Good morning, Sweet Sisters!
I am so glad and excited that you are joining me here each week in diving into the Bible. We have just begun to turn the pages in our long summer study, but I hope you hear the Lord speaking to you through His Word. He has so much for us, we just have to take it! Here is this week's reading plan: Monday- I Samuel 6 Tuesday - I Samuel 7 Wednesday - I Samuel 8 Thursday - I Samuel 9 Friday - I Samuel 10 Remember, we are just reading one chapter a day. Use this reading to continue or establish a daily moment with the Lord. Read His Word, talk to Him and be still and listen to Him. He will bless you for wanting to spend time with Him! :) Check back here at the end of the week for a recap of what we studied and please comment with your favorite verses from the week or anything in our study that has jumped out at you. Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea
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It's our first week in I Samuel and immediately we are thrown into the familiar story of Samuel. A man born to a barren woman who pleaded for years to have a son. Samuel's mother, Hannah promised God she would give him back to the Lord if only He would give her a child. God answered her prayers.
"I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and He has granted my request." ~ I Samuel 1:27 Hannah kept her promise as well. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah and her husband Elkanah, took him to the Tabernacle, along with a bull for sacrifice, and there they gave Samuel back to the Lord, leaving him with Eli the priest. From the very beginning, Hannah's hope for her child, was that He would serve the Lord and be used by Him. Chapter 2, shows us Hannah's prayer of praise. I am sure, it is safe to say, she covered her son with prayer all of his life. Praying for God to use him, protect him and direct him all the days of his life. And, as we will see, God did indeed use Samuel in mighty ways. Samuel's upbringing helped guide him in the right direction. From a young age, Samuel began serving the Lord. "Then Elkanah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest. " ~ I Samuel 2:11 "But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest." ~ I Samuel 2: 18 ".....Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord." ~ I Samuel 2:21 "Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew taller and grew in favor with the Lord and with the people." ~ I Samuel 2:26 It is so important, as believers in Jesus Christ, to make sure our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and any other children that may be in our lives, are given the chance to grow up in the Lord. Cover them in prayer from the beginning. share the love of God with them always. Teach them to pray. Teach them the Word of God. Show them what a relationship with God looks like. Be a godly example to them. Parents, this charge is to you first and foremost. You are the ones God has chosen and ordained to raise your children in the admonition of the Lord. Take this job more seriously than any other, for you are raising the next generation of believers. But grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, teachers: your influence on the children in your lives is important also. Children learn by imitation. They are watching you and looking to you as a role model as well. In stark contrast of Samuel, Eli's sons are said to be wicked. Scripture doesn't tell us their exact upbringing, but we do know that Eli was a man of God. The problem was, Eli knew of his son's sin and yet, did nothing about it. He overlooked it. God sent a messenger to Eli letting him know that his son's sin would not go unnoticed, and Eli's entire family would pay the consequences. We cannot sit by and allow sin to reign in our homes and family. We will pay the consequences for "overlooking" it. We must trust the Lord and follow His instructions, and live our lives according to His Word. Protect your home and family from the burden of sin. Be cautious of what you allow in your homes and lives: what you watch, listen to, read, who you communicate with and even the relationships you establish outside of your home. Make sure that your activities, your words, and your relationships bring glory to the Lord. If it doesn't, remove it from your home, your mind, your life and your family's life. In chapter 3, we see the Lord beginning to speak to Samuel. At this time, messages and visions from the Lord were very rare, and because of this, Samuel didn't realize that God was speaking directly to him. "Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before." ~ I Samuel 3:7 God called out to Samuel 3 times, and each time Samuel thought that Eli was calling him. Finally, Eli realized that God was speaking to Samuel, so he instructed him to reply to God's call if He spoke again. God called to Samuel a final time and Samuel responded. God's message to Samuel was about the judgement that was coming to Eli's family. Although he was afraid to share God's message with Eli, he did, holding nothing back. Without hesitation, Eli accepted what was coming. "So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. "It is the Lord's will,' Eli replied. 