If you’ve been reading through the Bible with us, as part of our plan to read through the Bible from cover to cover in 90 days, then please welcome! We’re just ending Day 24 of 90! How exciting!

Jephthah – we learn about Jephthah. Geeze, this guy. He led the nation in battle against the Ammonites and he’d vowed to God that he’d sacrifice whatever came from his home first; imagine the pain searing through that heart of his when the first out of his front door was his daughter. Yikes! Sacrificing your daughter?

Samson – this mighty guy was the last of the Judges and he was a pretty tough dude! He was a Nazarite, you’ve probably heard about him. He has some special hair, and if he cut his hair his strength would be cut out from him as well. He was kind of like super strong, he killed a lion with his hands and even slayed an entire army of Philistines. He had fallen in love with a girl, Timnah, and married her. Then she’s murdered so he killed many more Philistines. So yeah, back to the hair. Samson took a love interest in Delilah and she betrayed him, he ends up getting his hair cut (while he’s sleeping, how shady is that, y’all?), and then he gets his eyes gouged. When Samson is taken into the temple with the Philistines, the Lord gives him strength and he takes the temple down, he dies along with all these Philistines. How scary and sad and brave.

There are a lot of lessons and little nuggets to take from the book of Judges but one of my favorite stories is that of Samson. It kind of just breaks my heart but it reminds me of God’s sovereignty. Just as Samson often did, when he’d willingly go into these situations that led to sin; I’ve done the same thing. I’m sure you have to a time or two.

God has already been . . . He’s seen it all. Nothing in our lives comes as a surprise to Him and every mistake that we make for ourselves; it’s not out of His reach. He has these huge, grander plans for our lives that we could never even imagine . . .sometimes we even make these terrible mistakes that we believe there’s no coming back from. Maybe we change jobs that we didn’t think we would, maybe we end relationships we never dreamed we would (maybe with a best friend, maybe with divorce, maybe a toxic family relationship), or maybe there’s some other struggle we face and we approach it in a way that was a bit of a dummy move, because we literally walked into the situation, we willingly went into a situation that led to sin; this is the good news: God’s still on the throne. No matter how bad we’ve blown it, God can use us for His glory. Yes! This is true!!! Look friends, I’m guilty of being a selfish human being and whether you care to admit it or not, you’ve been one, too, because you’ve got an inherited sin nature. Sometimes I set my heart on what I want even when I know, I know, it’s just not lining up with what His word says (which is what daily reading in the Word is for; only the light can drive out the darkness).

I’ve pursued things that the Lord wouldn’t have for me, because my emotions tell me . . . they tell me how I feel and I want to act on them, I try to: so I get it.

I. get. it.

I understand how easy it is! It’s easy to become distracted, to pursue what’s on your heart, and to do what you want. More good news: you’re not so powerful that you can mess everything up . . . God is still in control . . . God is still on the throne!

Look, our God will use us even when we’re selfish. God will use the terribly flawed girls like me, to accomplish His will. God will use the terribly flawed women and men like you, to accomplish His will. There’s nothing that you can do to stop or prevent God’s sovereign will from coming to pass and I’ve seen enough of His miracles to know that He can truly use any circumstance. For every relationship that ends today (every parent-child relationship, every sibling relationship, every marriage that ends in divorce, every work related relationship), for ever relationship that ends – God can bring a new beginning, a new relationship, and He can be glorified. He is sovereign and His will WILL come to pass. For every heartache (every tear drop, every loss, every death, every prayer), He can restore, redeem, and make all things new. Don’t get so caught up in what you’ve done, in the sins that you’ve committed, that you don’t just stop and tell God you’re sorry, ask for forgiveness, repent, and start over. Because here’s the thing . . . we try to figure out how we’re going to make new things. We try to figure out how we’re going to find that new job, or figure out where we’re going to meet a new wife or new husband that will accept us after a messy divorce, or figure out how we’ll handle a family reunion after a sibling fall out, or how and where we’ll ever be able to get that new best friend when nobody will compare to the last, and we keep on searching and we probably won’t find . . .unless we let go and let God. What if we just pull in close to God, lean in to Him, and let Him use us and our circumstances to glorify Him; no matter what we’re walking through today. After all, my God is still on the throne.

