Daily Bible Reading - Monday - April 26th

In Judges we are coming to the place where the Lord made Gideon judge and the Israelites soon forgot about Deborah’s success and they behaved in their old ways again. The new enemies were people from Midian and Amalek’s people. They were ‘too many’ in number, so that *Israel’s people could not defeat them. Their plan was what we today call a ‘scorched (burnt) earth plan’. This means that they destroyed everything on the land so that *Israel’s people could not grow food there. God told the people what he had done for them. Then he told them what they had done to him. God had heard their voice, but they had not listened to him. He had done very many kind things for them, but they still did wrong things. So God had to notice those wrong things and he had to punish *Israel’s people. And this was the result. He sent to them too many people from Midian. You know as we been reading Joshua and into Judges it really seems that once the spiritual leader of that time dies the people go wild and sin like crazy, it was like that when Moses died and so on, you’d think they would learn after having to endure Gods wrath one time, wouldn’t ya think? Gideon is like Israel’s people. He says that he is not important. God can use people when they know their weakness and their difficulties. The angel described Gideon as a brave soldier. But this was a prophetic description rather than what Gideon actually was at that time. However, his courage grew. This was not because he was brave. It was because God was making him brave. That just goes to show you that God can make the weakest person strong and the strongest person He can bring down, without God in our lives nothing is possible but with God, anything is possible.

Boy I love the devotion this morning, change, change is on its way, if something isn’t going right, change is on its way, if your having problems, change is on its way, I love it. When things go bad they are always subject to change, God wants the best for us and is always there to help us change.

Today’s Reading

Judges 6:1-40
Luke 22:54-23:12
Psalm 95:1-96:13
Proverbs 14:5-6

Daily Devotional

2 Corinthians 4:18
"We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

God wants you to focus on the good things He has for you, which are far greater than the things you can see around you. Unfortunately, too many people give up when they face tough times. They stop expecting anything good to happen. But the truth is, hardships and trials are really opportunities for you to go higher. Whatever struggles you're going through right now, no matter how large or small . . . they are subject to change. God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. Your health may not look very good today, but it's subject to change. You may be out of work today, but that's subject to change. Your finances may look dismal today, but that's subject to change! You may be struggling in your relationships or marriage, but that's subject to change too! No matter what your cir****tances might be . . . you can experience real positive change when you look to God.

Today's thought: God, it's so exciting to realize that the hard cir****tances in my life are subject to change. Help me to keep on trusting You as You work out Your good purposes in my life.