Romans 1:8- 17 Paul addresses the saints.. the called.. the believers in Rome and begins with a word of blessing.. "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."   He expressed his thankfulness to God for these brothers and sisters in Christ.  Their faith had been "proclaimed throughout the whole world."  Paul, himself, has been one of those proclaiming it!  He had been praying for them and deeply desired to go to them. 

Paul would get to Rome, eventually, but it would be under the guard of the Roman soldiers.  That did not bother him at all.. for he was longing to meet the believers and share with them both encouragement and faith.. and perhaps impart some "spiritual gifts" too. 

Paul uses this letter to share his heart about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He felt "under obligation " to preach the gospel,  He was "eager" .. he was hopeful.. and he was confident.  The gospel, Paul stated, "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.. "  Everyone.. Jew or Gentile, wise or foolish, rich or poor... who believes this good news will find salvation through faith in the "righteousness of God" that is the heart of the gospel. 

Verses 18-32 go on to explain very clearly why the gospel is so vital. It is the way of salvation.. salvation from the "wrath of God "that "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." God, in His grace, shows us our sinfulness.. our depravity.. our lostness.. our utter hopelessness, so that we will see how much we need His salvation. Then He sent His Son to bring that salvation as a perfect gift of Love and Truth and Life. The unrighteous try to suppress this truth.. we need to proclaim it!

Father in heaven, thank You for the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Thank You for the Word of God and the power of the Truth that You have presented to all who will listen and believe.  Thank You that while we were lost, You came to find us. Thank You that while we were walking in darkness, You sent the Light. We pray for those all around us who are still without hope, without love, without Jesus.. give us the boldness to speak up.. to preach the gospel which is the power of God for salvation. Forgive us for not speaking up nearly enough.  Come, Holy Spirit and fill us with a greater Love and a greater  eagerness to share our faith with others. We ask this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

 Romans 1 :1-7 Paul's introduction to this letter is one long sentence.. filled to the brim with his personal statement of faith and an extension of grace to all who read or heard it... 

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus.."  This is who Paul belongs to .. who he has bowed before.. who he has pledged himself to.. this is the foundation of his identity.. a bond-servant.. a slave. 

"..called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.."   Paul was called.. invited and appointed for the purposes of God.. specifically for the proclamation of the gospel. 

".. which He promised beforehand through the prophets in the holy Scriptures.. " Let there be no confusion about the gospel of God.  Paul wants every reader to understand that this is not something that God just now thought up!  It has been His plan since the beginning and He spoke about it over and over through men of God that He chose to appoint as prophets. There is only one true Gospel and this is what Paul declared. 

".. concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh.. "  The same one that God spoke about.. is the same one who came into the family of David's descendants.  He is the legitimate heir of the throne.  Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High God and the son of David. 

"..who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,"  Only the power of God could bring the dead to Life.. this Truth has been proclaimed by the Spirit of God. 

".. through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring abut the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake, "  Paul's testimony is that God has, by grace, given him the role of an apostle to the Gentiles so that all people can be saved.. all people can call on the Name of Jesus.. all can have the "obedience of faith".  All can submit and surrender to the One who saves.. Jesus Christ.

".. among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints;"  This greeting is to those who have been called with the same calling that Paul had.. those who accepted the invitation of God to live as His chosen people... and that includes the Romans.. and us too!

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Thank You Father!  Fill us with Your Spirit that Christ will receive glory and honor and praise through our own testimonies of the salvation that we have been given through Your grace and power and peace.. Amen. 

 Ruth 1-4  Before leaving the Old Testament, there is one more story that took place during the "days when the judges governed.. "  This is the story told in the book of Ruth. 

It begins with a family that lived in Bethlehem.. Elimelech and Naomi, along with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion.  We don't know too much about this little family, but we know that they left their home in Bethlehem and moved to the foreign country of Moab due to a famine.  Out of curiosity I looked up the meaning of their names... Mahon means "sick" or weak.  Chilion means "pining" or failing.. consumption. Perhaps this sheds some light on why the family moved away from their homeland and inheritance.. sickly children would not survive long in a famine. 

We are not told how long the family lived in Moab before Elimelech died. Naomi was left alone with two sons to raise.Then the boys grew up they married Moabite women. For 10 years more they lived, but then both of Naomi's sons died. Without anything more to keep her in Moab, Naomi decided to return to her home in Judah. Both of her daughters- in -law began the journey with her, but Orpah turned back to her father's house. Ruth would not return, staying loyal to Naomi and moving to Bethlehem with her. 

