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Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” 3 But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

Our entire culture, in and outside the church it seems, has a general belief if we want something it has got to be right. We are falling apart because we are saying wrong things are right simply because someone has a desire for them. Don’t fall into Samson’s trap. Don’t allow your “belly” to be your god. Let God be your God. He is the one who judges right from wrong. He is the one who sets the standard. The fact that you have a desire to do something you find hard to resist makes it more likely to be sinful. God doesn’t say “well, yes, that’s sinful, but I didn’t know you wanted to do it… okay, go ahead” I mean, honestly, that’s ridiculous when you think about it that way… isn’t it? Do right, be right, trust Jesus.

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah. 2 And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

You may not have had the best home life. You may not be supported by your family. But don’t allow that to cause you to flee from the task God has for you. Don’t get caught up in a crowd who will drag you down, don’t let your mouth write checks you’re not prepared to cash… follow Jesus, trust him.

And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.

Abimelech gained his popularity because of nepotism. Then he paid to have people follow him… and he killed his competition. Just because you have your position because of your family/influential friends, just because you have a group following you looking for what you can do for them, and just because you can “win” doesn’t mean you’re right. Trust in the Lord and lead people to Jesus.

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.’

“I’m too small, I can’t do that… there’s no way I can accomplish that task for God, it’s too big…” these are never valid arguments. They are excuses, which are like noses, we all have them, and they all smell. If you feel powerless to accomplish the task, you’re exactly the kind of person in exactly the kind of situation God always uses. Hang in there, trust Him.

“The Lord said to me at that time, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come to me on the mountain and make a wooden ark. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’

Moses made the tablets the same as the ones God formed, and he wrote them down exactly as they were originally. Moses was not free to make his own interpretation or to clarify anything, it is God’s word. We too, do not have the freedom to change God’s word or to think it is an ever shifting and changing standard based on the situation at hand. It is God’s word. We submit to him. He is our Lord, and that’s a good thing.