Walking God’s Path
The Birth of Samson
13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. 5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
6 Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death. ’”
When I hear the phrase, “again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord,” for some reason I think of Elmer P. Fudd saying, “that cwazy wabbit!” Those cwazy Iswaelites! Albert Einstein is attributed as saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.
It is insane to continue to do anything so reckless as to go against God’s laws and His precepts. Yet, this theme continues throughout the Old Testament. The Israelites had been under the rule of the Philistines for 40 years, which is generally the time period for correction in the Old Testament.
Our lesson begins with a childless couple receiving God’s blessing upon them. Childlessness was considered a curse, but the curse was reversed when a child named Samson was born. Anytime God blesses a childless couple in the Bible, something big is about to happen, for the curse has been lifted and salvation is on the way.
What do we know about Samson’s mother from reading the scripture?
1. Not named
2. Childless
3. Somewhat of an outcast because society deemed childlessness as a curse
4. Transformed
During my studies over the last months, it has occurred to me repeatedly that the first result of salvation is transformation, and the second is restoration of relationships. This woman was transformed from a pariah into a member of society. Her relationships began to change. Certainly her relationship to God grew stronger as she committed to live her life in a certain way and to raise Samson according to what God required. Her relationship to her husband changed as she delivered the message the angel had given her, and her relationship with the other women changed as she was no longer scorned for being childless.
Have you found yourself transformed by the call God has placed upon your life? You haven’t been called? If you have no calling, why did God endow you with certain gifts to help build up the body? If you haven’t been called, who will go and tell others about the saving grace of Jesus Christ as only you can? If you haven’t been called, who will care for the sick and the underprivileged as only you can.
We are each called to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. The calling is clear, the answer is clear: Here am I Lord, send me.
PRAYER: May we each understand that discipleship carries with it the responsibility to share the grace we have been given with others. Amen
Give us teachable hearts
Psalm 119:33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
In your righteousness preserve my life.
Do you realize how crucial it is for a disciple to have a teachable heart? We can only seek after holiness if we allow ourselves to continue to learn and be transformed by His Word.
Following God’s statutes is not about legalism, it is about learning His heart. What matters to God should matter to us and what and whom God loves we should love. However, if we steel our hearts against God’s Word, choosing instead to proof text the scriptures, we will not only fail to learn, we will fail to turn our hearts to Him.
Are you willing to alter your perception of long-held beliefs in order to be molded into who God wants you to be? Are you able to grab hold of truth even if it means you have to relinquish “being right?”
Jesus said repeatedly that what He was telling His followers was something they had not heard before. His statement still holds true today. The gospel is too often watered down because it is not comfortable. May we be willing to risk being made uncomfortable in order to follow Christ in spirit and in truth.
PRAYER: Father, keep us close to your Word, close to your heart, and may we have kingdom understanding in all we do. Amen.
Meditating on the Word
Psalms 119:9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.
In the 1980’s I completed a series of courses in order to receive the designation of FLMI, or Fellow Life Management Institute. These courses dealt with varying topics as regards life insurance. Some of the courses dealt with accounting, mathematics, claims, underwriting and of course law.
Most law is dry as a bone, and although I was diligent to study and learn, it was not a joy. I did not meditate on any of these courses, and I hid very little in my heart. But David gives us a different picture, one of a man who understands clearly what it takes to stay on the pathway of holiness.
Have you tried hiding the word in your heart lately? It is hard! Memorization does not come easily at my age, but what happens if we find ourselves in the predicament of Christians in Third World countries who do not have a dozen Bibles in their homes? In fact, many have to share not just complete Bibles but portions of Bibles. How much of the word can you rely upon if your Bible is no longer available?
We need to become single-minded enough that we can find joy in the things of God, we can spend time in His word, not scanning over it so that we can say we read the Bible today, but really soaking it in. We need to remember we are seeking holiness, and if we seek it, we will find it. But it all begins with seeking.
PRAYER: Father, as we follow the disciplines of reading our Bibles and praying, may we become diligent in really reading your word. May it remain light and truth for each person who reads it, and may we keep it ever before us, and your word ever in our hearts. Amen
Psalm 119 Ampli…
Psalm 119
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Psalm 119
1 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the undefiled (the upright, truly sincere, and blameless) in the way [of the revealed will of God], who walk (order their conduct and conversation) in the law of the Lord (the whole of God’s revealed will).
2 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart.
3 Yes, they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]; they walk in His ways.
4 You have commanded us to keep Your precepts, that we should observe them diligently.
5 Oh, that my ways were directed and established to observe Your statutes [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]!
6 Then shall I not be put to shame [by failing to inherit Your promises] when I have respect to all Your commandments.
I was blessed to be able to teach the Beatitudes this morning. If ever there was a roadmap to holiness, the Beatitudes is it. Jesus tells His followers that what He is telling them is something they have not heard before. Is it ever!
Yet, here David says that those who are upright, sincere and blameless and who walk in the revealed will of God are blessed. Likewise, those who seek God with their whole hearts are to be envied.
While Jesus elevated the lowly to a level where it was they and not the elite who would receive blessings, David shows us once again why God considered him a man after God’s own heart. David understood that if we love God then we will follow God. If we continue to seek after him with our whole heart then we will receive the blessings of God.
And less we misunderstand, we do not achieve holiness because we follow a certain set of rules, rather a holy conduct is the result of what the Holy Spirit does within our hearts and lives.
PRAYER: Father, we love you and it is our prayer that we would be able to follow you in spirit and in truth. Amen.
Taking What Christ Gives
Phil 3:7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
I read a story about a man who had worked hard in this life and had amassed treasures upon this earth that he felt he could not live without. Now this man had accepted Christ as His savior as a child, and he had done his part to help his church grow—he attended services faithfully and he paid his tithe. He was a faithful Christian, but he never really understood holiness. However, because Christ paid his sin debt when the man died he went straight to heaven, treasures in tow.
When the man approached the gate, just outside was a mountain of things that were precious become comparison. The man could not understand why all of these wonderful things were piled outside the gates of heaven. Who would leave their treasures there?
Just then St. Peter appeared and the man asked about the pile just outside the gates. St. Peter replied that those were the treasures that people thought they could not live without. “Then why are they piled up here like junk?”
St. Peter opened the gates of heaven and the man finally understood. Just a glimpse and he knew his treasures on earth were junk in heaven. He added his treasures to the pile and entered heaven.
Paul got it. He was a Roman citizen and had been one of the chief persecutors of the Christian church. He was there when Stephen was stoned to death. He had material treasures and he had position and authority. Yet, here he tells us he counts all of those things as loss for the sake of Jesus Christ. Paul had gone from trying to buy righteousness through his works to understanding that righteousness is a faith thing and can only be received through grace.
And here is the most amazing part. Paul says he has not yet attained the knowledge of Christ in His resurrection power, but he is committed to pressing onward to take what Jesus gave him. Did you get that? We have to take what Jesus offers. And then Paul says he forgets what has gone before—the treasures, awards, accolades, and yes, even the suffering he caused, to take hold of the heavenly prize.
Paul is describing here the process of seeking holiness. We forget what has gone before, keeping our eyes on Jesus and the prize before us. Holiness cannot be attained unless we seek it, long for it, live it.
PRAYER: Father God, help us to not look back to the way things were, whether good or bad, but help us to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, walking the pathway of holiness until we reach our journey’s end. Amen
Seeking Holiness 