Don't wait until you hit rock bottom! - Episode 8-36, September 3, 2018
Release Date: 09/03/2018
A Little Walk With God
If you listen to much of the news or social media, you find the divide across the nation just grows deeper. We have a tendency to hear only what we want to hear or at least what the marketing algorithms think we want to hear and stay as biased as ever. What are Christians to do when the world around us keeps boiling in this cauldron of hatred? We do what John tells us in his letters. "We love because God loved us first." And with that in mind, we "love God and love each other!" (1 John 4:19,21)
info_outline At the Name of Jesus - Episode 21-17, April 19, 2021A Little Walk With God
We like the stories from the Bible, the heroes, and miracles, but it's what's behind the stories that we need to pay attention to. God's message to us about how he wants to renew creation and how he wants to use us to help him do it is the real story within the story. God came as a human to show us how to live as the humans he meant us to become. Now he is recreating the heavens and the earth with death defeated on the cross. We can be a part of that renewal process when we follow him.
info_outline Just Believe - Episode 21-16, April 12, 2021A Little Walk With God
Why is it so hard to believe in the resurrection? We believe the stars are like our sun. We believe we have the same internal organs as everyone else even though we haven't seen them. We believe what climbers tell us about Mt Everest. We even believe the Internet. We have no personal knowledge of any of those things, only the testimony of a few witnesses. Why then can't we believe the testimony of the thousands upon thousands who testify of the life-transforming power of believing in the resurrected Christ?
info_outline He Has Risen - Episode 21-15, April 5, 2021A Little Walk With God
We should celebrate Easter more than just one day a year. We should even celebrate more than once a week on Sundays. Jesus is alive! He changed the world forever. His shed blood on the cross made a path for humanity and God to meet. We can meet with God because of Jesus, the human embodiment of God. And like the Israelite homes in Egypt, with blood on their doorposts, we do not need to fear death. It has no power over us. Our sins are passed over, we can worship God and reflect God as he designed.
info_outline The King Has Come - Episode 21-14, March 29, 2021A Little Walk With God
We miss the significance of Palm Sunday without understanding the rich history of God's covenants with the Israelites. If we don't understand how his promises fit into the Exodus, their exile, and the return of his people but not his glory to the Temple, we lose the importance of Jesus' triumphant entry on that first day of the week leading toward his crucifixion. It all begins at Bethphage, near Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, where Ezekiel saw the glory of God rest at his departure from the city.
info_outline The Hour Has Come - Episode 21-13, March 22, 2021A Little Walk With God
Jesus gave Phillip and Andrew a strange answer when they brought a request from Greeks who wanted to see him. Yes or no, or following the two of them to see the foreigners would be expected. Instead, Jesus tells of a grain of wheat dying to bring a harvest, losing life to gain it, and being lifted up from the ground. In hindsight, we understand his words, but they must have sounded mysterious and foreboding to the disciples and those around him as they approached this last Passover with Jesus.
info_outline Love Wins - Episode 21-12, March 15, 2021A Little Walk With God
When we put John 3:16 into the broader context of verses 14-21 and understand the vocation of the Israelites and Jesus' fulfillment of that vocation as the Son of Man and Son of God, we get a picture of God. God is not a cruel punisher, but a giver of love whose son finished the work we could not do as in reflecting his love in a world completely broken by sin. Jesus entered the world of darkness to defeat its forces once for all, and like the serpent in the wilderness, all who believe can have life.
info_outline The Heavens Speak - Episode 21-11, March 8, 2021A Little Walk With God
Apologists use logic and scripture to get their point across about the existence of a unique personal God. In the past, apologists argued to save Christians' lives with false charges ranging from arson to incest to cannibalism. Whether an apologist or just an everyday Christian, we have a responsibility to share the reality of God, or the rocks and hills will cry out his praise. I don't want to be guilty of missing the opportunity and being dumber than a rock when it comes to praising him, do you?
info_outline God's Covenants - Episode 21-10, March 1, 2021A Little Walk With God
Lent is a great time to consider the covenants God made with us. As you look through the Old Testament at covenants he made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon, and others, you find he does all the work. The only thing he asks of us is obedience, and Jesus summed up the command to obey God's commands into two simple - but sometimes not so easy - rules. Love God, and love others. Take some time during this season of Lent to ponder the wonder of God's covenant with us as he gave himself on the cross.
info_outline In God We Trust - Episode 21-09, February 22, 2021A Little Walk With God
Since 1837, at least some of our coins have had "In God We Trust" engraved on their surface. The Coinage Act of 1873 put the phrase on all our coins, and in 1956, when the phrase became our national motto, it found its way to all our money. It's important to remember our trust is in him, not money, every time we pay for something. Material things never last. Rather, God remains the permanent source of our strength, particularly in the times in which we live today.
info_outlineA daily devotional walking through God's word together using The Bible Reading Plan at http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.
