Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29
It is amazing how many women who were barren went on to have extraordinary men of God. Hannah was one of these women. She finally reached her breaking point and made a vow to God that if he would give her a son, she would give him back to Him and never cut his hair.
God heard her cry though Eli thought she was drunk. Their conversation would be marked on his memory so that when Hannah returned, Eli would know who she was. Little did Eli know when he granted her her miracle that he would be the recipient of this miracle.
Eli had two undisciplined sons: Hopni and Phineas who cheated God and the people out of their meat sacrificed to God.
Hannah had a son named Samuel and when he was about four years old, she presented him to Eli so he would grow up in the service of the Lord.
Instead of being sad, Hannah prophesied to all Israel of a transfer of honor and wealth. She proclaimed the power of God to protect and fight for his people. Mary would quote some of Hannah’s prayer when she found out she was to bear the Messiah.
Hannah returned home to be blessed with three sons and two daughters while Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord and became a great comfort and blessing to Eli and all of Israel.
In John, Jesus healed the man at the pool of Siloam. Crowds of people that were blind, lame or paralyzed lay there waiting for the waters to ripple. There had been a legend about an angel that would heal when the waters stirred. Jesus was the one who could heal them and he chose this man to heal who had been sick for 38 years.
The Pharisees found out and came for Jesus because he had changed a man’s whole life on the Sabbath! Such irony! They questioned Jesus’ authority and he told them that his authority came from God and he had also given him the authority to judge. Anyone who honored him would be honoring God and anyone who didn’t honor him would not be honoring God. I bet that went over well.
Thank you, Lord, that in the midst of so much sickness and wrong, you are the judge and you are still healing and reigning over us.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Wed.’s Devo - Our Kinsman Redeemer
Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36;Proverbs 14:26-27
Ruth is read by the Jewish people every year at Pentecost which is the 28th of this month. It is more for the Gentiles than the Jews because it shows how Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer chose to marry Ruth, the Gentile. Their marriage would bring in the Messiah three generations later.
Pentecost is all about multiplication and salvation. Both Ruth and Boaz were childless and started with nothing but in the end they had a son named Obed which means a “servant”. Boaz’s mother had been a Gentile named Rahab who saved the spies who came into the promised land years before this. Boaz and Ruth both had Gentile blood which means that Jesus had both Jewish and Gentile blood making him the perfect redeemer for all mankind.
In John, Jesus had just left Jerusalem after celebrating the Passover, making it the same season that we just read about in Ruth. Jesus came to Cana where he had turned the water to wine and met a government official who begged him to heal his son who was dying. Jesus asked the crowd if they would ever believe him unless they saw miraculous signs. All the man could think about was his son. Jesus healed his son and his whole house did believe.
Lord, may we believe you even when we don’t see the signs. May our faith be built on trust more than proof.
Ruth is read by the Jewish people every year at Pentecost which is the 28th of this month. It is more for the Gentiles than the Jews because it shows how Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer chose to marry Ruth, the Gentile. Their marriage would bring in the Messiah three generations later.
Pentecost is all about multiplication and salvation. Both Ruth and Boaz were childless and started with nothing but in the end they had a son named Obed which means a “servant”. Boaz’s mother had been a Gentile named Rahab who saved the spies who came into the promised land years before this. Boaz and Ruth both had Gentile blood which means that Jesus had both Jewish and Gentile blood making him the perfect redeemer for all mankind.
In John, Jesus had just left Jerusalem after celebrating the Passover, making it the same season that we just read about in Ruth. Jesus came to Cana where he had turned the water to wine and met a government official who begged him to heal his son who was dying. Jesus asked the crowd if they would ever believe him unless they saw miraculous signs. All the man could think about was his son. Jesus healed his son and his whole house did believe.
