaven and give life to the world. He was that bread. Anyone who came to him would receive eternal life. The people had a hard time with this. *** Lord, may we not stumble over what we can not understand and be like children and believe you with childlike faith.

Thurs.’s Devo - God is Greater

Read: 1 Samuel 5:1-7:17; John 6:1-21; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 14:32-33 The Philistines took the Ark of God to the town of Ashdod and placed it beside their idol, Dagon. The next morning, they went to see the Ark and Dagon had fallen on his face in front of the Ark of the Lord. They set Dagon back up but the next morning they found him face down in front of the Ark with its hands and head cut off. (I would have loved to see the battle that had taken place that night.) Only Dagon’s trunk was intact. *** The people of Ashdod and their surrounding villages were struck with a plague of tumors and they linked it back to the Ark. The rulers decided to move the Ark to Gath. The same thing happened to the people there, so they moved the Ark to Akron. The people of Akron cried out when they saw it coming and begged for it not to come to their city. They were plagued with tumors also. *** It took the Philistines 7 months to decide to take the Ark back to the Israelites. The five rulers of the Philistines all got together and asked their priests and diviners what they should do to get rid of the Ark. The priests told them they had to give it back to Israel and atone to their God. They were to build a new cart and hitch cows that had just given birth to lead it. They were to also put 5 golden rats and 5 golden tumors on the cart. The rats had brought their tumors. If the cows went straight to Israel, they would know that God had caused all this. *** God watched over his honor and the cows went straight to the field of Joshua and stopped beside a large rock. Joshua means “God is salvation”, and the rock stood for Jesus. *** The Levites took the wood from the cart and broke it up for firewood. They sacrificed the two cows and the gold on the rock while the 5 Philistine leaders watched. *** God killed 70 men of Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark. The Ark stayed at the home of Eleazar for 20 years. *** Israel mourned because it looked like God had abandoned them. Samuel explained that it was they who had abandoned God. If they wanted to return to the Lord they had to get rid of all their foreign gods and images of Ashtoreh and turn their hearts to the Lord and obey only him. Then he would rescue them from the Philistines. *** Samuel called a meeting at Mizpah where they confessed their sins and had a feast together. When the Philistines heard that they had all gathered at Mizpah, they planned to attack them. The Philistines arrived just as Samuel was sacrificing a burnt offering to the Lord. God spoke so loudly with thunder from heaven that the Philistine were thrown into confusion and the Israelites defeated them. *** Samuel rolled a large stone between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah and named it Ebenezer which means “the stone of help.” This marked the beginning of God helping them. *** The Philistines stopped fighting with them for a while. The Israelites captured the towns of Gath and Akron and restored them to Israel. *** Samuel led as Israel’s judge for the rest of his life and set up court in Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah to hear their cases. He built an altar to the Lord at Ramah. *** In John, it was almost time for the Passover. Jesus climbed a hill and sat with his disciples. He soon drew a great crowd who came to listen to his teaching. Jesus asked his disciples where they could buy bread to feed all of them. He was testing them. *** Phillip said that even if they worked for months they wouldn’t be able to afford to feed them. Andrew stepped forward and said there was a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish but what was that to this large crowd. *** That was all Jesus needed. He told the people to sit down, Jesus took the loaves and thanked God then began breading the loaves and giving them to the disciples. The bread and fish multiplied in his hands and fed the 5,000 men plus their families. That evening Jesus took his disciples to the shore and told them to sail across to the other side. As they did a storm rose up. They saw Jesus walking on the water and called out to him. Jesus told them not to be afraid and as soon as he entered their boat, they were at the other side. *** Lord, we invite you into our boat. You are our peace and our only way to the other side. You are greater than any god man can manufacture.

