Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29
Elkanah was an Ephramite who had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had many children but Hannah was barren.
Peninnah gave Hannah a hard time and became her adversary making Hannah’s life miserable, even though Elkannah loved Hannah the most. This reminds me of Rachael and Leah.
Hannah cried out to the Lord about her situation and the Lord heard her cry and gave her a son named Samuel which means “heard of God”. She gave her son to the Lord which translates that when she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh to live with Eli. Eli was the high priest at the time and he did a horrible job of raising his own children, but Hannah trusted him with her son. Really, Hannah trusted the Lord with her son. God can be trusted. He blessed her gift with three more sons and two daughters.
Samuel was to be a gift from God to the nation of Israel. He would be a stark difference from Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas. Hophni means a pugilist or someone who boxes with his fists. Phinehas means “the mouth of a serpent”. Samuel was sent to cleanse the priesthood and bring righteousness back to the nation.
In John, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. Passover has to do with salvation so no wonder Jesus is at a sheep market by a pool. Jesus came to gather his sheep through grace. This market had five porches. Five is the number of grace. An angel was to come down at a certain season into the pool and stir up the water. After that, the first one into the water would be healed. Jesus was that angel sent from heaven to stir up the waters of religion and heal the sick. The man who had been waiting the longest got healed that day. Since it was the Sabbath day, the Jews got really mad. Jesus gave a long explanation of his Father, God and the authority God had given him which made them even madder. They couldn’t comprehend that he was the Son of God.
Lord, thank you that you have opened our eyes to see the truth. We honor you and what you have done for us. May we walk in the authority you have given us.
Monday, May 7, 2018
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Sun.’s Devo - Jesus, Our Friend
Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27
Ruth means “friend”. She is a picture of Jesus as our friend. She gave up her homeland, her family, and her culture to go to a strange place and live as a foreigner to take care of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Jesus gave up heaven, his kingship, and his heavenly family to come to earth to live as a man to save us and give us eternal life.
What is interesting about Boaz is that his mother was Rahab, the harlot that hid the spies when they canvassed the city of Jericho. Boaz knew first hand what it was like for a woman of another culture to come into the Jewish camp and become one of them. He had grown up with stories of how his mother was welcomed into the Israelite family and married Salmon, his father. He was honored to do the same for Ruth. Boaz was a type of Jesus as our kinsman redeemer. Jesus is coming for a bride that is a new man: neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised nor uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free but one that Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)
I find it interesting that in the blessing given by the women in the town to Naomi, it was that Ruth’s offspring be like those of Tamar. Tamar had lost her first husband and had no offspring until she tricked Judah, her father-in-law into having sex with her. They had a son named Perez. Even though he came into the world under very difficult circumstances and probably grew up with a single mother, Nehemiah 11:6 says that all the sons of Perez were 768 valiant men. That is some heritage!
In John, Jesus spent most of his time ministering in Galilee, only going to Jerusalem during the feast days. He did many miracles in Jerusalem but when he came back to Cana where he had turned the water into wine, it says that he healed the son of a royal officer and that this was his second miraculous sign. This means that this miracle was more than just another miracle but it was significant in why Jesus came. This man’s sick son was in Capernaum which means “village of comfort”. The father was a Roman officer making him a Gentile. The sign was that Jesus came to save the Gentiles as well as the Jew.
I have to comment on the Proverb for today. It says that if we, as parents put our trust in the Lord, our faith will be a refuge for our children.
Jesus, thank you for being our friend and our kinsman redeemer. Thank you, that you came to save the whole world. Help us to have your eyes to see what we need to see.
Ruth means “friend”. She is a picture of Jesus as our friend. She gave up her homeland, her family, and her culture to go to a strange place and live as a foreigner to take care of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Jesus gave up heaven, his kingship, and his heavenly family to come to earth to live as a man to save us and give us eternal life.