Lord, may we believe you even when we don’t see the signs. May our faith be built on trust more than proof.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Tues.’s Devo - “In Their Own Eyes”
Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25
I can relate to the way Israel reacted before thinking out the consequences. I have done that many a time. If they had asked God, I bet he would have had a better way to do all of this, but that was not their choice. They killed all of Benjamin’s women leaving hundreds of men without wives and no way for Benjamin to procreate since they had sworn they would not give their wives to them.
They got creative and found out that the people of Jabesh-gilead had not come to fight, so they had not made the vow. They attacked them because they hadn’t come to help. They killed all the men and every woman that was a not a virgin and brought the 400 virgins to the men at Benjamin. I bet that made for some happy marriages!
They needed more women, so they remembered that the people of Shiloh held a festival where all the virgins would perform in dance. So, like Kentucky hill-billy’s they told the wifeless men of Benjamin to go and grabbed a woman right off the dance floor and run. They figured they could bargain for them when their daddies protested.
This says it all: “In those days Israel had no king and all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
Next we have the great story of Ruth, the daughter-in-law to Naomi who was married to Elimelech. When famine came to Bethlehem (because everyone was ‘doing what was right in their own eyes’) they went to Egypt to survive. Their two sons met Moabite women and got married. One of the wives was Ruth. All the men died leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi heard that the famine had lifted and that there was bread in Bethlehem and wanted to go home. Both Ruth and Orpah begged to go with her. Ruth had nothing to offer them and convinced Orphah to stay, but Ruth was determined to go and become a Jew.
They came to Bethlehem at the time of Pentecost.
In John, Jesus met the woman at the well. The two people that Jesus had the longest conversations with, that were recorded, were this woman and Nicodemus. She was a Samaritan and he was a Pharisee. Jesus came to save both the Jew and the Gentile. Both of his conversations with these two were about being born again. What is so interesting about his encounter with the woman was that it wasn’t a miracle that got her attention and the attention of the town, it was what he said. They were so hungry for the Messiah to come that they came out to hear him, not just see a miracle show. They had faith and it brought them salvation.
Lord, help us to grow in our faith and may we speak your words that will change people’s lives for eternity. Help us not to live according to what we think is right in our eyes, but what you think is right in Your eyes.
I can relate to the way Israel reacted before thinking out the consequences. I have done that many a time. If they had asked God, I bet he would have had a better way to do all of this, but that was not their choice. They killed all of Benjamin’s women leaving hundreds of men without wives and no way for Benjamin to procreate since they had sworn they would not give their wives to them.
They got creative and found out that the people of Jabesh-gilead had not come to fight, so they had not made the vow. They attacked them because they hadn’t come to help. They killed all the men and every woman that was a not a virgin and brought the 400 virgins to the men at Benjamin. I bet that made for some happy marriages!
They needed more women, so they remembered that the people of Shiloh held a festival where all the virgins would perform in dance. So, like Kentucky hill-billy’s they told the wifeless men of Benjamin to go and grabbed a woman right off the dance floor and run. They figured they could bargain for them when their daddies protested.
This says it all: “In those days Israel had no king and all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
Next we have the great story of Ruth, the daughter-in-law to Naomi who was married to Elimelech. When famine came to Bethlehem (because everyone was ‘doing what was right in their own eyes’) they went to Egypt to survive. Their two sons met Moabite women and got married. One of the wives was Ruth. All the men died leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. Naomi heard that the famine had lifted and that there was bread in Bethlehem and wanted to go home. Both Ruth and Orpah begged to go with her. Ruth had nothing to offer them and convinced Orphah to stay, but Ruth was determined to go and become a Jew.
They came to Bethlehem at the time of Pentecost.
In John, Jesus met the woman at the well. The two people that Jesus had the longest conversations with, that were recorded, were this woman and Nicodemus. She was a Samaritan and he was a Pharisee. Jesus came to save both the Jew and the Gentile. Both of his conversations with these two were about being born again. What is so interesting about his encounter with the woman was that it wasn’t a miracle that got her attention and the attention of the town, it was what he said. They were so hungry for the Messiah to come that they came out to hear him, not just see a miracle show. They had faith and it brought them salvation.
