Month: October 2016

Good Morning Guys Resources {Judges 11-15}

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Welcome back to the Good Morning Guys Study through Judges!

If you’re new, feel free to jump right in and follow along. Everything you need for this week is below, including this week’s Bible Reading Plan, Reflection Questions, and Verses of the Day.  Don’t forget to check back on Friday for my weekly blog post.

Here’s This Week’s Bible Reading Plan

Monday – Judges 11

Tuesday – Judges 12

Wednesday – Judges 13

Thursday – Judges 14

Friday – Judges 15

The Reflection Questions for the Week

{These questions are included inside the journal .  If you do not have the journal, I encourage you to reflect on these questions and answer them in your notebook.}

Chapter 11:

Jephthah remained confident in God’s promises knowing that God would prevail.

Name a time when you faced a situation that you had to remind yourself that God’s promises would be fulfilled no matter what.

Chapter 12:

God and God alone can save us, not man.

Name a time that God has stepped in and rescued you from a horrible situation.

Chapter 13:

Monoah sought out God’s instructions. God was faithful in revealing their duties.

When was the last time you sought direction from God?

Chapter 14:

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson twice in this chapter. This shows the involvement of God in Samson’s life.

How have you seen God’s involvement in your life?

Chapter 15:

Even though Samson was strong, he knew he had to call on God to help him.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were determined to fix the situation yourself, only to be reminded by God, that we must rely on Him and not ourselves?

The Verses of the Day

Monday:

All that the Lord our God has given us, we will possess-Judges 11:24

Tuesday:

The Lord gave them into my hand.Judges 12:3

Wednesday:

And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.-Judges 13:24

Thursday:

Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him.-Judges 14:6

Friday:

And he called upon the Lord and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant.”-Judges 15:18

 

Don’t forget to join me out on Instagram every morning at GuysInTheWord.

I’ll see you back here this Friday as we wrap-up our week of Bible Study.

Johnathan

How God Works Through Our Weakness

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Have you ever had to do something that you thought was too big and too hard for you to do all by yourself?

Maybe you had to lift something really heavy or do something really hard in a sport you play. We’ve all had those experiences, but I’m pretty sure none of us has ever had to save a whole nation from an evil oppressor.

That’s exactly what Gideon was told to do by the Lord in Judges 6:11-16

Israel was being oppressed by an evil nation called Midian. God had actually caused Israel to be oppressed in Judges 6:1-10 because Israel was disobeying Him and worshipping false gods.

The people of Israel had to hide out in caves and forts, and the Midianites kept stealing their animals and crops.

Israel got so fed up that they finally cried out to the One True God to save them. That’s where our story today about Gideon picks up.

In Chapter 6 Verses 11 and 12, we see an angel approach Gideon while he’s working and telling him that God is with him, and calling him a “mighty man of valor.”

Can you imagine an angel randomly coming up to you and calling you a warrior?

To make things even crazier, he tells Gideon that he’s the man God wants to defeat the Midianite oppressors of Israel.

At this point, anyone would be pretty worried about having to lead a war to save a nation. Gideon asks the angel how he’s supposed to do this when he’s the weakest man in the weakest family of his tribe.

The angel simply tells him that God will be with him.

Looking ahead to Chapter 7 Verse 19, we see that in the end God helped Gideon defeat the Midianites just like the angel says here.

So what can we learn from this crazy story of God using a weak, insignificant person to save a nation?

Chances are most of us can identify with Gideon. We’re just normal guys living normal lives. We’re not important or strong.

But just like Gideon, God can use us despite our weaknesses.

The Bible is filled with stories of weak, insignificant people being used by God. Just look at the twelve apostles! They started out as lowly fisherman and tax collectors, and God used them to establish His church!

So how does God want to use you for Him today?

Here are some ways God wants to use you for His kingdom even when you think you’re insignificant and unimportant.

 

    1. Serve Others.
      God wants you to consider others as more important than yourself. By loving others and giving to them without thinking about yourself, God uses you to make Himself known! Jesus says in Matthew 20:16, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” Living sacrificially is how you are truly great in God’s eyes.
    2. Pray.

      Prayer is how we communicate with God as Christians. When we pray, we are made more and more like God. We get closer to Him, and He strengthens us to be able to do what He commands us to through His Holy Spirit. In this way God works through your weaknesses by giving you His strength instead of your own.

    3. Tell Others About Him.
      As Christians it is our duty to tell others about Christ. Whether we only influence one person to accept Christ or we bring thousands to Christ, each soul is infinitely important to God. If you tell others about Christ, you are bringing glory to God and God is using you to further His kingdom, even if you feel like your efforts are weak and insignificant.

Don’t Try To Do Things By Yourself!  