'Let Him do what He thinks best.'" ~ I Samuel 3:18 God's judgement on Eli's family did come to pass. Israel was at war with the Philistines and they attacked killing 4,000 Israelites. Instead of asking God for direction in battle, Israel took the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them, hoping it would save them. God allowed the Ark to be used against them, for when the Philistines saw it, they became worried and feared they would become Israel's slaves. The Philistines fought harder than before and killed 30,000 Israelite soldiers, defeated Israel, took the Ark captive, and Eli's sons, Hophni & Phinehas were killed. Upon hearing of Israel's defeat and that the Ark was gone, Eli fell backward, broke his neck and died. He had been Israel's judge for 40 years. Phinehas' wife went into labor when she heard all that had occurred. Before dying in childbirth, she named her son Ichabod, which means "where is the glory?". Interesting name choice, don't you think? Yet, it tells us so much. In Hebrew, the word glory means "presence of God." So her question was really: Where is God? Israel had turned their back on God once again, living life as they wanted and serving other gods. When once they would have asked for God's direction against their enemies, now they were taking things into their own hands. Oh, God was there. Don't think for a moment He wasn't. I'm sure He was grieved at their actions, but He allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sin. God will never leave us. His Word promises He will be with us, always. But.....we will pay the consequences for our sin. When our choices and decisions do not align with God and His truth, we will suffer the consequences. As believers, we are not perfect. Perfection doesn't come until we reach Heaven, but we are God's children and we should strive to live as such. We have the "how to" manual: the Bible. We need to know it, treasure it and live it. Will we fail? Make mistakes? Absolutely, on this side of eternity we live in a fallen world and we won't be perfect and holy, but that should be our goal. Holiness, righteousness, yearning to live according to God's truth and will. How do we do this? We turn our lives, completely, over to God. Lay it at His feet. Read and soak in His Word. Hide His Word in our hearts, so that when temptation comes, we have the tools and the strength to turn away. Repent and ask forgiveness when we fail. Live out God's Word. Trust Him, knowing He is always with you and He loves you so much He gave His son's life for you. There's one last thing I want to leave with you this week. Serve the Lord with all your heart, even in spite of your shortcomings. As you grow in Him, He will be with you and He will use you to bring glory to Him. "As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable." ~ I Samuel 3:19 May God bless each of you as you grow closer to Him! Keep reading His Word! Joyfully His, Andrea " Good Morning, Sweet Sisters!
Summer is fast approaching! The warm days, the bright sunshine, the new animals, it is all so wonderful to take in and watch. I'm excited about school ending and enjoying long, hot days just soaking up my family. Although summer usually brings a sense of vacation, it can also bring about a new busyness all on it's own. With that busyness, I don't want to let go of my daily time with the Lord. So, let our summer study begin! For the next twelve weeks, we are embarking on a journey through I & II Samuel and James in Scripture. For those of you joining us for the first time, let me explain how it works. We read one chapter a day, Monday through Friday. At the beginning of each week I will post our weekly reading plan, then at the end of the week I will post a recap of what we read. It's that simple. Just reading God's Word every day, soaking Him up, spending time with Him, talking to Him, listening to Him and desiring to draw closer to Him. We don't schedule reading on the weekends, to give us time to catch up if we need too. You can subscribe to the RSS feed on the sidebar to receive info when a new post is posted or just check back here periodically. Here at Redeeming Elegance, we want to encourage you and support you in your daily walk with Christ. Our prayer is that through this simple study you will become closer to God and the accountability will help each of us make daily time with God a priority. So let's get started! God has a lot in store for us over the summer! Here is this week's reading plan: Monday - I Samuel 1 Tuesday - I Samuel 2 Wednesday - I Samuel 3 Thursday - I Samuel 4 Friday - I Samuel 5 I'm praying for each of you this week! Feel free to share this study with your women's small group and all your friends. I will meet you back here at the end of the week! Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea Hello Sweet Sisters!
