2024; Obedience is key; 🔑. We worship where our hearts are. We follow what we love; Father, I desire to follow you and not fail; I thank You for You forgive me when I fail to meet Your Plans for me. Amen
Father keep my heart close to yours at all cost. I asked you to go before me and into my future. Whatever may happen, whatever I may do or think, I ask you to turn my heart to you. We want you Jesus.
Thank you for all of this. For the first time in 66 years I took my Bible on vacation just to read and listen each day. I'm sitting on my deck at the beach and see God's beautiful handiwork while I read!!
So much to unpack. I continually saw a “wash, rinse, repeat” cycle with Israel. God saved them and restored them, they disobeyed, they cried out, and God saved them and restored them. Haven’t we all done this? I know I have. God change my heart so I am not in this cycle again. You are our deliverer, our redeemer, our loving father. That’s my God-shot.
A very dark book but it reminds us of what happens when we turn our hearts from God Good morning bible Family ❤❤ Have a blessed day in His Presence 👍🏽💯❤️ He is where the Joy is ❤️💯🙌🏽
Aloha and good morning BR family. God is good and his mercy and faithfulness is forever as we celebrate victory Friday today. I love him and to call him Father because he is where the JOY is!!!💯
Nothing changes unless your heart changes. The Human heart does not respond to laws, the human heart responds to what 'it' loves. And if you do not love God, you will not respond to his love. WOW! I am asking myself today, where am I falling into this trap of loving what I want to love vs loving God. I look forward to seeing what idols are in my heart.... thank you TBR
This feels so much like present day-parents are not teaching their children about God and not going to church. It only takes one generation to fall into all sorts of godlessness, blatant sinfulness, and perversions. People we are there!
The cycle they get into of disobeying, repenting, obeying, disobeying again and so on just show how alike we are to the people then. People tend to think of the Bible as this archaic book we can't relate to but we can. We act just like so many in the Bible because we all were born sinners. Once you wrapped your head around the fact that they weren't that much different than us, you can learn and get so much more from the reading. So much still applies to today! We also get in the same cycle that the Israelites do with our obedience to God.
This seems reflective of the world today. Mankind always falls to sin, then repents for a while and turns back to self serving darkness and sinful ways. But we know that in the end God wins over evil🙏🏼
God hates and therefore He DISCIPLINES their compromise. He reminds them that partial obedience is still disobedience. They removed “some” of the Canaanites, but not all of them. Isn’t that just like what we do though? We can easily allow the Lord to lead us in obedience to remove some sin out of our lives, but other sins…the ones that may be harder like maybe pride, self-righteousness, fear, bad habits, (you fill in the blank) we let hang around because they’re a lot harder to surrender to Him. Like TLC mentioned though, the Lord disciplines these compromises in theirs and our lives because He loves us so much! In 2:2 the LORD CONFRONTS Israel (in ❤️ love) about their disobedience with the question “Why have you done this?” There is never a good answer to our disobedience. Our answer to this is almost always a spiritual problem. Israel cries and weeps over this but it was an emotional reaction which didn’t result in lasting repentances. Real repentance is shown in our actions…not just tears alone. I love 2:16 “Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who DELIVERED them out of the hand of those who plundered them.” Even after all of their disobedience He “nevertheless” sent deliverance! 😭 What LOVE! What MERCY!
Our God is a compassionate God. His discipline of the Israelites was limited in time then He would relieve them. This cycle of rebellion, discipline, then relief continued and through it all, God continued to show his compassion. ❤️
Watching the Bible Project's animated overview of Judges *really* opened my eyes to how we are like the Isrealites today: everyone doing what's right in their own eyes has lead to this chaotic world we live in. And yet, these two verses caught my eye: Judges 2:2 "Why have you done this?" brought me all the way back to Genesis 3:13 "What is this you have done?" Our Father, is willing to confront His children to turn our hearts away from sin and back towards Him. We, even as His children can sometimes get caught in this vicious cycle of sin and repentance. But let's pray to break out of that cycle and become the remnant that God can use to light up even the darkest places and lead others to Christ.