This is such a wonderful story.. Ruth's provision for Naomi, gleaning in a field of barley.  Naomi's provision for Ruth, teaching her the ways of the Law and the role of a redeemer..  In a time where there "was no king in Israel.." and "everyone did what was right in his own eyes.. " we are introduced to two people who chose to devote themselves to God and to family.  Ruth was from Moab.. where all she knew was idolatry.. yet she chose to go with Naomi  and pledged herself to the God of Israel.  Boaz was the son of Rahab, the harlot rescued from the city of Jericho.  His father was Salmon from the tribe of Judah. Boaz was a man of faith, a man with integrity.. a man who became a redeemer for his "close relative" .. a man who obeyed the Law of God and married Ruth.   When they married and had a son, they named him Obed ... serving.This "servant "  would become the father of Jesse.. and the grandfather of David. 

Father in heaven, thank You for the word that teaches us that even in a rebellious and troubled time.. those who honor You are blessed.  Naomi thought that she had only received bitterness at Your hand.. she did not know what blessings You had in store for her! Thank You for the example of Ruth who left all behind so that she could belong to You. And thank You for the example of Boaz.. a man of God in the midst of a troubled world.  May we rest in Your promises and trust You with all our hearts.  May we not lean on what we understand but on what You Know!  Thank You for loving us always.. even when we walk through times of discouragement. We seek You first, Lord.. Your Kingdom and Your righteousness.  Fill us Spirit of God we pray... in Jesus' name and for His glory. Amen. 

Judges 19-21 The last three chapters  of the book of Judges tell a tragic story of the people of Israel.  It begins and ends with this reminder.. "Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel.. (19:1) and "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (21:25)

The story begins with a "certain Levite".  This man lived in Ephraim and his concubine/wife was from Bethlehem.  The wife committed adultery and left to return to her father's house in Judah. After 4 months the man went to speak with her and take her home.  Her father kept delaying their departure until after 5 days they took off towards Jerusalem .  Not wanting to stop overnight in a non-Jewish town the couple and their servant and donkeys went into the territory of Benjamin to the town of Gibeah. They sat in the town square until an old man came from his fields and invited them to stay with him. 

Everything was great until some "worthless fellows" came, pounding on the door and demanding that the man give them the Levite so they could abuse him. Instead, the man offered his daughter and the wife of the Levite.  Sounds just like what happened to Lot in the town of Sodom... 

The story gets worse.. as the Levite took his wife/ concubine and gave her to the men.. who raped and abused her all night long.  At the dawn of the next day she came back to the house and laid down on the doorstep and died. The man loaded her body on his donkey and traveled back to his home where he proceeded to cut up her body into 12 pieces and" sent her throughout the territory of Israel."

It took this horrible tragedy to finally bring the people of Israel together...all the tribes, except Benjamin.. for they defended the wickedness done in Gibeah. A war was waged against the tribe of Benjamin and at first they stood pretty strong. The army of Benjamin stood 26,000 strong plus 700 "choice men".  The army of the rest of Israel numbered 400,000. 

Israel went to Bethel "and inquired of God".  Judah's army was sent in first and 22,000 of their men were slaughtered. They again went to inquire of the Lord. They wept before the Lord and were again told to go up and fight against Benjamin. This time 16,000 men were killed.  For the third time "all the sons of Israel and all the people went up and came to Bethel and wept; thus they remained there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord." The Lord again told them to go up against Benjamin and this time they were victorious.  They planned an ambush, drew out the army, and defeated them.  25,100 Benjamite soldiers were killed.  The city of Gibeah was destroyed. The remaining men of Benjamin ran and many more were defeated along the way. Only 600 men remained of the whole tribe of Benjamin. 

After a little while the rest of Israel began to mourn the loss of the tribe of Benjamin.. "And the sons of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin and said, 'One tribe is cut off from Israel today.' " They swore that they would not give any of their daughters to marry with those remaining men from Benjamin, but they saw a need for the tribe to continue so they made a plan.  The first thing they did was find a tribe that did not send anyone to fight against Benjamin.  The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead had not participated, so Israel sent soldiers to kill and destroy all of that city.. except for the virgin women. 400 young maidens were abducted and given to the sons of Benjamin.   This was not enough.. so then the elders came up with another plan.  They wouldn't give their daughters to the men of Benjamin.. but they would allow them to hide in the vineyards until the festival that was held in Shiloh. Then when the women came to dance they could come out of the vineyards and catch a wife from the daughters of Shiloh.  And so they did. 

