Judges 8-14

The story of the people of Israel continues as they go through cycles of following God, and then when things are going good they turn away. Even though they had many leaders who were able to deliver them, they were focused on the lead person, not the true Leader. The mark of a good leader is demonstrated after they ae gone. What influence did they leave behind?

During the roughly 500 years of the period of the Judges the people of Israel should have been enjoying life in the Promised Land. They were God’s chosen people, they prayed and they had the Spirit of God. The part they missed was they were not willing to surrender to God. Instead, they followed the people God provided. What areas in our lives today do we hold back from total surrender? When we sing “I surrender all”, do we really mean all to Him our Blessed Savior, or do we still want control?

Judges 2-7

After dividing up the Promised Land, the people of Israel went through a series of occupation and victory. The people became complacent and veered away from God, which is when God sent other nations to control and occupy. Once God’s people realized they had fallen away and they returned, God sent a deliverer t help restore them.

This sounds a lot like our world today. We get comfortable in our lifestyles, and forget how much God has blessed us. The love God has for us is demonstrated by His Son who paved a way for us to return and be healed. the greatest love is that our God is willing to take us back when we stray, and His forgiveness is for all.

This week we had some special guests who provided their story of how God has drawn them back to a relationship and how He can be our light in a dark world.

Joshua 23

At the end of Joshua’s life he worked with the Israelites to divide up the Promised Land by tribe. He provides instructions to the people on how they should live their lives honoring God. As we look back we see that God had planned for His people to take over the land west of the Jordan river to the sea, and down to the wilderness of the desert and north as well. Joshua reminded them that they were not to mix with the people of the area or they could get drawn to the gods of these people and drift away from the true God, and provided them with a warning of what would happen.

From history, we see that the people of Israel made some adjustments. They settled some of the people on the east side of the Jordan. They did not clear out the inhabitants of the land, and they allowed the customs of the people to intermingle with their own over the next several hundred years. they thought they had a better plan. Ultimately this ended in being driven away from the land and from God.

This warning and instruction is just as valid today in our culture. What influences us can cause us to drift away from God. Is it our possessions, or celebrities that we follow? God’s boundaries (physical or spiritual) are designed to help us stay focused on God and His blessings. The ultimate inheritance the Bible shows is that God wants to provide us with a relationship. Much more than what the world provides. Joshua reminds us we have a choice. Who do you choose?

Acts 9

While Danny is out this week, one of our Elders, Joel Harris, presented a message of supernatural transformation of a religious zealot Saul, who had a mission to destroy the early church. However, after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, not only did he change his name to Paul, but he became one of the most prolific writers of the New Testament.

Even though he was raised with strong beliefs from early teaching that the people of Israel followed for hundreds of years, this encounter provided new life to him and changed him forever. How has your encounter with Christ changed your life?