WEIRDLY SEEKING ABSOLUTION AND PEACE

Posted on June 3, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Life and our response to it has become big business in the therapy community. This might be why:  Every circumstance must have a reason for it. If we cannot find the reason to explain it; we wallow in it. We become unsettled, anxious, miserable, and cranky. All those around us suffer because of our attitude.  If we have the funds, coupled with health insurance, we might purchase time from a therapist trained to help us find the peace we long for by giving us reasons to choose from that will satisfy our need to explain life.  Our human nature demands reasons for our troubles.  We also have strong tendencies with desire to blame someone else for our current situation so they become the reason that exonerates us as the reason.  (Disclaimer:  Those who suffer extreme depression from possible physical abnormalities or extreme mental occurrences should seek help from licensed, medical physicians.) 

There is this now a new behavior a lot of us lean into called “retail therapy.”  We add this to other man-made therapies of our day that we can do on our own!  When life is hard, we go shopping.  When we can’t solve an issue with someone; we browse Amazon to see what the world’s store has to offer.  When we cannot satisfy our real need; we seek stuff to fill the emptiness.  I confess, I have fallen for retail therapy as a temporary fix. But it doesn’t last.  There is no peace in this behavior, only another idol that distracts us from God who is peace.  The idols of our day end up in garage sales a few months later as we reprimand ourselves with, “What were we thinking?”  We weren’t thinking at all!

Micah is a man who stole money from his mother.  She is cursing over the loss.  He finally decides to confess. “It wasn’t a thief, mom, it was me.” What Micah’s mother did next might surprise you—she forgave him then blessed him with a new idol! What were they thinking?  The idol was designed from the stolen money to atone for his sin of stealing it! She and Micah had a real need—God. But she and Micah replaced God with silver idol that was placed in a prominent, designated area of his home.  Wow.

False worship of manmade stuff seeks peace of heart through all the wrong ways. A true relationship with God requires wholehearted obedience, not a token sacrifice or a temporary fix of atonement.

Judges 17

Micah’s Idols

Now a man named Micah from the hill country of Ephraim 2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have that silver with me; I took it.”

Then his mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”

3 When he returned the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, she said, “I solemnly consecrate my silver to the Lord for my son to make an image overlaid with silver. I will give it back to you.”

4 So after he returned the silver to his mother, she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who used them to make the idol. And it was put in Micah’s house.

5 Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his sons as his priest. 6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

7 A young Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who had been living within the clan of Judah, 8 left that town in search of some other place to stay. On his way he came to Micah’s house in the hill country of Ephraim.

9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he said, “and I’m looking for a place to stay.”

10 Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.” 11 So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him. 12 Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house. 13 And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Who or what are our idols that we use to soothe us? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) in this and other areas of our daily lives.  Let us take some dedicated time to prayerfully reflect and repent as the Holy Spirit brings to our minds what thinking and resulting behaviors need to be removed from our lives. Then, just do it, with His power-filled help!

Are our homes morally confusing to our offspring?  Ouch.  Have you ever seen a family more spiritually and morally confused than this one? They managed to break almost all the Ten Commandments and yet not feel the least bit guilty before the Lord! In fact, they thought they were serving the Lord by the bizarre things they did!  Because Micah and his family didn’t submit to the authority of God’s Word, their home was a place of religious and moral confusion. It was a good deal like some homes today where the family worships the idols of money, children steal from their parents, and lie about what they do or where they are going. The family honor is unknown, and a place the true God is unwanted or neglected. Peace alludes each one.

“The sad part of the story is that Micah thought he had God’s favor because a genuine Levitical priest was serving as his private chaplain. Micah practiced a false religion and worshiped false gods (with Jehovah thrown in for good measure), and all the while he rested on the false confidence that God was blessing him!”—Warren Wiersbe

Old Testament priests were assigned as agents of God to provide spiritual guidance along with acts of sacrifice for the atonement of sin.  Then God sent His Son, Jesus, a part of Himself to be the ultimate sacrifice once and for all to remove the sins of the world.  God’s Holy Spirit then comes to live in all who believe and follow Jesus as redeemed children of God, joint heirs with Jesus.  God’s Holy Spirit is our Counselor, Helper, and Supreme Spiritual Advisor who guides His church—us—to all that is truth. 

Our response as followers is outlined for us in God’s Word. Here are a few precious gems that fill our real need of God when we trust and obey;

  • “Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”—Jesus, Matthew 6:31-34
  • “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” –Jesus, John 14:15-17
  • “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”—Jesus, John 14:25-27
  • “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”—Jesus, John 16:13
  • “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—Jesus, John 16:33

Our new identity as believers is in Jesus who died and rose again to save us and reconcile us to God.  All we need to know about God came from God through the teachings of Jesus, His Son. Our hope and inheritance of eternal life is because of Jesus. The gift of God’s Holy Spirit lives in us and speaks truth to us as promised by Jesus.  All we need and long for is Jesus!  There is no other Name but Jesus to worship in thanksgiving and praise! Paul was changed completely by Jesus and writes;

  • “Think on these things,” writes Paul to God’s church, who spent the rest of his life after Jesus seeking to truly know Jesus and be like Him.  “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 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.”—Paul, Philippians 3:10-12
  • “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”—Paul, Philippians 4:6-8

Lord,

The story of Micah and his mom is not really that uncommon today.  There are so many pitfalls of idolatry that we need your power to avoid.  I repent of turning to anyone or anything but you when my mind is unsettled.  You alone are my peace that is world cannot give—only you.  Thank you for teaching us, reminding us that all we really need is You.  I trust you with my life because you are Life! I pray for lost ones who need you now.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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TELL ME YOUR SECRET!

Posted on June 2, 2025 by randscallawayffm

How do you do that?  How did you get to where you are?  How can one person do what you do each day?  What is your secret?  We might not be a Samson, a person gifted with great physical strength; but we are God’s created just like Samson.  God gives each person on earth extraordinary power and wisdom at just the right time and place with specific gifted abilities to accomplish His work for His glory.  That is the secret. Not us! Not yet believers marvel at this power and think strength and wisdom comes from the person themselves who seem to say and do all the right things at the right time.  But this is not the secret sauce of success!

