In Judges 19 & 20, Israel reaches the bottom of their sin spiral. They have been living life doing whatever they please and what is good in their own eyes instead of God's. They see the earthly consequences of those choices spring forth and how bad things have gotten. A civil war breaks out and many of the tribes unite, tap out, and submit to God to fight this evil. God answers their cry. God always responds to repentance. They end up destroying themselves and each other in this war which is the same thing sin does to our own lives. We will have earthly consequences we will face for our choices. The Israelites become so broken, they return to God again. You can always turn back to God and He will respond. We can choose to put on the coat of Jesus and His righteousness every day and live our lives in God rather than ourselves and our sins. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we get the Holy Spirit and He gives us the power to walk with God. This is a daily war while we are on earth. We have to intentionally choose to walk in God rather than in ourselves. We can do it. We have the same power that raised Christ from death living right here in us. when we choose Him. We can trust Him and He desperately wants us to lean in and on Him in every single thing we do.

In Judges 17 & 18, we no longer have any judges or kings leading anyone. People are doing what they see as right in their own eyes rather than checking with God on what He wants them to be doing. We often find ourselves doing the same thing. We tend to want to ask God to bless our moves through life rather than asking Him what those moves should be. We fail God time and time again. The Good News is that our faith in Jesus outweighs our failures and we can run to the cross and repent once again. With the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can't be fully comfortable or happy with sin present. Micah believed in God, but didn't live like it. He tried to redefine God according to his preferences. Jesus is who He is and doesn't change. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God cannot be stolen or taken from you if you choose Jesus as your Savior. He is eternal and promises us eternity. He is faithful, true, and trustworthy and that will never change.

In Judges 16, we have Samson's final chapter. He falls in love with a prostitute named Delilah who tricks him into telling her what keeps him so strong. It is truly the Lord who keeps Samson strong. God set Samson aside as a Nazirite which is a 3-part covenant to be set apart for God by following God's direction in 3 lifestyle choices. He was not to drink, he was not to be near death, and he was not to cut his hair. So far he had only kept one of the vows - his hair had not yet been cut. God was still working through Samson's life in spite of himself and his sin choices. He tells Delilah that his hair must never be cut so she has his hair cut when he's sleeping. He is separated from God in this final action of full disobedience. He was prideful and sure he could not be taken down. Sin took him down. Sin separates us from fellowship with God - however, though sin hinders, faith restores. Samson was a man of faith not perfection. God still loved him. God's love for us never ends and can never be diminished. It is never to late to cry out to God and that is what Samson did. He humbled himself before God and cried out in faith. God answered. He was able to conquer more Philistines in his death than in his life. We are our own worst enemy more often than not. We need a greater Savior. God knew that and answered with Jesus. He is our ultimate, perfect Savior and sacrificed Himself for us conquering every sin under the sun once and for all.

In Judges 14 & 15, Samson's rebellion shows through. He touches death and has a seven day wedding celebration while preparing to marry a woman from the very nation he was called to conquer. He even eats honey from the dead carcass of the lion he killed. But God. God still uses him. God is still moving through him to bring forth His will. Selfishness and sin hurts us, not God. God uses Samson to overtake the Philistines regardless of Samson and whether he's perfectly right with God at the moment. God never leaves him or stops loving him. In one instance, Samson is tied up and the Spirit of God comes upon him and he's able to break the ties like they are nothing. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and amazing Savior, we are given the Holy Spirit and we get the Holy Spirit with us every moment of our days. We have that strength in us. We can choose to run far from sin with everything in us. We can choose to fight. Just like the choice is ours to choose Jesus and his gift of Salvation, we have a choice to fight sin. It can be exhausting, but God promises to give us everything we need. He will give us supernatural strength when needed, He will give us communities of people to encourage and help us along, and He will give us forgiveness if we stumble and fall into sin. He is an amazingly good Father and will never let us go or stop loving us.

In Judges 12 & 13, Ephraim rises up against Jephthah because they want a part in the glory for the victory against the Ammonites. They wanted to take credit but didn't want to do the work when the war started. Jephthah does the right thing and gives all the glory and credit to God. Eventually, Jesus visits the would-be parents of Samson. They are told Samson would be set apart as a hardcore servant of God - a Nazirite. He must never go near wine or anything that is used to make it, must not cut his hair, and must not go near death. He is a picture of what God would do when he sent Jesus - our perfectly dedicated and set apart servant. Samson's name means bright light but, unlike Jesus, he was actually the worst - a hot mess. (Much like each of us) He was double-minded, unstable, a strong warrior but weak before women, and empowered by God but gave in to sins of the flesh. He was called to declare war on the Philistines but tried to marry one. He fought for the Lord by day but fell into sin and disobedience by night. His names means sun or bright light, but he was blinded by the darkness of the enemy. Samson's parents ask Jesus His name, and He responds with "Why do you ask my name?....It is too wonderful for you to understand." Where Samson fails, God comes through. It's a picture of pure grace and redemption. A picture of why we desperately need Jesus. His is Yeshua, our Messiah, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Rescuer. He is love. He is literally everything.

