A Daily Purpose

Bible Study & Devotional Day 113

Written By Torrie Slaughter

🔴 The Struggle Continues

A brief overview:

We’ve closed the book of Joshua and head into Judges. A work that focuses on the military leaders and the ongoing struggle to control the promised land. The Israelites deviated from being a united people worshipping Yahweh and continued a cycle of rebellion, oppression, salvation, and peace.

Influence:

It is the capacity to affect the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.

As you read today’s passages, the striking repetitive nature of the Israelites is hard to miss. Their desire to follow God was tainted by the idol worshippers living alongside them. Each time the Canaanites oppressed the Israelites, they cried out to God, and He answered by raising up a judge. A military leader who would slay the enemy and bring peace to the land. The Israelites failed to do their part in pushing out the Canaanites and suffered the consequences of their disobedience.

Joshua 11:15 “As the LORD commanded his servant, Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.”

The book of Judges tells how God used Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson to deliver His people.

We know God did not endorse their human choices; however, He used His Spirit to deliver the Israelites. The heartbreak then is the same as it is now. The corruption was so bad that there was little difference between the Israelites and Canaanites.

As we move through the book of Judges, I want to stress the importance of three things:

A prayer journal! Write your thoughts down and use a Bible concordance to discover Biblical examples as well as solutions.
Prayer changes you before it changes anyone else.
God supplies our needs!

With those three points in mind, I would like you to appreciate the importance of chronicling your daily activities and interactions.

We sin. We stray. I sin. I stray.

Because we deviate from God’s path from His plan for us, we must continually go back to His Word for direction. We also need to chart our course.

How will we know where we have been if we don’t track our route?

Retracing our footsteps makes it easier to understand our behavior, how we deal with others, and how to move forward accurately.

We also must be in prayer because we deceive ourselves and attempt to fool God with our actions. Talking to the One Who knows all is a great comfort. We need not feel insecure, defensive, or blame ourselves for not getting it right. God will supply our needs, physically, mentally, and spiritually! Learn from your mistakes and seek God’s wisdom by trusting His way.