Devotion For The Day

1 Samuel 17:36-37 (NIV)
36
Your servant has
killed both the lion and the bear; this
uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of...
them, because he has defied the armies of
the living God.
37
The LORD who delivered me
from the paw of the lion and the paw of the
bear will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the
LORD be with you."

David had been going back and forth from
playing music for the king to tending his
Father's flock. His Father asked him to take
some food to his older brothers and get their
promise that they would share the spoils of
war. When he delivered the food, he saw the
enemy army send out one giant man who
asked for a one on one to determine the
outcome of the battle without the two armies
clashing. Whoever lost would be servants of
the other nation.
David inquired about the reward for fighting
Goliath and spoke boldly that someone
needed to kill this heathen. It was reported to
King Saul who had David brought before him.
David told the king not to worry. He
volunteered to fight the giant. The king told
David that a boy did not have a chance
against a seasoned veteran like Goliath.
Then David relayed his experiences of killing
a bear and a lion in protection of his flock.
David had confidence in God because of past
victories. He had faith that God would win
this battle because this giant was defying the
armies of the living God. Experience and faith
told David that this lion that threatened God's
sheep would be like the lion he had slain
defending his father's sheep. You have been
given victories in your past to help you have
confidence in what God can do today. Mix
the experience from your past victories with
faith in God's heart and take on the giants of
life today.
Meditation: "Go and the LORD be with you!"

Devotion For the Day

Judges 16:20 (NIV) 20Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Samson had walked the fence of serving the LORD and serving his lusts until it finally caught up with him. The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Eventually one must win. Samson could not see that flirting with evil would cost him so much. ...He'd been shown mercy by God again and again and thought that it would never end. This time he crossed the last line. "My Spirit will not always strive with man," the Lord said. Delilah conned him into telling the source of his strength. Did he really think he would get away with it again, or was he hoping he would be normal so that he could know if she genuinely loved him? Whatever was going on in his mind, he thought he was still anointed when he woke.

What a warning this is to us! We go on flirting with disaster, compromising with evil and then we jump up thinking the anointing is still upon us. We go out to battle and find we have no strength. His eyes were put out. That was symbolic of his spiritual blindness. He labored for years for the enemy, another symbol of the spiritual reality.
Finally when put on display at a feast to the enemy's god, he gave himself in one last act of service to God. What a price he paid to see in the Spirit. What a price he had to pay to be free from bondage to the enemy. Still, his death took a greater toll upon the enemy than his life. God gives second chances.
Consider: Flirting with evil will eventually extract a painful price. Quit now!