Author: kendraske

Where Can the Needy Find Shelter? Thoughts from Judges 19

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 19

I think Judges might be my least favorite book of the Bible. 🥺 Chapter after chapter we read how vile, wicked, foolish, and inhumane people can be. This chapter must be the worst of all!

First off, why does the Levite have a concubine in the first place? Then, why was the concubine unfaithful to him and why would she leave him to live with her father? And then, why does her father keep insisting on keeping the Levite so late into the evening? But it gets much worse from there … You’ll have to read it for yourself.

This morning, though, what I’m still thinking about for myself, is that this Levite didn’t want to stay the night in Jebus because it was a city controlled by heathens. He insisted that they keep traveling to the town of Gibeah, an Israelite town, where he expected to find safety and hospitality. And yet, Gibeah is the very city where his concubine was violated and abused all night, to her death. 😫

I find myself asking questions like these:

Are Christians today so perpetually angry, bitter, and selfish that we, likewise, are unable to be places of mercy for the wounded traveler looking for help?

Are Christians today safe spaces for our brothers and sisters in Christ to get a few moments of peace in the midst of the storms of life?

Are Christians today hospitable and generous to the stranger in our midst?

Are Christians today committed to protecting the hurting and needy, or do we send them on down the street to be devoured by wolves and taken in by frauds?

Are Christians today humble and kind to the broken, or are we so busy feeding our own flesh that we can’t be bothered to take care of others who need someone to throw them a lifeline?

Let’s be faithful to inspect our own eyes for the logs that are lodged there, instead of just pointing fingers at lost people doing what lost people do

Oh, Heavenly Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours. Thank You for Your saving grace. Thank You for pursuing me and bringing me into the safety of Your fold, for hiding me under the shelter of Your wings. Help me to do likewise. Give me eyes for the needy, the helpless, the hurting. Burden my heart for them. Set the captives free, Lord! Free those chained to addictions of all kinds, pornography and gambling, alcohol and drugs, selfishness and greed, laziness and gluttony. We need Your grace, Lord. Help us, Father, by Your steadfast, powerful mercy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, we pray. Amen.

Using God … Or Worshipping God?

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 17-18

It seems that Micah is about using God rather than serving Him. He wants a priest and an ephod and carved images, not so he can rightly know and love God but so that he can get them to do what he wants.

God isn’t a genie in a lamp that we can rub when we want our wishes granted. God doesn’t live to do our bidding. We need to know God rightly so we can worship Him rightly. Wrong beliefs lead to wrong actions. Every. Time.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your immense mercy and grace. You didn’t have to love me. You didn’t have to save me. But You did. Thank You. I want to serve You for You are worthy. Give me discernment to recognize what is good and what is evil and give me the power to choose good. For the Glory of Your Name and Your Kingdom. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

A Word for both Sons and Daughters from the Lives of Samson and Delilah in Judges 16

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 16

Judges 16 has lessons for both men and women. I have been blessed with two sons as well as two daughters. I see lessons here for both of them.

Sons: Be careful who you fall for. The wrong woman will lead you in the wrong direction. Strong men can become weak men in a woman’s hands. Get to know who a woman really is before you give her your heart. When you see that she has a selfish, manipulative, deceitful spirit, RUN!

Daughters: Be careful how you use your seductive powers. You can manipulate a man into doing things both you and he will regret. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Don’t manipulate men, making them your puppet. It will only lead you astray.

Heavenly Father, I pray for my sons and daughters. May their hearts belong to You. May You be their greatest treasure. Protect them from the sins of deceit and manipulation. Teach them to guard their hearts. Fill their hearts with pure, holy desires that they would love what You love and hate what You hate. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

God Speaks to Women, Too: A Lesson from Judges 13 in the Life of Samson

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 13

An angel appeared to Hagar in the desert (Genesis 16) and to Mary, the mother of our Savior Jesus (Luke 1). The Lord answered the prayers of Hannah when she asked for a son (1 Samuel 1). Abigail’s discernment and quick actions spared David from having revenge on foolish Nabal (1 Samuel 25).

Here, in Judges 13, the Lord has chosen Manoah’s unnamed wife, a barren, childless woman, to be His messenger to her husband.

Sisters, God wants to use you as a blessing to your husband, your children, your church, and your community. He has a purpose for you.

Whether you’re married or not, whether you have a house full of kids or not, if God has chosen you as His child, then He has chosen you to be His ambassador, a messenger of the most high God.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I would call out to You, seeking You, morning by morning and evening by evening and that I would hear Your voice as You answer me. You have chosen me to be a vessel of Your grace. May that grace overflow to my husband and my children and their children. May that grace bring glory to Your Name. Give my husband and I discernment as we listen for Your voice. Help us to know when You are speaking and grant us unity in Your Holy Spirit. Help us both to be humble toward each other and to You. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Making and Keeping our Vows: A Lesson from Judges 11

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 11-12

On December 23, 1994, I vowed before God and 150 some witnesses, to love and cherish my husband until parted by death. With our 30th wedding anniversary quickly approaching, I’m so thankful that the Lord has given us both the strength to keep that vow.

