23

Jump Start # 2107

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2107

2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

 

It was a Sunday morning. I’m sitting on the front row getting ready to get up and preach. A man leads the congregation in a prayer. In that prayer, he asks that the lesson that the audience is about to hear be beneficial. Beneficial. Now, I’ve heard many things in prayers before and I have my own little prayer that I say each time before I preach. But, I’ve never heard that one. May the lesson be beneficial. I like that.

 

Let’s give that some thought.

 

First, if the sermon is not beneficial, then it wasn’t helpful. To benefit means to help. Now, the lesson may have been true, factual, and well stated, but it may not have helped the audience. We need beneficial sermons.

 

Second, what is beneficial may not always be pleasant. A dad correcting his son, may not be one of those precious memories that we hold on to, but it may be the very thing that keeps the son out of trouble. Surgery isn’t a lot of fun, but it’s often very necessary. It is beneficial to keep us alive. So, the measuring rod of a beneficial sermon, is not how well I like it, but rather what good it did for me. Some sermons may step on my toes. Maybe I needed that. Some sermons may knock the cobwebs out of my head. I know I need that. Some sermons may make me uncomfortable. When Peter preached, the audience interrupted and said, “What shall we do?” Peter was helping them. It was beneficial for them.

 

Third, in many audiences, especially, in larger crowds, it is very possible that the sermon was of great benefit to some while others didn’t think it was so hot. Gathered on a Sunday morning is a wide mixture of people, backgrounds and needs. Some will be there no matter what. Come storms, high water, or snow, you’ll find some folks there. Others, it’s a toss up. If they aren’t too tired, busy or having projects to work on, they just might be there.

 

Some gather as believers. They love the Lord. They know His word. They have been walking with the Lord for a long, long time. They love sermons. They love to hear the word preached. Near and dear to their hearts are fond memories of sermons and preachers from long ago. For others, their journey is rather new. There are still many things they are learning. They love the Lord and want to grow deeper and stronger in faith. Sermons are one tool that helps accomplish that. Yet, for others, their commitment isn’t as strong. They love the Lord, but they struggle often with temptation and they have as many questions as they do answers. And, for still others, they are curious. They haven’t made a commitment to the Lord. They come because a friend has invited them. There are only a few things that they know. They like the people. They like the smiles and the fellowship. But they do not understand what it means to be a Christian.

 

So, in this great mixture of people, the preacher is challenged to find something that will be beneficial, helpful to the people. The preacher must keep all of these people in mind. Simple terms and concepts must be explained. Bible stories that many know, are not known by all. The preacher realizes that he is not delivering a college lecture. He is doing more than passing along facts and information. His role is to persuade people to follow Christ. Strengthening faith, building hope and trust, and explaining Scriptures is the means to accomplish all of this.

 

Beneficial sermons. Sermons that warned and later people remembered those warnings and were kept safe, is helpful and beneficial. Sermons that drove out fear and worry by showing the greatness of God is of great benefit. Sermons that challenged those who are complacent and lukewarm and led them to be servants is of great benefit. Sermons that showed a lost soul how to find the loving God and forgiveness is of great benefit.

 

Because a particular sermon didn’t help me, doesn’t mean that no one was helped. We must remember that we are all at different places on this spiritual journey. Some are ahead of us. Some are beside us. Others are behind us. What helps one, may not help another at that moment, but it is beneficial.

 

I have also found through the years that people like different things in sermons. We preachers tend to save our best sermons to take on the road. Most sermons are preached only one time and that’s it. They are stuck away in a file cabinet, never to be used again. Hours were poured into that sermon. Words were looked at carefully. Passages were studied. Time was put into making a power point presentation and for some, even notecards. A lot of thought went into that one sermon. It’s preached. Then it’s over. Did it do any good? Only time will tell.

 

Sermons are like eating food or even the falling rain. Does it do good? Certainly. Do we remember it? Sometimes, but most times not. But the good it has done is shown in life. That rain waters the fields and the plants. It brings life to those seeds in the ground. In time, a harvest will come. The farmer sees what happens when there has been very little rain. It’s noticed. The same goes for our eating. Three meals a day. Snacks in between. That food builds muscles and helps us to stay healthy and grow. Do we remember all the meals? No. There are certain places and certain meals that stand out. But day after day, it does the work necessary to keep us alive. We notice when we are off our food. Somethings not right and we must seek a doctor.

