February 23 & 27th, 2022
WHAT DESTROYS OUR FUTURE IS MOST OFTEN NOT OUTSIDE CIRCUMSTANCES BUT INSIDE DESIRES.
Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.
—Judges 13:1 NLT
2 In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children.
3 The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. 5 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut.
—Judges 13:2-5a NLT
For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.”
—Judges 13:5b NLT
God has a purpose for you - and it
For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth.
—Judges 13:5b NLT
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
—Psalms 139:16 NIV
God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.
—Ephesians 2:10 NCV
God has a purpose for you - and it is more about what
6 The woman ran and told her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see. I didn’t ask where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he told me, ‘You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. For your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instructions about this son who is to be born.”
—Judges 13:6-8 NLT
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you…
—Deuteronomy 7:6-8 ESV
God has a purpose for you - and it
24 When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the Lord blessed him as he grew up. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.
–Judges 13: 24-25 NLT
everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
–Isaiah 43:7 NIV
Listen to what Tim Keller says…
“If Jesus is Lord, you don’t just invite someone like that to give you advice, you let them rule rightly in your life.”
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
–Psalm 138:7,8 ESV
For he will be dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to work God’s purposes on the earth.
–Heath 13:5b NLT
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Next Steps
1. Today, I accept Jesus in my life for the first time.
2. I will read Judges 13-16 this week.
3. I will start to work on my “one sentence” of purpose.
4. I know my purpose but I need a renewed passion.