Entering into the covenant of marriage is not something to be done lightly. If you are considering marriage yourself, please think seriously before vowing yourself to be faithful to another until death. Like Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth.”

  • Pray and seek wisdom from the Lord.
  • Seek counsel from believing friends.
  • Ask deep questions of your future spouse, making certain that they are committed followers of Jesus Christ before you enter into such a covenant with them.

When I started pondering this topic of keeping a difficult wedding vow, I started thinking about tough questions like these:

But, what if a husband is abusing his wife or his children? Or what if he is actively involved in an adulterous relationship and refuses to cut it off despite his wife’s pleas? Or what if he is destroying his family, squandering his health and his money on drugs or gambling? Would the Lord want a woman to remain with that kind of man in order to keep her marriage vows?

Charles Spurgeon said in his sermon titled, Retreat Impossible, “In Jephthah’s case there were good reasons for going back. He had made a rash vow, and such things are much better broken than kept…. If you have come under a rash vow, you must not dare to keep it. You ought to go before God and repent that you have made a vow which involves sin; but as to keeping the sinful vow, that were to add sin to sin.”

Do Spurgeon’s words apply to the marriage vows? Is it adding sin to sin to stay with an abusive spouse in order to keep your wedding vows or is it not? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I’m sure thinking about them. I want my thoughts to be God’s thoughts, rooted in the character of God and the Holy Scriptures.

Heavenly Father, I lift up my sisters who find themselves in an abusive marriage. Please protect them and guide them. Protect their children. Protect their minds, hearts, and bodies. Help them to love their neighbor as themselves and do good to their enemies. Show them the way of escape that You have for them. I don’t have all the answers, but You do. Show us the way, Lord. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless Lamb, we pray. Amen.

Serving our Enemies’ Gods: A Lesson from Judges 10

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 10

Have you ever thought about this – God brought His people into the Promised Land, an abundant land flowing with milk and honey, yet the Israelites ended up worshipping the gods of the very people God sent them to conquer?

God wanted the Israelites to drive out those idol-worshipping nations, but instead the Israelites joined in worshipping those idols themselves.

How often are we guilty of these very same things? How often are we Christians bowing to the idols of our culture – the idols of sports and wealth and comfort and fame? How often do we give Jesus our leftovers – after giving the world our time, talents, and treasures – rather than seeking Him first and giving Him our best?

Repent and return to Him today.

He who did not spare his own Son
but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also with him
graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32 ESV

Heavenly Father, Forgive us for presuming on Your kindness. Your kindness is to lead us to repentance. Forgive us for our whoring and adultery. We have chased after idols, false gods that can never deliver what they promise. We have turned to the world that You created, and turned our backs on You, our Creator. Forgive us. Cleanse our hearts and hands and renew a right spirit in us. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Sinless Lamb who was slain for our sins, we pray. Amen.

Sowing and Reaping: A Lesson from the Life of Abimelech, Judges 9

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 9

Sometimes it takes years for the seeds you sow to bear fruit, but I promise you, they will. If you plant pumpkin seeds, you’ll harvest pumpkins. If you plant radish seeds, you’ll harvest radishes. Things always grow according to their kinds. God designed it that way.

The fruit might be glorious – a bountiful harvest of melons and tomatoes and berries – or the fruit might be disastrous – rotten and shriveled and spare – but like Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

If you don’t want radishes,
don’t plant radish seeds.

The Lord is a good, holy, just judge and ruler. Whether in this life or in eternity, He will repay each one according to his deeds. If you sow thoughts of bitterness and jealousy, you will become bitter and jealous, and your relationships will flounder. If you sow thoughts of humility and forgiveness, you will become increasingly humble and forgiving, and your relationships will grow.

Gideon’s son, Abimelech, allowed selfish ambition to take control of his life, and he and the men who helped him, paid the price for it.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, I trust You. You are good. You are the Almighty Sovereign Ruler over all things. Let me not grow weary of doing good, knowing that at the right time I will reap a bountiful harvest. Help me to overcome evil with good and to trust You to work justice in those situations that seem unjust in my eyes. Grow my faith, Father, and make me more like You. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

How Quickly Our Hearts Can Turn: A Lesson from Gideon and Judges 8

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Read the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 8

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”

Judges 8:22-23 ESV

My heart rejoiced when I read Gideon’s words. Praise the Lord that Gideon desired for the Lord to rule over the people!