As we read the last part of Samson’s story; we might chuckle a bit over the consistent nagging Delila who demands to know the secret to his strength until we realize she is driven by greed!  The Philistine leaders will pay her handsomely for knowing the secret to his strength so they can bring him down!  Samson enjoys the game until he became “sick to death” of her nagging. Little does he know that she is working for the enemy—or does he?  Is Samson so “in love” and so proud of his strength that he thinks will never fall?  You decide—but finish the story before forming your decision.  Allow God’s Holy Spirit to do His work on us while God’s Word is formed in us. 

Judges 16

Samson and Delilah

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the bowstrings as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “All this time you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become as weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

The Death of Samson

23 Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.”

24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,

“Our god has delivered our enemy
    into our hands,
the one who laid waste our land
    and multiplied our slain.”

25 While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

When they stood him among the pillars, 26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

31 Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led Israel twenty years.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When Delilah began to probe for the secret of his strength, Samson should have been aware of his danger and, like Joseph (Genesis 39:12), fled as fast as possible! But passion had gripped him, sin had anesthetized him, and he was unable to act rationally. Anybody could have told him that Delilah was making a fool out of him, but Samson would have believed no one.

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”—Paul mentoring Timothy, 2 Timothy 2:22

Speaking of Paul, AKA Saul, I’m reminded of his conversion from evil passion to holy righteousness. His story is found in Acts 9.  Saul had great influence and success as a religious leader dedicated to extreme adherence of The Law.  His self-righteousness, however, was his downfall for he didn’t really know God and what He wanted.  He decided for himself to became a self-appointed terrorizer of all who believed and followed Jesus for he was convinced that Jesus was the enemy of The Law.  Saul was a harassing agent given full authority from the Jewish religious leadership to destroy/kill Christ followers by any means necessary.  Saul did not have the secret to life until that day, standing in the middle of the road, he met Jesus.  And Jesus changed everything. Jesus still changes everything!

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” asks Jesus. Saul was blind to who God really is and was so he did not know who was speaking—yet.  Jesus’ glorious appearance physically blinded Saul; forcing him to stop and rethink who he is and what God wants from him.  This former man who was “large and in charge” fell humbly to his knees. Then he was given a new direction; “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  Blinded, humbled and maybe a bit fearful; Saul, led by the hand, went to Damacus with a new plan.  As soon as he arrived at the city, he was told to go to the house of Ananias.  God told Ananias to seek Saul out and welcome him into his home. Ananias, directed by God’s Holy Spirit, was told to pray for the known terrorist and lay his hands over Saul’s eyes!  Saul regained sight as a new creation in Jesus with new goal for life.

Saul, now called Paul, declared what Jesus did in and for him to everyone in the known world.  In doing so, Paul became the one persecuted, beaten, chained, and imprisoned but he continued to preach Jesus—the One without sin who was crucified for our sins, the One and Only sacrificially put to death to pay our debt of deserved punishment for our sins in full. The One was God’s Son who in resurrection power rose three days later as the Victor of death. Jesus was Paul’s new living hope for all eternity!  And Jesus is our hope, the hope of eternal life of all who believe and follow Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords! 

New Life—New Goals—

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  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 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. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  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.” Paul, Philippians 3:7-12 

Paul discovered the greatest secret of all time and testifies to all who will listen;

“God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”  Colossians 1:25-27, NLT

The Secret is Christ in us, working through us for our good and His glory!

  • To all who believe and call on the Name of Jesus all will be saved. Romans 10:13
  • In times of trouble when we are weak—Jesus is the Source of our strength that enables us to endure and even grow from our trials and troubled circumstances.
  • “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
    My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Psalm 28:7
  • “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13

Yes, Jesus is the secret and source of real, lasting, eternal Life!  Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey!

We watch Samson’s decline begin when he disagreed with his parents about marrying a Philistine girl. Then he dishonored his Nazirite vow and defiled himself with Delilah. He disregarded the warnings of God, disobeyed the Word of God, and was defeated by the enemies of God. Maybe he thought that he had the privilege of indulging in sin since he wore the badge of a Nazirite and won so many victories for the Lord, but he was wrong.

“Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more”—For the good of God’s People and His glory; God granted Samson’s last request to give him one more burst of God’s strength to defeat the Philistines in one last sacrificial act, knowing he would die with them. God granted this last request. May God’s will be done.

At the end of ourselves; turn to God, who will never fail to hear us and respond.

Lord,

Thank you for opening our hearts, minds, and souls to meditate on your Word in it’s entirety so we may know you more. Thank you for helping me be still before you while letting go of the smallness of my thinking to learn about you for your thoughts are indeed higher and the highest!  Lead me. Guide me to truth. Show the ways I should go.  I’m listening for you are Life to me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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THE SOURCE OF TRUE STRENTH!

Posted on May 31, 2025 by randscallawayffm

“Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.”

(Author: Robert Robinson, 1758)

Only by God’s grace…

Judges 15

Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines

Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.

2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”

3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.

6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.”

So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. 7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam.

9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”

“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”

11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”

He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”

12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”

Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.”

13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

16 Then Samson said,

“With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have made donkeys of them.
With a donkey’s jawbone
    I have killed a thousand men.”

17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Samson lost his betrothed wife to his best man. Obviously angry, Samson took revenge on the Philistines. Samson initiated a cycle of violence and revenge between himself and the Philistines. This vicious cycle continued to grow in scope.  Forgiveness did not seem to be an option in this story.  Samson’s revenge caused trouble for his own people for committing agriculture arson.  The Philistines are coming with full force to capture Samson.  However, we must keep in mind that God was using Samson’s exploits to harass the Philistines and prepare them for the sure defeat that was coming in a few years.

Revenge births violence which escalates more violence. The Philistines, a hostile people group, weren’t about to stand around doing nothing while their food and fortune went up in flames. They figured out that Samson was behind the burning of their crops, and they knew they had to retaliate. Since they couldn’t hope to overcome Samson, they did the next best thing and vented their wrath on his wife and father-in-law—their own Philistine people. The Philistines were godless, unmerciful, full of hate and evil. 

Samson’s weakness as a leader was not including anyone in his battles against the Philistines.  He took on the evil behaviors of the Philistines as his own personal battle of revenge that only belonged to him.  But God intervened to show him he was just a man who got thirsty like every other man.  God will do this a few more times in Samson who is learning the tough lessons of life of total dependence on God. Just because you have the strength of many men; God is stronger still.  God is in control. It is God who is Samson’s strength.  Doing what God says will always be the best plan of action.