 

In a similar way, this is how sermons are. I have preached a lot of sermons. I don’t remember them all. Some I liked. Some I didn’t. Some helped me more than it helped the audience. Some changed because of those words I preached. Some were remembered. I meet people and they remembered things I have said. They remembered and I didn’t. They quote me and I don’t remember. It must have been beneficial.

 

What I need and what you need is to be told the truth. We need the truth to be told in love. We need to be shown Jesus. We need the Scriptures opened. We need to hear what God says. We need to see ourselves as God sees us.

 

Don’t ever give up on sermons. Don’t get to the point that you think that we don’t need them. Don’t believe for one second that you have outgrown them. The religious community would rather watch a play than listen to a sermon. They’d rather have a video than a sermon. They want God to pat them on their little heads and tell them that they are awesome. They want short sermons that is minus warnings, doctrines and any mention of judgment, Hell or changing. What they get today, is laughter, jokes, one-liners and the theology of cotton candy. Cotton candy looks amazing. You don’t even have to chew it. It just melts in your mouth. It tastes great. But after working all day in the yard, you don’t want a plate full of cotton candy. You want some substance. Meat and potatoes is what you long for. Cotton candy makes you feel good and cotton candy sermons are popular, but it doesn’t help when the storms of life come crashing in around you.

 

We need sermons that help. We need beneficial sermons. Sometimes they come in the form of reproving, rebuking and exhorting. But if that has helped us, God bless the man of God who took the time to give what we needed. Beneficial sermons.

 

I think I’ll be adding that to my prayer before I preach. “Help me, Lord, to preach beneficial sermons.”

 

Roger

 

22

Jump Start # 2106

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2106

Colossians 2:18 “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.”

 

Paul was concerned about the Colossian Christians being wrongly influenced, misled and eventually, losing their souls because they did not follow God. There are layers of problems identified here.

 

First, delighting in self-abasement. Denying things that are not wrong, because they believe they are of a higher spiritual quality and fiber than others. Making up their own rules about righteousness and how one ought to live.

 

Second, the worship of angels. Angels are not to be worshipped. When John fell before an angel in Revelation, he was told to stand up. It is God and God alone that is to be worshipped. The obsession with angels has distorted their thinking.

 

Third, claiming to have seen visions, they base their thinking, especially about angels, upon what they have seen and not what the word of God teaches. They put more stock in what they have seen than what they have read from God’s word. They are unmovable because of what they have seen.

 

Fourth, they are arrogant about these things because not of a heart and mind that is spiritual and wants to please the Lord, but rather, because of a fleshly mind. A mind that feeds pride. A mind that is interested in self more than God. A mind that is about external things more than eternal things.

 

Proud, assured, confident, these misguided folks were misleading the brethren. They were being defrauded. We know that word, defraud. It means to be fooled, swindled, hood-winked, cheated, robbed. It’s not a pleasant feeling to realize that you have been cheated. Often, after a major purchase, a person might have second thoughts, buyers remorse we call that. A person may feel that they were talked into buying something that they really didn’t want. The salesman pressured and convinced a person that he had to purchase something right then and there.

 

For these Christians, they were not being talked into buying a car or a home, but were being convinced of new revelations, new ideas that were based upon visions and pride. So true and so sure were these arguments, that some were being defrauded of their prize. The prize? Heaven. A crown of righteousness. They were giving up what they knew to be right and were following wild speculations that led to false worship and a path not given by God. They were going to lose their souls over these things.

 

From this we learn some valuable lessons:

 

First, just because someone says it is, doesn’t mean that it is. These defrauders claimed they saw visions. They claimed to have proof. Worshipping angels was in. They had a following. They seemed convincing. However, none of this was based upon the Bible. None of this matched the Bible. In these last days, God speaks through His Son, Hebrews tells us. Not in visions. Not through people who are not walking with God.

 

In our time, we could attached dozens of current ideas that are just like this. Books claiming the author died, went to Heaven and came back. Those are being written faster than the public can consume them. Dozens of them. They stand not arm in arm with what the Bible says, but counter to what the Bible says.

 

Then, there are those who claim that God leads them, moves them and talks to them directly, just like He did to the apostles. God led me to this, they claim. God told me to write this, they claim. God wanted me to tell you this, they state. Really? Why then even have a Bible, if God is going to talk to us directly? I thought in these last days He speaks through Jesus? Just because someone says it is, doesn’t mean that it is.

