Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
August 6, 2024
Judges 16:4-22
4 Some time after this, in the Sorek Valley, Samson fell in love with a woman whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines confronted her and said to her, “Seduce him and find out what gives him such great strength and what we can do to overpower him, so that we can tie him up and make him weak. Then we’ll each pay you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what gives you such great strength and how you can be tied up and made weak.” . . . 15 Delilah said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t trust me? Three times now you’ve made a fool out of me and not told me what gives you such great strength!” 16 She nagged him with her words day after day and begged him until he became worn out to the point of death. 17 So he told her his whole secret. He said to her, “No razor has ever touched my head, because I’ve been a nazirite for God from the time I was born. If my head is shaved, my strength will leave me, and I’ll become weak. I’ll be like every other person.” 18 When Delilah realized that he had told her his whole secret, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come one more time, for he has told me his whole secret.” The rulers of the Philistines came up to her and brought the silver with them. 19 She got him to fall asleep with his head on her lap. Then she called a man and had him shave off the seven braids of Samson’s hair. He began to weaken, and his strength left him. 20 She called out, “Samson, the Philistines are on you!” He woke up from his sleep and thought, I’ll escape just like the other times and shake myself free. But he didn’t realize that the LORD had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him, put out his eyes, and took him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze chains, and he worked the grinding mill in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again right after it had been shaved.
Good Morning! Take time to be holy!
God created a beautiful world and gave us dominion over all creatures who inhabit it. God calls us to live in unity and love one another. Most start our journey with the best intentions, but then we become distracted by earthly callings.
We set aside our time with God to pursue our own agendas. Each day we wander a little further from God until we lose sight of His light. Things are great! We think, “I’ve got this. I can manage on my own.” We continue on this divergent path unaware of the evil cohorts we’re joining.
One day, we wake up and find ourselves totally separated from God. We ask, “How did I get here?” We realize that we can’t make it on our own, and we frantically search for the one who made us. In our moment of desperation, we call to God (who has been with us all along) and confess our sinful ways. God forgives us and lovingly welcomes us home.
God is available to all who seek a new life.
Faithful God, Thank you for creating us. When things are going well, we sometimes become arrogant. Thank you for patiently waiting for us to recognize our own sinfulness. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: Keep focused on God!
God is listening! Pastor Liz
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