“And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. Jdg. 16:4
Up to this point of the story, it never said that Samson loved the women that he had encounters with. Now we see that Samson loved Delilah. The lesson we learn is if you keep on dabbling and entertaining sin, one day you will love it to your destruction.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jn. 4:10
Jesus knew the Samaritan woman was a fornicator and he had no problem exposing it in her life. However, when he approached her, He did not come to her with a list of religious rules to obey or with a condemning heart, He came offering her living water. Hallelujah! Living water is the answer for every sinner.
“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi.” Jdg. 15:17
Samson may not have been the best example of a godly man, but one thing he did that was right is to throw away that jawbone. He recognized that the jawbone was not the implement of his victory, but that it was the Spirit of God who gave him the victory.
“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Rom. 2:16
If you don’t have any secrets there won’t be anything to judge. Keep your heart exposed before God.
“Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” Jdg. 11:24
The people of Ammon came and made war with Israel because they wanted to take land from them. Jephthah spoke boldly, and maybe even a little sarcastic when he told the people of Ammon to take what their god Chemosh would give them. Shame on us Christians when we want what the world has, for they should want what we have. If we want what this world has, it will come through the god of this world, and he has come to steal, kill and destroy.
“Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you… Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!… Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 24:25, 26:24,28
Paul testified before two governors and one king. He got a reaction out of all three. Felix got scared, Festus told Paul he was a mad man and King Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a Christian. The scriptures do not tell us if any of these men were persuaded to the point that they become a Christian, but one thing is clear, Paul preached with authority and power. We believers don’t save souls, we preach to them. We must preach to get a reaction. Not by irritating people so they finally shout back in anger, but with genuine Holy Ghost authority. You cannot do this unless you are filled with the Spirit. We don’t need evangelism techniques and outreaches, we need believers to be filled with the Spirit.
“And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.” Acts 22:18
We all know that the Lord allows us to go through many trials to perfect us, but don’t forget that He also leads us totally out of and away from trials too. Probably more times than we ever realize.
“And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.” Ez. 11:5
Just as each of us need the blood of Christ to wash our sins away, we need the word of God to wash our thoughts away.
“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:26-27
Paul was pure from the blood of all men. The main reason is that he preached the whole counsel of God. The ear tickling preachers of our day, who preach what the people want to hear, are not be able to say that they are pure from the blood of men. To bring this to a more personal level, do you believe and live the whole counsel of God. Do you believe the whole bible? Do you believe it is all for today? You may believe a good portion of it, but that is not sufficient, you must believe, live and preach the WHOLE counsel of God.