Wed.’s Devo - God’s Word is True

Read: 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; Proverbs 14:30-31 Eli was very aware that his sons were doing wicked things. They were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Eli confronted his sons but didn’t take them from their duty or discipline them, so God planned to put them to death. *** God sent Eli a prophet who told him the time would come when his family would no longer be priests. All the members of his family would die premature deaths. The few that would remain priests would end up blind, with heart conditions or die a violent death. To prove that his words were true, Hophni and Phinehas would both die on the same day. *** God would raise up a faithful priest to serve and do his will. Meanwhile, Samuel grew to have the favor of God and the people. *** One night Samuel was awakened in the middle of the night hearing his name called. He ran to Eli to see what he wanted. Eli was almost blind by now and they slept in the Tabernacle. Samuel slept near the Ark of the Lord. Eli told him he hadn’t called him. When it happened again, Eli perceived that it was the Lord speaking to Samuel. He told Samuel the next time he heard his name called to ask him to speak. *** Samuel did and God told him that he was about to do something shocking in Israel. All the warnings of judgment were about to come true. Since Eli hasn’t disciplined his sons, God had ordered their judgement. They would never be forgiven. *** The next morning, Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what God had said, but Eli urged him. When he did, there was nothing Eli had no defense. *** At that time, there was war between Israel and the Philistines. Four thousand Israelites were killed in the first attack. The captains of Israel’s army wondered why God was not helping them so they decided to go get the Ark and bring it with them into battle. When the Ark arrived the whole came yelled so loudly that the earth shook and the Philistines could hear it from where they were. They were so afraid of Israel’s God, they told their men to fight extra hard because they were going up against Israel’s strong God who had defeated Egypt. They didn’t know that God was no longer with Israel. *** Hophni and Phinehas went with the Ark into war the next day. The Philistines defeated Israel again and killed 30,000 of them. The Ark was captured and Hophni and Phinehas were both killed. *** When the bad news was told to Eli, he fell backward from his seat and broke his neck and died. He had judged Israel for 40 years. *** Phinehas’ wife was pregnant and went into labor when she heard the news. She began dying in childbirth but named her child Ichabod before she died. Ichabod means “Woe, where has the glory gone.” *** In John, Jesus said that those who believe in him will never be condemned for their sins but have already passed from death into life. One day, the dead will hear his voice and those who listen will live. They will rise out of their graves and those who have done good will experience eternal life and those who did evil will rise to be judged for their sins. Jesus will judge them as God instructs him at that time. *** John was the one who testified about Jesus, and his teachings and miracles also testify as to who he is. God testified about him through the Scriptures. Man’s approval means nothing if it doesn’t agree with God’s Scriptures. *** Most of the religious leaders of Jesus day couldn’t believe Jesus because they honored one another more than God. Moses, himself would stand in judgment against them because Moses testified of Jesus. They proved that they didn’t believe Moses because Moses told about Jesus and they didn’t believe him. *** Lord, we believe your testimony. Help us be an example of you to the world and our families.

Tues.’s Devo - Hannah’s Story

Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29 Elkanah was a man who lived in Ramah. He had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Penninah had children but Hannah was barren. *** Elkanah would travel to Shiloh annually to sacrifice at the Tabernacle there. The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas presided there as priest. Elkanah would give meat for his wives to give as a sacrifice. He gave Peninnah a larger piece because she had to feed all her children from it. She would make fun of Hannah’s small piece of meat. Her harassment caused Hannah to cry. *** This year, Elkanah saw her crying and asked her why she was crying, was he not better than many children? He didn’t understand. *** Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli saw her crying bitterly before the Lord and thought she was drunk. He rebuked her, but she told him she was not drunk but fervently praying. He blessed her with peace and the answer to her prayer. *** Hannah was then filled with hope and began to eat again. She got the answer to her prayer and became pregnant. She had a son and named him Samuel. When he was weaned she took him to Eli and left him to be trained to be a priest. She gave her first fruit to the Lord. *** Then Hannah prayed the most powerful prayer for herself and for Israel. It was about reversals for those who hope in the Lord. *** Eli’s sons disrespected God and their duties as priests. They disrespected everyone’s gifts to the Lord and took them for themselves, treating the Lord’s offerings with contempt. *** Meanwhile, Samuel grew to serve the Lord. He dressed like a little priest as a child because Hannah brought him a coat every year. Eli blessed Hannah to have more children and she had three sons and two daughters. Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. *** In John, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the feast and went near the Sheep Gate by the pool of Bethesda. Many very sick people lay on the porches waiting for the stirring of the water to be healed. One man had been there for 38 years. He was paralyzed. *** Jesus saw him and told him to stand up, pick up his mat and walk. The man instantly did. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath so, of course the the Jewish leaders objected when they saw him carrying his mat. Jesus had disappeared into the crowd, but found the man later and told him to stop sinning or something worse would happen to him. *** When the religious leaders criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus told them that his Father always was working. All the religious leaders were working on was a way to kill Jesus. *** Jesus really ticked them off when he called God his Father and told him he was doing what God was doing. He claimed that God would show him how to do even greater things than healing this man. God would give him power to raise the dead. He was also given the power to judge anyone who was not honoring the Father who sent him. *** All glory and honor to Jesus Christ! Thank you, Jesus that you choose to give us this same authority. Show us how to use this authority to proclaim your glory on the earth.