This is our break week before we jump into 3 books for a long, yet exciting summer study on Monday, May 23rd! I'm praying now for the Lord to prepare our hearts to hear and see all that He has for us in His Word for the next 3 months. I would like to ask you to pray along with me. I wanted to recap the book of Philippians today. We finished with Philippians last week, and there was so much packed into those four short chapters that I just wanted to touch on a few things that stood out to me in each chapter. Please feel free to comment what God brought to your attention as well. Paul wrote this letter to the people of Philippi. God ordained this to be a part of His Word because what was being taught to those in Philippi at that time, is still very much relevant to us believers now. I am always amazed at Paul's sincere love for the people who God gave Him to minister to. Every letter he wrote was covered in love for those people. That speaks volumes to me. Paul was tough, and he had to be tough on God's people sometimes, but he overflowed with love for these people and it showed in his ministry. I want to be like that. I want people to see God's love through me in every way. Even in the tough situations. "Every time I thank of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy." ~ Philippians 1:3-4 Do we have a spirit of thankfulness for those God has entrusted to us? Our spouses, our children, our extended families, our friends, church family, our co-workers, our neighbors, those we minister to. Are we truly thankful for them and do we pray for them? Not just a prayer, but a prayer filled with joy for those people. "I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ - for this will bring much glory and praise to God." ~ Philippians 1:9-11 I keep a small journal full of verses that I pray over my children. As I read Scripture, I add verses that God lays on my heart to pray for my kiddos. I added the above verses last week. I want these things for my children, and myself: overflowing love growth in knowledge and understanding to understand what really matters in life to live pure and blameless lives to be filled with the fruit of salvation - righteous character produced by Jesus So much of this book reminds us how to live as believers in Christ Jesus. Sometimes we allow are lives to become so busy with stuff, obligations and life in general, that we forget our purpose. We are citizens of heaven. We must act like it. We have to conduct ourselves in ways that are worthy of Christ and we can't be intimidated by our enemies and those who don't love the Lord. We are examples to the world around us. We are making a difference in the lives of unbelievers just by the way we act and how we treat each other as believers. Philippians, chapter 2, shows us how to do that well. We are encouraged here, to work together, to love each other, to humble ourselves, encourage one another, support one another and to think of others before we think of ourselves. We are urged to work hard to show the results of our salvation through Jesus. Spiritual stability depends on love, harmony and peace between believers. "Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." ~ Philippians 2:12-13 We are called to deeply respect, fear and obey God. We are not to complain or argue. We are to live clean, innocent lives and we are to hold firmly to the Word of Life. Are we doing these things on a regular basis? Are we striving to live this way to bring glory to God? Is this the life we are living out in front of our family, friends and even strangers? Paul closes this letter reminding us how to live our lives to the fullest, while anxiously waiting the return of our Lord. "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." ~ Philippians 4:4-8 I encourage you to learn these verses. Commit them to memory, meditate on them and live them out. Trust the Lord. He will supply all your needs and bless you with peace that is beyond understanding. May God bless each of you this week as your desire to trust Him, serve Him and live your life completely for Him continues to grow and magnify! I'll meet you here Monday for the beginning of our summer study. Invite all of the ladies you know to join us and come eager to learn! Keep reading His Word! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Sweet Sisters!
I just loved our time with Ruth last week and I am looking forward to jumping into Philippians this week! This is our final week of our spring study. I pray that the Lord has blessed you this past five weeks and grown your faith and knowledge in Him as you have read and meditated on His Word. We will be taking a break next week, May 16th- 20th, from our formal study. Please take this time to catch up or look back at the books we have covered over the last seven months. Begin praying now for God to prepare our hearts for our upcoming summer study. It's going to be long and exciting! On May 23rd we will begin a 12-week study through I & II Samuel and finish up with James on August 12th. Now is the time to share this study and site with all the ladies you know! But until then, let's jump into Philippians! Here is this week's reading plan: Monday- Philippians 1 Tuesday - Philippians 2 Wednesday - Philippians 3 Thursday - Philippians 4 I am praying for each of you this week! May God continue to bless your desire to draw closer to Him through His Word! Joyfully His, Andrea "Now don't worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman." ~ Ruth 3:11