” The LORD said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines?” Judges 10:11

,Tomorrow we get to start the book of Ruth and I love Ruth.

Day 24 Judges 11 – 21

Day 25 Ruth 1 –   4

Day 26 1 Samuel 1 – 16

Day 27 1 Samuel 17 – 1 Samuel 31

Day 28 2 Samuel 1 – 24

Day 29 1 Kings 1 – 22

Day 30 2 Kings 1 – 25

Day 31 1 Chronicles 1 – 8

Day 32 1 Chronicles 9 – 19

Day 33 1 Chronicles 20 – 29

Day 34 2 Chronicles 1 – 21

Day 35 2 Chronicles 22 – 36

Day 36 Ezra 1-  Ezra 10

Day 37 Nehemiah 1 –  Nehemiah 13

Day 38 Esther 1 –  Esther 10

Day38 Job 1 –  Job 23

Day 39 Job 24 –  Job 42

Day 40 Psalms 1 –  Psalms 21

Day 41 Psalms 22 – Psalms 60

Day 42 Psalms 61 – Psalms 90

Day 43 Psalms 91 – Psalms 115

Day 44 Psalms 116 – Psalms 150

Day 45 Proverbs 1 – Proverbs 15

Day 46 Proverbs 16 – Proverbs 31

Day 47 Ecclesiastes 1 – Ecclesiastes 12

Day 48 Song of Solomon 1 – Song of Solomon 8

Day 49 Isaiah 1 –  Isaiah 27

Day 50 Isaiah 28 – Isaiah 66

Day 51 Jeremiah 1 – Jeremiah 20

Day 52 Jeremiah 21 – Jeremiah 52

Day 53 Lamentations 1 – Lamentations 5

Day 54 Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel 22

Day 55 Ezekiel 23 – Ezekiel 48

Day 56 Daniel 1 – Daniel 12

Day 57 Hosea 1 – Hosea 14

Day 58 Joel 1 – Joel 3

Day 59 Amos 1 – Amos 9

Day 60 Obadiah 1

Day 61 Jonah 1 – Jonah 4

Day 62 Micah 1 – Micah 7

Day 63 Nahum 1 – Nahum 3

Day 64 Habakkuk 1 – Habakkuk 3

Day 65 Zephaniah 1 – Zephaniah 3

Day 66 Haggai 1 – Haggai 2

Day 67 Zechariah 1 – Zechariah 14

Day 68 Malachi 1 – Malachi 4

NEW TESTAMENT

Day 69 Matthew 1 – Matthew 28

Day 70 Mark 1 – 16

Day 71 Luke 1 – Luke 12

Day 72 Luke 13 – Luke 24

Day 73 John 1 – John 21

Day 74 Acts 1 – Acts 15

Day 75 Acts 16 – Acts 28

Day 76 Romans 1 – Romans 16

Day 77 1 Corinthians 1 – 1 Corinthians 16

Day 78 2 Corinthians 1 – 2 Corinthians 13

Day 79 Galatians 1 – Galatians 6

Day 80 Ephesians 1 – Ephesians 6

Day 81 * Philippians 1 – Philippians 4 (Morning)

                Colossians 1 – Colossians 4 ( Afternoon)

                1 Thessalonians 1 – 1 Thessalonians 5 (Bedtime)

Day 82 2 Thessalonians 1 – 2 Thessalonians 3 (Morning)

                1 Timothy 1 – 1 Timothy 6  (Afternoon)

                2 Timothy 1 – 2 Timothy 4 (Bedtime)

Day 83 Titus 1 – Titus 3 (Morning )

                Philemon 1 (Afternoon)

                Hebrews 1 – Hebrews 13 (Bedtime)

Day 84 James 1 –  James 5  (Morning)

                1 Peter 1 – 1 Peter 5 (Afternoon)

                2 Peter 1 – 2 Peter 3 (Bedtime)

Day 85 1 John 1 – 1 John (Morning)

                2 John 1 (Afternoon)

                3 John  (Bedtime)

Day 86 Jude 1

Day 87 Revelation 1 – Revelation 6

Day 88 Revelation 7 – Revelation 18

Day 89 Revelation 19 – Revelation 22

Day 90 – PRAISE!