A snare stronger than seven cords...

Re-posted here from my Facebook Notes

[Background: Samson is under a Nazirite vow, and he has been his entire life...his proposed wife was not of the Israelite people, but was a woman of a foreign nation and foreign god...and she was given to another man....and she and her family were killed by their own people to mitigate Samson's wrath against their wronging him (giving her to another man)...Samson has killed many of the foreign god followers, and they are out to get him, because his strength has shamed them and their god....the Lord God has been with Samson, despite his moral failings, preserving Israel through Samson's judgeship for twenty years.]

Judges 16

v1-2...Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her. The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place and set an ambush for him all night at the gate of the city. They kept quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait till the light of the morning; then we will kill him.”

[He escapes capture and death with a great display of strength shaming the Gazites by destroying their city gate...perhaps a symbol of a city's refuge)

v4-5...After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him.

[he lies]
v8...she bound him...

[he lies]
v12...So Delilah took new ropes and bound him...

[he lies]
v14...So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web....


v16-17...And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart...


v19....She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.


v20..... And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him.



Do you really think Samson was oblivious to the fact that he was shaved...he was probably near 40 years old and had been judging Israel for 20 years....and had never had his hair touched with a razor before that moment in time...his outward, visible sign of obedience which he had never failed to maintain was despised in a moment because of a quarrelsome woman vexing his heart...not even a wife...an adulteress


"He did not know that the Lord had left him."


The words of an Israelite king, many years later, warned against this powerful temptation and deceit to forsake God (perhaps reflecting on the account of Samson's tragic tale)...a snare he too would find overpowering.


"All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death." (Proverbs 7:22-27)



Additional note:

Remember, the Lord God is slow to anger, but that does not mean he is not just. Do not think that because the Lord has longsuffered with you until now that He should and will until tomorrow. Put away idolatry and all wrongdoing. Lean on His wisdom and guidance and your paths will be made straight. It would be wrong to suggest that you trust and obey out of fear, because fear is for the unbelieving. The believing ought to follow out of love, and perfect love casts out all fear. Those who love Him obey His commands. Just remember, He disciplines those He loves, and He disciplined Samson. We know Samson returned to a life of faith because the author of Hebrews recounts Samson's returning to saving-faith by God's good work of permitting his humiliation for a time. And, for your edification and the Lord's glory this was all in accordance with God's will and purposes. But know that God's desired will is for you to trust and obey His commands. Now consider God's final work in Samson's life and the author's final word on Samson:


v30..."So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life."


The result was Samson struck a greater blow to the Lord's enemies by his death than he had by his life....do you see the prophetic nature of Samson's life here?

The Lord Jesus struck the death blow to the most powerful enemies, sin and death, disarming and humiliating the devil and his angels by His death and resurrection.

Rejoice.

Audacity of prayer

Days I prayed, nights I prayed,
A price was calculated as my requests were laid
Before the throne of God.

The debt was raised, the debt was raised!
Who has such funds to pay,
That it might be just for God to help a man?

The Lamb was slain! His blood was bled!
The Son of God suffered God's wrath instead
Of men, so a just salvation might be pleaded.

Open up the storehouses. Let the blessing go forth.
For such blood is priceless in worth,
Paid in full to satisfy God to act in mercy and justice.

O the blood

As I grow to know the One Who brought me to be,
I can't help but despise the moments I was blind to His mercy,
And my praise will never match how worthy
He is, but I'll press forward in my thankfulness
And sin less as I'm perfected by the Sinless One to be conformed to His likeness.
One day we'll be fully dwelling in His brightness.
Without pain in the slightest, degree.
This is the power of God unto salvation for me.

All things connected to Him carry weight,
And by Him all things that are have been created.
No one else aided, and for Him that wasn't His full power paraded.
But on the cross Jesus satisfied God's wrath, full and unabated,
Whereas God had no other contender to oppose,
None but He alone could save men from His blows,
And so, He sent His only begotten Son to show,
That when it comes to His power of love all might know,
That love is not us toward God, but that for us His Son's blood flows.
Thus, God's power of love which displays His majesty
Saved me from a just Hell when I was still His enemy.
I had nothing within me to motivate Him,
But His own might to love,
Despite my complete lack was His motivation.