Lord, help us to grow in our faith and may we speak your words that will change people’s lives for eternity. Help us not to live according to what we think is right in our eyes, but what you think is right in Your eyes.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Mon.’s Devo - We Need a Savior
Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Provers 14:22-24
This is my least favorite story in the Bible to read. Everything in me cries out “UNJUST”! This is what happens in a nation that has no leader and no standard. Their leader was suppose to be God and the Levites, and their standard was suppose to be the law, but they had long abandoned both. This guy is actually a Levite that should have been the spiritual leader and known the law.
Yesterday we read about a lone Levite and today we read about another one. I don’t know what they were teaching in their Levitical school but these two left on their own. This Levite had no backbone to stand up against his “father-in-law”. He didn’t even call his daughter his wife. He called her his concubine which is a woman used to make sons. He finally pulled himself away from partying with her father and left at the end of the day. He made it as far as Gibeah where an older man offered him and his concubine a place to stay. When threatened, he threw his concubine out for them to rape all night long. When he found her dead, he defiled her body even further by cutting it into pieces and sending it to the other tribes as a summons to fight for her. (That one will leave you scratching your head.) All I can say is that I hope he died in the battle also.
I need to calm down after reading this one every year. Women were just property. This event led to a huge battle where the tribe of Benjamin was almost snuffed out. Twenty-five thousand of them were killed.
In John, we get to retreat to the river and get baptized and cleansed from reading the first story. John’s disciples were upset that Jesus was now baptizing more people than John but John explained to them that it was never about being popular. His mandate was to introduce the Messiah to the world. Now it was time for him to take the stage and for John to stand aside in total support. (John was a Levite who was trained right!)
Lord, there is always injustice in the world. Help us to know how to pray and how to deal with what we see. Forgive our nation and cleanse our land and start with your church. Start with us.
This is my least favorite story in the Bible to read. Everything in me cries out “UNJUST”! This is what happens in a nation that has no leader and no standard. Their leader was suppose to be God and the Levites, and their standard was suppose to be the law, but they had long abandoned both. This guy is actually a Levite that should have been the spiritual leader and known the law.
Yesterday we read about a lone Levite and today we read about another one. I don’t know what they were teaching in their Levitical school but these two left on their own. This Levite had no backbone to stand up against his “father-in-law”. He didn’t even call his daughter his wife. He called her his concubine which is a woman used to make sons. He finally pulled himself away from partying with her father and left at the end of the day. He made it as far as Gibeah where an older man offered him and his concubine a place to stay. When threatened, he threw his concubine out for them to rape all night long. When he found her dead, he defiled her body even further by cutting it into pieces and sending it to the other tribes as a summons to fight for her. (That one will leave you scratching your head.) All I can say is that I hope he died in the battle also.
I need to calm down after reading this one every year. Women were just property. This event led to a huge battle where the tribe of Benjamin was almost snuffed out. Twenty-five thousand of them were killed.
In John, we get to retreat to the river and get baptized and cleansed from reading the first story. John’s disciples were upset that Jesus was now baptizing more people than John but John explained to them that it was never about being popular. His mandate was to introduce the Messiah to the world. Now it was time for him to take the stage and for John to stand aside in total support. (John was a Levite who was trained right!)
Lord, there is always injustice in the world. Help us to know how to pray and how to deal with what we see. Forgive our nation and cleanse our land and start with your church. Start with us.
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Sun.’s Devo - In Their Own Eyes
Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21
As a mother, I can’t help but see the error of Micah’s mother. She had put a curse on whoever stole her 1,100 pieces of silver. Her son stole money from her and lied to her. When he confessed his error and gave it back, instead of punishing him or taking away the curse, she honored him, making one of his son’s her personal priest. She made an idol of some of the silver.