Samson’s real strength was realizing the Source of his abilities. After the battle, Samson humbly bows to God with prayer for his needs with thanksgiving.  Samson’s prayer indicates that he considered himself God’s servant and that he didn’t want to end his life falling into the hands of the godless Philistines. So God was merciful and performed a miracle by opening up a spring of water in a hollow place. Samson quenched his thirst and then gave the place the name “Spring of the Caller.” And he obviously told others what God had done for him there, because the event was eventually recorded.

Come and talk with me first, beckons our God.  As believers we must seek God before, during, and after the battles of life as a way of life.  This is vital to our growing, intimate relationship with God through Jesus.  Jesus died for our sins then by God’s resurrection power raised Jesus in victory over death! God completed the work that secures our hope of eternal life with Him!  Why would we trust anyone else? God knows all, created all, is in all, and desires His very best for all who believe, trust, and obey.

The Apostle Paul writes of weakness that served as catalyst to know God more intimately!

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

As demonstrated in the hard life of Paul and others; God does not spare us trials, but He helps us overcome them in ways that build our faith in Him! God works in our weakness, because when we are weak we are ready for His strength to accomplish the task in His way.  God still uses ordinary, unlikely, with various weaknesses, humans to accomplish His purpose and plan in and through us. There is no one like our God! To God be the glory!

Don’t wait to exhaust all human resources, coming to the end of our “ropes” that bind us.  Sometimes, we think we must handle all of life on our own first to appear strong and not weak.  That is what most of us are taught.  But we waste precious time with our Lord when we do that while putting off the blessings God wants to pour out over us!

Run and bow humbly to THE SOURCE who gives Life—FIRST!  No regrets when we do.  

Lord,

I come to you now, in the quiet of this first hour of the day, seeking You first. Make your desires be my desires for this day.  Lift the burden of thought and actions of self-reliance as I fully rely on You!

Give me wisdom, Holy Spirit, to live in ways that reflect the characteristics of You, Lord, who saved us and set us free. Lead me all day long, reminding me of your love in and for me, making my love for others more like your love for me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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GOD’S STRENGTH REVEALED IN SAMSON

Posted on May 30, 2025 by randscallawayffm

We have seen or heard of extraordinary strength that suddenly rises within ordinary people at specific times when their loved ones are pinned under the weight of a vehicle,  heavy tree branches, or in other forms of dangerous situations that trap them.  Ordinary people will rush to give aid without thinking of their abilities.  An adrenaline rush overwhelms us with strength beyond us to help in the rescue. Let us not forget who put this within us.  That rush of strength is part of our DNA, given to us by our Creator who made us in His image. 

The Philistines ruled over Israel. The Israelites cried to God to save them. God provided a leader called Samson.  We learn that it is God who always provides strength to do his will. In Samson’s case, God supplied extraordinary physical power!

Today we read about one of many incidents of Samson’s use of his God-given strength.  Coupled with a rush of adrenaline Samson kills a lion with his bare hands!  Samson will perform other feats of strength beyond what most humans of that day could accomplish—as God’s Spirit leads him.  God gave Samson all he needs to be a new leader who would rescue His Chosen from the powerfully oppressive Philistines. 

This is yet another story of God who rescued His people using an unlikely, ordinary person to do extraordinary feats. Samson is not perfect but with God becomes the perfect person for what God wants to do in and through him.  There is no one like our God!

Judges 14

Samson’s Marriage

Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

8 Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. 9 He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.

10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. 11 When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

12 “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”

“Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.”

14 He replied,

“Out of the eater, something to eat;
    out of the strong, something sweet.”

For three days they could not give the answer.

15 On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”

16 Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” 17 She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”

Samson said to them,

“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
    you would not have solved my riddle.”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. 20 And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Samson also loves to tell riddles as a way to assess the wisdom of others in his strategy to seek truth.  Only by trickery, using the woman he loves, can the Philistines solve the riddle.  Truth of betrayal is discovered so he gives the woman to one of his friends.  How sad, as we read this story.  We can all remember times when we, too have been betrayed by someone we thought we could trust, right?!

But let’s go back to the beginning of this passage.  The Lord had given Samson a godly heritage, and he had been raised to honor the Lord, but when Samson fell in love, he wouldn’t listen to his parents’ warning. Samson had wandered four miles into enemy territory where he was captivated by a Philistine woman and decided to marry her. This, of course, was contrary to God’s law. We can often trace the beginning of sins in our lives to a decision we made to be somewhere we should not have been.

However, God uses Samson’s lack of wisdom in this case for His purposes to free His people once more from turning from Him to live under the bondage of a foreign nation—The Philistines. God is good—perfect even—AND He uses existing evil in the world for His purposes without being contaminated by it.  What a mighty God we have!

Samson’s character:  Since the guests had played dirty, technically Samson could have refused to pay the price, but he generously agreed to keep his promise.

Samson’s weaknesses: cute chicks.  First the Philistine woman enticed him, then she controlled him, and then she betrayed him, which is the way the world always treats the compromising believer. Samson could kill lions and break ropes, but he couldn’t overcome the power of a woman’s tears. 

Secondly, the passion to get even seemed to govern Samson’s life. His motto was, “I only did to them what they did to me” which will lead to his downfall.  The passion of hate builds when we are betrayed by those we love the most.  Hate breeds the sin of revenge, a sin we must seek God’s help and His power to avoid.

If we’re looking by faith into the face of the Lord, He can guide us with his eye, the way parents guide their children. But if we turn our backs on Him, He has to treat us like animals and harness us. Samson was either impetuously rushing ahead like the horse at the start of a race or stubbornly holding back like a stubborn mule.  God had to deal with Samson with His wisdom…as He did many other leaders who followed after Samson!  David, “the apple of God’s eyes,” for example, also struggled in doing the total will of God writes of God’s wisdom to all of us;

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Psalm 32:8-9

Instruction from God is a daily discipline on our part as we seek His good, pleasing and perfect will.  Paul writes how to do this;

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2—Read all of Romans 12 to get the full picture!

Lord,

I give all of me to be filled with all of you.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul, and restore the eternal joy of you in me and me in you.  Thank you for being with us always. Thank you for saving us; then equipping us for service to you and others in ways that demonstrate your love for us. Thank you for helping us by the inexplicable power of your Holy Spirit. To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

But wait, there’s more…see you tomorrow!