 

Second, Paul’s words are directed toward the Colossians, not these false teachers. One can only be defrauded if they allow themselves to be. Gullible, curious and not knowing the word of God is all it takes for someone to spin a story and fool a person. Some put more hope and stock in writings and legends outside of the Bible than in the Bible itself. The worship of angels? That’s a lay-up. That’s easy to shoot out of the sky, that is, if someone knows the Bible. However, when someone comes claiming he saw a vision and the story begins to sound true, then we have gradually drifted away from what we thought we knew. God’s word doesn’t change. God’s word doesn’t contradict itself. Worship of angels or “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only,’ which Jesus told the devil in the temptations. Now, which is it? Worship the Lord only or worship angels? Which is it, the words of Jesus, or a modern vision? Which is it, what the Bible says, or what a modern author says?

 

Stop being defrauded. Stop listening to this junk. Stop reading those books. Stop reading those websites. Stop allowing your gullible mind to be taken away from the one faith in Christ Jesus. Often, these things begin with a question, such as, “Do you think it’s possible…” and off they go, speculating, guessing and going down roads without any evidence, proof or support. They stand upon shaky ground putting more faith and trusts in what they don’t know than what the Bible actually says.

 

Third, don’t let others claim to be better than you are based upon what they say. Delighting in self-abasement, is nothing more than bragging that I am more spiritual than you are. I went to a college that taught the Bible and you didn’t. That means I’m more spiritual than you are. No, it doesn’t. My kids go to a special Bible camp in the summer. Your kids go to soccer camp. My family is more spiritual than your family. No, that’s not true. We go to a weekend Bible study and you don’t. That means I’m more spiritual than you are. No, it doesn’t.

 

Stop comparing! If you were actually more spiritual, you wouldn’t be thinking, let alone talking that way. And, if you were really more spiritual, you would try to help me be more spiritual. It’s nothing more than bragging. God determines what is spiritual and not you and I. So, my kids don’t go to the camp or the college. Maybe they stayed home and went to a community college. The measuring stick of spirituality is not location. We are not running to Jerusalem here. It’s what is in our hearts that matters. It’s our faith and how real it is. It’s how close we are walking with the Lord. It’s whether or not we are being transformed into the image of Jesus. A school, camp, or weekend get-away, can’t do those things. They may provide opportunities, but it’s what one does that matters. You can go to a camp and goof off. You can go to a school and miss opportunities.

 

I’m better than you is the way the world thinks. I’m more spiritual than you is no different. Put the radar gun down and stop judging others. Pour your efforts into your heart and your walk with the Lord. If you are spiritual, then it will show in your choices, your worship and what you do. Stop being a bump on the log that acts like it is too good for others and serve as Jesus did. Help out where you can. Open your eyes and make a difference.

 

Don’t let someone else keep you from Heaven. Don’t blame others for your stumbling and lack of faith. Don’t hang your hat on the way you were brought up. Don’t point fingers to the church or the preacher. Don’t cry about not going to certain camps, colleges or get-aways. Be strong is what the Ephesians were told. Act like men is what the Corinthians were told. Take hold of that faith that comes from the word of God and let it shape you and mold you. You be spiritual by your choices.

 

Let no one keep defrauding you. It’s like being bullied. It only happens if you let it get to you. Bullies know who to pick on. The scared, the unsure, those lacking confidence—they are sure targets. Try to bully someone with great faith and strong self worth, and it will bounce right off of them. The same goes for defrauding. If you fear being talked into purchasing a car when you are not ready, then don’t go car shopping. If you can’t stand on your own faith, then stay away from those who claim they have seen angels and visions. Don’t watch those shows on TV. Don’t read those books. And, while you’re at it, shore up your faith. Get strong.

 

Let no one keep defrauding you…

 

Roger

 

21

Jump Start # 2105

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2105

Hebrews 2:16 “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham.”

Over the winter, we had an unusual guest. It was a stray cat. My wife loves cats. I like them, but not quite to the level she’s at. She was concerned about this cat who kept hanging around. So we started feeding him. I fed him. He stayed. Who wouldn’t. Free meals are nice. Then it started getting cold. She was worried about the cat, that she had named Georgie. We didn’t know if Georgie was male or female. So, we got a tub that we put a Styrofoam cooler on the inside. We got some straw and put that inside the cooler and cut a hole just the size of a cat. On cold nights, Georgie went inside his winter house. By spring, Georgie was gone. The food supply was turned off.