They had no king which also meant they had no one to enforce a standard, so they did whatever they thought was right.
This idol became Dan’s downfall which is probably why the tribe of Dan is left out in the book of Revelation when they are listing the tribes. Dan was the first tribe to fall into idolatry in the promised land and build their own idol.
When a young Levite passed through, Micah asked him to stay and be their priest, just because he was a Levite. I want to know why he had left Bethlehem and why he was traveling alone.
When the scouts from the tribe of Dan discovered him and all his priestly things, they asked him if their journey would be successful. He didn’t offer a sacrifice or even stop to ask God, he just answered “Go in peace, for the Lord is watching over your journey.” It sounded more like the reading of a fortune cookie.
They didn’t go in peace. They took 600 men and returned, robbing Micah of his priest and his idol, so his mothers curse found him. The men of Dan went down to the town of Laish and killed everyone, burning the town to the ground.
Interestingly, they didn’t appoint Micah’s priest to be their priest but instead appointed Jonathan, a Gershomite, as their priest and worshipped Micah’s idol.
Both of our scriptures in the Old and New Testament begin with, “There was a man named…” But, the lives of Micah and Nicodemus ended much differently. Nicodemus was a leader of the Pharisees who realized Jesus was a Rabbi and anointed by God. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that it wasn’t enough to know the law, but you must be born again in your spirit.
Jesus saw the hunger in Nicodemus and spent time teaching him about the kingdom of God. Jesus is the good Shepherd who knows whose are his and he knew that Nicodemus was his even if Nicodemus didn’t know at the time.
Lord, thank you for the patience you have for your children. You lead us in our ways of righteousness for your name sake. Thank you that you are our perfect High Priest. Help us to see things through Your eyes.
As a mother, I can’t help but see the error of Micah’s mother. She had put a curse on whoever stole her 1,100 pieces of silver. Her son stole money from her and lied to her. When he confessed his error and gave it back, instead of punishing him or taking away the curse, she honored him, making one of his son’s her personal priest. She made an idol of some of the silver.
They had no king which also meant they had no one to enforce a standard, so they did whatever they thought was right.
This idol became Dan’s downfall which is probably why the tribe of Dan is left out in the book of Revelation when they are listing the tribes. Dan was the first tribe to fall into idolatry in the promised land and build their own idol.
When a young Levite passed through, Micah asked him to stay and be their priest, just because he was a Levite. I want to know why he had left Bethlehem and why he was traveling alone.
When the scouts from the tribe of Dan discovered him and all his priestly things, they asked him if their journey would be successful. He didn’t offer a sacrifice or even stop to ask God, he just answered “Go in peace, for the Lord is watching over your journey.” It sounded more like the reading of a fortune cookie.
They didn’t go in peace. They took 600 men and returned, robbing Micah of his priest and his idol, so his mothers curse found him. The men of Dan went down to the town of Laish and killed everyone, burning the town to the ground.
Interestingly, they didn’t appoint Micah’s priest to be their priest but instead appointed Jonathan, a Gershomite, as their priest and worshipped Micah’s idol.
Both of our scriptures in the Old and New Testament begin with, “There was a man named…” But, the lives of Micah and Nicodemus ended much differently. Nicodemus was a leader of the Pharisees who realized Jesus was a Rabbi and anointed by God. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that it wasn’t enough to know the law, but you must be born again in your spirit.
Jesus saw the hunger in Nicodemus and spent time teaching him about the kingdom of God. Jesus is the good Shepherd who knows whose are his and he knew that Nicodemus was his even if Nicodemus didn’t know at the time.
Lord, thank you for the patience you have for your children. You lead us in our ways of righteousness for your name sake. Thank you that you are our perfect High Priest. Help us to see things through Your eyes.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Sat.’s Devo - Strength in Weakness
Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2;1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19
Remember the woman who gave away Samson’s answer to his riddle to save her family from being burned by the Philistines? Today that same woman along with her whole family was burned alive.
