Welcome to River of Life, First Baptist Lake Monroe and Ridge Crest Bible Church’s Chronological Bible Reading Plan.  Over the next several years, the members of these sister churches will be reading through their Bibles together in a chronological way, following the events of the Bible in the order in which they occurred rather than in the order in which they were recorded.  In addition the pastor and adult Bible study teachers will be teaching from the same passages we read each week.  At times, additional passages from the Psalms will be provided along with the chronological reading portion.

     I hope that you will prayerfully consider making a commitment to reading through the Bible with us.  As you approach each days’ passage and questions let me encourage you to: 

Pray – Pray before you read.  Ask God to make the scripture real to you and show you how it applies to your life.

Read – Read the scripture passage(s).

Ask – Ask yourself, “in what I just read is there a lesson to learn, a truth to embrace, an example to follow, a sin to avoid, a mistake to dodge, a change to make or a promise to claim?”

Meditate – Think about what you have read.  We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).

Remember God’s promise and condition in Jeremiah 29:13

 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

If you miss a lesson and would like it emailed to you,

 send me an email at rolwebperson@yahoo.com

Want a link to read the Scriptures?

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Monday, June 1 – Read for today: Judges 11

Faith and Folly

      Rejection is never an easy thing to deal with and Jephthah knew it well. He was an illegitimate child and was expelled from his home by his half-brothers. This type of rejection would be hard for anyone to deal with and certainly planted a base of insecurity in his life. If we look at our own lives we can always find some baggage we have to work around and sometimes it takes years to move forward as we would like. Jephthah being illegitimate was the first strike which was not his fault but he had to bear the stigma, second was the rejection of his half-brothers, thirdly we don’t see a father to support him, next we see that he got into the wrong crowd of worthless men and then was only approached by the Israel when he could do something for them.

      Most people I know would probably have slammed the door at this point in anger and revenge but Jephthah indicates that the Lord could deliver the enemy into his hands. The elders promised him a position of leadership and it is no wonder that he had his doubts about this. He is referred to in Hebrews 11 as one of faith in God even though he had his down sides. We need to realize that as we allow God to use us in different ways that He is using imperfect people with many flaws. This should humble us in our service and keep pride pushed down as all glory goes to our Lord. Yes we see a weakness as he feels he has to control the matter by offering God something to secure His favor. He already said that it would be God that would give the victory so why try to bribe God for an end result?

     A lesson here for us today is to simply trust God and not ourselves. Missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, once said “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply”. The problem comes when we want to do things our way.

     Pride gets behind the will and God will not honor that and fear takes over in our hearts. Jephthah promised to sacrifice whatever came out of his house first to the Lord if God gave him victory over Ammon. He was crushed when his daughter came out first but this was a vow that he did not have to make. Human sacrifice was not practiced in Israel and I believe from the context that the sacrifice was celibacy for the daughter.

     Let us all learn from this story the importance of giving God our hearts for healing from insecurities and believing in His love and power to win the victories in our lives.

 Thoughts to consider:

 Isaiah 12 1-3---What hope do you see in these verses that God can bless us even in our imperfect lives because He is ready to forgive?

 Proverbs 3:5—How important is full trust in the Lord as we face life each day?

  For Further Study:

 Daniel 3:26-30—How did the boldness in Daniel’s three friends speak of their trust in God and what was the testimony before the king?

 Daniel 6:19-23—How can we bring glory to God by taking a stand today for our Lord in a world that is hostile toward Christians in many ways?



Tuesday, June 2 - Read for today: Judges 12

Fighting against ourselves

     When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the Lord told them to kill all the folks living there.  He said, “If you don’t, they will prove to be a distraction to you and they will cause you to worship other Gods and will cause you to fall”.  They didn’t do it, and they ended up worshipping false gods.

     The country continued its downward spiral until, eventually, the Israelites forgot who their true enemies were and began to turn on one another.  In this chapter, the Ephraimites get ticked at the Gileadites and accuse them of leaving them out of the battle.  The Gileadites answer, “No, we called and asked for your help, and you ignored us.”  Then, they forget who they are supposed to be fighting and start fighting among themselves, brother against brother, kin against kin.

     If we are not careful, we can do the same thing in the church.  Sometimes we get so passionate about our opinion about this theology, or that theology; or so passionate about this ministry or that, that we forget who the real enemy is and begin spending more time arguing with and attacking other Christians with differing views than we do attempting to lead folks to Christ and to make disciples.

