Fri.’s Devo - God is Good -

Read: Judges 2:10-3:31; Luke 22:14-34; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 14:1-2 The generation who had served under Joshua died and the next generation did not know the Lord or what he had done for them. They went after the Baals and the Ashteroth. They abandoned the Lord and He gave them over to their enemies. He fought against them in battle, just as he had warned them he would if they abandoned him. *** They were oppressed by the nations who ruled over them, and when they could take it no longer, they cried out to the Lord. He would raise up a judge to save them. They would serve the Lord until that judge died, then they would lapse back into worshipping the gods of the land. *** God no longer drove out their enemies and left the five lords of the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites to test them. The Israelites lived among them and cross-bred with their people. Israel followed after their gods of Baal and Asheroth. They were made to serve Cushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia for 8 years. They cried out to the Lord to save them and he sent Othniel, Caleb’s nephew who married his daughter. Othniel prevailed against the king, and the Israelites had rest for 40 years. When Othniel died, Israel went back into idolatry and sin. *** God brought the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Amalekites against them and defeated them. They served Eglon, king of Moab for 18 years. *** When Israel cried out to the Lord, he raised up Ehud to deliver them. Ehud went to Moab to give Israel’s tribute to Eglon. He had everyone leave the room so he could speak to Eglon privately. Ehud stabbed king Eglon in the stomach. When he did this, Eglon’s bowels released. Since Eglon was so fat, his skin swallowed up Ehud’s sword, so he left it in his stomach and fled, locking the door behind him. Eglon’s servants thought he was relieving himself, because of the smell. This gave Ehud time to escape to Seirah where he blew the trumpet and rallied the troops. They went down and killed 10,000 of the Moabites and seized the fords of the Moabites on the Jordan. The Moabites had not let the Israelites cross the Jordan and now they were free to cross. Israel had peace for 80 years. *** Their third judge was Samgar who killed 600 Philistines to save Israel. *** In Luke, Jesus had his last supper with his disciples. He explained that the wine represented his blood and the bread represented his body. He would not eat again until the kingdom of God comes. He told them to annually observe this meal in remembrance of him. Then he exposed that his betrayer was sitting among them. They questioned who it was, but argued over which them would be regarded as the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus clarified that it would be the one who serves that rules. Just as he was serving them now; he would rule later. But, he did tell them that God was giving him a kingdom where they would be invited to eat and drink at his table and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. *** Then Jesus told Simon that the devil had a special target on his back. Jesus had prayed for him that his faith would remain strong. When he has gone through his trial, he can use what he learned to strengthen others. When Simon Peter defended his undying allegiance to Jesus, Jesus told him that he would deny him three times that very night. *** In today’s reading we read where God would use his enemies to test the people. Satan would be used in Simon’s life to test him. Our enemies are our tests. God uses their tests to strengthen our faith. We should never blame God for our trials. Satan is the one who attacks us with evil. God is the one who turns this evil to something good. *** Lord, we praise you for turning every evil intention that the enemy has brought against us to something good. You are the good Shepherd and the Faithful Father. We thank you for your love and care.