TODAY’S DAILY READING: Judges 12-13 & Acts 23
Old Testament: Judges 12- The Wrong Fight
Judges 12:4
“Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim. . . “
During the time of the Judges, the nation of Israel was in peril; they had unprotected borders, faced attack from their neighbors, and had constant warfare from within, due to the nations they had failed to drive out of the land. At a time when the people should be joining together to deal with a common enemy, the tribes began to fight all the wrong battles. The enemies of Israel must have been so pleased when they heard that Ephraim and Jephthah had gone to battle against one another, instead of joining forces… Read More
Judges 13- Did I Do That?
Judges 13:4-5
“Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
The book of Judges emphasizes the low moral and spiritual standards in Israel at that time. We find that the people picked up idols and actions from the surrounding nations. It is with that backdrop that we are introduced to a godly couple who had yet to be blessed with children. By all accounts, Manoah and his wife were living exemplary lives: she lived by the Nazarite vow, they offered sacrifice… Read More
New Testament: Acts 23- The Value Of A Verse
Acts 23:11
“But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’”
Webster defines a trial as, “A test of faith through subjection to suffering or temptation.” Paul’s current situation may be the text book case of a trial. He came to Jerusalem with the goal of sharing Christ with his friends and countrymen, spent his time preparing to share with them, but before he ever spoke a word, he found himself under attack. After his unjust … Read More
It is common for people to show no interest in God until calamities arises. As long as life is going their way, they are not concerned with God, but as soon as things get difficult, suddenly, they cry to God for help. Those who have shown no interest in the ways of God, suddenly blame God for the calamity they are facing, and cry out to Him to fix everything.
As commander of the armies of Israel, Jephthah is leading his soldiers into a heated battle against the people of Ammon. As the battle approaches, we find Jephthah crying out to God for assistance. It is a good thing to pray, but we find his prayer is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of God. Jephthah thinks he has to barter for the favor of God. “If You will help me I will give you…”
After his arrest, Paul shared Christ with the mob that tried to kill him. They listened intently to him because his message was fascinating and relevant. It seemed they had a true interest, and even an openness to the Gospel. But that all changed once Paul mentioned the Gentiles. That single word caused the hearers to close their ears, harden their hearts, and reject the message… 
We live in an interesting time, when big philosophical ideas are compressed into quaint little sayings and scattered across social media. We are bombarded with these phrases that often express a worldview diametrically opposed to the teaching… 
Not every story recorded in Scripture is a positive one. In this case, we find a self-centered man with a drive for power and a taste for blood, fight his way to the top, where he can rule over the people of God. Abimelech was a strong man with many gifts, but he was also an ungodly man who took things by force, and was responsible for the death of many innocent men… 
The scene in Acts 21 might best be described as a riot. The people of the city had lost all sense of the Temple worship, and had become a violent mob determined to put Paul to death. Their rage escalated to the point where the Roman soldiers had to almost beat them back, in order to pull Paul out of their clutches. We read, when they reached the stairs … 
Gideon voices a sentiment vey common among believers today. He looked at the conditions of his world and began to wonder where were all the miracles. If God is the same yesterday, today and forever, why was he not seeing great and miraculous changes happening in his lifetime? I find it very interesting how the Lord responds to Gideon’s accusations.
God is selecting a team for a specific task. They will be led into hand-to-hand combat against a Midianite army too vast to number. As the people gather for the selection process, the first cut is made. Twenty-two thousand men are sent packing for one simple reason – fear! Gideon may have asked for a show of hands, or for those who were afraid, to take…
When reading the Bible, we should always look for application to our personal lives. In some texts, the truths to apply are very straight forward, others, are a little more difficult to find. This passage tells the story of a young man, Eutychus by name, who nods off during a Bible study and ends up dead. I think the passage is a warning of more than the need to stay awake at church. Eutychus’ fall is a perfect illustration… 
The conditions in Israel at the time of Deborah and Barak were very difficult. Moral failure, on the part of the people and their leaders, had led to national decline, and in turn, to losing much of the freedoms they once enjoyed. After eighteen years of oppression, the people finally began to see that the root cause… 
After defeating the enemies of Israel, Deborah and Barak led the people in a song celebrating the Lord’s victory. This song gives insight into how things are accomplished within the Kingdom of God. It is clear, it was a work of God. We read, “The Lord went out from Seir, . . .”It is also clear, the works of God are accomplished… 
Ephesus was a very large city with a diverse population. It is estimated, at the time of Paul’s visit, there may have been in excess of 400,000 people living in the city. Ephesus was the largest city in Asia Minor, and one of the largest in the empire. Because of its location, on a trade route, the city was very wealthy; it had become an important center for commerce. Like any large wealthy city, Ephesus had its share of vice. One of the greatest was temple prostitution. Overlooking the… 
When the land was distributed among the tribes, Simeon was given a portion within the land allotted to Judah. The reason being, Judah’s lot was too big for any one tribe. Since Judah and Simeon were going to share the land, they would have to learn to stand together in battle, to defeat their enemies.