     During the War of Northern Aggression (some refer to it as the Civil War), the confederates had a general named Stonewall Jackson.  Jackson was known for his uncanny maneuvers which often caught the enemy off guard.  “In April 1863, with General ‘Fighting Joe’ Hooker beginning a new offensive in Virginia with a Union army about twice Lee’s strength, it was decided that Jackson would move stealthily round the right flank of the Union army while the rest of the Confederate force held the Union troops at bay. It was a bold stratagem, fraught with danger, but Jackson set off early in the morning. It took until the afternoon for his 28,000 men to move through a thickly forested area called the Wilderness. The troops on the Union army’s western flank had no notion of what was happening and were astounded when fleeing deer, rabbits and squirrels suddenly burst out of the woods at them, followed by thousands of Confederate soldiers firing muskets, brandishing bayonets and screaming their rebel yell (a horrible terrifying sound that has been likened to the wail of a banshee). One of the Union commanders said that the attack was like ‘the fury of the wildest hailstorm’ and that the panic-stricken men fled ‘in a mad current’. The Union soldiers were hurled two miles or so back in total disorder to a crossroads called Chancellorsville.

     Jackson rode forward with a group of staff officers to organize further pursuit, but in the gathering dark some of his own men mistook them for the enemy and opened fire on them. Jackson was struck by two bullets in his left arm and one in his right hand. Bleeding profusely, he was carried on litters to a field hospital, where his left arm was amputated close to the shoulder and the bullet extracted from his right hand. He was then moved to a house some 25 miles away and might have recovered, but he contracted pneumonia and possibly pleurisy and died on May 10th.”  (By Richard Cavendish  “History Today, Issue 63, Volume 5, May 2013).

     You must stand for the truth.  You cannot compromise your beliefs, but be careful that you do not do more harm than good and that you do not to harm your brothers with “Friendly fire”.

Questions for thought:

  1. What is the “core” of the Gospel?  What things cannot be compromised on and what things can?

   2. Are there some things we can agree to disagree about, and still be willing to work with fellow Christians?

  3. Do you spend more time arguing with other Christians, or with sharing the Good News?

For further study:

  1. Read Matthew 28:19.  What is the primary charge Jesus gave to His followers?

  2. Read John 13:35.  According to this verse, what is the primary indication that you are a follower of Jesus Christ?

Wednesday, June 3 - Read for today: Judges 13

Missed Opportunities

     This chapter introduces us to Samson and his parents.  He sure got off to a great start.  I mean, think about it.  The Angel of the Lord (often recognized by many as the pre-birth appearance of Christ, see verse 22; and remember this as well when some claim Jesus is not God) announced his upcoming birth.  Although Samson was born in a time folks did not fear or follow the Lord (v1), he was born to God-fearing parents.  He was born to parents who wanted the best for him and who strove to teach him the things he needed to know (v8).  He was blessed by God and even had the Holy Spirit working in his life from an early age (vvs 24-5).  Few people start off as well, with as many blessings and as many opportunities as Samson did, and if we could stop his life story here at the end of this chapter, it would be great.  Sadly, we cannot.

     In the next two chapters (Samson gets more attention and a longer introduction than any other judge), we find Samson threw it all away.  God still uses him to accomplish His will against the Philistines, but Samson’s life ends in tragedy.

       Did he have opportunities?  Yes.  More than most.  Did he make a difference with his life?  Yes.  More than most, but think of all he missed out on.  Think of the pain he endured.  Think of the pain he caused others and all he went through, because he chose to do things his own way.

     It is one thing to start well.  It is one thing to begin with great intentions and great plans.  It is an entirely different thing to finish well.

     My friend, you are faced with a new year, with new opportunities.  Don’t miss them.  Don’t reach this point a year from now, look back and say, “I wish …  Carpe diem.

Questions for thought:

  1. What opportunities do you see before you this coming year?  What are you doing to seize them?

For further study:

  1. Read Deuteronomy 30:19.  What plea do we see the Lord making in that verse?

  2. Read Joshua 24:14-15.  What choice does Joshua present us with there?

  3. Read Romans 12:1-2.  What plea does Paul make there?  What do these three passages have in common?



 Thursday, June 4 - Read for today: Judges 14

Wrong Place, Wrong Person

     Samson went down to the city of Timnah.  Timnah was a Philistine city on the border of the Israelites’ land.  It was a city Samson had no business going to.  There he fell in lust with a woman he had no business dating, much less marrying.