What is interesting about Boaz is that his mother was Rahab, the harlot that hid the spies when they canvassed the city of Jericho. Boaz knew first hand what it was like for a woman of another culture to come into the Jewish camp and become one of them. He had grown up with stories of how his mother was welcomed into the Israelite family and married Salmon, his father. He was honored to do the same for Ruth. Boaz was a type of Jesus as our kinsman redeemer. Jesus is coming for a bride that is a new man: neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised nor uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free but one that Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)
I find it interesting that in the blessing given by the women in the town to Naomi, it was that Ruth’s offspring be like those of Tamar. Tamar had lost her first husband and had no offspring until she tricked Judah, her father-in-law into having sex with her. They had a son named Perez. Even though he came into the world under very difficult circumstances and probably grew up with a single mother, Nehemiah 11:6 says that all the sons of Perez were 768 valiant men. That is some heritage!
In John, Jesus spent most of his time ministering in Galilee, only going to Jerusalem during the feast days. He did many miracles in Jerusalem but when he came back to Cana where he had turned the water into wine, it says that he healed the son of a royal officer and that this was his second miraculous sign. This means that this miracle was more than just another miracle but it was significant in why Jesus came. This man’s sick son was in Capernaum which means “village of comfort”. The father was a Roman officer making him a Gentile. The sign was that Jesus came to save the Gentiles as well as the Jew.
I have to comment on the Proverb for today. It says that if we, as parents put our trust in the Lord, our faith will be a refuge for our children.
Jesus, thank you for being our friend and our kinsman redeemer. Thank you, that you came to save the whole world. Help us to have your eyes to see what we need to see.
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Sat.s’ Devo - God’s Plan for Evangelism
Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25
Judges was a time people did life their way, then ran to God to fix their mess. Today’s story is the epitome of this. The leaders of Israel didn’t think ahead to realize that in their zeal to avenge the Levite and his concubine, they would be wiping out a whole tribe. Now, they had to fix their mess by finding a way to keep the tribe of Benjamin alive without breaking their foolish vows they had made not to let any of their females marry a Benjamite. They found a loop hole and were able to save face, but leaving a lot of collateral damage behind.
When they still didn’t have enough women, they went to the festival at Shiloh to snatch the virgin dancers. I found out that Shiloh was another name for Jesus meaning “bringer of peace”. Shiloh was a very secluded place in Ephraim where the ark was located before the Philistines stole it. It was like a haven for the remnant. God always has a remnant that doesn’t go the way of the world and stays true to Him. Shiloh was such a place.
Our next book is Ruth which is one of my favorites. Elimelech and Naomi should have never left Bethlehem. Famines were always God’s discipline on a people who rebelled against him. They should have stayed and persevered and waited for God’s deliverance, but instead they tried to escape. Sadly, they found pain and death instead of rest. It is never best to escape God’s discipline. Patience brings such good benefits.
God spared Naomi and rescued Ruth because God is always in to redemption and restoration. Ruth was a Moabite who saw something she wanted in the faith of Naomi. She returned to Naomi’s land to make it hers and find salvation.
In John, Jesus had just entered his ministry and he felt the need to go through Samariah. This was Gentile territory, but Jesus came to save the world so he had two ministries - one to the Jew and the other to the Gentiles. He flip-flopped between these two groups all through his ministry. Today he was with the Gentiles. He stopped in the town of Sychar which was once Shechem. It was the place Abraham built his first altar to the Lord when he came into the promised land and it was in the valley between the two mountains that the tribes stood on reading the curses and the blessings. It was like a valley of decision. Joshua purged the place of idols and burned them in this place. Jacob built a well here in the land he gave to Joseph. It is the picture of what was to come. The woman at the well was the first Gentile recorded that came to know Jesus as the Messiah. He told her point blank that he was the Messiah which was something he didn’t tell too many people. She became his missionary to the Gentiles and many were saved because of her testimony.
Lord, help us to see the bigger picture and join you in your pursuit of the world.
Judges was a time people did life their way, then ran to God to fix their mess. Today’s story is the epitome of this. The leaders of Israel didn’t think ahead to realize that in their zeal to avenge the Levite and his concubine, they would be wiping out a whole tribe. Now, they had to fix their mess by finding a way to keep the tribe of Benjamin alive without breaking their foolish vows they had made not to let any of their females marry a Benjamite. They found a loop hole and were able to save face, but leaving a lot of collateral damage behind.