I thought about Georgie when I read this passage. It seems that we did more for that stray cat than what God did for the angels. Angelology, that’s a real word, is the study of angels. There are more theories, ideas and thoughts about angels than what the Bible tells us. Greeting cards and little statues represent angels as chubby little kids with wings. Figurines display angels as women with long hair and beautiful wings. Some believe that children become angels when they go to Heaven. Lots of ideas and not much Bible behind these concepts.

There are only two angels named in the Bible. They were both male. There is a “strong” angel in Revelation and there is such a thing as an archangel, which seems to imply an order among angels. Angels are spirits. They are not eternal. They were created by God at the beginning. Some angels disobeyed God and are reserved for punishment. There doesn’t seem to be any salvation for angels. Jesus didn’t die for angels. Angels were not created in the image of God. Hebrews tells us that angels serve the people of God. Many important Biblical events involve angels. It was angels who announced to the shepherds out in the field the wonderful news of Jesus’ birth. Angels were at the resurrection of Jesus. When the Lord returns, He will bring all the angels with Him. One angel slew thousands of enemy during the days of Israel. Jesus declared that He could summon legions of angels if He wanted to. The story of the Bible involves these special heavenly host.

Our verse today shows that God does not give help to angels. God helps the descendants of Abraham. God helps His people. This statement, God helps the descendants of Abraham, tells us a couple of valuable things.

First, we are not left alone. God is there to help us. We pray, believing not only will God hear our words, but that God is moved to help us. Why pray if He won’t do anything? Why pray if nothing will change? God helps us. What an amazing thought. There are times we can feel very alone. There are times when our own family seems so busy or unconcerned about our plight in life. There are times when we feel just like a number at work. No one really cares. There are times when we can even feel that way in a congregation. There is no one who understands. There is no one who can help me. God can. God helps in a number of ways. Prayer is one way. Another way is instruction, comfort and hope that is found in Scriptures. Another way is through fellowship and encouragement. Worship helps. Counting your blessings helps.

Second, God thinks more of us than He does the angels. He doesn’t help angels. He helps the descendants of Abraham. That’s hard to grasp. It’s easy to believe that it ought to be the other way around. The angels are around the throne of God. The angels are in Heaven now. The angels come at God’s beckoning. It’s easy to think that in the order of things that angels are nearer to the heart of God than we are. We certainly needed a Savior. We needed the Bible. We need God’s help. I don’t know who named Michael and Gabriel, their names. I expect it was God. The names seem like human names. The angels longed to know what we have found in the Bible. The angels are serving us, not the other way around.

All of this is simply special.

Now, there remains one other lesson here. It’s there, but we often miss it. God helps His people, but do we take that help and do we thank God for that help. Self reliant as we are, we don’t read directions, ask for help or call a neighbor. We do all that we can just to figure things out on our own. That’s the way we are. Yet, God is there to help. Do we take God’s help or do we just drown in our sins? Do we take advantage of the encouragement God provides or do we just smoother in discouragement? Do we utilize the open doors of opportunity that God gives us or do walk right past them with our eyes closed.

God helps. Does my life reflect that? And, am I thankful for that? Suppose, through a sermon or the words of a friend, God stepped on my toes to wake me up. Do I get upset at those things or do I realize God is helping me? Suppose God slows me down by allowing me to get sick, so I can take a long look at what really matters in life? Suppose God made some of the dreams that I am chasing to go away? Maybe those dreams weren’t best for me. God knows.

God helps. Do I take Him up on His help and am I thankful for that help? He’s doing things for you that He won’t do for angels? All of this shows how special we must be to God. I wonder if we think about God as much as He thinks about us?

Sure makes a person wonder, doesn’t it?

Roger

18

Jump Start # 2104

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2104

Luke 4:5 “And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.”

 

Our passage today comes from the temptations of Jesus. There are several important factors here that we need to keep before us.

 

First, temptations are not wrong. It is sin that is wrong. Jesus was tempted, yet Jesus never sinned. There is a difference. What one does with the temptation determines whether or not he sins. Temptation is Satan knocking on the front door of your heart. If you open the door and invite him in, you’ll sin. Satan knocked, but Jesus never opened the door.

 

Second, this wasn’t the only time that Jesus was tempted. Over and over, throughout those three years of His ministry, Jesus was tested, tried and tempted. When Peter rebuked Jesus for declaring that He was going to be crucified, the Lord responded, “Get behind me, Satan.” Even on the cross, the on-lookers tested and tempted Him.