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THE STORY OF GOD IN SAMSON

Posted on May 29, 2025 by randscallawayffm

When we read God’s Word, seeking to know God by His Word, we learn more about how He works.  We also begin to see the character of God displayed as He works daily to rescue, save, and deliver His people who choose Him.  Throughout the centuries, from the fall of Adam to salvation in Jesus; it is God at work.  Even though evil tempts and taunts; it is not God’s desire that anyone perish from evil.  Peter, the disciple who walked with Jesus for three years and observed how He related to everyone, writes this testimony about the Lord God;

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9

Israel has turned away from God again.  He allows them to live with the consequences of evil for forty years but has not turned from them. God is always at work and always will be at work on behalf of His created.  Even we are unfaithful; God is forever faithful to us, His created. A new leader who will deliver the Israelites is soon to be born to a childless couple.  What a blessing!  Samson is the story of God at work in and for His people.  God begins the work of deliverance in this couple, so giddy with excitement that they ask, “teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”  Notice that it seems they want to do the right thing but maybe forgot what doing the right thing looks like in a fallen world.  They do remember that sacrifices are important so they offer a sacrifice to the angel messenger; but the angel instructs them, “…if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.”

God intervenes in a fallen world with a message from His angel to a childless couple with great news! The message; “you will have a son.”  The couple who will later give birth miraculously to a baby boy who will grow into a man who will deliver Israel.  Yes, that’s how God works! When all seem to be doom and gloom, with no hope—God delivers Hope. 

Judges 13

The Birth of Samson

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.’”

8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

9 God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 The woman hurried to tell her husband, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day!”

11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he said.

12 So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”

13 The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. 14 She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”

16 The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18 He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” 19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: 20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. 21 When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.

22 “We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”

23 But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”

24 The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Again and again, the nation of Israel gave up their identity as God’s Chosen to fall for the evils of the culture around them.  They forgot God and His commandments that kept them close to God and to each other.  Punishment often resulted by allowing them to live the consequences of living without Him. Yet, God retained his covenant with these obstinate people.

During the time of the judges, God provided a deliverer. A baby was promised to a childless couple created with the purpose to deliver God’s people from the oppression of the Philistines. When he was born, he was named Samson.  He was to live a dedicated life to God and for God. 

How and why do people once close to God suddenly turn from God?  We don’t just wake up one day and decide to leave God; it happens most often in day-to-day behaviors that slowly erode our desire to please God. Our pride has a lot to do with this erosion of faith in God. With a little success on our own, affirmed by the applause of others; we begin to seek to please others rather than God. We slowly, and at first reluctantly, accept the behaviors of the culture around us that is opposite all that is God.

We find a new idol of worship—self.  Lucado writes; “Pride makes us drift from God’s commands. We feel “I can do it on my own,” or we become confident in our own ability to handle each day. Yet, like Israel, we often remember to turn to God when life suddenly gets hard. Pride is idolatry—the idol is self.

Jesus, who could have called ten thousand angels to deliver Him from dying on cruel cross of publicly humiliation; but He did not.  Jesus chose God’s will be done to remove our sins in this way.  God’s Plan of salvation once and for all, came with a demonstration of humility for us to imitate later—Jesus set aside his own interests for the interests of others. Paul writes of this characteristic of Jesus;

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:3-8

And then God declared Him King of all.  Our King of kings and LORD of lords is our Deliverer forever!  Jesus paid the price for our redemption. Can we just pause to gratefully bow before Him in pure praise?!  Hallelujah!

And what does the Lord require of us?

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Humility is the opposite of pride. We decide daily who to lean on for wisdom and understanding with guidance to all that is truth.  Choose wisely.

How do we respond?  Pause to reflect and evaluate. Ask God’s Holy Spirit to help us.  Has our pride led us away from God? Have we become so self-reliant that we no longer follow God’s advice?  Do we lean on our own understandings instead of God who knows all and is in all?

Here is what is to come as the life of Samson occupies the next four chapters of Judges. Samson was unpredictable and undependable because he was double-minded, and people like that are “unstable in all [their] ways” (James 1:8). It has well been said that “the greatest ability is dependability,” and you could depend on Samson to be undependable. 

We will learn much from the life of Samson, the hairy hulk who had great strength—until he got a haircut!

Oh Lord,

May the sin of pride be overcome by the power of Your Holy Spirit’s work within us. Help us to think and behave more like you. Help us to develop your mind who guides us to all things opposite of evil.  May your peace then rule our hearts.

In Jesus Name, for Your glory and our good, Amen

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WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL ME?

Posted on May 28, 2025 by randscallawayffm

The leaders of the tribe of Ephraim delivered a message to Jephthah with the same pride and anger they had shown to Gideon (See Judges 8:1). As before, these “separatists,” so to speak, wanted to share the glory of the victory, but they weren’t too eager to risk their lives in the battle. “Why didn’t you call me?” is merely an excuse and a lie to cover up for their lack of response.  Jephthah was having none of that and decided he had enough of them!  The Ephraimites had absolutely no respect for the new ruler of the Transjordanic tribes so they went to battle with a mighty warrior and got more than they bargained for in their foolishness. 

Judges 12

Jephthah and Ephraim

The Ephraimite forces were called out, and they crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you go to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We’re going to burn down your house over your head.”

2 Jephthah answered, “I and my people were engaged in a great struggle with the Ammonites, and although I called, you didn’t save me out of their hands. 3 When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave me the victory over them. Now why have you come up today to fight me?”

4 Jephthah then called together the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. The Gileadites struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are renegades from Ephraim and Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Ephraim, and whenever a survivor of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead asked him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he replied, “No,” 6 they said, “All right, say ‘Shibboleth.’” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce the word correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites were killed at that time.

7 Jephthah led Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in a town in Gilead.

Ibzan, Elon and Abdon

8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem led Israel. 9 He had thirty sons and thirty daughters. He gave his daughters away in marriage to those outside his clan, and for his sons he brought in thirty young women as wives from outside his clan. Ibzan led Israel seven years. 10 Then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.

11 After him, Elon the Zebulunite led Israel ten years. 12 Then Elon died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.