In Judges 10 & 11, the downward spiral of the Israelites continues. They completely turn away from God. The Philistines oppress them and again they cry out to God. Their misery grieves God but it isn't until they fully repent and submit to God that He comes to their rescue. God moves mightily in a repentant heart. He raises up Jephthah, another unlikely hero and son of a prostitute. God does not care about our pasts. He redeems our lives and uses our lives for His glory if we submit to Him. Forgiveness of our past, present and futures should affect our lives and future actions. The people God chooses to use and move through are not perfect, they are willing. God gave us the One true and final Judge in Jesus. He is our ultimate Redeemer and Rescuer. He is our Savior and we can trust in His grace and mercy. He is perfectly faithful every time.

In Judges 8 & 9, God gives Gideon victory over the Midianites. In that feat of great strength and success, it causes him to forget and slowly slip from God and His direction. He stops praying and seeking God's plan, he becomes resentful towards others, he becomes concerned about material things and worries about his reputation rather than what God thinks of him. He starts veering off God's path to do whatever he wants which includes compromising with sin. He builds a gold ephod and the Israelites quickly forget about God and instead worship the ephod and the false gods. Compromise leads us further into sin and further from God. Abimelech rises up and takes over. The Israelites start fighting and killing each other which shows their true problem lies within themselves. It's a heart issue. The fruit of their choices come forth. Sin is its own curse. Jesus is the opposite of Abimelech. He is our true King, Redeemer, and Rescuer. He rescues people rather than killing them and took our millstones unto Himself. He was crushed by our sins so we could have a true choice of freedom. He died so we could live. The choice is ours to make.

In Judges 7, God works through Gideon and 300 men to win the battle against the Midianites. God reduced the number of fighting men to a mere 300 so no one could boast that the battle was won by anyone other than God Himself. When we get ourselves out of the way, God can finally move in and through our lives. God equips those He appoints with exactly what they need. He doesn't call the brave, He makes brave the called. He works through us when we make ourselves available and yield to Him. Nothing is done in our own ability or strength. It is only done in our availability and willingness to let God move. He patiently handles us when our faith wavers and works to increase our faith. He brings us to humility, dependence, and obedience so He can properly receive all glory and shine through our lives. Success means joining Jesus wherever He is. When we bring nothing but faith and trust in Jesus, He brings it all. Jesus + nothing = everything.

In Judges 6, God raises up the next unlikely hero to save His people from their enemies. He chooses Gideon - a scaredy-cat. He is so fearful that he asks God to prove that God will be with him and give them victory 3 times in one chapter. He even tells God that he is the least of his whole family and even they aren't all that great. In spite of all this, God calls him a "Mighty hero". God calls us and sees as as who He made us to be, not what we are not or were before. He knows our personal best and what it is and will be. He gives us that credit in advance. He tells Gideon to go with what we has and assures him that God would be with him the whole time. We have everything we need within us already to do exactly what God has called us to do. God will be with us every step of the way. We can trust Him, have faith in Him, and go where He sends us. When we walk in to whatever He sends us to do, we should be walking in like God sent us there - because He did.

In Judges 4 & 5, a woman is judge over Israel. She is a prophet of God. She gives word to go and fight the evil king Jabin who was oppressing them ruthlessly during this time. Deborah and Barak went and fought and Jael finished the battle. What a team of girl power under God! Deb never once wavered. She faithfully trusted God and God gave them the victory over their enemies. She brought encouragement to the team. We need to stop seeing things we are not and believe in a God who is. We need to encourage each other and call each other up - not out. Our words can build someone up or tear someone out and we should be cautious of that at all times. We need to tune out the negative voices and chatter around us and hear what God says. Satan knows our names but calls us by our sins. God knows our sins but calls us by our names. God wants to use us for His purpose, we just have to trust Him and Who He is. They rise up in faith and because of God, they win. They in turn give God all the glory and praise with a beautiful duet thanking and praising God. The duet concludes with "But may those who love you rise like the sun in all its power!" It's always time to rise and obey God and what He is calling us to.