     The fact that the Lord intended to use this incident to fulfill His plans against the Philistines, does not excuse Samson’s misdeeds, nor his stupid decisions.  He was in a place he had no business being at, pursuing a woman he had no business being with.  The result was predictable.  Their relationship fell apart.

     “Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘do not be unequally yoked’ (2 Cor. 6:14). When a believer and a non-believer marry, these two equal halves of one flesh, disagree on who should be at the center of their lives. In fact, a believer really has no business even dating a non-Christian. Those who do, run a serious risk of falling in love with someone to their own hurt, as Samson did. We need to be careful to protect our relationship with the Lord by protecting our hearts. We can learn a valuable lesson from Samson. Our relationship with Jesus should be so important to us that we are constantly on our guard not to do anything or allow anything into our lives that would compromise or weaken that relationship.”  (Ed Young).

Questions for thought:

  1. Of the marriages you know of between a Christian and a non-Christian, do you find that the believer normally helps draw the unbeliever closer to the Lord, or do you find it more often happens the other way?

  2. In what other situations besides marriage, might folks have an impact on those around them?  What impact are you having on those near you?  Are you causing those close to you to walk closer to the Lord, or are you causing them to walk further from the Lord?

For further study:

  1. Read Psalm 127:1.  What does this verse say about building a home?

  2. What does 2 Corinthians 6:14 say about mixes?  Why does this verse say they don’t work?

Friday, June 5 - Read for today: Judges 15

The Difference the Lord Makes

     “Siege warfare was one of the most enduring types of warfare, from simple hill forts to imposing stone citadels. Often, the campaigns waged against these structures lasted for months, as the besieged sat behind almost impenetrable walls and moats. The trebuchet completely altered the balance of siege warfare. Firing much bigger projectiles (at much greater distance), and much more accurately than traditional catapults, trebuchets were capable of destroying a stone wall in a matter of days, dramatically improving the chances of a besieging force capturing a city before a relief force could arrive, or their camp was destroyed by disease.”  (Askmen, “10 Weapons that changed the world”)

     While a strong army had a chance of eventually defeating a walled and well-defended city, given enough time, trebuchets made a tremendous difference.  What is true of this ancient weapon, is also true of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

     In this chapter, Samson faced impossible odds.  There was no way he, even as strong and powerful as he was, would be able to beat or escape such a massive army.  The Philistines knew he was powerful, that’s why they brought such a large force; but then in verse 14 we read, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him in power”.  The Holy Spirit made all the difference.

       What was true in Samson’s life is also true in ours.  There are some things we can do.  There are some obstacles we can overcome, but what a difference it makes when we allow the Holy Spirit to control your lives.  The coward, Peter, was changed into a dynamic preacher when the Holy Spirit controlled him.

       Can you imagine what you could accomplish, the impact you could make if you let the Holy Spirit lead and empower you, if you waited until He guided you to do or say something?  He will make a world of difference in your life, if you’ll let Him.

For further study:

  1. Read Ephesians 4:30 & 1 Thessalonians 5:19.  How does one do each of these things and how does one go about avoiding what these verses tell us to avoid?

Questions for thought:

  1. Can you say that the Holy Spirit is directing you?  How can you tell?



Monday, June 8 – Read for today: Judges 16

The Weak Strong Man

     God blesses us with gifts, talents and abilities in our service to Him but how are they used?  As a judge Samson was to deliver Israel from the Philistines but the only effective way would be in submission to God.  The life of any believer today will be crippled if he is not obedient to the Lord. Samson chose to not stop living for himself so He could not fully live for God.  Who knows how much further he could have gone and what greater victories could have been won if he was only dedicated to God and not himself?  He liked pleasures and the wrong women and in doing so disqualified himself from quality service for God.  Where are we today?  Do we know God’s will for us but fall short of realizing it?  Are lives being hurt and damaged because of our disobedience?  50% service is not enough. 90% is not enough but requires all our hearts in submission to Him.  The whole heart is required for maximum service.

       What distractions tempt us today?  Sometimes we consider ourselves strong as God’s child, but do we really know ourselves?  Samson played a game with Delilah concerning telling the source of his strength and he lost.  He allowed her to creep closer and closer to the truth until all was compromised and miserable defeat was at the door. He willfully made choices that led him to this point and deceived himself into believing that he could not lose the strength. Then when he went out and shook himself it was too late to stop the disaster from over taking him. How many others were hurt because Samson could not deny himself selfish desires? Let us be careful that we do not go down this path.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Distractions are all around us so let us beware lest we become snared in that net.  One thing to note here is that God did listen to Samson’s final plea for strength as his hair grew back and his usefulness once again returned.  It is great that we can repent and return to God’s will but better yet if we just stay in His will for a richer fuller service.

