JUDGES 14:1
IT’S ALMOST SUNDAY DEVOTIONS
14 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines
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Exodus 24:9 “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:”
Exodus 24:13“And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.”
Exodus 24:15 “And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount.”
Is a Public Defender Good Enough?
We now live in an era where, through Jesus, God wants to reveal and manifest himself to the world. In this era, God’s manifested presence is not meant to be rare or uncommon. It’s meant to be poured out everywhere. It’s meant to be a regular occurrence for believers to experience His presence manifested among us.
All these things uphold our freedom in Christ and allow for us to experience God’s manifested presence. Until Christ returns let’s keep walking in these things and in our assignment to help as many as we can to find and experience the freedom we have in Christ.
In the Old Testament God revealed and manifested himself at different times, but generally it was limited to a few and limited to one nation – Israel. In the New Testament we see that through Christ, God has chosen to manifest and pour out His Spirit on all people, from every nation whether young or old.
Probably one of the most familiar persons in the Bible is this man named Sampson. He would go on to judge Israel for twenty years. His story would be one of the most taught and preached about lives of all time. You can see how God can use anyone to fulfill His purpose. Through the life of Sampson, you will find heartache, frustration, disappointment, carnage at one moment but then find strength, leadership, love, and a bunch of graces the other. Sounds like the average Christian life to me. This could be a reason for the interest in studying his life.
They can identify.
Think about this identifying part of Sampsons’ life with me this morning. At the start of this chapter the first thing God says is this. “And Sampson went down.” What a way to start one’s life. If someone is writing a book about me some day the last thing I want to start the book with is “David went down.” In my Bible I have the words “Downhill Sampson” marked in pen and then highlighted. This is a constant reminder of where anyone could be at any given time. You see, God had warned Sampson to not go DOWN to Timnath. This is where the bad guys are. And God says not to go down there to take a wife. But Sampson did it anyway. This chapter is only twenty verses long but in four versus we see the Bible says Sampson went down. But here is what I see in this. To be “down,” you must have been “up” first.
Think about that. I want you to fully grip this. Up comes before down in this story. Sampson struggled to be on the right side “Up” versus the wrong side “Down.” Samson had problems just like we do.
But here is where it can be different. Sampson was never honest with himself or anyone else. He had a problem with knowing or understanding how to maintain his impact on his current world. How to stay “up” in his time. He was constantly moving from up to down in his life. Just like a roller coaster. This is just like the life of every person in this Universe today. Saved or unsaved. Christian or non-Christian. This can be with problems, the way we live as humans, and even the way we process events in our minds. Always in an up and down life. And if we are all honest here, we are no better than Sampson today. Constantly doing what God says not to do. Raise your hand today if you are honest and know how badly you have failed. It is called being true.
I want you to see one last thing though. And I love this part. After Sampsons life was over what we see is short of amazing. In the last verse of Chapter 16 here is what the Bible says, “Then his brethren and all the house of his father CAME DOWN, and took him, and BROUGHT HIM UP, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol…
What I see here is a picture of the Grace of God. How much He loves his children. Sampson even died “Down” but God would not allow him to stay “Down.” He made sure to bring him back “Up” to be buried in the right place. This may not mean much to you but for me it means every time I fail my savior, He picks me back up again and starts all over. And when I fail again time after time, he is right there to bring me back up. And this cycle will continue repeatedly because that is who He is. The God of mercy and Love. There is no other that could or would ever do this. That is why I owe Him everything I have. If I am being honest today about who I am and yet He still loves me. And to that I say Amen and Amen. God is so Good!!!
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