When they still didn’t have enough women, they went to the festival at Shiloh to snatch the virgin dancers. I found out that Shiloh was another name for Jesus meaning “bringer of peace”. Shiloh was a very secluded place in Ephraim where the ark was located before the Philistines stole it. It was like a haven for the remnant. God always has a remnant that doesn’t go the way of the world and stays true to Him. Shiloh was such a place.
Our next book is Ruth which is one of my favorites. Elimelech and Naomi should have never left Bethlehem. Famines were always God’s discipline on a people who rebelled against him. They should have stayed and persevered and waited for God’s deliverance, but instead they tried to escape. Sadly, they found pain and death instead of rest. It is never best to escape God’s discipline. Patience brings such good benefits.
God spared Naomi and rescued Ruth because God is always in to redemption and restoration. Ruth was a Moabite who saw something she wanted in the faith of Naomi. She returned to Naomi’s land to make it hers and find salvation.
In John, Jesus had just entered his ministry and he felt the need to go through Samariah. This was Gentile territory, but Jesus came to save the world so he had two ministries - one to the Jew and the other to the Gentiles. He flip-flopped between these two groups all through his ministry. Today he was with the Gentiles. He stopped in the town of Sychar which was once Shechem. It was the place Abraham built his first altar to the Lord when he came into the promised land and it was in the valley between the two mountains that the tribes stood on reading the curses and the blessings. It was like a valley of decision. Joshua purged the place of idols and burned them in this place. Jacob built a well here in the land he gave to Joseph. It is the picture of what was to come. The woman at the well was the first Gentile recorded that came to know Jesus as the Messiah. He told her point blank that he was the Messiah which was something he didn’t tell too many people. She became his missionary to the Gentiles and many were saved because of her testimony.
Lord, help us to see the bigger picture and join you in your pursuit of the world.
Friday, May 4, 2018
Fri.’s Devo - Taking Responsibility
Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 14:22-24
You can sum today’s reading in four words: “They had no king”. God had wanted to be their king but they rejected him and his prophets and his law. They did what was right in their own eyes and this story is a picture of what man does when left to himself. It starts with a Levite who is suppose to be the spiritual standard of the tribes. He has an unfaithful concubine who has left him to go back to her father. The Levite goes to persuade her to come back home with him. She would have been better off to stay with her father. He was traveling through the country of Benjamin and stopped for the night in Gibeah. After sitting all day waiting for someone to take them in for the night, an old man invites them home. The people of the town surrounded his house to abuse him, He abandoned his concubine for his own safety and she let her be abused to death. Then, he had the audacity to cut her body up into pieces and send it to the other tribes to protest her treatment, taking no responsibility himself. I hate this story!!!
When the tribes of Israel asked Benjamin to turn the wicked men who were responsible over to them, they refused. This started a war in which 30,000 Israelites were killed. In the end, 600 Benjamites fled to the caves in the desert and their towns were attacked and burned with fire. To me, this is a story where no one wanted to take responsibility for their own sins. When sin is allowed to run rampant, this is what happens. Everyone is righteous in their own eyes and no one wants God’s standard.
In John, his disciples noticed that Jesus was attracting a larger crowd than their teacher, John, so they asked him about it. John gave the best answer. He reminded them that he wasn’t the Christ and had never claimed to be. He was just a friend of the bridegroom. His joy came from hearing the voice of the bridegroom and feeling his joy. That is what John felt when he heard Jesus’ teaching and saw his ministry.
What a humble and mature answer. If we had that attitude about other ministries, we could accomplish so much as a body of believers. The world would see our love for one another and have to have what we have. I pray that one day, we will have the heart that John had.
Lord, may we realize that it truly is about lifting up your Son not about lifting up ourselves. May we walk in the humility of the truth of why we are here.
You can sum today’s reading in four words: “They had no king”. God had wanted to be their king but they rejected him and his prophets and his law. They did what was right in their own eyes and this story is a picture of what man does when left to himself. It starts with a Levite who is suppose to be the spiritual standard of the tribes. He has an unfaithful concubine who has left him to go back to her father. The Levite goes to persuade her to come back home with him. She would have been better off to stay with her father. He was traveling through the country of Benjamin and stopped for the night in Gibeah. After sitting all day waiting for someone to take them in for the night, an old man invites them home. The people of the town surrounded his house to abuse him, He abandoned his concubine for his own safety and she let her be abused to death. Then, he had the audacity to cut her body up into pieces and send it to the other tribes to protest her treatment, taking no responsibility himself. I hate this story!!!
