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The almighty "If/Then" statement... part math, part logic and part contract. The clear understanding here is that there are two sides to the equation. It only works if both sides are balanced one with the other.

We are constantly being romanced, in current Western culture, into believing that somehow life will be so much sweeter if we just let someone else do it... my grandmother was perhaps in the generation where this started in the extreme. Romanced into shortcuts in the kitchen- adding aluminum into her food and her brain, eating plastic masquerading as a better butter substitute... there is no end to the destruction that "free time" is causing to our health- physical, mental, emotional AND spiritual. 

The Isrealites thought they'd be on easy street by selecting a king to rule over them. Turns out they didn't realize they were actually still on the hook for the other side of the contract. Nothing comes without a cost.

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When Israel begged for a king so they could be like all the other nations around them Samuel told them they were being wicked. God flat out said that they were rejecting Him in favor of an earthly king.

But God has always put people in positions of authority... Moses, priests, judges, men at the head of household... all of those leadership positions are sanctioned- why not kingship?

Turns out, we humans have limited resources. Inevitably, we find yourselves diverting a portion of what we were intending to give to God over to those who rule us. So is it possible that power can either be holy or wicked- depending on who gets God's due?

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What happens when God's hand rests heavily on you and you have no intermediary? The Philistines cast golden representatives of the tumors that happened in every one of their cities as the ark of the covenant traveled among them!

In the old testament, it took a priest who had lived a life set apart and had done a LOT of work to make himself pure enough to stand in God's presence. We live under the new covenant and our intermediary was gifted to us- if we choose to accept- in the form of Jesus. When we accept Him into our heart, God can turn His eye upon us without us suffering as a result.

God's raw power is awesome, fearsome, terrible... we get a glimpse of that during cataclysms and storms in nature. Imagine that being bound into a box that your family carries with you. You'd respect it right? Today I am pondering golden tumors, the ark of the covenant and the nature of disease.

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Hannah made a deal with God for healing her infertility- that she would give the only thing she owned in the world right back to Him... for life!

That meant that she would give Samuel away to Eli the priest to be raised. Eli, it turns out, may have been a decent priest, but he was an absolute disaster as a father... raising his own two sons seemingly without any intention over their lives and little to no discipline for their revolting actions.

So... how did Samuel turn out different? Was it in his genes... or was something else going on that set his life firmly on God's path?

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Don't let anyone ever tell you that God does not think women are important! Here in Ruth is proof positive that honors a woman's choice in powerful ways... allowing these choices to change the course of history and take part in His ultimate plans.

Men may be featured in a lot of the stories told in dogmatic churches... but if you look at the quiet presence of women- it is clear that God did not create them to be bit players in the history of "man".

For all of us, there is something to be understood in the choice that Ruth made. When we put God ahead of our own life's desires, He takes care of us in ways we never would have dreamed.

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The meek and humble are said to inherit the earth, but I don't think that happens simply because of their character. 

There is an action that the meek and the humble take in relation to "the earth" that guarantees there is something to inherit. I think David captures it beautifully in Psalms 37. He says as a contrast that the "wicked take without paying back".

When it comes to any earth, or soil, or land that we are in relationship with... if you do not give back into the soil after you take out- you bankrupt the system. God's laws for our health and the health of the land dictate that we be humble and return what we've taken. Who knew that the Bible spoke of composting?!?!?

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Are we ill because we (or someone in our family) sinned? When we're sick- does it mean we're "bad"?

If we believe that God designed our bodies, we must accept that He knows how to make that design work best.

If we further believe that sin is anything that goes against His will... any time we go our "own way"...we have to accept that not following His instructions for our bodies is a sin.

One of the consequences of sin, then, is illness. This gets complicated the more humans sin and then have children... as generationally we experience the consequences of those sins as disease. God knew that- and loved us enough to warn us... and then make provisions for our way back to His path of health. 

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I'm sure you were encouraged as a kid to be careful who your friends were... that you might be trying to do the right thing, but if your friends were up to no good, you might get caught up in the mess? 

Unfortunately, it is all too human to want to fit in.. to be liked... and so it's pretty easy to make compromises that make us look more like the people around us than what God wants us to look like. We're told pretty clearly that if God doesn't recognize His will in our lives when things get real, we're not going to like the outcome.

Struggling to live your life without compromise... have friends and go amongst those who need to see God's light- it's a real struggle!

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It's incredibly easy to consult ourselves when faced with life's choices. Sometimes we may feel like our problems are too trivial to bother God with... and sometimes we seek answers within ourselves because we like our answers better than God!

The trouble with looking for our own answers... or asking folks who will back up our biases? We often wind up in ridiculously, fantastically, awful situations that could have been avoided if we'd sought God's wisdom and heart instead of our own. Today's reading is filled with tales of folks who learned that the hard way....

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Just because your mama prayed you into this world doesn’t mean you’re walking with God.
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Samson had a calling on his life… but not much interest in answering it. Entitled. Impulsive. Reckless. Sound familiar?
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His mom vowed him to God from the womb — but a personal relationship with the Lord isn’t something anyone can do for you.
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In the end, God used Samson’s tantrums for His purpose. But what would’ve happened if Samson had really surrendered?
 
📖 Judges 15–17
#FaithJourney #SamsonStory #PersonalFaith #ChristianLiving #JudgesStudy #SpiritualGrowth #ByDesignPodcast #GodsPlanNotOurs #EntitledFaith

If God puts something on your heart as a result of this episode, PLEASE reach out. I would love for you to join the conversation with me on Instagram, Facebook or my YouTube channel.

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