The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Judges 10-13
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Background Information: Judges 10-13
With terrible irony, God tells his people when they cry out for relief from their self-inflicted misery, “Cry out to the gods you have chosen to deliver you.” Of course, they cannot. Their misery went on for eighteen years. Israel repented and God relented and rescued them. The man God chose to lead them is interesting. Jephthah was a valiant warrior. He was also the illegitimate son of a prostitute who was driven away from his home. He joined a marauding gang of misfits. With more irony, his training in warfare and leadership prepared him to become the leader of the people who had driven him away. He showed some faith in God, but he also showed how much he had been influenced by the corrupt pagan worship in which he had grown up. He made a foolish vow to sacrifice his own daughter to God in return for victory over his enemies. This passage has been confusing for many people. Why would God ask this of him? God did not. It was a rash vow. Jephthah should have repented of making such a foolish vow and refused to sacrifice his own daughter. These were brutal days in history. Humans are not getting better with time, and neither were Israel’s judges. The non-heroic and immoral Samson is up next as God’s chosen deliverer of his people. Are you amazed at who God uses? Remember, the true hero of the Bible and of human history is never a human, it is always God.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for the new training center class that just started. Ask God to strengthen the faith of those taking the course. Pray that God would grow and strengthen our church through these courses.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call some now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.
Review the Storyline Map: Where we are in the Bible
Act 1 God’s Plan for All People
Scene 1: The Creation: The God of all of life.
Scene 2: The Fall: Rejecting God’s vision for life
Scene 3: The Flood: God judges and makes a covenant to preserve life
Act 2 God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a Covenant People
Scene 2: Deliverance: God rescues his people.
Scene 3: The Sinai Covenant and law: God embraces and instructs his people
Week 13:
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Day 1: Judges 2-5
Day 2: Judges 6-9
Day 3: Judges 10-13
Day 4: Judges 14-18
Day 5: Judges 19-21
Day 6: Ruth
Scene 5: Kings and Prophets: God shapes a kingdom people
Scene 6: Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Scene 8: Exile: God disciplines his people
Scene 9: Return: God delivers his people again
Act 3 God’s New Covenant People
Scene 1: Christ’s coming: God’s true king arrives
Scene 2: Christ’s ministry: God’s true king manifest his kingdom
Scene 3: Christ’s deliverance of his people: God’s work through the death, resurrection, and enthronement of his king
Scene 4: Christ’s church: God’s people advance the kingdom
Scene 5: Christ second coming: God future for the kingdom