When I see, with honesty, the unworthy mess that I am.
I, can't help myself and cry, knowing I don't deserve the Lamb.
But He reminds me by His Spirit of the mighty grace of God,
And again I'm drawn from my tears to lift up holy hands and sing,
Mighty Mighty, is the Lord my King
Holy Holy, His greatness is beyond all knowing,
True and Truthful, All promises are yes in Him.
God is love, manifest when Jesus shed His blood.

I have returned from Brazil. I will post something or other in the next day or days.


God bless you my friends. Peace

To share the testimony

Like bitterness to my bones is my sin to me,
Like a scorching east wind does guilt condemn my memories.
Like a criminal held bound, justice becomes so threatening.
My loudest plea, without a sound, reveals my heart. It's deafening.

Where shall our help come from?
Is there any safe place?
We've heard of You, but have we ever seen Your face?

Where can we rest our heads,
Without fear of death?
Is there any hope, any salvation left?

Like struggling arms against tossing waves, is my makeshift peace.
Though even if the boat survived awhile, I could never bring the storm to cease.
As the words continue coming, my evasion proves too weak.
Angry I continued running, trashing tablets from mountain peaks.

Everything seems so wrong.
Judging by how we've lived,
Why should they all be spared? What more for me do you have to give?

Like a wicked people's salvation, planned before they knew.
To send a foreign prophet, of an enemy, to deliver them to You.
Like the meekest man alive, revealing every truth.
Only to know he's just as much in need of God to make his life new.

Every man is undeserving, but God's love is great and strong.
He finds His satisfaction in showing He's mighty, and why He willfully suffered so long.
Man has no other anchor to save him from death,
Besides the Lord of glory, powerful to hide men in the Rock's cleft.

Who can fathom as much:
Christ hanging on a tree.
Like Joshua's enemies, the Lord took that place for me.

And so what is my response to God, for I cannot repay
The grace that He's given me in Jesus, though I can surely relay,
The testimony of God's Righteous One, my Savior, the only Way.




There are some points I'd like to revise at some point, that just don't work well at this point at the moment...but until then.

Fake Money Gospel Tracts

Fake Money Gospel Tracts

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I always find the age-old argument about "Christian-tipping" a bit interesting for a several reasons. (I linked the post because of these thoughts, not to attack anyone)

1. As the total cost of the meal increases, does the value of the labor increase? (not referencing the size of the party, which undoubtedly would cause such an increase) Does the value of the labor matter?
2. Do people realize that tipping is uniquely a "western" activity? Should it be seen as a moral activity because it's the cultural norm in the U.S.? (It's not happening in Kenya, and in Brazil the 10% is added on automatically.)
3. Should we tip individuals in other work capacities with whom we share the Gospel? Why or why not?
   
4. Are the particulars of the situation important in tipping? Are there such categories as evangelistic tipping and non-evangelistic tipping? What makes evangelistic tipping different from non-evangelistic tipping?
   
5. Is tipping well attempting to be shrewd with our money? Should Christians be focused on evangelizing with their money more often?
   

Questions to ask yourself

What follows is a list of questions designed to probe your own heart:

1. Am I mad at people, or at the deceiver under whose deception they've fallen?
2. Am I just as easily deceived? What ways am I guarding my way according to His word?
3. Who do I find hardest to love? Why? How can I love them the next time I meet them or communicate with them.
4. Is there anyone I'm holding a grudge against? Do I consider this brother or sister better than myself?
5. Do I tell my heart that I am without sin? Do I perceive my iniquity as less abhorrent before God than others'.
6. How quickly have I been to praise God when good news of His power and work are told to me?
7. Am I self-conscious about my responses to others' in accordance with my own heart's desired perception, or in accordance with the truth of the Spirit's guidance as to how I should respond?