When Christians try to live for God, stay away from sin, and tell others about Him by themselves, they aren’t relying on God’s strength that is available to every Christian through the Holy Spirit.

God is most glorified when we rely on Him.

Paul sums this up perfectly in 1 Corinthians 12:10, when he says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul isn’t saying that somehow weaknesses actually make him strong, he’s saying that when he’s at his weakest, God is strongest in him, because it’s not by his strength that he’s living for God, but by God’s strength.

So today if you’re feeling too weak or unimportant to do anything great for God, remember that it’s when we are at our weakest that God uses us the most.

Johnathan

Let’s talk in the comments below:

  1. What situations are you facing in your life that make you weak?
  2. How can you rely on God to help you in those situations?

Good Morning Guys Resources {Judges 6-10}

judges-6-10-resources-for-guys

Welcome back to the Good Morning Guys Study through Judges! I’m so glad you’re here and have completed a whole week.

If you’re new, feel free to jump right in and follow along. Everything you need for this week is below, including this week’s Bible Reading Plan, Reflection Questions, and Verses of the Day.  Don’t forget to check back on Friday for my weekly blog post.

Here’s This Week’s Bible Reading Plan

Monday – Chapter 6

Tuesday – Chapter 7

Wednesday – Chapter 8

Thursday – Chapter 9

Friday – Chapter 10

The Reflection Questions for the Week

{These questions are included inside the journal .  If you do not have the journal, I encourage you to reflect on these questions and answer them in your notebook.}

Chapter 6:

Gideon asked God to show him a sign that God was truly wanting him to go into battle for His people.

Name a time, when you have questioned God. What was His response to you?

Chapter 7:

God can make great things happen even out of the smallest of things. He does this to remind us that He is with us.

How does this bring encouragement to you today and the situations you are facing?

Chapter 8:

Even after all God had done, the people still longed for a leader. Gideon refused, reminding them that God alone was their ruler.

In what ways do you find it hard to let God be the ruler of your life?

Chapter 9:

Abimelech rose up over God’s people using power and influence. Yet, in the end, God caused him to fail. This reminds us that God is always in control.

How does this bring you comfort today?

Chapter 10:

Once again, Israel was overtaken because they had turned their backs on God and instead chose to worship false gods.

Has God ever revealed to you, that you were placing other gods before Him?

The Verses of the Day

Monday: 

Judges 6:23: Peace be to you. Do not fear.

Tuesday:

Judges 7:15: As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped.

 

Wednesday:

Judges 8:23: Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”

Thursday:

Judges 9:10: Come and reign over us.

Friday:

Judges 10:10: The people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”

 

Don’t forget to join me out on Instagram every morning at GuysInTheWord.

I’ll see you back here this Friday as we wrap-up our week of Bible Study.

Johnathan

How Can You Make a Difference?

 

If you’re like me, you probably look around at the world and all the bad, evil things going on and wonder how someone like you could ever make a difference. I know I often wish there was something I could do to help, and I’m sure you do too.

As Christians, God put that desire in us, and He wants to use each and everyone of us to affect the world around us, for His cause.

Today we’re going to look at one person who did something that changed the whole course of a nation for 40 years. That person is a woman named Jael, and we find her in Judges 4:17-24.

In the days that this story takes place, Israel was being oppressed by an evil king and his empire.

In verse 17 we learn that Jael’s family was at peace with the oppressive king and his empire. Because of this alliance between her family and the kingdom, the fleeing commander Sisera expected to find a friend to hide from the Israelite army in Jael’s house. His army was being overtaken by Deborah and Barak (not Obama). Instead of the peace and safety Sisera expected, he was greeted by his own downfall at the hands of Jael.

In verse 21, we see a courageous initiative taken by Jael.

She took it into her own hands to rid Israel of the oppressive empire it was under. Sisera was exhausted by the battle he had just fled from, so he fell asleep in Jael’s house. Jael seized this opportunity by taking a tent peg and a hammer and hammering the tent peg through Sisera’s head, killing him as he slept!

This ultimately won the battle for the Israelites (Verse 23) and brought 40 years of peace to Israel. (Chapter 5 Verse 31)

This action by Jael took huge amounts of courage for two reasons.

  1. Jael was a woman, and women were not considered to be warriors at that time. Jael went against the status quo and trends of the day to defeat the enemy.
  2. Jael’s family was in an alliance with the kingdom she ultimately helped defeat. By killing Sisera, Jael was breaking this alliance and most likely going against what her husband and other leaders in her family would have wanted her to do.

Application

Jael’s courage and leadership can teach us a lot about how to stand up for what we believe and make a difference for God in our world today.

Here are 3 things to remember as you look to be a leader for God’s kingdom.

  • Don’t ever let your young age hold you back.  

    1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in faith, in purity.”