Thoughts to consider:

Matthew 26:41--- tells us that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. What are some ways to protect ourselves from failure due to self and promote God’s plans in our lives?

I Corinthians 1:27—Why do you think God chooses the weak things of the world to be exalted?

For Further Study:

Psalms 28:7-9—What do you thinks are the joys in a life that relies on God for strength?  What are the securities in a life that continually looks to God?

Isaiah 30:15-18---What kind of rest comes from true repentance and what are the stresses come from running from God?  How comforting is it to know that God desires good things for us?

Tuesday, June 9 – Read for today: Judges 17

When everyone makes their own rules.

     This week, according to the Valley News, 64 Dartmouth students have been charged with honor code violations after the school discovered widespread cheating in an ethics course designed to help struggling student-athletes.  Almost a quarter of those enrolled in "Sports, Ethics and Religion" this fall are said to have participated in the scheme, which involved students answering questions for absent classmates on electronic devices designed to record attendance.

     How can anyone say what the students did was wrong, if everyone gets to make their own rules?

     Can you imagine a game where there are no rules?  Imagine a team playing football, when they can cross the scrimmage line any time they want, or go in and out of bounds at will.  Imagine a basketball game played where there are no fouls or where you can score on either basket.  There are absolutes.     Imagine living in a world where there no physical laws, a place where gravity was not a rule, it was just an occasional occurrence.  Imagine if there were no absolutes regarding evaporation, or convection, or rainfall, of any of that.  There must be laws, there must be rules or the universe would go flying in every direction, and games would be unorganized chaos.

     Sadly, we read in verse 6 we read, “everyone did whatever he wanted.”  When everyone does whatever he wants, you find what you do in this case.  You find a son stealing from his own mother.  You find a mother cursing her son, and people making their own gods.  Sadly, however, we are living in a world very much like in the days of the judges when we are told there are no absolutes and where what’s right for you may not be right for me.

     There is only one God, and He gets to make the rules.  If you get Genesis 1:1 right in your mind, the rest of the chips fall into place.

Questions for thought:

  1. Are there areas where you tend to skirt God’s rules and make your own?  Why or why not?

For further study:

  1. Read Exodus 20:3-5.  What do these verses say about what’s happening here?



Wednesday, June 10 – Read for today: Judges 18

When we make gods of our own

     “Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–1598), was a Japanese warlord who ruled Japan. He commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha to be built for a shrine in Kyoto. It is said that it took 50,000 men five years to build it. The work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down, wrecking the sculpture. History records that Hideyoshi flew into a rage, shot an arrow at the damaged image, and shouted, ‘I put you here at great expense, and you can’t even look after your own temple.’”  (From January 10th, 2015 by Pastor Ed in a devotion).

     We see an example of that very thing in this passage.  Micah’s mother took silver he had stolen from and then returned to her, “dedicated it to the Lord”, and then made an idol out of it.  How one can “dedicate something to the Lord” and then do with it something He plainly forbids (Exodus 20:4-6) is beyond me, but she did it.

     A priest, not serving as he should, nor where he should, comes along and starts working as a priest for this thing.  He tells some Dannites what they want to hear and claim it came from the god, so they like he and it, and come back later and steal it.

     Ok, the folks not have an out-of-work priest, telling them what they want to hear, so they make him their priest.  Does he consult with God?  No!  He consults with this silver-covered abomination.  What does this fake god do?  Nothing.  It can’t even keep itself from being stolen from the man who made it.     It looked good for a while.  It made people feel “spiritual” and happy for a while.  It gave its owner the feeling that he was worshipping, but in the end it was powerless.  The same is true of so many gods folks create and worship today.

     Popularity is fun for a while, but ultimately unfulfilling.  Wealth can buy a lot of fun and entertainment for a while, but it cannot buy happiness, joy, or peace.  Success can keep us busy for a while, so we can feel a sense of accomplishment, but eventually someone else replaces us.

       A Sunday School teacher asked his class, “How many gods are there?”  A young boy answered, “Only One.  There’s only room for 1 because He fills the heavens and the earth”.

There is only one God.  Why settle for anything less?