When the tribes of Israel asked Benjamin to turn the wicked men who were responsible over to them, they refused. This started a war in which 30,000 Israelites were killed. In the end, 600 Benjamites fled to the caves in the desert and their towns were attacked and burned with fire. To me, this is a story where no one wanted to take responsibility for their own sins. When sin is allowed to run rampant, this is what happens. Everyone is righteous in their own eyes and no one wants God’s standard.
In John, his disciples noticed that Jesus was attracting a larger crowd than their teacher, John, so they asked him about it. John gave the best answer. He reminded them that he wasn’t the Christ and had never claimed to be. He was just a friend of the bridegroom. His joy came from hearing the voice of the bridegroom and feeling his joy. That is what John felt when he heard Jesus’ teaching and saw his ministry.
What a humble and mature answer. If we had that attitude about other ministries, we could accomplish so much as a body of believers. The world would see our love for one another and have to have what we have. I pray that one day, we will have the heart that John had.
Lord, may we realize that it truly is about lifting up your Son not about lifting up ourselves. May we walk in the humility of the truth of why we are here.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Thurs.’s Devo -God’s Way -
Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21
The stories in Judges show us what man does when there is no godly standard. They do whatever they think is right and it doesn’t end well for them. Micah stole money from his own mother, and when he heard the curse she put on whoever stole it, he confessed. Instead of disciplining him, she gave it back to him to have an image and an idol cast from it, breaking two of the ten commandments. They added it to their shrine of other idols.
To make things even worse, they hired a young Levite to be their priest and thought this would bring the blessing of the Lord on their household. The Danites, who had never taken the land of their inheritance came through and took all the idols and the priest. They were going to take them back for themselves. They took the next city and used these idols as their gods. Dan’s tribe was so idolatrous that God didn’t mention it in Revelation 7 when it named the tribes that were sealed.
In John, Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees came to Jesus at night. He was one of the few of the Pharisees that truly had a heart to understand. He recognized that no one could do the things that Jesus did except by the power of God. Jesus told him that the only way he would be able to see the kingdom of God was if he was born again. Nicodemus didn’t understand being born again but Jesus explained that first we are born in water in our mothers womb, but then we have to be born of the spirit. He went on to explain that God sent him as his son to save the world because he loved the world. The only way to be born again is to believe in God and his son.
Lord, help us to live according to your ways and not our own because your way is always higher.
The stories in Judges show us what man does when there is no godly standard. They do whatever they think is right and it doesn’t end well for them. Micah stole money from his own mother, and when he heard the curse she put on whoever stole it, he confessed. Instead of disciplining him, she gave it back to him to have an image and an idol cast from it, breaking two of the ten commandments. They added it to their shrine of other idols.
To make things even worse, they hired a young Levite to be their priest and thought this would bring the blessing of the Lord on their household. The Danites, who had never taken the land of their inheritance came through and took all the idols and the priest. They were going to take them back for themselves. They took the next city and used these idols as their gods. Dan’s tribe was so idolatrous that God didn’t mention it in Revelation 7 when it named the tribes that were sealed.
In John, Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees came to Jesus at night. He was one of the few of the Pharisees that truly had a heart to understand. He recognized that no one could do the things that Jesus did except by the power of God. Jesus told him that the only way he would be able to see the kingdom of God was if he was born again. Nicodemus didn’t understand being born again but Jesus explained that first we are born in water in our mothers womb, but then we have to be born of the spirit. He went on to explain that God sent him as his son to save the world because he loved the world. The only way to be born again is to believe in God and his son.
Lord, help us to live according to your ways and not our own because your way is always higher.