13 After him, Abdon son of Hillel, from Pirathon, led Israel. 14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He led Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel died and was buried at Pirathon in Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1

Perhaps Jephthah should have practiced Proverbs 15:1 and 17:14 and avoided a war, but then, maybe it was time somebody called Ephraim’s bluff and taught them a lesson. The men of Ephraim resorted to name-calling and taunted the Gileadites by calling them “fugitives of Ephraim and Manasseh.” Thus, the words of the Ephraimites were an insult to the Lord and his servants.  However;

“Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.” Proverbs 17:14

Nobody wins when we fight among the family of God. 

When we lose respect or just plain envy other members of our church family or our own extended family; we, too will sometimes “go to war” with various weapons of hate.  We might disown them as if they never existed as members of the family.  We try to put them out of minds by ignoring them and not including them. We might escalate the war with gossip filled with slanderous lies both openly or behind their backs.  And the greatest hurt of all—manipulating their family and friends to see us as evil and throw all allegiance to them. Sigh.

Us versus Them.  We play these war games in the God’s church established by God’s Son, Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself to save us!  Oh, how this grieves God’s Holy Spirit, who is God in us!  We war with each other more often than we care to admit.  We must realize that when we enter in war:

We sin against God and each other while delighting the real Enemy of God.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Paul, the great missionary planter of churches, was often compelled to lovingly but sternly teach the love of Christ in us, the One who guides our behaviors with the help of God’s Holy Spirit who is our power. We cannot overcome evil without His power freely given to us!  We must realize this truth: what or who we truly believe will be displayed in our behaviors!  Our behaviors will either demonstrate the love of God therefore displaying God who lives in us OR we will display our sin nature of hate, envy, pride, arrogance, to name of few, behaviors not of God’s character!  His work in us is to teach all “created in His image” to be more like Him. Our work is to submit and surrender to His work made complete in us.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” –Paul to the church, Ephesians 4:29-32

We seem to easily form enemies when we disagree. Truth bomb to consider: When we disagree with actions of hate, we are falling for the promptings of our real enemy—the Enemy of God. who is evil in every way. 

Jesus taught us to not only to love our enemies but to pray for them. Why?  Because God desires that no one perish but have eternal life. We also learn that our opinions of hate begin to fade when we present our “enemy” to God with His love permeating our hearts!  We begin to see this “enemy” and hear their story from a different perspective—with the eyes of God.  There is no one on planet earth that God does not love. And neither should we.

Therefore, we love as commanded by Jesus— “Love each other like I have loved you.”  That means without evaluation of their worthiness.

What God’s love looks like in our daily relationships is expressed by Paul—again to the family of God called church, (that’s us!):

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always, Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” 1 Corinthians 13, MSG

Lord,

May your love in our hearts guide all we think, say, and do in your Name for your glory and our good.  Holy Spirit, by your power, you are welcome to convict, correct, comfort, and compel us to be more and more in every way like Jesus.

It is in His Name we pray, Amen.

Yes, come Lord Jesus!

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JEPHTHAH—THE REST OF THE STORY

Posted on May 27, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Jephthah was yet another unlikely candidate chosen to save Israel from the consequences of their own sins of betraying God in the worship of the gods of unbelievers.  He was the unwanted son of a prostitute and Gilead.  Gilead tried to make him a member of his family but this son would have no inheritance.  The other members of his family rejected and humiliated him and sent him packing. Jephthah moved to Tob.

In Tob, Jephthah became a mighty warrior who attracted other warriors who were equally effective as scoundrels to be feared.  The leaders of Israel, distraught over the bullying of the Ammonites, decide Jephthah is now just the man they need to rescue them! Jephthah was an unopposed leader. Jephthah’s brothers didn’t want him, but Israel needed him.  Mm…

The writer of Hebrews wrote that Jephthah was a man of faith and his victory was a victory of faith (Hebrews 11:32). The circumstances of birth or family are not a handicap to the person who lives by faith. In his message to the king of Ammon, Jephthah revealed his knowledge of the Word of God, and this Word was the source of his faith.

Jephthah accepted the assignment to go to war but paused long enough to explain the history of Israel as it applied to the current situation with the Ammonite leaders.  This is further proof of his faith that knew the history passed down!  The Spirit of the Lord came upon him when the the Ammonites were through talking and ready for war.  It is then that Jephthah made a vow to God, more of a bargain if you will, that if God would help him defeat the enemy, he would give to God whatever greeted him upon his return as a sacrifice of burnt offering to God.  Jephthah would soon regret the conditions of his vow but would carry it through.  Victory over the Ammonites was had but his vow he thought he needed to make to insure the victory resulted in the loss of his one and only child.

Jephthah vow was unnecessary. God chose Jephthah to rescue Israel therefore God would indeed provide the victory.  As Paul Harvey would say, and “now you know the rest of the story.”  Read on, to see what God’s Holy Spirit will reveal to us…as we find ourselves in the story of God.

Judges 11

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.

4 Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”

7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”

8 The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.”

9 Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”

10 The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”

13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”

14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 saying:

“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

18 “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

19 “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’ 20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.

21 “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.

23 “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”

28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.

29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jephthah emphasized the Lord in all his negotiations with the leaders of Israel. It was the Lord who would give the victory, not Jephthah, but a public agreement between him and the elders must be ratified before the Lord at Mizpah as tradition.

Jephthah tried peaceful negotiations with the Ammonites, but the negotiations failed. Nevertheless, this section does tell us two things about Jephthah: (1) He knew the Scriptures and the history of his people, and (2) he was not a hothead who was looking for a fight. We don’t always get to choose the confrontations that occur in life, but we can make it our practice to behave in a godly way in any confrontation.

Jephthah declared that the God of Israel was the true God and that His will had been fulfilled in allowing Israel to take the land.

While going out to battle, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. Jephthah’s vow was really a bargain with the Lord: If God would give the Israelites victory over the Ammonites, Jephthah would sacrifice to the Lord whatever came out of his house when he arrived home in Mizpah. One of the crucial conclusions we need to draw is that if we want our words and promises to be taken seriously, we must make sure we are willing to back up what we say. We must make sure we don’t make promises we know are too painful to keep.

Did Jephthah really put his one and only child to death?