 

When Satan asks in these temptations, “If you are the Son of God,” he knew. He wasn’t in the dark about this. There wasn’t some doubt in Satan’s mind. We remember that James says, “even the demons believe.” “If you are,” could be translated, “Since you are.” Since you are the Son of God, use your powers. Help yourself. Save yourself. You can, so just do it. Jesus wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t listen to Satan. He responded to each temptation, with the same power that you and I have, the word of God. It is written, is what Jesus declared. Jesus knew Scriptures. Jesus believed in the Scriptures. Jesus stood with the Scriptures.

 

Here in our verse, as Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, offering Him position and power without the cross, by simply bowing down to him, we find this expression, “In a moment of time.”

 

In a moment of time so much can happen. For instance,

 

In a moment of time something thoughtless and cruel can be said that crushes the heart of another. We can talk without thinking. We can say things that should never be said. And, just like that, in an instant, in a moment of time, a dagger can be thrust into the heart of a marriage. A thoughtless word. A cruel word.

 

But just the opposite can happen as well. In just a moment of time, someone can lift your spirits by a kind act, an encouraging word, or letting you know that they have uttered your name in prayer to Heaven. Encouragement shows that others are thinking of you. It shows that you are not alone. It shows that others care and want you to do well. In just a moment of time. That’s all it takes.

 

In a moment of time, a decision can be made that alters your future. Crimes of passion are like this. They are not planned. They are not premeditated. Instantly. Without thinking. Emotions getting the best of them. Something is done and it can forever changer their lives. In just a moment of time, without thinking, your influence can be shot. Years of good can just evaporate away from one foolish deed. People won’t remember all the good that was done. They will remember the one bad deed. Years that it took to develop and build trust can come crashing down in an instant because of a lie that was discovered or an immoral act that was done. The trust between a parent and a child can be shattered in a moment of time. The trust between a husband and a wife can be destroyed in a moment of time. The trust between a preacher and the shepherds in a church can be swept away every quickly by decisions that were selfish, hurtful and not spiritual.

 

Can a person be forgiven? Certainly. Can a person be restored? Yes. But, it may take a long time for that trust to be repaired. This is why young people, on a dare, find themselves in all kinds of trouble because they didn’t think things out. All kinds of trouble can come in a moment of time. It can take a lifetime to try to undue what happened in just a moment.

 

Thirdly, in a moment of time, a person could be cast into eternity. Life is precious and fragile. It doesn’t take much and a life can come to a sudden end. There are examples on the internet of last pictures that were taken before a person’s death. Some were hanging over cliffs or dangling over a bridge. It was supposed to be an amazing picture, but something happened, and they died. A car accident. An accident at work. A health issue. And, just like that, in a moment of time, a person is thrown into eternity. Ready or not, they are there. And, once a person is there, there is no coming back. There is no do-overs. There are no apologies, promises to not do that again, pleas for a second chance. Once our life has ended here, we do not come back here.

 

Our lives do not end. We are cast into eternity. It is then, all that we believed, hoped for and lived for that matters. What street your house is on doesn’t matter. How often you cleaned out your car won’t matter. Whether or not you fertilized the yard this spring won’t matter. Bathed the dog? Doesn’t matter. Changed the batteries in the smoke detectors? Doesn’t matter. Got to see the latest super hero movie? Doesn’t matter. What will matter is what you did with Jesus. Do you believe? Did you worship? Did you follow? Did you obey? Did you allow Him to guide your life? Did you allow His word to dwell in your heart?

 

The door swings only one way from this world to the next. And, in just a moment of time, we can be there. It can and has happened while people are on vacation. It’s happened while people were at work. It’s happened during worship. It’s happened at home. There is an appointed time and we do not know when that time is. Death has taken babies. It has taken teenagers. It has taken young mothers. It’s taken those who were very busy. It has taken those who were bored. It has taken famous people. It has taken people who were needed here. It has taken people before they completed books, finished making movies, completed college, or lived their dreams. Not everyone completes their bucket list. Not everyone even makes a bucket list.

 

In a moment of time we can be on the other side. This tells us that we must live every day as if it were our last. Do all that you can do today. Live, love, walk with the Lord and help others all day long. If given a tomorrow, keep going. Keep it up. Someday will be our last day. Work until the Lord stops you.