Mon.’s Devo. - Our Kinsman Redeemer

Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 114:26-27 Boaz was a wealthy man who had been a relative of Ruth’s deceased husband, Elimelech. It was the wheat harvest and Ruth wanted to work in the fields. It was a law that the poor could walk behind the reapers and pick up whatever they missed. Naomi agreed to let Ruth go glean. *** Ruth just happened to end up in Boaz’s field. He knew who she was and had heard her story of losing her husband, then following Ruth back to live among Israelites. When he saw her gleaning in his field he introduced himself to her and told her to stay in his fields and he would make sure she was safe. *** Boaz then went to his workers and told them to drop extra sheaves for her to pick up and not to harass her in any way. Boaz also invited her to eat the food he had prepared for his workers. She stayed there all day and went home with enough sheaves to make a whole bowl of grain. *** Ruth was amazed at the amount of grain Ruth had gathered and asked her whose field she had gathered in. When she learned it was Boaz’s, she told Ruth that he was a kinsman redeemer for their family. ***At the end of the barley harvest, Boaz would be staying at the threshing floor over night. Naomi told Ruth to get cleaned up and put on her prettiest dress. She was stay in the background until Boaz had eaten and was full of wine. Once he had laid down, she was to uncover his feet and lay there. Boaz would instruct her from there. *** Boaz had already searched to find there was a relative who was ahead of him in redeeming her. He told Ruth to go home and he would talk to the other relative and see if he would redeem her. If he did, there was nothing Boaz could do, but if he didn’t, Boaz would marry Ruth. *** When Boaz went to the gates of the city, he met the relative. He didn’t want to redeem Ruth, so Boaz became her redeemer. Witnesses of the transaction blessed Boaz and he took Ruth as his wife. She became pregnant and the child became Naomi’s birthright. They named the son Obed which means “serving”. *** In the genealogy in Matthew we learn that Boaz’s mother was Rahab, who was a Canaanite woman who chose, like Ruth, to become an Israelite. That was why Boaz had so much compassion on Ruth, a foreigner like his mother. *** In John, Jesus went back to Judea where he had been kicked out before. This time so many of them had been touched by the miracles he had done at Passover, they welcomed him. He came to the city of Cana where he had turned the water to wine and met a government official whose son was about to die. He begged Jesus to heal his son. *** Jesus told the man to go back home, his son would live. The man believed him and went home. On his way, some of his servants met him with the good news that his son was well. It had happened the very moment Jesus spoke his healing. He and his entire household became believers in Christ. *** Lord, thank you for being our Kinsman Redeemer. Thank you for saving the whole world that we might become children of God. May we be the light of the world for you.