Questions for thought:

  1. Have you allowed anything to become more important to you than the Lord?

  2. Why would anyone choose to serve another god?  (success, fame, wealth, leisure, etc?)

  3. How can one tell Who or what his god is?

For further study:

  1. Read Jeremiah 16:19-21.  Would you pray with me that the Lord fulfills in this generation, verse 21?

Thursday, June 11 - Read for today: Judges 19

The Disgrace of Sin

     This passage of scripture paints the ugly picture of where sin leads to.  This Levite man took a concubine for himself which was a sin before God.  Concubines were really sex slaves to men even though their union was accepted in that day.  They were duty bound to the man with no legal rights at all or any inheritance rights.  This woman was angry and hurt so she ran home.  One would think that home for her would be a safe place but not in this case.  The man pursued her and stayed in her father’s home for a few days before leaving with the concubine. The father gave no resistance to the man but seemed to enjoy his company which is hard to understand. Then on the way home stayed with a man in Gibeah where perverted men demanded to have the guest given to them for sexual perverted acts. The old man refused and offered his own virgin daughter instead as well as the Levite’s concubine to satisfy these men reminding us of Sodom. What a terrible picture of perversion and disgraceful sin in treating these women in such a way. The woman was probably dead when she was found the next morning at the front door and the man devised a plan to remove all blame from himself by sending her body parts to all the tribes of Israel.

     This story is disgusting to say the least but what a clear picture of where sin leads. Israel had been disobedient time after time and had removed themselves from God’s blessings on many occasions.  Before we judge all in this story it would be good for us to examine ourselves before God.  Are we truly obedient in every way?  Are our motives in life pure with only God’s glory in mind?  Do we seek God’s way over our way and plans or do we expect God to bend to our plans?  Probably none of us reading this devotional have ever committed these crimes in this passage but remember God evaluates every intent of the heart and nothing is hidden from Him! God truly wanted to bless Israel but Israel’s sins kept blocking these blessings and greatly diminished the quality of life they could have had if they were obedient to Him. So where are you and I today?  We need to take a hard look at our lives, confess any sins and in obedience glorify God for a life of joy and purpose in serving our Lord!

Thoughts to consider:

Genesis 6:5—Can you see the descent of man into sin here which led to judgment and destruction?  Do you think this descent was gradual or progressed quickly?

For further study:

Romans 7:7-12—Note how the knowledge of God’s law places us in judgment before God.  Do we feel this accountability before God and how will this affect our behavior?

Read Roman 1 to see man’s accountability before God in this world.

II Timothy 3:13—How do you see the downward effects of sin today around you in this world?  



Friday, June 12– Read for today: Judges 20

 Unnecessary Shock

     In verse 3 of this passage, the Israelites ask, “Tell us, how did this outrage happen?”  You remember the sickening details that led up to this question, so I’ll spare you the details.  Sadly, it’s similar to the question many people asked after 2,977 people were killed on 9-11.

     Sometimes it takes a massive loss, or a massive injustice to awaken us from our trances.

     In Israel’s case, they had a whole nation of people living as though there was no God.  There was a whole nation of people doing whatever they wanted (Judges 17:6).  There was no morality.  There was no right or wrong.  Whatever is right for you is right, so there was a downward spiral until it reached the point where a whole city thought it was ok to rape a visiting man, but settled for his concubine and raped her to death.

     Were their tribal brothers upset?  No!  When the rest of the nation came to take that city to task, their brothers stood up for them and thought that it was more important to be accepting of their loved ones, than it was to let them accept the consequences of their evil sin.

     Did you know, that in the same year the 9-11 attack occurred there were an estimated 1,303,000 babies aborted in this country.  You cannot honestly tell me it’s not murder.  If a person stabs a woman and kills her unborn child, we call it murder, but if you pay a doctor to do it, it is not.  Really?     If you reach a point as a society where one can do whatever one wants, you will find some throwing their babies off of bridges.  You will find folks shooting reporters who disagree with them, and you will find people shooting police officers who are the few who still stand up and say there is right and wrong.     If you have no standards, if you admit to no absolute truth, you will find more and more things occurring to shock you, and fewer and fewer things which cause you to grieve.

     And everyone did whatever he wanted . . .

Questions for thought:

  1. Are there things you are doing which you know are wrong?  Are you contributing to the problem?

For further study:

  1. James 4:17.  What does this verse say about right and wrong?

  2. Read Matthew 5:13.  What does this verse say about who you are and what you are to be?  How are you doing with that?