 

In a moment of time…

 

Roger

 

17

Jump Start # 2103

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2103

Judges 16:21 “Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.”

Our verse today comes from the life of Samson, the judge of Israel. Strong, powerful, kids love hearing stories about Samson. He killed a lion with his bare hands. He tore a wood gate and carried it with the posts to the top of a mountain. He killed 1,000 men with a donkey’s jawbone. Impressive. Mighty. But not in our verse. Here we find him defeated. Samson is bald, blind and bound. He is the prisoner of the Philistines and they use him to make fun and entertain themselves.

One wonders how did it get this way? What happened? How did he wind up in such a mess? Those same thoughts cross our minds as we look at where we sometimes are. Standing in divorce court, how did it come to this? Sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car, how did a person get in such a mess? Expelled from school. Fired from a job. Withdrawn from by the congregation. How did it get this way?

Samson’s life reveals three declining realities that will take the best among us into a real spiritual mess.

First, He did what he wanted to do. This is always the first step toward destruction. Rather than doing what God wants, we follow the will of our hearts. The first words recorded out of Samson’s lips are, “I saw a woman in Timnah…get her for me as a wife.” She was a Philistine woman. His parents tried to talk him out of that relationship. God’s law prohibited Israel from marrying foreigners. Samson was determined. He said, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.”

That stubborn heart ignores godly advice. It closes it’s eyes to consequences. It is set and nothing is going to change it. Forget using the Bible. When a heart is closed and stubborn, it will find a reason and an excuse to do what it wants.

Second, Samson hung around the wrong people. Besides this woman from Timnah, Samson got a harlot from Gaza. Later, there was the infamous Delilah, from the valley of Sorek. Those three places, Timnah, Gaza, and Sorek are all cities belonging to the Philistines. When you hang around Philistines, you will start doing what Philistines are doing. One won’t find spiritual encouragement among the Philistines. The Philistines won’t remind one of their commitment to God. One won’t get stronger by being with the Philistines.

It seems strange that we can’t seem to get this today. We hang around Philistines long enough and we begin to question whether social drinking is really wrong. We begin to wonder about how important worship is. We start entertaining thoughts about topics that we always knew were wrong. But now, having spent time with Philistines, we wonder. Maybe, just maybe, these wrong things are not so wrong. Philistines do not bring us closer to the Lord.

How do we get in the messes we are in? What are we reading? Who are we listening to? What’s influencing our hearts. The Philistines didn’t worship Jehovah. They weren’t going to help Samson eternally.

Third, the Lord had departed from Samson and he didn’t know it. Delilah finally broke him down. She got to him. Shaved, he had no strength. But his strength, spiritual strength, had departed long before this. He had disobeyed God. He had committed adultery. He wasn’t walking with the Lord.

How easy it is to assume that God is always with us. How easy it is to take God for granted. How easy it is to abuse our relationship with the Lord. Our faith must be guarded and fed. Our faith must continue with the Lord. Weak, Samson became a slave to the Philistines. For us, when weak, we become a slave to sin. We lose our focus and we forget about our commitment. We fall into habitual sin. We become addicted to sin. We begin to drown in sin. Samson lost his strength, his vision and his freedom. We lose the same things spiritually when we fall deeply into sin.

The story of Samson ends with him crushing the Philistines in a collapsing arena that took his life as well. His name is listed among the heroes who found favor with God in Hebrews 11. His journey took long periods in the wilderness. For some, they never make it out. Their story doesn’t end with a Hebrews 11 approval. For some, they die among the Philistines, being a Philistine.

Our lives get messy when we think we know better than Scriptures. We think those dire warnings won’t happen to us. We think we’ll be ok. That foolishness has ended many souls. It has crushed hopes and destroyed the eternal life that many had awaiting them.

Is it any wonder that the first step of discipleship is to deny ourselves (Lk 9:23). We trip over ourselves much too often. We become our worst enemy. God knows what He is talking about. Our lives can get so twisted and complicated with sin, and so much of that came about through wrong choices, wrong influences and not being strong in the Lord.

We can do better. We must do better. The Lord prayed in the garden, “Not My will, but Thy will be done.” This is much more than a prayer about the cross. It was the way Jesus lived. It needs to be the way we live as well. Thy will may not be what I wanted, but it is what He wants. Thy will may not be my first choice, but it is His. Surrendering all is tough. In the end, it sure keeps us out of a big mess.

Roger