Daily Bible Reading - Sunday - May 2nd

We all know the story of Sampson and Delilah but have you really read it?  I hadn’t truly read the whole story until this morning, I think I’ve read it 3 times today and every time I get a little more out of it.  Is what really stuck out at me is how strong Sampson was but yet he was very weak and that weakness is what got him in trouble.   Samson visited a woman that sold sex. This shows that he was like Israel’s people. When he was not freeing Israel’s people, he was like them. His body was very strong. But he could not control his feelings, so in this meaning he was weak. And later this finally caused his defeat. We learn from the Bible how many other people in the Old Testament failed. God used these people. By them, God did what he wanted to do. But they did not behave in a good way in their lives.  This is where Samson met Delilah, Delilah was beautiful, but she was dangerous. Samson was strong, but he was also weak in some matters. He had not learned from his previous experience when a woman got information from him what she did with that information and eventually it destroyed him.  It says once he finally told Delilah his true secret of strength and she had his hair cut off in his sleep that the Lord left him.  In his weakness he lost the Lord and lost his strength.  That makes me think back in my life when I was serving the Lord in a ministry position but yet I had a weakness, my weakness was food and it all but destroyed me but now that I’ve allowed the Lord to work in my life with WLS and I’ve gotten control of the weakness I’m getting stronger again.  Now that doesn’t mean I can forget about the weakness and it will never come back,  oh no, I’ve seen that the weakness is always there and will rise up and take over if I let it but I’m learning that as long as I am disciplined and diligent and persistent and I let the Lord work in my life I have control over the weakness, it’s a daily thing though.  I guess it’s something I will have to deal with the rest of my life but I am determined that it will not take over my life ever again. As so many say on here “Eat to live not live to eat".  I eat now because I need the nourishment and strength not because I want to stuff my face.  What a good reading and lesson today.

Today’s Reading

Judges 15:1-16:31
John 2:1-25
Psalm 103:1-22
Proverbs 14:17-19

Daily Devotional

I Corinthians 15:57
"Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ.".

In first Corinthians 15:57 it says, "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ." Notice, it doesn't say, "Thanks be to God who gave us the victory one time." It says, "Who gives us the victory." It's in the present tense, meaning that every single day God stretches out His hand of victory to us. The question is what are we going to do with that victory? Are we going to just leave it on the table, or are we going to lay hold of the promise?

Remember, because of Jesus, you have the victory over sin. You don't have to be a slave to bad habits, wrong mindsets, or wrong attitudes any longer. You have been given a robe of righteousness by your heavenly Father. It's a sign of His great love for you. Some people put on that robe of righteousness as if they are trying to cover up their sin. But God doesn't cover up your sin; He washes it away every single day. If you've failed, if you've stumbled, if you've faltered, if you've found yourself in the middle of sin, God still loves you so much! He loves you enough to say, "You can rise up. You can overcome. You can have victory." Don't run from God, run toward Him. Simply say, "Jesus I have sinned. I've done some things or said some things I wish I wouldn't have. So I'm asking You right now to cleanse my heart and mind." Do you know what that does? It opens the door for God to immediately cleanse you. It breaks the power of condemnation and ignites His overcoming power on the inside of you.

Today's thought:  I encourage you today to make the decision to lay hold of the victory that Christ gave you. Don't allow anything to hold you back from the wonderful promises God has in store for you!