Sun.’s Devo - Finding a Bride

Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25 The Israelites had vowed not to give their daughters in marriage to any man of the tribe of Benjamin so the tribe was going to die out. The leaders of the tribes got together and found it devastating to lose a tribe, but they had made a vow. Now they had to find a way around it. *** They still had the 600-plus men that had hidden in Rimmon. They needed to find wives for them to preserve the tribe of Benjamin. They inquired around to find that no one from the town of Jabesh-gilead had showed up to fight so they hadn’t made the vow. They went to the town and killed everyone in the town except the virgins. They found wives for 400 of them. They still needed about 200 women. *** Every year they had a festival at Shiloh where the virgins would do a dance. They told the men who needed wives to watch from vineyards and pick out a wife then rush out and grab her. Since their parents didn’t legally give their daughters to them, they would not be breaking their vow. They did this and the rest of the men in Benjamin had wives. *** In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. *** Ruth. Israel experienced a great famine. There was a man and his wife: Elimelech and Naomi, who had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion. they were from the tribe of Ephraim who lived in Bethlehem. The famine became so severe, they moved to the land of Moab. Mahlon and Kilion married wives there: Ruth and Orpah. Elimelech and his two sons died leaving no children. *** Naomi heard there was bread in Judah and decided to return home. She tried to convince her two daughter-in-laws to stay and remarry their people, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi. *** They traveled to Bethlehem and got there just at the time of Pentecost when the farmers were harvesting the barley. The whole town was happy to have Naomi back. *** In John, Jesus traveled through Samaria and came to the village of Sychar. This was near the land Jacob had given to Joseph. Jacob’s well was there and Jesus sat beside the well while his disciples went to find food. One of the women from Samaria came to draw water around noon and Jesus asked her to draw him some water. *** The woman was surprised he had talked to her since she was a much-hated Samaritan. She asked him about that and Jesus began to tell her about the living water he could offer her. The water he was offering her was water that would forever quench her thirst. It was fresh and bubbling and would give them eternal life. Then she wanted his water. He told her to go get her husband. *** She replied that she didn’t have a husband. He already knew that. He told her that she had had seven and the one she was with now wouldn’t marry her. *** She was amazed that he knew her and all she had been through. She perceived him to be a prophet and begin asking him religious questions about where it was the right place to worship God. *** Jesus told her of a time that was coming where it didn’t matter where you worshipped the Lord but how you worshipped him. God was Spirit so he must be worshipped by someone’s spirit who truly loved him. *** Then the women mentioned the Messiah that was coming who is called Christ and when he came he would explain all this to them. *** Jesus told her he was the Messiah. At this time, the disciples returned and she ran to the village to tell everyone about the man who knew everything about her. Could this man be the Messiah? *** The disciples urged Jesus to eat but he couldn’t. He told them that his nourishment came from doing the will of God. He had planted in his vineyard and now he was experiencing the harvest and it was nourishing him. Many of the people from her Samaritan town came to hear and believe in Jesus. They begged him to stay longer and he did for two days. *** Just like the men of Benjamin, Jesus was looking for a bride. His is still looking for those who will be his bride. *** Lord, we say “Yes!” We want to be your bride. May we be nourished by working in your vineyard and seeing the harvest come in.

