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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Questions to ask yourself while reading the Bible during your devotion time...


Questions to ask yourself when reading the Bible during your devotion time

1. What is revealed about God in this story?

2. What is the main point of the story?

3. What character do you relate to the most in the story? Why?

4. In what ways do you relate to each of the different characters found in the Story; whether protagonists or antagonists?

5. What is God be speaking to you through this story? What is God trying to affirm in you about who you are as His child through this story?

6. What areas of life may God be calling you to move forward in?

7. What sin areas may there be in your life that God is using this story to cause you to confess?

8. How do you think this story might cause you to more fully experience the healing, freedom and life Jesus came to offer us?

9. What is the "call to action" for me or the church to accomplish?

Compiled from "A story approach to understanding scripture" by Mark Krick with some additional points added by me, Bill Meli.

My example after reading Hebrews 11:8-12:

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

 1. What is revealed about God in this story? Sometimes God calls us by faith, to do something, or to go somewhere, that we don't fully understand in the beginning. Walking by faith in the land of obedience takes faith and determination.

2. What is the main point of the story? God calls us to do impossible things that can only be accomplished by faith and trust in God.

3. What character do you relate to the most in the story? Why? Sarah, she held onto God's promises when it looked like all hope was gone.

4. In what ways do you relate to each of the different characters found in the Story; whether protagonists or antagonists? Sarah realized that God did not give up on her even when the world did and she impacted future generations!

5. What is God be speaking to you through this story? What is God trying to affirm in you about who you are as His child through this story? God calls us to obey and to "go" without giving us the whole picture. God wants me to develop my "faith muscles" and to get to the point where I don't care where He takes me as long as He is the one guiding me there.

6. What areas of life may God be calling you to move forward in? God is faithful to the promises He has given my family. I need specific promises from God, from the Bible, that I need to believe God for. Jesus asked God to answer specific prayer requests when He was here on earth; I need to be more specific as well.

7. What sin areas may there be in your life that God is using this story to cause you to confess? I need to move in instant obedience and not allow a debate in my mind. God knows more than I do and His commands are for my benefit. God has the benefit of seeing my entire life in one thought so His commands are for my benefit.

8. How do you think this story might cause you to more fully experience the healing, freedom and life Jesus came to offer us? God is taking me and my family to a land of greater promise and my obedience will have results on generations to come.

9. What is the "call to action" for me or the church to accomplish? This experience I am going through is temporal. Follow God through instant obedience even when I can't see the big picture.

 What are some other questions do you ask yourself after reading the Bible?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Who is your Delilah?

After feeling prompted to read the story of Samson from the Bible recently, "Lord, you mean the guy with really long hair?" I was surprised how much I received from the short story after reading it a couple of times.


The story of Samson and Delilah

Samson dates a girl named Delilah whose name means feeble. Anytime a name is mentioned in the Bible, its meaning relates to the person's character. In this instance, Delilah means feeble which means someone who is morally weak. We could probably stop here, "Don't date or associate with anyone who is morally weak" but we would miss a great story.

So, everyone knows that Samson is the strongest man around, probably had to do with the fact that he killed a thousand men with a donkey's jawbone earlier in the story. So, a group of men bribe Delilah with lots of cash to find out where Samson's strength comes from so she keeps pestering and pestering Samson to tell her his secret; and so the term "Gold Digger" is created for the first time. The first time, Samson tells Delilah that if he is tied up with fresh bowstrings he will lost his strength. So, Delilah waits for Samson to fall asleep, ties him up, allows the Philistines, Samson's enemies, into her house, wakes Samson up and discovers that Samson is lying to her, after Samson easily breaks the bowstrings. This goes on two more times. What is Samson thinking? He wakes up on three separate occasions to realize that his girlfriend wants him dragged off to jail. I think Samson would be a good candidate for The Bachelor.

Finally, in Judges 15 - 16 Then she (Delilah) said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies." She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it.

Samson finally tells her the truth, he gets his strength from his hair which has never been cut, so Delilah cuts his hair when he falls asleep, he loses his strength, and he is dragged away by his enemies to be tortured and imprisoned; what a caring and thoughtful girlfriend. Samson is eventually imprisoned, his eyes gouged out, and is made fun of of in front of his enemies.

So, "Who or what is your Delilah?" What, or who, in your life, is…

• Taking away your strength little by little?

• Holding you back from your destiny and life's vision?

• What are you allowing in your life that you are sick to death of that you are refusing to let go of?

• What are you putting up with today that one or two years ago you would have dismissed in your life?

What are the consequences of putting up with a Delilah in your life…

• The eventual loss of your vision and life's calling (Samson was called from birth to a particular task but Delilah derailed his life's vision and he paid for it with his eyesight and his life).

• You will eventually be worn down to the point of putting up with things you would normally not put up with (Samson allowed Delilah to try to tie him up three times before he told her his secret).

o Toxic friendships and relationships will do that to you.

What to do, what to do…Get rid of those things in your life, those habits, or those toxic relationships that are wearing you down little by little. You know you need to and your life will be so much better once you do!