But, seconds later, Gideon asks those same people to give him all the golden earrings from the spoil of their battle against the Midianites, and from those golden earrings he makes an ephod which “all Israel whored after, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family” (Judges 8:27b).

It just reminded me how quickly I can be deceived, how easily I can step off the straight and narrow path. I need to be diligent in taking every decision to the Lord, willingly following Him step by step.

Heavenly Father, You alone are the ruler of my life. I don’t want to whore after other gods, idols that make promises they’re unable to keep. Open wide my eyes that I may see You. May Your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, that I might follow You and You alone all the days of my life. To the glory of Your Name I pray. Amen.

Who’s Fighting Your Battles? A Lesson from Gideon and Judges 7.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 7

The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Judges 7:2 ESV

This passage has had a special place in my heart since one night about twenty years ago when the Holy Spirit convicted me about how often I used manipulation to get my husband to do what I wanted. That night, the Lord opened my eyes to the importance of trusting Him to fight my battles, rather than trusting my own skills of argumentation to get my way. That night, I decided to quit fighting against my husband and to start praying for him. That night, I finally recognized that I might be winning these marital battles, but I was losing the war for my marriage.

Can any of you relate?

Ask yourself what weapons you’re using to fight your own battles: Nagging and complaining? Threatening and yelling? Silence and the cold shoulder? Put those weapons away, friends. They’re not the Lord’s weapons; they’re the enemy’s.

If the Lord can cause the entire Middianite army to kill one another, giving the Israelites success by merely blowing their trumpets, then surely He conquer the heart of your stubborn loved one.

Put on the whole armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. And take up your weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and start praying in the Spirit, asking Him to fight for you. (Ephesians 6:12-17)

Join forces with the Lord.
Remember who your real enemy is.
Quit fighting your spiritual brothers and sisters
and start fighting the spiritual forces of evil.

Heavenly Father, we need You to fight our battles for us. Open our eyes to see the spiritual battle that we are in. Make us soldiers in Your army, wielding that Sword of the Spirit, your Word, with excellence and accuracy, praying without ceasing, and seeking Your face for direction day after day. Let us not grow weary of well-doing. Give us clean hands and pure hearts. Help us to root up those spirits of bitterness and selfishness. Protect us from pride and manipulation. Make us more like You. In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Brother, we pray. Amen.

Rock of Ages

Tearing Down Your Father’s Altars: Gideon and Me.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Judges 6:25-32

I know that yesterday’s post was also from Judges 6, but I hope you’ll bear with me.

In Judges 6, God told Gideon that He is sending him to save Israel from the hand of Midian, but before sending Gideon into that battle, the Lord tells Gideon to take his father’s bulls and pull down his father’s altar to Baal. Then, Gideon is to “cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” (Judges 6:25-26 ESV) Gideon obeys God, but for fear of his family and the men of the town, he does it at night so no one sees him.

The next morning, when the townspeople awake, they notice the broken down altar and the cut down Asherah and the bull atop the altar. They immediately go to Gideon’s father, Joash, and demand that Gideon be killed for such an action.

Can you guess how Joash reacts? He defends Gideon, refusing to harm his son, and calling into question the power of Baal, saying, “If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” (Judges 6:31b) Whoa. I was shocked, weren’t you? I expected his dad to be really mad and lash out at Gideon for destroying his stuff, especially his altar!

I wonder how many of you have had to tear down
altars that your parents have built.

Maybe your parents worshipped at the altar of success, power, fame, and prestige. Maybe they worshipped wealth, spending their lives in pursuit of bigger cars, houses, and toys. Maybe they worshipped human philosophy and wisdom. Maybe they worshipped false gods of their own making or false gods made by other men through the centuries.

And maybe you, like Gideon, and me, and so many others, have been afraid to start chipping away at those altars for fear of your parents’ rejection, disapproval, or worse.

But as we saw in Gideon’s life, you never know how the Lord might work. Maybe the Lord has already begun working on your parents’ hearts and they just need you to take that first step of obedience in helping them to pull down those altars. Or maybe the Lord wants you to heed the words of Jesus in Matthew 10.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Matthew 10:34-39 ESV

What altar is the Lord calling you to tear down today?

Remember, friend, if you have surrendered your life to His Lordship, He is with you. Go in His power and might. Be a woman of valor for the Lord is fighting your battles for you.

Heavenly Father, please help me not to afraid – not because life isn’t scary, but because You are with me. Help me to love others more than myself and help me to love You most and best. You are worthy of it all. If you are for me, who can be against me? What can man do to me? In You I have all I need. In the Mighty, Majestic Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Worthy of It All – Cece Winans
TEARING DOWN YOUR FATHER’S ALTARS – FormerAtheist58