“Jephthah knew that Jehovah didn’t approve of or accept human sacrifices. More than one expositor has pointed out that the little word waw in the Hebrew that follows “when I return in triumph” can be translated either “and” [I will sacrifice it] or “or” [I will sacrifice it]. If we take the latter approach, then the vow was twofold: Whatever met him when he returned home would be dedicated to the Lord (if a person) or sacrificed to the Lord (if an animal).” –Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

Wiersbe further comments: “It is doubtful that Jephthah’s friends and neighbors would have permitted him to slay his own daughter in order to fulfill a foolish vow. Jephthah could have learned from any priest that paying the proper amount of money could have redeemed his daughter (Leviticus 27:1–8). As a successful soldier who had just returned from looting the enemy, Jephthah could easily have paid the redemption price.

Since he was met by his daughter, Jephthah gave her to the Lord to serve at the tabernacle (Ex. 38:8; 1 Sam. 2:22). She remained a virgin, which meant that she would not know the joys of motherhood and perpetuate her father’s inheritance in Israel. This would be reason enough for her and her friends to spend two months grieving, for every daughter wanted a family and every father wanted grandchildren to maintain the family inheritance.

Nowhere in the text are we told that Jephthah actually killed his daughter, nor do we find anybody bewailing the girl’s death. The emphasis in Judges 11:37–40 is the fact that she remained a virgin. It’s difficult to believe that young Israelite women would establish a custom to lament the awful sacrifice of a human being, but we can well understand that they would commemorate the devotion and obedience of Jephthah’s daughter in helping her father fulfill his vow.”

Jephthah declared that the God of Israel was the true God and that His will had been fulfilled in allowing Israel to take the land.

“And now you know the rest of the story…”

Our vows do not secure our victory—only Jesus, sent from God to redeem us from our sins.  Do not test or bargain with God.  Believe and trust that where God guides HE will provide all we need for victory over our real enemy who is not flesh and blood.  To God, alone, be all the glory, honor, and praise! He is our Victor!

Lord,

This story of you working through a rejected son proves once again that you are God alone. What you say happens because who you are never changes. You are our compassionate, faithful, loving God who delights in all the detail of our lives. We can be blessedly assured of our place in glory without bargaining with you.  Help us to refrain from our sin nature of bargaining. You did for us what we cannot do for ourselves—by your love, mercy and grace—you saved us, forever!  Victory is already ours!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, by your power, Amen

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ONE REJECTED BECOMES KING 

Posted on May 26, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Turning away from God, the idol-worshiping Israelites suffered foreign invasion and devastation. Finally, desperate for relief, they turned to God, and God raised up a deliverer, Jephthah. This passage leads us from the treacherous leadership of Abimelek, to Issachar and to Jair who led Israel in peace.  In the next generation, however, the Israelites began to worship all the gods of the cultures living around them.  It always happens slowly until God is no longer their God. This sin of bending to manmade gods and rejecting the God of Israel led to doing all things evil “in the eyes of the Lord.”  They need forgiveness and deliverance yet again.  God’s first response of reprimand was, “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”  Ouch. But God wants them to realize what their habitual cycles of sin are doing to them, their families and most of all, their relationship with God who loves them still.

God’s love is like no other love.  God’s love is unchanging and forever.  But does this mean we can take advantage of God, knowing that even if we turn our faces from him and do what we want, He will still love and get us out of trouble? This is dangerous ground to walk!  God knows our hearts—better than we know our hearts—which are deceitful at times.  God stands ready to discipline us as a loving Father who wants His best for us.

God knows our sin with what we deserve but replaces our punishment with his unending grace. However, He will allow us to live with the consequences of our sin while strengthening our faith in Him in the maturing process.  When we want our own way so bad we test God’s love; we sin against Him.  We hurt ourselves and all who are around us in the fallout of our foolishness. God knows what is best to teach us His ways that are perfect and holy to combat all that is unholy in us. 

A man named Jephthah, born of a prostitute, rejected and later sent away from his family, will be the very one who God will use to rescue His beloved Israelites from rejecting Him.  God has a habit of choosing the unlikely in the eyes of man to do what others cannot and will not—rescue and save.  In this passage we are introduced but tomorrow we will see how God will use the “rejected one” to rescue his people.           

Judges 10

Tola

10 After the time of Abimelek, a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir.

Jair

3 He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. 5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

Jephthah

6 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, 7 he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. 9 The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, “We have sinned against you, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.”

11 The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? 13 But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. 14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

15 But the Israelites said to the Lord, “We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.” 16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.

17 When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will be head over all who live in Gilead.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

THE PROBLEM

If there is ever a time in our lives, (and there will be for all have sinned), when we think we can live without God and He won’t know it…think again!  “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”  This is God allowing His people to live with what they have chosen—a life without Him. 

THE SOLUTION

Turning away from God, the idol-worshiping Israelites suffered foreign invasion and devastation. Finally, desperate for relief, they turned to God, and God raised up a deliverer, Jephthah.  The act of getting rid of foreign gods was an act of “putting to death” as Paul writes all the sins that stand between God and His people.  This act was a desperate, humbled attempt to show God the realization of their sins against Him along with honest, sincere confession of those sins. When we come to the end of ourselves, God is there.  God was always there.  God waits until we come into His Presence seeking His love, mercy, and grace.  That’s why God’s love is unlike any other we can think or imagine.  And that’s why there is no one like our God!  No other god can be or do what our God has done, is doing, and will do!  God was, is and always will be God—not matter what we believe at any given moment.

God is faithful even when we are not. God’s love is unchanging, unending, and relentless.  God wants us to love Him back. God looks for those whose hearts are honestly seeking and seriously committed to Him.  “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 This verse adds— “how foolish you have been”—whenwe turn our hearts to anything other than God.  “From now on you will always be at war.”  We live with the choices we make.  But God can and does intervene when we pray like Jesus taught us: “May Your will be done” and we believe, trust, and obey His will.

“God loves you just the way you are. If you think his love for you would be stronger if your faith were, you are wrong. If you think his love would be deeper if your thoughts were, wrong again. Don’t confuse God’s love with the love of people. The love of people often increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God’s love. He loves you right where you are. To quote my wife’s favorite author:

God’s love never ceases. Never. Though we spurn him. Ignore him. Reject him. Despise him. Disobey him. He will not change. Our evil cannot diminish his love. Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it any more than our stupidity jeopardizes it. God doesn’t love us less if we fail or more if we succeed. God’s love never ceases.