Father in heaven,  what sadness is found in the stories of the judges of Israel. Sin was everywhere.  They were so far from the nation that You made them to be.  In fact, they still are in so many ways.  One day.. there will be a King in Israel and He will rule with all authority and righteousness.  The world awaits such a day, for we are weary and burdened by the constant war and destruction. Even as it was in those days, women suffer so much Lord.. have mercy and show kindness please Lord.. to the lost, to the abused, to the enslaved, to the suffering. Let the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ fill this world as Your Kingdom expands to every land we pray.. in the Name of Jesus Christ the King. Amen 

 Judges 17-18  There is a change in the narrative for these last 5 chapters of the book of Judges. For 350 years, the tribes of Israel had lived their own way. Each tribe had become independent of the others.  They had all forgotten the Law of the Lord.. they no longer went up to the tabernacle in Shiloh to worship together... " In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." (17:6)

One of these men..was a man in Ephraim named Micah. Micah stole money from his mother but then gave it back to her when she cursed the one who stole it.  Interestingly enough, Micah's mother then blessed him and took some of the silver and had it made into an idol.  Micah set up a shrine to this idol and made an ephod.  He set up his son to be a priest at first.  Later, a Levite who lived in the territory of Judah traveled into this territory of Ephraim and came to Micah's house.  When Micah found out this man was a Levite, he asked him to be the priest for him there.  He gave him wages, clothes, and a home.  Micah felt blessed, "Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest." 

This is so sad! Shiloh was located in Ephraim. The tabernacle was there. The priests of the Lord were there. True worship was supposed to be done in Shiloh.  The Israelites were never supposed to make graven images or worship false gods.  A Levite was never meant to become a priest for an idol worshipping Israelite. This was so wrong.  And.. more evil was coming to Micah's house. 

Chapter 18 Again we are reminded "In those days there was no king in Israel.. "  The tribe of Dan found themselves in difficulty because the land they were supposed to inherit had been taken over by the Philistines.  Joshua 19:40-48 tells us that the territory given them included "Zorah and Eshtaol.. Timnah.. over to Joppa".   Samson grew up in the area between Zorah and Eshtaol. Timnah is where he found his first wife.  From this area "the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, valiant men from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; "  These men set out on this journey.. away from the land God had given them.. and headed north. 

When the men came to Micah's house they stayed there. Hearing the Levite they recognized his voice.  The young man explained how he had become a priest in Micah's house. The Danites asked him to inquire of God... "please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous."  The priest replied, "Go in peace; your way in which you are going has the Lord's approval." So off they went. 

The men continued their journey until they came to Laish.  This area was the northern most part of Israel.  It was home to a small group of peaceful people who lived "in security".  They were similar to the Sidonians but far enough away from them that they had no dealings with them.   The 5 Danites were quite pleased with this area, so they went on the long journey back to their home and convinced the whole tribe to move to this wonderful new land.. " a place where there is no lack of anything that is on earth." 

Dan had 600 armed men with them as they all traveled back to Laish. They came to Micah's house in the hill country of Ephraim on the way. When they were told about the priest, the graven image and the ephod.. they went in to take it. They also convinced the priest to come with them. When Micah found out what they had done he went after them.  Micah cried out to them. They answered him, "What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together.?"   Micah answered "You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how can you say to me, 'What is the matter with you?' "  Micah could not fight that battle, so the Danites took his idol and went to Laish. 

The men of Dan struck down the people who lived in this new area and settled there. They called it Dan. They set up their idol and stayed there until they were taken into captivity. 

Father, there is so much that we don't know about why things happen like they do... Why did Micah set us his own idol when he  could have and should have gone up to Shiloh and worshiped You?  Why did the Danites take Micah's  false religion, go to a land that was not given to them, and slaughter a quiet, peaceful people? Why did You not stop them?  Why do people.. why do we ..continue to "do what is right in our own sights" and forget that we have a Mighty, True God  who has given us the way of Life? Forgive us Father  for choosing what is pleasing to ourselves but evil in Your sight.  Transform us.. HolySpirit.. invade our lives and our minds that we might choose Your ways and do what is right in Your eyes..  We ask for Your will to be done, Father God.  We yield to You humbly and completely.. help us we pray.. in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

 Judges 16  One last story about Samson is given to us in this chapter of Judges.  The first few verses describe a conquest in Gaza. Samson went there and found a harlot.  The Philistines planned to attack him in the morning, but Samson slipped away at midnight, taking the gates of this city to the top of the mountain. 