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Wed.’s Devo - Pentecost
Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19
Samson is an interesting study but I want to bring out some things you might miss when reading it. Today’s reading starts out during the wheat harvest which is the season of Pentecost. God set his seasons and feasts around certain things that he does during those times. Pentecost is about spiritual warfare, multiplication, and the Spirit of God manifesting on earth. On the first pentecost, God gave the law and appeared on the mountain with thunder lightning and fire. Eventually, 3,000 were killed because of the golden calf they made. On the pentecost in Acts, the sound of a rising wind came and filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit and the had fire on their heads. Eventually 3,000 who had come to Jerusalem for the feast were saved. On the pentecost in Samson’s day, fire was spread by 300 foxes to the fields of the Philistines. This caused 3,000 of the men from Judah to give Samson over to the Philistines. Because of this, Samson was able to kill 1,000 of his enemies with the jawbone of a donkey.
All of these have the same key ingredients. Pentecost happens in the spring after Easter and it is a great time of spreading the fire of the Holy Spirit to the world and seeing prayers answered.
God has placed his pentecost inside each one of his believers if we want it.
In John, Jesus performs his first miracle prodded by his mother. This was a significant place to start because it was the end. The whole purpose of earth was to find a bride for the Son of God. Jesus told his mother that “his time has not yet come” meaning that it was not time for him to produce the wine at the wedding. But to demonstrate why he was here, Jesus took 6 earthen vessels and filled them with water. When he poured them out they produced wine. Six is the number of man since man was created on the sixth day. We are the earthen vessels that God places his spirit (the water) in. When we are poured out in the earth, we are like wine - the Holy Spirit.
Jesus went from the wedding to Jerusalem where he cleansed the temple of the money changers. No one knew who Jesus was since he hadn’t even started his ministry so can you imagine what the people thought of what he did! When Jesus talked about the Temple being his Father’s house the disciples remembered what the Psalms said about how the zeal for God’s house would consume him…speaking of the Messiah. They understood what he did, but the people wanted to know by whose authority he did this. Jesus reply to them was “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” We know that he was talking about his death and resurrection because he is the temple, but they thought he was crazy.
Jesus always spoke in spiritual terms and they only had natural understanding so they couldn’t understand his teachings.
Lord, give us spiritual understanding into your kingdom.
Samson is an interesting study but I want to bring out some things you might miss when reading it. Today’s reading starts out during the wheat harvest which is the season of Pentecost. God set his seasons and feasts around certain things that he does during those times. Pentecost is about spiritual warfare, multiplication, and the Spirit of God manifesting on earth. On the first pentecost, God gave the law and appeared on the mountain with thunder lightning and fire. Eventually, 3,000 were killed because of the golden calf they made. On the pentecost in Acts, the sound of a rising wind came and filled the disciples with the Holy Spirit and the had fire on their heads. Eventually 3,000 who had come to Jerusalem for the feast were saved. On the pentecost in Samson’s day, fire was spread by 300 foxes to the fields of the Philistines. This caused 3,000 of the men from Judah to give Samson over to the Philistines. Because of this, Samson was able to kill 1,000 of his enemies with the jawbone of a donkey.
All of these have the same key ingredients. Pentecost happens in the spring after Easter and it is a great time of spreading the fire of the Holy Spirit to the world and seeing prayers answered.
God has placed his pentecost inside each one of his believers if we want it.
In John, Jesus performs his first miracle prodded by his mother. This was a significant place to start because it was the end. The whole purpose of earth was to find a bride for the Son of God. Jesus told his mother that “his time has not yet come” meaning that it was not time for him to produce the wine at the wedding. But to demonstrate why he was here, Jesus took 6 earthen vessels and filled them with water. When he poured them out they produced wine. Six is the number of man since man was created on the sixth day. We are the earthen vessels that God places his spirit (the water) in. When we are poured out in the earth, we are like wine - the Holy Spirit.
Jesus went from the wedding to Jerusalem where he cleansed the temple of the money changers. No one knew who Jesus was since he hadn’t even started his ministry so can you imagine what the people thought of what he did! When Jesus talked about the Temple being his Father’s house the disciples remembered what the Psalms said about how the zeal for God’s house would consume him…speaking of the Messiah. They understood what he did, but the people wanted to know by whose authority he did this. Jesus reply to them was “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” We know that he was talking about his death and resurrection because he is the temple, but they thought he was crazy.