God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way.” –Max Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible

OUR RESPONSE

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalm 37:23

God’s Word tells us He “delights in all the details” of our lives.  Tell God, He loves to listen at a time in our world most people only listen long enough to prepare a response of only their opinion without understanding.  God hears and understands! 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

Isn’t it great to know that God not only can change our hearts but even desires to do so? Allow God to cleanse our hearts of all that is impure, ungodly while removing all that does not belong.  Here is a prayer of the Psalmist that I pray often;

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:10-12, ESV

Lord,

May the desires of YOUR heart match my desires.  Change my heart that transforms my behaviors to demonstrate my love, trust, and faith in you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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KING THORNBUSH VS. JOTHAM!

Posted on May 24, 2025 by randscallawayffm

As retired public school teachers and former pastors; my husband and I encountered many types of families with many different philosophies of raising their children and living life.  We saw families who were split and broken apart by the sins of the fathers and the mothers which affected the belief systems, actions, and reactions of their children.  Children only know to do, how to feel, how to behave by what they see their parents do unless someone else enters their lives to show them other options. 

On day, one of my first graders came to me after a brief visit by my husband to our classroom.  I had introduced him as Mr. Callaway, of course.  She came to me puzzled and asked, “What was his name, again?”  I told her it was Mr. Callaway to which she replied, “Same last name? That aint right.”  In her world, that was uncommon.  Her mom in her twenties, had six kids. Each one had a different last name. Each child born to a different dad. So, it really blew her mind when I told her the names of our three children—all with the same last name!  Her little mind thought that over and I added, “this is the option for living we chose and we love it.”  One man marries one woman and they have children then we all have the same last name.  “Mm, okay.”  She accepted that and smiled.  I learned later that this little one lived in an apartment with not only her mom and siblings but with grandma and great grandma and other kids produced from that lifestyle.  Three generations in all. 

Gideon (Jerub-Baal) produced seventy sons with various wives, including one in particular from his female slave.  This son, Abimelek did not follow Gideon’s love and devoted service to God.  Abimelek was a conniving, devious, power seeker. Jotham, the youngest son of the clan, stood for what was right in the eyes of God—like his father.  Here is their story of how God intervenes when evil persists to destroy. 

We can be born into the same family but have very different views of who God is with how He works in our lives!

Judges 9

Abimelek

Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2 “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.”

3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” 4 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.

7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’

9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’

10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’

11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’

12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’

13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’

14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’

15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’

16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17 Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18 But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”

21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.

22 After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, 23 God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. 24 God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. 25 In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.

26 Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. 27 After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? 29 If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’”

30 When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. 31 Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, “Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. 32 Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields. 33 In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, seize the opportunity to attack them.”

34 So Abimelek and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. 35 Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place.

36 When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

Zebul replied, “You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men.”

37 But Gaal spoke up again: “Look, people are coming down from the central hill, and a company is coming from the direction of the diviners’ tree.”

38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your big talk now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelek that we should be subject to him?’ Aren’t these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!”

39 So Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek. 40 Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance of the gate, and many were killed as they fled. 41 Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem.

42 The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek. 43 So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. 44 Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down. 45 All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.

46 On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. 47 When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, 48 he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, “Quick! Do what you have seen me do!” 49 So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.

50 Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 51 Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city—had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. 52 Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, 53 a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.

54 Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’” So his servant ran him through, and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home.

56 Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Abimelek is the bad son who was “born to be wild”. His “thorny” life is filled with evil, displaying all the character traits of evil such as arrogance, greed, pride, envy, and hate.  Did all his sin traits begin with resentment and bitterness from his station in life as the son of his father’s slave girl?  We don’t know, but still no excuse, for his behaviors!

Jotham is the “good” son, raised by someone who knew God. Jotham knew enough to listen to God. God led Jotham to stand up to his brother, Abimelek with God’s words of prophecy expressed in a parable of righteousness. 

“Jotham tells the story. He is a son of Gideon and the sole survivor of a seventy-man massacre. Abimelek authorized the slaughter. He sought to kill any person who might keep him from the throne. Jotham comes out of hiding just long enough to address the citizens of Israel and tell them the story (see 9:7–15).

Via the parable, Jotham warns the Israelites against thorny Abimelek. Via the parable, God warns us against greed-driven promotions.

The trees entice the olive tree, fig tree, and grapevine with a throne-room invitation: “Reign over us!” One by one they refuse the offer. The olive tree wants to keep giving oil. The fig tree wants to keep giving figs, and the vine wants to keep bearing grapes. All refuse to pay the price of promotion.

These plants take pride in their posts. Why abandon fruitfulness? In the end, only the thorn bush takes the offer.

Be careful, the story instructs. In a desire to be great, one might cease being any good.

Not every teacher is equipped to be a principal. Not every carpenter has the skill to head a crew. Not every musician should conduct an orchestra. Promotions might promote a person right out of his or her sweet spot. For the love of more, we might lose our purpose.

Sin brings judgment. Turn away from the sin that you enjoy. Seek help to remove the sin that reoccurs in your life. Don’t let patterns of sinfulness destroy your life; repent and seek Christ’s help.”—Max Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

“All are born into sin”, (even in the “best” of families in the eyes of the world.)  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23-24) This means no one on planet earth is “good”, no, not one!  Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Jesus was sent by God to save the world from sin, including all that sin has done to affect and infect our lives. Jesus, who was without sin, took all sin and willingly allowed sin to be nailed securely sin to His cross.  Jesus obediently took all our shame of sin and humbled Himself in public view to die in our place of punishment.  Three days later, God resurrected Jesus to prove His power as the Victor over death.  Jesus is our hope of eternal life!  God proclaimed Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords! (Philippines 2)

In Jesus, we are offered a new life, set free from our repented sins.  It doesn’t matter what family we were born into or what lifestyle has been imposed upon us—we are redeemed!  We are born again as new creations who belong to a new family known as “children of God,” “joint heirs with Christ,” when we repent of our sins to Jesus!  Like Jotham, Jesus told parables so that we would know God and relate to Him as “Our Father in Heaven.” 

Jesus is our new life source that guides our new lifestyle!  Our yes to Jesus aligns us immediately with God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a part of God who lives within us to guide us to all that is truth and light!  God’s Spirit has the same mighty resurrection power that can guide us from dead-end living to abundant, joyful, living—no matter what circumstances are going on around us!

