Rest Day Ernest R. PalenOur madly rushing, neurotic society needs the therapy of the silence and quietness that flows from a day kept holy, really holy. A day when our thoughts are of God, our actions are tempered by a desire to serve God and our families, a day that is so different from other days that it could make us different in our relationship to God and to our fellow men., Taken from Herbert E . Saunders, The Sabbath

Read Ruth 1-4 In the story today it was evident that the Lord orchestrated the whole thing – Ruth happened to be in Boaz’s field, Boaz happened to notice her, the other kinsman redeemer didn’t want to marry Ruth, and the Lord caused her to get pregnant. Also I’m struck by the character of Boaz – instead of trying to manipulate or trick the other kinsman redeemer into or out of something, he went the honest route by asking him directly and waiting on the Lord. So good👏🏼Stacey Meekhof Boaz greeted the harvesters the Lord be with you and they…

Read Judges 19-21 Evil is in plainclothes. A Levite and his concubine who traveled to the town of Gibeah and were offered hospitality. The men of the town demand the Levite be turned over to them for sexual purposes, and instead, the man offered his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine to them. The concubine was then brutally raped and died in the morning. The Levite took the concubine’s body back to his home and cut it into 12 pieces, which he sent to the 12 tribes of Israel. This act caused outrage and led to a war between the…

Read Judges 14-18 Doing what is right in our own eyes, isn’t proper leadership. Samson, a judge of Israel appointed by God, to JUDGE and yet his personal life is really messy. Samson is known for his incredible God given-strength, which he used to fight against the Philistines, Israel’s enemies. Samson in chapter 14, marries a Philistine woman, which goes against God’s command to not intermarry with other nations. Samson isn’t perfect, especially after breaking his Nazarite vows. But once more he prays and God hears him, so that in his death he kills more enemies of Israel than in…

Read Judges 10-13 Perhaps you’ve been wondering who this angel of the Lord is that keeps showing up? Ok think of it like YHWH’s Fortnite character, the angel is an expression of God, throughout the Old Testament, starting with Hagar, and Abraham, and is woven throughout Israel’s history.I find it interesting that the angel of the Lord is very present during the time of the JUDGES and when we move into the time of the KINGS, we will see prophet’s used more to speak to the house of God; God’s people. Here are all or most all of the texts…

Read Judges 6-9 In the story of Gideon God says peace to Gideon at the VERY START and Gideon calls that place, wait for it… peace. After Gideon engages in the battle and WINS the war against the Midianites ultimately he brings peace to the land for 40 years.What God said to him, he received and brought it to the people.Gideon did not choose this honor for himself it was appointed to him.Jesus doesn’t exalt himself either when the Father says today you are my son— the amplified Heb. 5:5 So too Christ did not glorify Himself so as to…

Read Judges 2-5 Let’s start today’s reading and say, “God teach me something.” Straight away in Judges the angel of the Lord appears to Israel and reminds them what HE did. ‘I lead you out of Egypt’ and the LORD reminds them of his faithfulness, I will not break covenant with you. A direct question hits hard, ‘why have you done this?’ Judges 2:2 THE LORD is crystal clear. God is full of loving kindness (Ex. 34:6), so we can infer to be unclear is to be unkind. The Lord is painfully direct, ‘they will become traps for you, and their…

Rest Day Willfully resting on the finished work of Christ. Willfully trusting HE is complete. HE IS the all in all, before all, and above all. He is perfect. REST from work, and worry, and doubt. Rest. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecc. 3:11 Dr Matthew Sleeth, last Friday said to us, ‘rest isn’t a condition for entrance to heaven, it’s the condition of heaven when we get there.’ Eugene Peterson Sabbath is not primarily…

Read Joshua 23-24, Judges 1 LYNDA MURPHY: Thinking about how often in the Bible they used a large stone or heap of stones as a “witness”. The rocks themselves were the witness. Why an inanimate object? Ppl are so fickle & the Bible sometimes refers to them as a false-witness but the rocks can’t lie.But because of Jesus we are able to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth! (Acts 1:8)1 Peter 2:5 tells us we are living stones!“you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices…

Read Joshua 19-22 How easy it is to feel dismembered from God’s blessing maybe geographical location time or distance makes you feel like you’re not a part of it. But as we read here, the witness/altar was raised up, and they were agreeing though we are far apart we are one.Success for one of us, is success for all.Israel was UNITED even though they all lived in their separate regions and homes in the inheritance/allotment given to them. Joshua 21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of…