God continues to love His chosen people, providing for and blessing them in their faithful obedience and displaying long-suffering patience with them in their disobedience. After the death of Joshua, the man appointed by God to lead the people into the Promised Land, the Isrealites were in a situation where they had to rely on their faith more than they ever had. They were without a national leader. At first, things went well for the people and they consulted God for guidance and as they obeyed, He worked and fought on their behalf and they were successful in battle and taking the land. Two separate tribes are able to come together in God's will and conquer territory. Other battles are likewise successful, and even Jerusalem and Hebron are taken. The people are being rewarded for their faith. Caleb, always faithful and bold, declares a reward for the man who takes a particular city - his daughter, Achsah, as a wife. Othniel takes the city and receives his reward. Caleb's daughter is faithful and bold just as her father is and her actions here are significant, as women are far less likely than men to be mentioned. Having been given to Othniel as a wife, she goes to her father and asks for a blessing. She had been given land in the south, but she realizes that land without use of the water is considerably less useful. She knows what she needs and goes to her father to ask for it. She first acknowledges what her father has already done for her, then she specifically asks for the springs adjacent to the land and Caleb gives them to her. This physical action also pictures a greater spiritual meaning. We can see a pattern of prayer in Achsash's request. First, she considers how she has been blessed and how she could be further blessed. Then, armed with a specific request in mind, she gets straight to the point without a lot of needless pandering for her father's affection. She acknowledges the great things he has already done for her and then asks for more. She has faith that because she knows him and he knows her, her father will give her what she wants, knowing the land will be used wisely. Likewise, when we know God's will and continually seek closeness with Him in prayer, he rewards our faithful prayers by answering them according to His will. Our prayers are in alignment with God's will and therefore God gives the answers we expect. Likewise, this event also pictures the work of Christ and our role in it. The land is of great potential value, but is not capable of realizing it's worth without water. With flowing springs, the land can be fully utilized for their intended purpose. It is much the same with us. The land represents the people of the world, who have great potential value, but are missing something vital - The Holy Spirit. Good flowing water like that from a spring is called living water by the Israelites. Living water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, accessible by faith in Christ, pictured by Caleb. When we seek Christ in faith we receive the Holy Spirit and are equipped to work sharing the Gospel. It is just as the daughter approached her father in faith and received the living water in the springs and this allowed proper harvest of the land. The lesser physical act pictures a greater spiritual act. After this we start to see evidence that the people's faith is starting to falter. There is initial success demonstrating the power of faith, but then the Israelites are unable to drive out those in the low lands because they had iron chariots. Obviously God can deal with chariots, the issue is not there - this is a faith problem, not a God problem. Again and again we see accounts of how the people fail to do as God commanded and they leave people living among them from those who are destined to be destroyed when they take the land. God, in the form of the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) then declares His disappointment and tells the people how those they disobediently let live from the conquered lands will become a big problem for them. The people are sad and weep, seemingly repentant, but they do not permanently change their ways. The Israelites begin to worship the pagan gods of the Canaanites and turn away from God. God is angry with the people and withholds His blessing from them to urge them to repent. They don't and are taken into the control of the original inhabitants of the land. This begins a cycle where God causes a leader to rise up and deliver them, a judge, the people repent and are restored to their place, then the judge dies and the people turn away from God and are captured by the Canaanites. Another judge rises up and the cycle repeats. This is meant to illustrate again another inadequacy in relying on anything other than Christ. The people fail time and time again, just as they did when they relied on their own understanding in The Garden, their own conscience afterward, then in reliance on the law. Only by focusing in faith on the ultimate symbol of God's love, Jesus, can we seize the ultimate spiritual rewards offered by God. Until then, God is long-suffering and patient, but there will be pain and consequences just like for the people of Israel in the time of the judges. God loves His people and wants their love in return. He is saddened when they turn away and guides them back time and time again in His great patience. Ultimately, God does lovingly provide a way for His people to resolve their sins permanently.
I see a parallel here of people following people over God . Whether it is a judge, a minister...God desires our all, our worship, not worshipping men. No one but God is perfect & if our focus is on anyone but God, whether it's self or others, we fall
The importance of leading our families and especially for future generations knowing our loving and fair God. How our God loves us so much even in our disobedience wants us to have relationship with Him wants our hearts.
We sing “You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good.” One of the ways He does this is that He uses evil to “test [us], to see if [we] will follow the ways of the LORD” (Judg 2:22). Why doesn’t God zap away temptation and conflict and tragedy? In part, because His main purpose is not mine (blissful and undisturbed comfort) but a heart that is shaped into one more like His.
My God shot was that God loved the Israelites so much that He continued to save them even when they continually disobeyed Him. I’m thankful that He still saves even when we fall short.
They forgot all God did and His miraculous path to freedom for the Israelites… this is my God shot… Teach your children the ways of the Lord by His word, by a good Bible following church, and by being strict parents that guard their pure hearts do they remain in constant reverence and repentance to God. Speak of Him in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Be on guard always! Because we know the devil is there to devour, even when we look away for one second. Lord help us never to forget you!
I sometimes wonder at the fact that the people of Noah’s time didn’t worship God. They seemed to be so close to the story of creation, to Adam and Eve who walked with God. Then flash forward to Abraham before God called him. He and his family worshipped other gods we read at the end of Joshua. They weren’t far removed from Noah and the flood and yet they don’t worship the God that saved them? Then we read today that it only took one generation from the one that entered the promised land to fall back into idol worship. Then I’m reminded that every new child is a blank slate, an empty piece of paper, with no knowledge of what went before, and no desire to know. For them life is now.