Jesus always spoke in spiritual terms and they only had natural understanding so they couldn’t understand his teachings.
Lord, give us spiritual understanding into your kingdom.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Tues.’s Devo - Redemption for Israel
Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16
It is hard for me to read Samson, because he was such a man of power with such an obvious flaw. God used his flaw for His glory, which is redeeming.
Israel had fallen into sin and God had delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Their time of bondage is getting longer and longer. God chose Manoah to have a son to deliver them. Manoah means “rest” and God was going to bring hope and rest to his people even though it doesn’t say that the people were crying out for a deliverer or turning back to him.
God sent his angel to Manoah’s barren wife, whose name is not mentioned, to tell her that she is going to have a son. She is given explicit instructions not to drink wine or anything that comes from the vine or anything unclean because this boy is to be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. This reminds me of John the Baptist.
Manoah’s husband wants to meet this angel and ask him how they are to bring him up, so God comes back. When Manoah asks him how they should bring him up, God just repeats what he had told his wife. They wanted more details, I am sure, but God gave them what to do first, the rest would come when they needed it.
That is the way the Lord does with us. We would like the whole picture, but he gives us enough to get us started. The rest comes by faith as we start to walk it out. It keeps us dependent on him for our daily bread.
Samson was born and his name means “sunlight”. God was bringing light into their darkness. Samson had a propensity for the things he shouldn’t have but God used all of his wrong desires to accomplish His desires. Israel was like Samson. She had acclimated herself with where she was. God wanted her to stand up and fight. Samson was willing to do this even though it was for selfish motives. God used it for His purposes. Through Samson’s lust, God was able to start delivering his people from the bondage of the Philistines.
John tells us that God sent him to start baptizing people so that He could reveal the Messiah. He would be the one whom the spirit of God came down and remained on. When Jesus came to be baptized, John saw this happen and knew for certain that Jesus was the Messiah. The next day, John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples, Andrew and Peter, and they immediately left John and started following Jesus. They became his first two disciples. Then Philip and Nathanael were added. These four were fishermen already, but Jesus was going to teach them how to fish for men.
Lord, help us to be fishers of men today.
It is hard for me to read Samson, because he was such a man of power with such an obvious flaw. God used his flaw for His glory, which is redeeming.
Israel had fallen into sin and God had delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. Their time of bondage is getting longer and longer. God chose Manoah to have a son to deliver them. Manoah means “rest” and God was going to bring hope and rest to his people even though it doesn’t say that the people were crying out for a deliverer or turning back to him.
God sent his angel to Manoah’s barren wife, whose name is not mentioned, to tell her that she is going to have a son. She is given explicit instructions not to drink wine or anything that comes from the vine or anything unclean because this boy is to be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death. This reminds me of John the Baptist.
Manoah’s husband wants to meet this angel and ask him how they are to bring him up, so God comes back. When Manoah asks him how they should bring him up, God just repeats what he had told his wife. They wanted more details, I am sure, but God gave them what to do first, the rest would come when they needed it.
That is the way the Lord does with us. We would like the whole picture, but he gives us enough to get us started. The rest comes by faith as we start to walk it out. It keeps us dependent on him for our daily bread.
Samson was born and his name means “sunlight”. God was bringing light into their darkness. Samson had a propensity for the things he shouldn’t have but God used all of his wrong desires to accomplish His desires. Israel was like Samson. She had acclimated herself with where she was. God wanted her to stand up and fight. Samson was willing to do this even though it was for selfish motives. God used it for His purposes. Through Samson’s lust, God was able to start delivering his people from the bondage of the Philistines.
John tells us that God sent him to start baptizing people so that He could reveal the Messiah. He would be the one whom the spirit of God came down and remained on. When Jesus came to be baptized, John saw this happen and knew for certain that Jesus was the Messiah. The next day, John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples, Andrew and Peter, and they immediately left John and started following Jesus. They became his first two disciples. Then Philip and Nathanael were added. These four were fishermen already, but Jesus was going to teach them how to fish for men.
Lord, help us to be fishers of men today.
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