Lord,

I believe. I choose You as my Life Source who gives life eternal!  I love you because you first loved me.  You lived to die for me.  I’m humbled by the depth of love you have for us!  I surrender. My life belongs to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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TWO SPIRITS VIE FOR OUR FOCUS

Posted on May 22, 2025 by randscallawayffm

Believers are faced with two choices daily, even hourly. We must decide whose thoughts will lead us.  In fact, what thoughts are leading you right now? What is your first thought as you read this and question why we would bring this to light?  Recall yesterday’s activities and behaviors.  Did we wonder why certain people acted as they did without giving much thought about us and our feelings? Are we disappointed in them? 

Are we thinking about a problem that should be solved in the way we think it should be dealt with and settled once and for all?  Sometimes we follow our own assumptions and presumptions about people and our problems and it becomes a snare.  When we behave in this way; we stand as the judge, jury, and executioner without sitting down to communicate with them directly.  Misunderstandings lead to the deconstruction of relationships. But do we even care?

We are all born into sin so it’s easy to follow sin’s behaviors. The Spirit of Darkness, God’s Enemy and ours, works diligently with his demons to plant unholy thoughts that we have the power to dismiss—if we call on God’s Holy Spirit’s power.  But do we tap into this power of God’s Holy Spirit in us as our first defense?

The Enemy plants thoughts in our minds which challenges us to “have it our way,” “you deserve all you can get,” “follow your own heart,” so you can “be all you want to be.”  We fall for it because we are naturally selfish.  We learn from Jesus that “no one is good, only God is good”.  We learn from Paul, the missionary and church planter that, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Are we just hopeless pawns for the enemy?  The Enemy pursues us day and night to stay engaged, bonded, and chained to sin.  The Spirit of Enemy is evil which is in direct opposition to God’s Holy Spirit who is Truth.  The limited power of the Enemy uses tools of distraction and deception for the purpose of dismantling our faith in God. The end goal of the Enemy is eternal death. God has power over the Enemy and extends that power to us. The end goal of God is eternal life. We decide.  We have a choice.  Life or death.  So, let’s call them for who they really are: Two opposing Spirits vying for our focused attention. One loves us; the other one hates us. One is Life. One is death.

All behaviors of sin come to fruition because of our selfishness and deceptive hearts that believe that when we are in control, handling life on our own; we are “good.”  We must continually be at the top of our game, however, so we compare our accomplishments to others, eyeing what they do, with plans to be even better.  We work our plan to climb over them as we are driven to seek the top rung of the “ladder of success.” We will do anything to have the top position and stay there.

Our behaviors are then driven by the “attached” sins of envy, greed, jealousy, arrogance and pride.  When we see others do good; we put them down only because we feel bad that we didn’t have a part in their accomplishment.  It’s called FOMO—Fear Of Missing Out.  This troublesome disease today causes people to do things that shouldn’t be doing, good or bad, for it is all about them wanting to be included in the glory of the accomplishment. Yikes!

Two choices.  Will we trust the Spirit of God’s Enemy who uses our human sin nature of self will to have control over us? Or will we put our trust in God’s Holy Spirit who leads us to all that is True and Right—for our good and God’s glory?    

In the following passage of Gideon and the Three Hundred’s accomplishment; many attitudes, good and bad, come to the surface—even FOMO!  “Why didn’t you call us…?”

Judges 8

Zebah and Zalmunna

Now the Ephraimites asked Gideon, “Why have you treated us like this? Why didn’t you call us when you went to fight Midian?” And they challenged him vigorously.

2 But he answered them, “What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the Midianite leaders, into your hands. What was I able to do compared to you?” At this, their resentment against him subsided.

4 Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. 5 He said to the men of Sukkoth, “Give my troops some bread; they are worn out, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

6 But the officials of Sukkoth said, “Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your troops?”

7 Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”

8 From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower.”

10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11 Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the unsuspecting army. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army.

13 Gideon son of Joash then returned from the battle by the Pass of Heres. 14 He caught a young man of Sukkoth and questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven officials of Sukkoth, the elders of the town. 15 Then Gideon came and said to the men of Sukkoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, ‘Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession? Why should we give bread to your exhausted men?’” 16 He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Sukkoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers. 17 He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town.

18 Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

“Men like you,” they answered, “each one with the bearing of a prince.”

19 Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the Lord lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.” 20 Turning to Jether, his oldest son, he said, “Kill them!” But Jether did not draw his sword, because he was only a boy and was afraid.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Come, do it yourself. ‘As is the man, so is his strength.’” So Gideon stepped forward and killed them, and took the ornaments off their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s Ephod

22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

23 But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24 And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

25 They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. 27 Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Gideon’s Death

28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.

29 Jerub-Baal son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34 and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Israelites “did not remember the Lord their God.”  Focus on God and His Spiritual leading was lost to entertain the Spirit of Darkness—which often happens in times of peace and rest.  “During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years.”  We can become complacent when we are not challenged openly but inwardly by the opposition.  We learn that this is the very time to refocus on God!

All sin will always be judged by God. Consequences from our past sins often come back to haunt us. Gideon and his army, though greatly outnumbered, defeated the Midianite invaders with God’s blessing. Yet after Gideon died, the Israelites again abandoned God and worshiped Baal. Deciding to follow and worship a manmade god led to another foolish decision—choosing Abimelek as their king. He decides later to murder sixty-nine of his seventy brothers and the Israelites help him!  God repaid the treachery and idolatry of Abimelek and the town of Shechem with death and destruction.

Ah, but we get ahead of ourselves…Tomorrow, in chapter nine; we will learn of one lone survivor, Jotham, who will stand to tell the truth of God through a parable to Israel!  Stay tuned!

Lord, our God,

We are all hopeless sinners in need of a Savior and you gave us Jesus. Thank you, God for sending your Son to save us from ourselves and the sins that engulfed our beings. Thank you, Jesus for laying down your life for our deserved punishment. Thank you, Father for your resurrection power of Jesus who restored our Hope of eternal life with you. Thank you, Holy Spirit of God, who is God, for leading us back daily to all that is truth with resurrection power to live it—out loud! Thank you for forgiving us and leading us home.  Thank you for being with us always.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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