When Success Goes To Your Head | Judges 15:16-17
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Release Date: 12/05/2025
When Success Goes To Your Head | Judges 15:16-17
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is “And Samson said, ‘With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousand men.’ As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.” — Samson had just experienced one of the most incredible victories in his life. Bound by ropes, surrounded by...
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Bound But Not Broken | Judges 15:14-15
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men. — Samson walked into Lehi tied up. Not by the...
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When Your Own People Let You Down | Judges 15:9-13
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is “Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid on Lehi. And the men of Judah said, ‘Why have you come up against us?’ They said, ‘We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.’ Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, ‘Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is...
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When Conflict Spins Out of Control | Judges 15:6-8
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Read more about and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video. Our text today is “Then the Philistines said, ‘Who has done this?’ And they said, ‘Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.’ And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, ‘If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.’ And he struck them...
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The Illusion of Getting Even | Judges 15:3-5
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to Steve Winton from Lakeland, FL. Your commitment through helps deliver God’s Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is “And Samson said to them, ‘This time I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.’ So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turned them tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he had set fire to the...
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When People Betray You | Judges 15:1-2
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to Charles Olaughlin from Shelbina, MO. Your commitment through helps deliver God’s Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is “After some days, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a young goat. And he said, ‘I will go in to my wife in the chamber.’ But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, ‘I really thought that you utterly hated her, so I...
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Don’t Confuse God’s Power with His Approval | Judges 14:19-20
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to George Truesdale from Cocoa Beach, FL. Your commitment through helps deliver God’s Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house. And Samson’s wife was given to his...
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The Trap of People-Pleasing | Judges 14:15-18
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. Today’s shout-out goes to Ronald Stephans. Your commitment through helps deliver God’s Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is “On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, ‘Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us here to impoverish us?’ And Samson’s wife wept over him and said, ‘You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a...
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Don’t Gamble With God’s Blessings | Judges 14:10-14
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day. And today’s a special one—it’s Thanksgiving Day. Today’s shout-out goes to Marcus Sanfilippo from Flagler Beach, FL. Your commitment through helps deliver God’s Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one’s for you. Our text today is “His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. And Samson said to them, ‘Let me...
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When Everyone Does What’s Right in Their Own Eyes | Faith + State | Judges 14
The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller
In this week’s Faith + State conversation, Vince Miller and Minnesota House Rep. Elliott Engen walk through Judges 14, the beginning of Samson’s story — a man who lives by one destructive creed: “It is right in my eyes.” From forbidden relationships to rage-fueled decisions, Samson becomes a mirror for the crisis in our culture today. Elliott shares a shocking real-life story from Hamline University — including a crowd cheering the murder of a political figure — revealing how far we’ve drifted from basic morality. Vince connects the dots from Samson’s implosion to the...
info_outlineWelcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.
Read more about Project23 and partner with us as we teach every verse of the Bible on video.
Our text today is Judges 15:16-17
“And Samson said,
‘With the jawbone of a donkey,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
have I struck down a thousand men.’
As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.” — Judges 15:16-17
Samson had just experienced one of the most incredible victories in his life. Bound by ropes, surrounded by enemies, he was suddenly filled with the Spirit of God. With nothing but a donkey’s jawbone, he struck down a thousand Philistines.
But listen to what he says afterward. Listen carefully.
“With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, have I struck down a thousand men.”
No mention of God. No credit to the Spirit. Just Samson boasting about Samson.
Sound familiar?
Victory often tempts us to shift the spotlight. We crush a project at work and secretly think, “Look what I did.” A relationship improves, and we say, “I finally figured it out.” Even in ministry, we can pat ourselves on the back after a win instead of lifting our eyes to heaven.
Pride in victory steals glory from God and puts us on shaky ground.
The truth is, Samson didn’t kill a thousand men because he was clever with a jawbone. He didn’t snap ropes because of sheer strength. The Spirit did that. The Spirit rushed in, gave him power, and made the impossible possible. The same is true for us. Any success we enjoy—big or small—is by God’s hand.
Pride takes what God did and rebrands it as our accomplishment. And the moment we start stealing God’s glory, we set ourselves up for a fall. But humility reverses the script.
Humility says, “God did this. I’m just holding the jawbone.”
ASK THIS:
- Where in your life are you tempted to take credit instead of giving God glory?
- Why does success so often make us forget God’s role in the victory?
- What would it look like to redirect praise to God in your current season?
- How can humility actually deepen your joy in the victories He gives?
DO THIS:
- Identify one recent “victory” in your life.
- Out loud, thank God for it specifically: “Lord, You did this.”
PRAY THIS:
Father, I confess I love to take credit for what only You could have done. Keep me humble in victory. Teach me to give glory back to You in every success. Amen.
PLAY THIS:
“Nothing Else.”