The above words are what Boaz had to say about Ruth. He obviously thought very highly of her, but he wasn't the only one. Notice his words: "for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman." It was evident to everyone, that Ruth was a woman of virtue. It was seen in her actions, her words and her countenance. When we think of virtue we think of the English definition of having and showing high moral standards, but in this particular passage, virtue is taken from the Hebrew word chayil- which means strength, valor, might and power (whether in body or mind). Ruth was a woman with high moral standards, but she was also a woman of great strength. I want to be a virtuous woman. A woman known for my moral standards but also seen for my strength. What does this woman of virtue look like? Ruth gives us every example of being a virtuous woman. * Ruth was loyal and faithful. "But Ruth replied, 'Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!'" ~ Ruth 1:16-17 Ruth was faithful, not only to Naomi, but to God. Somewhere along her journey with Naomi's family, Ruth began a close relationship with the Lord. She was not going to turn her back on Naomi, the only family she felt she had left after 10 years, and she was not going to turn away from her God. *Ruth was determined. In these same verses we see the determination in Ruth's words and demeanor. She was not going to take no for an answer. She was determined to stay with Naomi and continue her relationship as her daughter. How often are we determined in our own relationships with those we love? Are we faithful and determined to stay, to follow and to love? *Ruth was submissive. "One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it. ' Naomi replied, 'All right, my daughter, go ahead.'" ~ Ruth 2:2 Ruth was submissive to her authority. She was not married and she did not live under her father's roof, but she looked to Naomi as her mother and she respected her authority. I understand that submission is a controversial subject in this day in time, specifically for women. Most women find "submission" a dirty word, but it isn't. It's God's Word, and His ways are better than anything we can ever imagine. *Ruth was serving. "So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal." ~Ruth 2:17-18 Ruth had a servant's heart. She wanted to work to take care of Naomi, and she did her job with a happy heart and she did it well. So many times in my mundane tasks of taking care of my home and my family, I groan and complain. Where is my happy, serving heart? It is a privilege to get to serve my family. To love and nurture them by taking care of them. I don't want to lose sight of that. I want to serve them cheerfully, because I love them and I am grateful for them. God did not have to bless me with my sweet hubby and precious children, but He did. I am so grateful for each one and I am blessed that God chose to give them to me. My care and nurture for them should reflect this gratitude. Ruth was indeed, a virtuous woman, and everyone noticed. She was not proud, she did not parade herself as something wonderful, she just lived her life to please the Lord. Her character and actions spoke volumes of who she truly was: a woman of strength, a woman of virtue, a woman of God. The same is true for us. What does our character and our actions tell those who are watching? Are we bearing good fruit? Are our lives overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Galatians 5:22-23) Are we living out God's words or just hearing it? (James 1:22) Let's strive to become women of virtue! "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deed publicly declare her praise." ~ Proverbs 31:30-31 Happy Mother's Day to all you precious Mamas out there! Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning!
Whew! What an amazing past 4 weeks we have had in Judges! Has God spoken to you? Have you seen His great mercy? This story of the Israelites and the deliverers God sent to them, has opened my eyes to how gracious our God is and how much He truly loves us and wants us to love Him in return. It also opened my eyes to the depths of evil that mankind is capable of falling into. This week is so exciting for me, because we will be reading one of my absolute favorite books of the Bible: Ruth. I am so excited! The book of Ruth is short and sweet, but so full of Biblical womanhood that we can't pass the chance to grow closer to our amazing God through this book. So, let's get started! Here is our reading plan for the week: Monday - Judges 21 Tuesday - Ruth 1 Wednesday - Ruth 2 Thursday - Ruth 3 Friday - Ruth 4 Get out your Bible, your journal, and prepare your heart to listen to God speak to you through His Word. Oh, Sweet Sister, He has so much to tell us! Keep reading the Word! Joyfully His, Andrea I am going to back-track a little this week and look back to a few chapters we read last week as well as what we read this week. As we read Judges, chapters 13-16, most of us found the story of Samson familiar. If you were raised in church, you have heard the story of Samson from childhood and was most likely taught about the strength of Samson. Although it's a story most of us know and recognize, I think it is important to look a little deeper into Samson. Not just his story, but who he was and how God used him despite of himself.
Samson's story begins with his mama. As a mama myself, this bit of information touches me. Specifically, because of her circumstances. Scripture doesn't give us her name. We only know her as Manoah's wife and Samson's mother. We may not know her name but we do know who she was. As women, and especially wives and mothers, sometimes we feel like our identity is overlooked. We may feel nameless and as if the world overlooks who we are and devalues us. This portion of Scripture proves otherwise. I don't need to know this woman's name to know how important she is to God's divine plan. God used her, He spoke to her, and He blessed her to bring out His plan for Israel. Be encouraged, Sweet Sisters, our names may never go down in history, we may never be famous, and we may never have any kind of document declaring our great accomplishments in this world. But.... if you are alive, you were created by God Himself with a divine purpose for your life to bring Him great glory right where He has placed you, for just a time as this. Manoah and his wife were barren. They had no children, but the angel of the Lord appeared to this woman, alone, and gave her amazing news as well as direct instructions. "The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said, 'Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.'" ~ Judges 13:3-5 After telling her husband of this visit and prophecy, he couldn't believe it! He asked God to send the messenger back and God answered his request. After speaking again to the angel of the Lord and asking him to wait while they prepared a meal for him, they watched the angel tap the rock where they placed their young goat and grain offering, and saw their sacrifice consumed by flames