Category: Uncategorized
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The folly of idolatry (Judges 17-18, Psalm 21, Acts 1)
Where do you look for strength? Do you sometimes think, if I could just have that, then I’d be ok? In Judges 17-18 we see the folly of idolatry. An idol is anything we turn or trust in apart from God. It can be a good thing that then takes God’s place and becomes harmful…
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A superhero? (Judges 12-16, Psalm 146, Luke 24)
He’s almost a superhero with his super strength. I’m sure many young boys are impressed by him, it’s hard not to be, as we hear of him grabbing a donkey’s jawbone and defeating God’s enemies! And yet, Samson shows us how flawed human leaders are. It wasn’t so much that power went to his head…
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Keep me as the apple of your eye (Judges 9-11, Psalm 17, Luke 23)
“Keep me as the apple of your eye” – what an amazing thing for David to pray to God (Psalm 17:8). What does it mean? It’s an expression Moses had prayed about God’s love for His people Israel (Deuteronomy 32:10). To be the apple of God’s eye surely means God has His eye on you…
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The problem of power (Judges 7-8, Luke 22)
God had been so clear. He had picked a weak man from a weak clan. He had reduced the army down to 300 to show the victory had come from the Lord and not from their strength and yet something seemed to go to Gideon’s head. I wonder if we get a hint of it…
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How bad can things get? (Judges 4-6, Luke 21)
God’s people had turned away from Him again, so God handed them over to the Canaanites who oppressed them for 20 years, then God gave them rescue through very unlikely rescuer and means, a woman and a tent peg (see Judges 4-5). Surely God’s people would learn not to turn away from Him after this?…
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“Things have never been this bad” (Judges 1-3, Psalm 16, Luke 20)
“Things have never been so bad” – that was what one man told me recently about the state of the world. I knew what he meant, and yet there’s a sense that every generation probably feels that, and when you open the book of Judges you see that things have been really bad before. How…
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Choose this day whom you will serve, (Joshua 22-24, Psalm 116, Luke 19)
God made some enormous promises to Abraham. These were totally undeserved promises, we discover in Joshua 24:2 that Abraham’s father worshipped foreign gods. Yet God promised to make a great nation, give them a land and they would live under God’s blessing and one of his descendants would bring blessing to the whole world. It…
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What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Joshua 18-21, Psalm 15, Luke 18)
It’s a crucial question, and yet it’s also a crazy question – “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18). It’s crucial for we will all stand before Almighty God, and yet it’s crazy for you cannot do anything to inherit, an inheritance cannot be earned, it is given. How would you answer?…
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How much faith is required? (Joshua 14-17, Luke 17)
How much faith do you need? How do you get more? In Luke 17, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. Just before this, Jesus has challenged them to give no offence and take no offence. He’s told them to be careful not to cause another believer to sin, he’s warned them how serious…
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Israel and ethnic cleansing (Joshua 9-13, Luke 16)
Whatever you make of what is happening in Israel, we can all agree it is awful to see such suffering. It is strange to be reading through the book of Joshua while all this is happening. What are we to make of the conquest of Canaan and the driving out of the nations? The first…