Walking with the Way

We are done!! We finished our summer reading in the Old Testament! That was fun!  How did you like getting to know our God, three in One,  a little better? This past week's reading was interesting to me! Did you catch how Judges ended and Ruth began?  Judges ended with, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit." (21:25), which implies everyone was doing their own thing, not what God commanded in Joshua. Disobedience and waywardness was running rampant! Then the book of Ruth starts off with, "In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land." (Ruth 1:1). That's a clear reference to the time of “Willy Nilly” the Israelites were practicing during the “time of Judges”. Yet, as we read Ruth, we learn of a couple who are of  “noble character" (Ruth 2:11 &  3:11), actually following God’s commands.  I loved the reminder that even in the bleakest of times, there always seems to be a remnant of true believers in

Again, I found myself wondering what I can get out of this terribly sad reading we are doing in Judges.  I was sad reading about Sampson (ch. 16), but my stomach turned reading chapter 19!  In fact, my 8-year-old son, who was sitting across the room from me when I was reading said, "What are you doing with your face, Mom?"  I laughed when I realized he had looked at me right when my face was twisted with horror as I read about the poor concubine. I simply said, "I don't like what I am reading!" Thankfully, he didn't ask what I was reading specifically,....yet he knew it was from the Bible. 😬😳 I wonder what that little guy thought of that answer?!... I should probably talk to him about it later.  But, at the time, I couldn't respond with much more.....I wouldn't have been able to explain the Bible right then and there for him...I needed time to process...what am I reading?... and why is this in the Bible?!! Well, I have processed now, and this

I don't know about this past week's reading.....in just 7 chapters we read about 8 leaders of Israel...who weren't the stellar examples of godly leadership for the "chosen people of God"! To be honest, I was left feeling uneasy about how the country was going (a little like how I feel these days in our own county). Even Gideon, who I remember as being one of the "heroes of the faith" mentioned in Hebrews (ch. 11), didn't seem like a hero I would encourage my boys to emulate. So....what can I get out of this reading?  How is this part of scripture "God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17)? Humm...well, Gideon might not be the picture of faith, since he faltered several times,.....but we can certainly learn a lot about God through Gideon's faltering faith!   God is faithful even when our faith f

Monday we read Joshua exhort the people, "So be very careful to love the Lord your God." (23:11) Then through the rest of Joshua he continues to warn and plead with the Israelites to "Yield their hearts to God."  As I was reading Joshua, I was kind'a surprised that he didn't have a lot of hope for these people to remain faithful. After all, he had spent the last years of his life on the battlefield with the men of Israel who continually rallied to battle to defeat and conquer the people in their promised land.    Yet, Joshua was right,  as soon as the exhortations were out of his mouth he states, "You are not able to serve the Lord.  He is a holy God, he is a jealous God." (24:19) We saw the truth in that statement as soon as we started to read Judges!  Immediately, in chapter 3, we start to see the pattern of the people: live in peace --> sin --> fall into captivity --> moan for help --> God rescues --> peace again comes, but the pa