Samson left God and didn’t know it. His behavior took him away from the one who gave him strength. Now he was in prison, blind, and turning the stone on a gristmill like a mule. He hit rock bottom and discovered why he had any strength in the first place. We pick up Samson’s story in Judges 16.
Samson’s head had been shaved. But the hair on it began to grow again.
The rulers of the Philistines gathered together. They were going to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They were going to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed our enemy Samson over to us.”
When the people saw Samson, they praised their god. They said, “Our god has handed our enemy over to us.
Our enemy has destroyed our land.
He has killed large numbers of our people.”
After they had drunk a lot of wine, they shouted, “Bring Samson out. Let him put on a show for us.” So they called Samson out of the prison. He put on a show for them.
They had him stand near the temple pillars. Then he spoke to the servant who was holding his hand. He said, “Put me where I can feel the pillars. I’m talking about the ones that hold the temple up. I want to lean against them.”
The temple was crowded with men and women. All of the Philistine rulers were there. About 3,000 men and women were on the roof. They were watching Samson put on a show.
Then he prayed to the Lord. He said, “Lord and King, show me that you still have concern for me. God, please make me strong just one more time. Let me pay the Philistines back for what they did to my two eyes. Let me do it with only one blow.”
Then Samson reached toward the two pillars that were in the middle of the temple.They held the temple up. He put his right hand on one of them. He put his left hand on the other. He leaned hard against them.
Samson said, “Let me die together with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might. The temple came down on the rulers. It fell on all of the people who were in it. So Samson killed many more Philistines when he died than he did while he lived.
It took defeat, blinding him, imprisonment, and humiliation before his enemies for Samson to realize how far he had strayed from the path God intended for him. He finally figured out that without God, he was just another man. He was a clay vessel, easily broken without the one who created him standing alongside him in his journey.
We often read those last verses of Samson’s life and brand him a hero because of the number of Philistines he killed. Enemies of Israel and God that he snuffed out. We too often think he was someone to emulate and think about what we might do with such strength. But take another look.
Did Samson have to go through all the suffering he did to carry out God’s plan for his life? I don’t think so. Maybe we would not have the stories about him we do now. Maybe we wouldn’t have the lessons we learned from his bad behavior. Maybe we wouldn’t use him as examples of how to live or not to live in this journey of life. But I have a feeling that’s not true. I think God gave him strength and his position as judge over Israel to carry out his plan to defeat the Philistines, but I think God’s plan would have played out much differently if Samson had listen to him.
In my imagination, I can see Samson still defeating the armies God’s enemies sent against his people, but can you imagine the impact on nations around him if he had followed God’s laws. He would be respected by Israel instead of 3,000 men showing up at his hideout in a cave ready to turn him over to the Philistines. He could have been a tremendous leader if he had displayed the moral courage to do what was right instead of what satisfied his base desires.
Samson often acted more like an animal than one of God’s chosen people. And like a wild animal, his enemies laid traps for him until they finally caught the beast. It was only in captivity that God was able to tame the beast and show him who was really in charge.
You and I can find ourselves in the same trap if we fail to listen to that still, small voice that echoes in our mind. We must stop and recognize that there will be consequences to our behavior whether we like those consequences or not. We must understand there are no freebies in life and there will come a time, sooner or later, when we will feel the effects of what we do in our life.
We can also learn from Samson that God will redeem us when we repent. He comes to us when we recognize our sinful state and ask forgiveness. He responds when we understand he is God and knows what is best for us. God reaches out to us because he wants to have an intimate relationship with us. But he is also a holy God and we must come to him willing to obey him. Samson did and God listened and did incredible things through him. When we come to God willing to follow, he will do incredible things with us.
You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn't, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.