Samson’s Downfall

We can all learn some lessons from Samson’s life.  Samson was a Nazarite from birth and was from the Danite clan, he was a judge who had some real character flaws, Samson was not grounded in the Lord!!  Samson lacked a strong character, yes, he was gifted by God but not committed to the principles he needed to be committed to.  Samson lacked spiritual discernment and without these things, it led to his downfall.  Samson was born to be a deliverer and was going to be used to help deliver the Israelites from the Philistines which he did help.  Samson’s lack of spiritual discernment, plus a weak character, being easily tempted by women of weak character themselves, brought forth his downfall.

Think of how many men who claimed to be believers have had this same problem down through the ages.  Why do you think the enemy of our souls uses porn to get boys and girls and men and women addicted?  Think about this, why was Samson playing games with this lady, flirting with her instead of coming right out and telling her why he was born or getting away from her completely?  Just looking at Samson’s life, and how easily he was deceived, reminds me of how easy Eve was deceived by the sin of the flesh and was easily enticed and how Adam freely took of the fruit and also sinned.

Sins of the flesh are not easily resisted.  Look at King David and Bathsheba, the lust of the eyes, a fleshy sin, and once again a man’s reputation was destroyed in God’s eyes.  And that wasn’t the end, he had to cover over his secret sin, so he had her husband killed in the war.  David sent a letter by Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, telling Joab to put Uriah on the front line, so in the heat of the battle Joab did, then he withdrew his troops and Uriah was killed.  Now you see how secret sins will be exposed and how one sin can easily lead to another and separate us from God and how painful sin can be when held onto and not truly repented of.

Just think about the pain and suffering it will cost, the longer you put off truly repenting and confessing your sins to the Lord, it can be devastating.  Please read Psalms 51:1-20, “For the music director: a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he went to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your mercy. According to You great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was born in iniquity and in sin when my mother conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inner being. Make me know wisdom inwardly. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, so the bones You crushed may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence—take not Your Ruach ha-Kodesh from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Your ways. and sinners will return to You. Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God—God of my salvation. Then my tongue will sing for joy of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You would not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it, nor be pleased by burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God You will not despise.”   

If I remember right, I think it took David around a year before he truly repented and he was truly miserable.  Now think of what happened to Samson because he foolishly told the secret of his great strength, he lost his eyesight and his so called lover, and even though in the end he got his revenge, it cost him his life.  Just think how differently his story could have turned out if he hadn’t given into the lust of the flesh.  I am sure we could all relate to this story in our own lives and say, if we only hadn’t given in to the lust of the flesh, things could have been so different.

I want you to know there is forgiveness for the truly repentant sinner who has a change of heart and mind, ready to leave their life of sin and follow the Lord.  By faith, confess your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness and to dwell in your heart forever.

Now please read John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly and to set the captive free, praise His holy name.  Let Him do this for you today!!  I pray this has been a help and a blessing and also an encouragement to you!!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  

Priorities

This is a time to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

This is a time to get closer to the Lord and to get our priorities straight.

This is also a time of repentance and reflection on what we hold as a priority.

Please read Mark 12:30-31, “And you shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 22:37-40, “And He said to him, ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Now please read Deuteronomy 6:4-7, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart. You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”

Many times, when people get their eyes off the Lord and onto other things, they will start to backslide and little by little they exchange their first love for whatever they become preoccupied with, and then if the person is not careful, that will take the place of the Lord in their lives and become their idol.  

Please read Revelations 2:1-7, “To the angel of Messiah’s community in Ephesus write: ‘Thus says the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden menorot: I know all about your deeds and your toil and your patient endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. You have tested those who call themselves emissaries and are not, and have found them to be liars. You have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But this I have against you, that you have forsaken your first love. Remember then from where you have fallen. Repent and do the deeds you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place unless you repent. Yet you have this going for you, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.”

If this is you, you know what you need to do to get right with the Lord, remember what caused you to fall.  Then truly repent by turning from your sins and turning to the Lord, confessing your sins and asking the good Lord to forgive you along with having a change of heart and mind.  And then get your priorities straight and do the things that you once did!!  Enough said, have a super day and may the good Lord bless all of you!!

The Lord Is So Worthy

Question: How are you coping with life?  We all face struggles and hardships, at times, and we are living in very difficult days.  I want to encourage each of you to hang in there and not give up.  Remember every storm ends with a silver lining, then when the sun shines through it is sort of like going from the desert to the mountaintop.  Then the refreshing times come, and then new hope arises in the heart.  Every time we experience a testing, depending on how we respond to it, in other words, if we pass the test, the Lord will bless us and lead and guide us and continue to use us to further his kingdom through our lives in some form or other.  Praise be to the name of Jesus he is so worthy!!

I am so glad that the Lord’s love extends far beyond what many people’s love does.  When He judges He knows all the facts, so He doesn’t just throw around false accusations like so many people do, but He brings forth real facts and He allows His precious Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin so that we could repent and confess our sins, which means to have a change of heart and mind turning from sin and turning to God.  I keep saying something to this effect, it would be so much more effective if people showed how much they love, instead of just talking about it.  Talk is very ineffective in some situations, plus actions speak much louder than words.  

Getting back to hardships, God’s Word talks about the end times and tells us what to expect please read:  Matthew 24:1-31, “Now when Yeshua went out and was going away from the Temple, His disciples came up to point out to Him the Temple buildings. ‘Don’t you see all these?’ He responded to them. ‘Amen, I tell you, not one stone will be left here on top of another—every one will be torn down!’ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?’ Yeshua answered them, ‘Be careful that no one leads you astray! For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will lead many astray. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must happen but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of My name. And then many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one other. Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This Good News of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. So when you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’ which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one on the roof must not go down to take what is in his house, and the one in the field must not turn back to get his coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! Pray that your escape will not happen in winter, or on Shabbat. For then there will be great trouble, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. And unless those days were cut short, no one would be delivered. But for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Messiah,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. Or, ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. For wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather. But immediately after the trouble of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. He will send out His angels with a great shofar, and they will gather together His chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

     

I want to encourage everyone, although we are living in the last days, we can expect to see all these things come about as time goes on, the Lord is still with us and we need not fear.  Please read Hebrews 13:1-6, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers—for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as if you were fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you also were suffering bodily. Let marriage be held in honor among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. Keep your lifestyle free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. For God Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you,’ so that with confidence we say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear  What will man do to me?’”

The Word of God also says if God is for us, who can be against you.  Now please read Romans 8:28-39, “Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say in view of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? It is Messiah, who died, and moreover was raised, and is now at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.’ But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

I hope this has been a help, a blessing and an encouragement to you, the Lord knows how to take care of His own and we will praise His holy name.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may all of you have a super day!!  And don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is Worthy!!