Sat.’s Devo -The Sad State of Israel

Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 14:22-24 This is the story I hate to read every year. It is the epitome of man doing what he thinks is right in the sight of the Lord. *** A man takes a concubine and she is so angry with him that she flees back to her father’s house. When her owner comes for her, her father doesn’t protect her. Instead he entertains his “son-in-law” and lets him take his daughter back with him. *** They stay in the city of Gibeah on the way back to his house, thinking it is safe since it is in Israel. It is full of wicked men who come to the house that they are staying and want the man to come out so they can have sex with him. To protect himself, he throws his concubine out the door so she can be raped all night. She survives until morning and makes it back to the door of the house they are staying. When the man opens the door and tells her to get up, she’s dead. *** He takes her body, cuts it into 12 pieces and sends a piece to every tribe in Israel to get the people rallied up to fight against the town of Gibson. He leaves out the part where he gave his concubine to them to rape. *** All the tribes send their armies to fight at Mizpah. The Israelites send 400,000 warriors. The man who gathered them gave his speech to them about what happened, once again leaving out his part. They go to war against Benjamin’s 26,000 warriors. *** The first two days of fighting were really bad for Israel. She lost 40,000 men. But after crying out the the Lord and offering sacrifices of peace to the Lord, they set up an ambush and drew the Benjamites out of the city. They killed 48,100 Benjamites, burned down the town and killed the people, livestock, and everything they found. Six hundred men escaped to the rock of Rimmon where they lived for four months. *** Jesus and his disciples were baptizing people the same place John was. John’s disciples asked John if he was worried that everyone was leaving his ministry and going over to hear what Jesus was saying and he told them that this was the plan. He was not the Messiah but was only sent to prepare the way for him. He must decrease and Jesus must increase. *** John was earthly so he could only speak of earthly things. Jesus had come from heaven, so he could speak of heavenly things. Jesus spoke for God and could tell them of thing he experienced in heaven with his Father. Those who believe his testimony will receive eternal life. *** Jesus knew the Pharisees were watching him so he left Judea and went to Galilee. *** Jesus, thank you for the revealing the Father to us. Lord, God, thank you for sending your son to die that we might have eternal life. Holy Spirit, thank you for revealing God’s plan to us and equipping us to walk in the steps of Jesus.

Fri.’s Devo - The Beginnings of the Tribe of Dan

Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21 Micah lived in the hills of Ephraim. He had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from his own mother. When he heard that she had placed a curse on the person who stole it, he confessed and gave back the silver. She was elated and took 200 pieces of the silver and had a image made and worshipped it. *** The theme of the Judges is “Israel had no king in those days and the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” They didn’t follow the law of Moses but human reasoning which led them to idolatry and error. *** One day a Levite passed through town and happened to stop at Micah’s house. Micah offered him ten pieces of silver a year, room and food if he would stay and be his personal priest. Micah thought he would be blessed by god and his curse would be lifted but he was so wrong. *** The tribe of Dan had yet to secure their land given to them by Joshua. They sent out warriors to spy out the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. When they came to Micah’s house they spent the night. The recognized the Levite’s accent and asked him what brought him to this house. When the Levite explained his set-up there they asked him to ask God if they would prosper in their journey. They were testing his ability to predict the future. *** The Levite told them they would prosper. The spies from Dan came to the town of Laish and noticed the people were living peacefully and secure and the people were prosperous because their land was fertile. They returned home and told their tribe. *** Six hundred warriors of Dan came to attack Laish. They stopped at Micah’s to camp. They were told of the shrine and the priest that Micah had there. *** At night, they began to rob the shrine of Micah. When the priest asked them what they were doing, they offered him a job as the priest of Dan. He was happy to leave Micah’s house and move on to something bigger. *** Micah and his friends came after them to get back the things they had stolen from Micah, but were threatened with their lives. When they realized they were greatly out-numbered they had no recourse but to turn around and go back home. *** The men of Dan came to Laish and attacked it and took the city and named it Dan. They set up their idols and appointed Jonathan as their priest just as they had promised. Johathan was the son of Gershom who was the son of Moses. Gershom means “expulsion”. *** In John, one of the Jewish leaders named Nicodemus came to see Jesus after dark. He told Jesus he knew he was sent by God because of all the signs he had seen Jesus do. Jesus told him he could not see the kingdom of God unless he was born again. When Nicodemus questioned how he could be born again, Jesus told him that unless he was born of the Spirit he could’t have eternal life. *** Nicodemus still didn’t understand. So, Jesus told him that he had come down from heaven and as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. He was speaking of the cross. *** He went on to tell Nicodemus that he came to give his life to save the world, not judge it. Those who believed in him would not be judged but saved. But, they had to come to the light to find him. *** Lord, may we come to your light and learn of your saving merciful grace.

