THE LIVING WATER (January-December, 2023)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 2023
TOPIC: DON'T DESTROY YOURSELF
MEMORISE
Beloved, do not averge yourselves, but rather
give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Romans 12: 19).
READ:
Judges 15:1-10
[1]. After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, “Let me go in to my wife, into her room.” But her father would not permit him to go in.
[2]. Her father said, “I really thought that you thoroughly hated her; therefore I gave her to your companion. Is not her younger sister better than she? Please, take her instead.”
[3]. And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be blameless regarding the Philistines if I harm them!”
[4]. Then Samson went and caught three hundred foxes; and he took torches, turned the foxes tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.
[5]. When he had set the torches on fire, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burned up both the shocks and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.
[6]. Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.
[7]. Samson said to them, “Since you would do a thing like this, I will surely take revenge on you, and after that I will cease.”
[8]. So he attacked them hip and thigh with a great slaughter; then he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
[9]. Now the Philistines went up, encamped in Judah, and deployed themselves against Lehi.
[10]. And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” So they answered, “We have come up to arrest Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
EXPOSITION
Jason Willoughby, a Gospel trainer, once wrote: "One of the hardest things about forgiveness is the objection that it allows a wrongdoer to get away with it. There is something in us that finds it supremely difficult to let "the bad guys" go unpunished, and drop all the charges. As an acceptable norm, even among many believers today, "We feel obligated to keep the memory alive, much like a holocaust survivor who hopes to testify against a brutal Nazi guard feels obligated to do even after a lifetime has passed," Jason recapped. Have you been delivered from this satanic awful lure, causing self-destruction to many? Indeed, no person wants to live with the consequences of unresolved injustices because it is wrong and "it shouldn't have happened." Yet, there are only two places where God conclusively, completely and absolutely resolves all injustices. (1) at the Cross of Christ on Calvary, and (2) at the eternal lake of fire where *the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day and night* (1 Pet. 2: 24-25; Rev 14:11; 20:14-15). Assuredly, according to the Scripture, nobody will get away with anything! Nobody (Prov. 11:21: 19:5,9; 16:5; 27:5; 28:20). God gives His Word that all earthly evils will be fearfully exposed, judged and punished at the ultimate level, whether at the Cross of Christ or the lake of fire (Rom. 14:10-12; Rev. 20:11-12). Beloved, this is enough to give you a stop to panting or thirsting after revenge, lest you are hooked with another weapon of self-destruction, carnally implanted in many who have never let go the offences of their offenders. Destroy this hook-up today, and live.
SUGGESTED HYMN FOR TODAY:
CAC GHB 735
1. Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee,
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
2. Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love,
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
3. Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only for my King,
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold,
Take my intellect, and use
Every pow'r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will, and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine,
Take my heart – it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee!
Amen.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Praise the Lord for being the Avenger of His people.
2. Lord Jesus, fight my battles, so that I will hold my peace.
3. Lord, remove the attitude of vendetta from among our political class.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 28:23-32:20
AUTHOR
CAC Worldwide
Remain blessed
 DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE DATE: Sunday, August 13, 2023 TOPIC: DON'T DESTROY YOURSELF){kind=link}