Samson came back for her only to find that her father had given her to his best man. So Samson took 300 foxes and tied their tails together in pairs and sent them through their wheat fields. Their vineyards and olive groves were also destroyed. They sent 3,000 men to get Samson. He killed 1,000 of them with the jawbone of a donkey.
This is all happening during the season of Pentecost so we see the multiples of 3 since the Holy Spirit is the third of the Trinity and he does things in multiples. On the day he introduced himself to the world, in Acts, he saved 3,000. The Holy Spirit brings his fire and burns up all the chaff in our lives and gives us a new start.
What was a defeat for the enemy, became a fountain of living water for Samson.
Then Samson fell for Delilah which means “bringing low” and she was the one to bring him down. She wore him down trying to find the secret to his strength. She betrayed Samson and they cut his hair and apprehended him, gouging out his eyes so he would never be able to see another woman. They put him in prison but never understood the covenant of God on Samson’s life. His strength was given in his hair and in prison, they allowed his hair to grow.
At a festival to Dagon, God showed up in Samson and brought the whole house down killing 3,000 of them. (It must have been Pentecost!)
Samson was a picture of what God can do with a person empowered by the Holy Spirit. God used Samson’s weakness to show his great power. God uses our weaknesses to be strong.
In John, Jesus did his first miracle in Cana. Mary forced Jesus to enter into his destiny. I wonder if Jesus had thought about the day he would come out and start his ministry. I bet he didn’t plan on doing it at a wedding making drunk men drunker but that was exactly how God wanted him to announce himself. I can only imagine that he was already doing miracles at home and Mary knew he could turn the water to wine. Maybe he had done that for her before. But, mothers always know best (lol) and he obeyed.
Doing this one thing empowered Jesus to go to the temple and, like Samson, he showed his strength in the Lord. He whipped the merchants and chased them out of the temple, overthrowing their tables. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to give them a sign that he had authority to do this and Jesus said, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” That left them scratching their heads in wonder.
Lord, it is wonderful to see how you use normal people to show yourself strong. Use us today to raise up your Kingdom on earth.
Remember the woman who gave away Samson’s answer to his riddle to save her family from being burned by the Philistines? Today that same woman along with her whole family was burned alive.
Samson came back for her only to find that her father had given her to his best man. So Samson took 300 foxes and tied their tails together in pairs and sent them through their wheat fields. Their vineyards and olive groves were also destroyed. They sent 3,000 men to get Samson. He killed 1,000 of them with the jawbone of a donkey.
This is all happening during the season of Pentecost so we see the multiples of 3 since the Holy Spirit is the third of the Trinity and he does things in multiples. On the day he introduced himself to the world, in Acts, he saved 3,000. The Holy Spirit brings his fire and burns up all the chaff in our lives and gives us a new start.
What was a defeat for the enemy, became a fountain of living water for Samson.
Then Samson fell for Delilah which means “bringing low” and she was the one to bring him down. She wore him down trying to find the secret to his strength. She betrayed Samson and they cut his hair and apprehended him, gouging out his eyes so he would never be able to see another woman. They put him in prison but never understood the covenant of God on Samson’s life. His strength was given in his hair and in prison, they allowed his hair to grow.
At a festival to Dagon, God showed up in Samson and brought the whole house down killing 3,000 of them. (It must have been Pentecost!)
Samson was a picture of what God can do with a person empowered by the Holy Spirit. God used Samson’s weakness to show his great power. God uses our weaknesses to be strong.
In John, Jesus did his first miracle in Cana. Mary forced Jesus to enter into his destiny. I wonder if Jesus had thought about the day he would come out and start his ministry. I bet he didn’t plan on doing it at a wedding making drunk men drunker but that was exactly how God wanted him to announce himself. I can only imagine that he was already doing miracles at home and Mary knew he could turn the water to wine. Maybe he had done that for her before. But, mothers always know best (lol) and he obeyed.