Then, Samson met Delilah.. and he fell in love. Delilah was approached by the Philistine lords and offered a large sum of money to betray Samson by finding out the source of his strength.  Three times Delilah asked Samson how he could be bound.. three times he told her a false story.. three times she fell for it and tried it!  Samson did not learn his lesson.. so when Delilah asked again.. nagging him to tell the truth.. he foolishly told her the whole story.  He was a Nazarite. to God..  His hair had never been cut. If his head was shaved he would lose his strength. 

Delilah betrayed Samson.  His hair was cut. The Philistines came.. and he was weak. ".. he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.."  They seized him. They blinded him. Then they took him to Gaza and imprisoned  him.  "However, the hair of his head began to grow again...."

  Taken to entertain the Philistines at a feast for their god, Dagon, Samson was allowed to rest his hands on the two main pillars in their temple. With one last prayer Samson pulled down the pillars causing the whole building to collapse.  Samson died..  killing thousands of the drunken Philistine nobles.  

" O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." Samson prayed... and God answered. 

This man had every opportunity to do great things for the Lord God.. but he wasted the gifts that God had given him.   He was a Nazarite.. set apart for the Lord.  His purpose had been proclaimed by the angel of the Lord.. ".. and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines."  Despite Samson's foolish choices with women.. he did "begin" to conquer the Philistines.  We will never know, this side of heaven, whether Samson could have accomplished much more had he been faithful to God in all his decisions.  I guess in the same way, we could all think the same thing about our own lives.. If we had been more faithful.. more devoted.. more trusting.. and more obedient to the Lord.. what more could our God do in us and through us? 

Father in heaven, pour out Your Spirit upon us so that we might not waste one more minute of our lives, but serve You and love You with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.  All we have comes from You. You have a plan for our lives and have set us aside to be Your servants.. Your children.. and to accomplish Your purposes in each of us.  Have Your way O Lord!  Remember us! Strengthen us to do Your good and perfect will. We ask this in the Name of our Risen Lord. Amen. 

 Judges 14-15  Samson grew up in Zorah, near the border of Judah's territory. The Philistines were ruling over Israel at that time because of their sinfulness. Samson went to the city of Timnah and found a woman that "looked good" to him and asked his parents to arrange a marriage.  They did not want him to marry a Philistine woman, but he was determined, so they made the arrangements.  We are told that "it was of the Lord" for this to happen for "He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines." 

Samson and his parents went down to Timnah where Samson confronted a lion and killed it with his bare hands.  He didn't tell anyone, even his parents about the lion.  Later, he went back down again and found honey in the carcass of the lion, which he ate on the way to his wedding feast.  The Philistines brought 30 companions to be with Samson for his wedding.  He made a wager with them for 30 linen wraps and changes of clothes, if they could figure out his riddle. "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." 

Of course, the men could not answer the riddle, so they threatened Samson's new bride. She wept for the rest of the wedding feast.. 7 days!  Finally, he told her the answer and she told the men. Samson was angry!  He went down to another city, killed 30 men and brought back the spoil to give the 30 men their changes of clothes. Then, he left and went home.. without his wife. 

Later, Samson went back to Timnah to claim his bride, only to find out that her father had given her to his best man.  Samson was so angry that this time he took 300 foxes, tied them tail to tail in two's, set a flaming torch between them and let them all go into the vineyards and groves of the Philistines. Everything was destroyed. The Philistines found out that Samson had done this because of his wife's father.. so they went up and burned both Samson's wife and her father.  In retaliation, Samson slaughtered a great number of Philistines and left to go live in "the cleft of the rock of Etam." 

Trouble followed Samson.. the Philistines came to Etam and confronted the men of Judah who lived there. Judah responded, not by defending Samson, but by binding him with rope and giving him over to the Philisitnes.  But.. the Lord intervened once more.. "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands, "  Samson took a jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand men with it. 

Samson called upon the Lord who came to his rescue once again, giving him water from a "hollow place" so that he was revived. "So he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines." 

Samson is anything but a typical man, let alone a man who is wise or "godly" or anyone that we would choose to be a leader... but, God chose him.. in a really remarkable way.. and used him to inflict destruction upon the Philistines. The Lord was with Samson through it all. And.. through it all, Samson continued to call out to the Lord to remember him and help him. 

Father, You are the source of our strength and our hope. You will not forget us or forsake us when we call on You.  Help us to learn from the lives of the judges.. help us to never lose hope in You,  our God who does great wonders, who chooses us to do Your will throughout our lives.  We are not perfect, we make bad choices, we are weak, and we recognize our great need for the Savior. We bring our burdens and lay them at Your feet.. and we take up the yoke of Jesus Christ, relying fully on Your grace and mercy.  Have Your way, Lord, in us today we pray.  In Jesus' name. Amen.