Thurs.’s Devo - Bringing Down the Strong Man -

Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19 It was the time of the wheat harvest which was around the time of Pentecost. Pentecost is associated with the fire of the Holy Spirit and the spreading of the gospel. *** Samson had left his wedding, mad, so his wife had been given to his best man. When he found this out, he took 300 foxes and tied their tails together in pairs. He lit their tails with fire and set them free in the fields of the Philistines destroying their grain, which spread to their vineyards and their olive trees. He spread his gospel of revenge. *** The Philistines came to attack Israel so the Israelites told them they would hand Samson to them to keep them from war. The Philistines agreed that Samson was who they wanted. *** Samson gave himself up to the Israelites so they could hand him over to the Philistines. They tied up his hands and gave him to the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and he snapped the ropes off his arms. He found the jawbone of a donkey and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. *** Samson was so thirsty after his battle, he cried out to the Lord for water. God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground and Samson was revived. *** One night, Samson went to spend the night in Gaza with a prostitute and the Philistines of the town locked the gates planning to take him in the morning. Samson left at midnight and when he came to the gate, he picked it up and carried it on his shoulders and set it on the top of the hill across from Hebron. (Samson was a bit of a prankster.) *** Samson fell in love with Delilah, a Philistine from Sorek. The Philistines came to her and told her to entice Samson to tell her the source of his strength. They offered to each give her 1,100 pieces of silver. Delilah’s name means “bringing low.” The bribe brought her so low, she agreed to double cross her lover. *** She tried many things Samson told her was the source of his strength, but none ended up being true. Samson hadn’t learned from his wedding party not to trust Philistine women and Delilah finally got the truth out of him. She lulled him to sleep in her lap and had a man come in and shave his locks. His strength was gone. *** She called in the Philistines and they captured him and gouged out his eyes. They put I’m in Gaza where he was bound with chains and forced him to grind grain in the prison. They didn’t know not to let his hair grow back. *** The Philistines held a great festival to their god, Dagon, and brought Samson out to laugh at him. As he was standing between the pillars which supported the roof, he asked if the guard could put his hands on the pillars that held up the Temple so he could rest. All the Philistine rulers and leaders where there with about 3,000 people. They were all on the roof looking down into the arena where Samson stood. He prayed tot he Lord to remember him and strengthened him one more time to pay the Philistines back for the loss of his eyes. He was willing to die with them. The temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. He killed more people with his death than he had during his entire lifetime. *** The opposite could be said of Jesus. Jesus saved more in his death than in his entire lifetime. *** Samson was taken back to his home town and buried. He had ruled Israel for 20 years. *** The story of Samson is a living parable teaching us how to bring down a strong man, or a principality. It works on both sides of good and evil. A strong man is brought down by knowing the source of its strength. If we can find out how a principality has a right to be in a person or area then we can bring it down. *** Satan can use this against us as well. He can find out the source of our strength and take it from us, but if the trinity is our source of strength, he cannot touch them. They is our secret power! *** In John, Jesus, his mother and his disciples had gone to a wedding in Cana. The wine supply ran out so Jesus’ mother came to Jesus and told him. *** Jesus was not ready to do his miracles openly, but Jesus mother was relentless. She told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. There were six stone water jars that could hold twenty to thirty gallons of water each. Jesus told them to fill them with water, then dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies. When he tasted it he declared that most people served the best wine first and then brought out the cheap stuff when the people were drunk, but this host had saved the best till last. *** It was close to the time of the Passover and Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem. He saw the merchants selling cattle, sheep and doves for sacrifices and how the dealers were cheating the people out of their money. *** Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased the animals and the money changers out of the Temple. He upended their tables scattering their coins. He told the people who sold doves to get out and stop turning his Father’s house into a market place. *** His disciples remembered the prophecy that said, “Passion for God’s house will consume me.” *** The Jewish leaders wanted to know who gave him the authority to do this. They wanted him to show them a miraculous sign to prove who he was. *** Jesus told them to destroy this temple and in three days, he would raise it up. They were astonished. They reminded him that it took 46 years to build the Temple and he was claiming to raise it up in three days??? Jesus meant his body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit. *** Jesus did many miraculous signs at the Passover celebration which caused many to believe in him, but he didn’t trust them because he knew their hearts. *** Lord, the only hope we have in being saved is a new heart. Let your heart be in our heart that we might not sin against you. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, may we constantly be driving out the evil and filling it with your Spirit.