Doing this one thing empowered Jesus to go to the temple and, like Samson, he showed his strength in the Lord. He whipped the merchants and chased them out of the temple, overthrowing their tables. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to give them a sign that he had authority to do this and Jesus said, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” That left them scratching their heads in wonder.
Lord, it is wonderful to see how you use normal people to show yourself strong. Use us today to raise up your Kingdom on earth.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Fri.’s Devo - God’s Power
Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16
The story of Samson is a riddle in itself. God raised up Samson to deliver Israel from the Philistines and he used Samson’s weakness with women to be strong for Israel. Samson chose a woman from the Philistines to marry then, according to tradition, he proposed a riddle with a consequence. The woman was threatened with the life of her family if she didn’t find out the answer to his riddle. You can’t blame her for tricking Samson, but it wouldn’t go well for her or her family in the end. We will read about that tomorrow. Today, Samson found out how the spirit of God worked in his life with the lion and experienced it again with the thirty men in Ashkelon. Samson was discovering his super-power.
David and Samson both discovered their strength when they came face to face with a lion. We will too.
This is how we learn our spiritual gifts; we are put in situations where we need them to operate and they do. Everyone wants a miracle, but none of us want to need a miracle, but that is how we are stretched and realize the power that God has put in us. We are stronger than we think because God is strong in us.
In John, we find John talking to two of his closest disciples. One of them is Andrew. John pointed out Jesus telling them that he was the Messiah and how God had told him to baptize people with water. One day, he would see the Holy Spirit come down like a dove and remain on a man and that man would be the Messiah. Jesus was that man. When Andrew heard that he immediately left John and went to follow Jesus. Then he went and got his brother Peter. Jesus picked up Philip to follow him and Philip went and got his friend Nathanael. Nathanael was skeptical because he was told that Jesus was from Nazareth. Talk about prejudice! Jesus gave him a word of knowledge that he had seen him under the fig tree. I can imagine that Nathanael had prayed a specific prayer under that fig tree and Jesus was the answer. It changed Nathanael’s whole perspective.
Jesus, You are the answer to everything. It is so comforting to know that You prayed, “let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We know that your prayer will be answered.
The story of Samson is a riddle in itself. God raised up Samson to deliver Israel from the Philistines and he used Samson’s weakness with women to be strong for Israel. Samson chose a woman from the Philistines to marry then, according to tradition, he proposed a riddle with a consequence. The woman was threatened with the life of her family if she didn’t find out the answer to his riddle. You can’t blame her for tricking Samson, but it wouldn’t go well for her or her family in the end. We will read about that tomorrow. Today, Samson found out how the spirit of God worked in his life with the lion and experienced it again with the thirty men in Ashkelon. Samson was discovering his super-power.
David and Samson both discovered their strength when they came face to face with a lion. We will too.
This is how we learn our spiritual gifts; we are put in situations where we need them to operate and they do. Everyone wants a miracle, but none of us want to need a miracle, but that is how we are stretched and realize the power that God has put in us. We are stronger than we think because God is strong in us.
In John, we find John talking to two of his closest disciples. One of them is Andrew. John pointed out Jesus telling them that he was the Messiah and how God had told him to baptize people with water. One day, he would see the Holy Spirit come down like a dove and remain on a man and that man would be the Messiah. Jesus was that man. When Andrew heard that he immediately left John and went to follow Jesus. Then he went and got his brother Peter. Jesus picked up Philip to follow him and Philip went and got his friend Nathanael. Nathanael was skeptical because he was told that Jesus was from Nazareth. Talk about prejudice! Jesus gave him a word of knowledge that he had seen him under the fig tree. I can imagine that Nathanael had prayed a specific prayer under that fig tree and Jesus was the answer. It changed Nathanael’s whole perspective.
Jesus, You are the answer to everything. It is so comforting to know that You prayed, “let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We know that your prayer will be answered.
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