Yes, rightly so. Thats why the All-knowing God instructed the Israelites a couple of times (especially in Deuteronomy) to teach their children who God is and what He has done for them. Other times I've wondered why we're so easily drawn to follow other gods even though we've seen God's hands in our lives. All in all, I'm convinced that God still has a part in our faith walk with Him. I pray we are able to live like Lois who passed on God's teaching to Eunice, which Eunice was able to then pass on to Timothy. May God help us to be more and beyond 🙏🏽
So much seen in the world today. Do your thing. Nope. Do God's way each day. Seek Him 1st in every decision. Not only will he show you, you develop a stronger relationship by daily following after Him.
My God-shot in today's reading: though we saw how many times they, the Israelites, rebelled against God but we see act NEVERTHELESS based on His love and mercy!
We see how our human heart reacts in this passage. It is so like today…if things are going okay…we turn away from God…when things are tough, we cry out for Him! My God shot: God is faithful to His Word. He said He would be there to support them only if the Israelites ran out all Canaanites. How many times do we only go half way? Discipline comes!
Amen, SCGrandma,,,,, we MUST CONTINUOUSLY teach our kids about Jesus,,,, enabling them to hide His word in their hearts that they might not sin against Him. It is vital.
When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Judges 1:28 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. Judges 2:20-23 NIV
The Israelites did not live by Shema, reading and living by God’s commands from morning to night wherever they are and teaching it to the next generation. Because of this they had trouble. This reminds me of how important it is to stay in the word and to teach it to my children. My children will make their own choices in this world and they may still stray, but I must still set the example and then trust God with the outcome. No matter what they choose to do at least I know they are well equipped with God’s word written on their hearts. If they do wander, they will be equipped to find their way home.
Judges 1 and 2 Judges is a book of bloody and wicked stories. The book covers up to 160-410 years of time. Some people think the judges overlap so that explains the discrepancy in time. Judges here are not court room judges but civil and military leaders. The judge who sticks closest to what God has ordered is Deborah. But we see Samson and Gideon as well as others. God rules the country. Having God as your leader only works if you follow Him. The problem is the human heart responds to what it loves. If it doesn’t love God then it rebels against Him. There are pockets of Canaanites throughout the land due to Israel’s failure and sin of not driving them out. God and Joshua warned them repeatedly about this. The Canaanites would become a snare and lead them away into apostasy. We see a destructive pattern with the Israelites. Israel sins, they fall into oppression, they cry out to God who delivers them and they enjoy peace for awhile and then they do all again. Israelites were enticed by the sophistication of the Canaanites. Their parents had lived in Egypt as slaves. Then they had spent their entire lives in tents in the desert. Now they see cities with architecture, art, literature and ports of trade. They aspired to be like them. It appeared to the Israelites that the way the Canaanites acquired these things was to worship the other gods, have sex with the temple prostitutes of Baal and sacrifice children. They don’t drive out the Canaanites. They give into fear and take the easier path. They turn some of the Canaanites into slaves which was forbidden. The Israelites make compromise after compromise until their hearts were fully turned away from God. We follow what we love. Compromise turns our hearts from God a little at a time. The angel of the Lord shows up in chapter 2 and rebukes the people. He tells them the consequences of their actions. He tells them because of this disobedience the Canaanites will be a thorn in their flesh and they will fall into idolatry. The people repent but it is short lived. The generation of Joshua failed as leaders because they did not appoint new leaders. They did not tell God’s story to the next generation. They only led with the present in mind. Their legacy failed to continue. God does not drive out their enemies because they turned from Him. Over and over we see God‘s patience with the people. God is willing, waiting and ready to forgive them and restore them should they turn from their sin. He has compassion and love for them. God does not try to force obedience without relationship. He is after their hearts. Nothing changes unless hearts change. Gods heart is for them and for us.
So, I would like to get one of the Bible Recap books. But I'm not sure if it's a regular Bible, or if it is set up like the reading plan (I'm thinking it is) and the description says the recap is NOT in the book. But that's part of what I want too. Do I have to buy multiple things to have all of this? Im barely surviving on disability while raising my disabled son so I can't afford a ton of stuff. Right now I am using my Grannie's falling apart, taped up Bible for the 80s and taking notes in spiral notebooks!
I have the Bible Recap, A One-Year Guide. It is essentially the written form of the videos when she recaps each days reading. Some days she gives a little more info on the videos.
Same! I have it open when I'm watching her recap, and I jot down extra info, she might say. It's not a word for word transcript of her videos, but it's pretty stinking close! I'm a visual and auditory learner, so I love being able to read along as I listen and watch. It has made a huge difference for me.
I’m enjoying the Bible recap,thank you! I’ve noticed you seem to have a scare on your chest, did you have heart surgery? If you did I thought “ God made your Heart More In Love with Him” I know it’s corny! You just have such a Heart desire for Him and to help others seek Him! Thank you!
God keeps His covenant, His promise to us. He loves us no matter what. We sin, we repent, repeat. He still Loves. “Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,” Judges 2:1 ESV
GodShot = Judges 2:18 “The LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted them.” Even in a God designed situation of affliction, He hears us, He cares and will rescue us. Never stop crying out to God.