The book of Judges records a reoccurring cycle in the life of the young Israeli nation. Over and over, as the story unfolds, we will read of sin, suffering, supplications and salvation. The people will disobey the Lord, becoming involved in sinful and worldly practices. These practices will lead to suffering, and their suffering will cause them to cry out to God for help. Again and again, the mercy… 
As I read through the book of Judges, I am confronted with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it is a sad and tragic story of repeated failure. Over and over, we are told of the compromise of the people of God, and the suffering they experienced as a result. We are told, much of the reason for their repeated failure, was that they did not know how to fight. Instead of realizing they were facing spiritual battles, and engaging in conflict against compromise, they simply gave in. Judges records the story of failure… 
Paul and his companions had been traveling from city to city and town to town; sharing the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches. They spent relatively short periods of time in each of these places until Corinth; we read, Paul remained there for a year and six months. Corinth did not seem to be… 
The sun is about to set in the life and ministry of Joshua. After spending years being mentored in ministry by Moses, he ventured out as Israel’s leader. He led the nation as they furthered the kingdom of God, and became established in the land. Now that his time is coming… 
Years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song that included the phrase, “You’ve got to serve somebody.” Centuries before, the Psalmist declared, we will become whatever we choose to… 
Paul and his companions were traveling throughout Greece. They had been in Philippi, Thessalonica, and would soon be in Athens. These were all very prominent cities. Philippi was the foremost city in the region of Macedonia, and Athens remained the scholastic capital of the Empire. Berea, on the other hand, was a small… 
A lot of my childhood was spent on the ocean. From as far back as I can remember, my dad had a boat and we would spend the summers taking vacations to Catalina Island. It was a great way to grow up. We would spend day after day on the boat, fishing, swimming, diving and exploring. When the vacation finally came to an end and we made the 27 mile journey… 
The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh chose to separate from the rest of Israel and live east of the Jordan River. Although the Jordan is not a large river, and crossing it during the dry season would not be a difficult endeavor, this division would prove to be very costly. It is clear from the event recorded in Joshua 22, the… 
The Scriptures are filled with men and women who had a tremendous impact upon their world for the kingdom of Heaven. Timothy is one of those men. We are first introduced to him here, in Acts 16. He is described as a disciple who was well-spoken of throughout the cities of Lystra and Iconium. The word disciple means, a learner and a follower. It describes a person who has chosen to surrender to Christ, follow Him, and allow the Word of God to write upon… 
The Christian life was never meant to be a solo activity. The challenges and the opportunities of life are often much more than the individual believer can handle. Solomon wrote of the practical benefits of fellowship when he declared, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will… 
Many of the cities throughout Israel were designated as “Cities of Refuge.” This meant, if a person accidentally caused the death of another, he could flee to one of these cites for protection from the revenge of the victim’s devastated family. The rules governing these cities were simple. If death was caused accidentally, the guilty… 
A great controversy arose in the early church as a result of the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. Some of the church leaders in Jerusalem were suggesting that after coming to Christ, these new converts must be circumcised and keep the ceremonial laws. I think their motives were probably sincere. They wanted to see these new believers behaving correctly, and determined the best way for them to do so, was to make rules. We see the same thing happening in the church today. A young… 
After the great deliverance from Egypt, forty years in the wilderness, and five years in the Promised Land, there were still tribes who were neglecting to possess their possessions. In other words, the land that had been promised and distributed to them, remained in the hand of their enemies. Joshua, in a form of harsh rebuke, declares that the reason for their failure to take… 
We read, they spoke in a way that resulted in many believing in Christ; which in turn, results in eternal life. It is worth noting that there is a way to speak which will have an impact upon others for eternity. Their speaking included at least three things:
Jim Gallagher 