and the messenger disappear. They knew immediately that they had been in the presence of the Lord. "The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, and he said to his wife, 'We will certainly die, for we have seen God!' But his wife said, 'If the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and our grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.' When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the Lord blessed him as he grew up. " ~ Judges 13:21-24 When we think of Samson, we think of his amazing strength. That's the highlight of his story, but there is much more to this man. Samson was a strong willed, stubborn, hard headed, man who loved women. His mind set was pretty much- his way or the highway. He obviously knew the Lord, but he gave into his flesh many times. But God still used him. This post is not about his bad choices with the ladies, although he did indeed make some bad choices, but I want us to focus on his strength and where it came from, for there is something in this for us to take away and apply to our own lives. The first time we see Samson's strength, it seems as if it comes out of nowhere. "As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion's jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it was a young goat. but he didn't tell his father and mother about it." ~Judges 14:5-6 He ripped apart a lion's jaw! What! That's unbelievable! But it is important to notice that this strength came when "the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him". His strength came from the Lord and it was needed. God knew what was coming with the young Philistine woman he wanted to marry. As we continue to read chapter 14, we see that Samson uses the lion and the honey as a riddle for the 30 young men who were chosen as his companions.Unfortunately,these men were not Samson's friends and they used Samson's new bride against him, threatening her and her father's household. Samson gave into this woman, giving her the answer to the riddle which she then gave to the young men. Again, we see an incredible act of strength. "Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson's best man at the wedding." ~ Judges 14:19-20 Alone, Samson killed 30 men. Yes, he was angry, and adrenaline can make us do things that we couldn't possibly do otherwise, but Scripture is very clear on where this act of strength came from: "the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him." Again, God allowed this power trip, not to build up Samson, but to defeat the Philistines. After cooling off for a while, Samson returned for his wife but was furious when he found out she had been given to another man. In his own vengeance, he took the time to capture 300 foxes, tie them together in pairs, set their tails on fire, and send them through the Philistines' grain fields. He destroyed their vineyards and groves and then killed many of their men . He went to live in a cave and the Philistines began to oppress the tribe of Judah because of Samson. The men of Judah went to Samson and told him they were turning him in, but they would not kill him themselves. Samson agreed, the men tied him up, and took him to the Philistines. Here we see another amazing act of strength. "As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it." ~Judges 15:14-15 He killed 1,000 men with a donkey's jawbone. His strength seemed unattainable, but again it came from the Lord. Judges, chapter 16 gives us the most familiar story of this man: Samson and Delilah, the strongest man and his deceitful woman. It is here in this story that we find out where his strength comes from: his long hair. We are told this from childhood, but we know that is not exactly correct. At the time, Samson truly thought that his strength came from his long hair. That was apart of his calling as a Nazarite, he was to never cut his hair. So for him, he believed that's where his strength came from. But, as we see played out in this story with Delilah, this wasn't true. Yes, God allowed him to be weak once his hair was shaven, but it had nothing to do with Samson's hair. Samson was a proud man, who boasted many times of his strength. His faith was in the strength and power he contained, not in the Lord who had given it to him. Because of this pride, God allowed weakness to overtake him. This is true for us too. We are each designed and equipped by God with certain talents, gifts and strengths. God intends for us to use these things for His glory and to fulfill His perfect will. Unfortunately, so many times, we allow those gifts and strengths to puff us up and we begin to put our faith and trust in those gifts instead of the One who has given them to us. Be careful, Sweet Sisters, for pride always comes before a fall. Yes, our strength comes from the Lord, but when we loose sight of that, God can allow weakness to over take us. Sometimes we have to be brought down in order to see God and what He is trying to accomplish through us. He did it for Samson, He will do it for you and me. After being weakened, captured, and blinded, Samson realized his fault and he cried out to the Lord in true repentance. God redeemed Samson in that moment and once again used him to take down the Philistines. God used a blinded and bound man to defeat the Philistines. "Then Samson prayed to the Lord, 'Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.' Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.." ~ Judges 16:28-30 We are born with the capability to be physically strong and many people spend their lives training and caring for their body to be just that. But true strength- unbelievable, amazing strength- comes from the Lord. Our true strength comes from God. Let's pursue it by trusting Him, knowing Him, reading His Word and applying His truth to our lives. Don't let your strengths, whatever they may be, become a road to pride. Remember, that your strengths come from God alone, and should be used for His glory, not ours. "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." ~ Philippians 4:13 May God shower you with His strength and power as you strive to live for Him! Keep reading the Word! Joyfully His, Andrea |
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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