Wed.’s Devo - Our Deliverer

Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29—51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16 The people of Israel went into idolatry again so God gave them over to the Philistines who oppressed them for 40 years. *** God raised up a deliverer from the tribe of Dan. An angel appeared to the wife of Manoah, who was barren. He told her that she would have a son who would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. She was not to drink any alcoholic drink or wine or eat any unclean food. Her son’s hair was never to be cut and he was to be a Nazarite from birth. When she received this information, she ran and told her husband, Manoah. Manoah means “rest”. *** Manoah prayed to the Lord and asked him to send the angel back to them so they could ask him some questions. God did send the angel and Manoah asked him what kind of rules he should go by to raise him and what the boy was to do as an occupation. *** The angel told them to follow the instructions he had given her already - no wine or alcohol and no unclean food. *** Manoah prepared a burnt offering for him to eat. He asked the angel his name but he told him his name was too wonderful for him to understand. Then he ascended in the fire of the offering. Manoah and his wife bowed to the ground in worship. *** When their son was born, she named him Samson which means “little sun”. *** As he grew older, he was in the city of Timnah and saw a Philistine woman who he wanted as his wife. He told his mother and father but they were upset he wanted to marry a Philistine instead of an Israelite. They didn’t realize God was creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines. *** As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah to meet this woman, a young lion attacked Samson near they vineyards of Timnah. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he easily ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He didn’t tell his parents what had happened. They met the young woman and then went home. *** Later, Samson returned to Timnah for the wedding. He found the carcass of the lion he had killed and bees had made honey in the carcass. He scooped some of it up and gave some to his parents but still didn’t tell them where he had found it. *** Samson threw a party at Timnah and the bride’s parents selected 30 young men from their town to be his companions or bride’s men. Samson proposed a riddle saying that if they were able to solve it by the end of his bride week, he would give them each a fine linen robe and a festive outfit. If they didn’t solve it, they would each give him a robe and an outfit. *** Samson gave them his riddle: “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet.” They tried all week to figure out the answer but couldn’t. They finally threatened his fiancé by telling her that if she didn’t tell them they would burn down her father’s house with her in it. *** She nagged Samson all week until on the last day, he told her the answer. She told her men and they gave Samson the answer: “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” *** Samson he knew how they had gotten their answer. He went down to Ashkelon and killed 30 men and took their clothing and gave it to the men who had solved his riddle. He was so angry, he went home and his wife was given to his best man at the wedding. *** In the New Testament, John was baptizing men when Jesus came toward him. He told those around him that Jesus was the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was the one he had been preaching about that would come after him and be so much greater than him. When John baptized Jesus he saw the Spirit of the Lord come upon Jesus like a dove. He proclaimed that Jesus would baptize people with the Holy Spirit. *** Jesus walked past John the next day and John told his two disciples that he was the Lamb of God. The two disciples began to follow Jesus. When Jesus saw them following him, he turned and asked them what they wanted. They called him Rabbi and asked him where he was staying. Jesus told them and they remained with him. One of these men was Andrew. He ran and found his brother, Simon and brought him to meet Jesus. When Jesus met Simon he told him he would be called Cephas which means Peter. *** The next day, Jesus added Philip to his group. Philip went and got Nathanael and told him that he had found the person Moses and the prophets had written about. When Nathanael heard he was from Nazareth he wondered how anything good could come from Nazareth. Philip told him to come and see for himself. *** Nathanael came and met Jesus. Jesus said that he was a genuine son of Israel who had complete integrity. Nathanael asked him how he knew him. Jesus told him that he had seen him under the fig tree before Philip had found him. *** By this word of knowledge, Nathanael became a true believer. Jesus told him he was about to see so much more than that. He would see the heavens open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, because the Son of Man is the stairway between heaven and earth. *** Lord, may we use our gifts to bring you glory and trample down your enemies. May we not be afraid but bold as lions.