  • God is telling you that even though you are young, you can be a leader by speaking with love, treating others kindly, trusting God, and staying pure in your thoughts and actions. That is how you can make a difference for God.
  • Don’t be afraid to stand out.

    Ephesians 5:11 says to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

  • In Matthew 5, Jesus tells us to be salt and light, pushing back against the darkness in our world and shining a light with how we live. If we live as Christ calls us to, we can change the world for God in a big way.
  • What you do doesn’t have to be big.

    Many Christians feel guilty that they have never done anything big for God.

  • The truth is, though, that we don’t have to do anything huge to advance the kingdom of God. All we have to do is live how God called us and be an example of Christ to those around us, wherever God has put us. We have to fulfill the Great Commission by telling everyone we know about God, but you don’t have to be a missionary or pastor to do that. If you even lead one person to God, that is worth an infinite amount in the eyes of God, and who knows how many more people will be saved because of that one person being saved!

 

In conclusion, as young men chasing after God, let’s follow Jael’s example and be leaders and examples of Christ to those around us.

Don’t be afraid to stand up and stand out for God, and out of love for Him, show others the love of Christ. That’s how to live right as a Christian young man.

Johnathan

Let’s talk in the comments below:

  1. What are some ways you have made a difference for God?
  2. How do you think God is calling you to make a difference for Him today?

It’s Time to Begin! {Intro & Resources for Judges 1-5}

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Welcome!

Today we begin our study in the book of Judges.  If you don’t have your optional Journal yet, I want to encourage you to pull out a notebook and use it to write out your thoughts and reflections on this week’s study.

Inside the journal it teaches you how to use the SOAK method to study the Bible.  This is how the method works:

  • S – The S stands for Scripture – Read the chapter for the day.   Then choose 1-2 verses and write them out word for word. (There is no right or wrong choice – just let the Holy Spirit guide you.)
  • O – The O stands for Observation – Look at the verse or verses you wrote out. Write 1 or 2 observations. What stands out to you? What do you learn about the character of God from these verses? Is there a promise, command or teaching?
  • A – The A stands for Application – Personalize the verses. What is God saying to you?   How can you apply them to your life?   Are there any changes you need to make or an action to take?
  • K – The K stands for Kneeling in Prayer – Pause, kneel and pray. Confess any sin God has revealed to you today. Praise God for His word. Pray the passage over your own life or someone you love. Ask God to help you live out your applications.

The goal is to SOAK God’s word into your heart everyday and let it transform your life, renew your mind and create a deeper intimacy with God.

Let’s take a look at the book of the Bible we are about to study.

The Book of Judges Overview

Judges is a book about 12 judges who helped deliver the nation of Israel from one of the darkest and most oppressed times in their history. These judges were far from perfect but God used them in mighty ways.

As Joshua ends, we see the nation taking a stand for God. As we enter Judges; however, we see that the claim that Joshua made at the end of his book has come true. The people are following after other gods and there is a rapid decline – both as a nation and individually. The book of Judges focuses on sin and consequences. Sin grows when it is left unattended.

This book sounds a lot like today. Many choose to do what is right in their own eyes and follow after the ways of the world. But we can be like the 12 judges – who, though they were flawed and imperfect, decided to depend on God and be obedient to Him. Most of all, we can see that just like the judges – God’s mercy has come to our rescue over and over again.

Key Verse: Judges 17:6

“In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Outline:

  1. The failure of Israel (Judges 1:1-3:6) – The nation of Israel had compromised God’s commands to drive out the inhabitants of the land.
  2. The Judges (3:7-16:31) – We see the nation of Israel sinning over and over again because of the compromise that they had made. Sin always has consequences.
  3. The Moral Failure of Israel (17:1-21:25) – Despite the efforts of Israel’s judges, the people would not turn their whole hearts back to God. They did what was right in their own eyes. The result was a decline of the nation – spiritually, morally, and politically.

Major Themes:

Compromise: Whenever a judge died, the people faced a decline and they compromised their standards. Society has rewarded compromise. We need to not compromise what we know is right from the standard of God’s Word.

Apostasy: We can expect decay when we value anything more highly than God. In Judges, idol worship and man-made religion led to a complete abandoning of their walk with God. We can have idols and man-made religion as well today by focusing on anything more than we do on our relationship with God.

Repentance: The decline, decay and defeat of the nation of Israel caused them to call out to God for help. When they repented, God delivered them. Idolatry gains a stronghold in our hearts and lives when we place anything above God. We need to watch for modern idolatry in our hearts and minds.

 

Here’s This Week’s Bible Reading Plan

Monday – Judges 1

Tuesday – Judges 2

Wednesday – Judges 3

Thursday – Judges 4

Friday – Judges 5

The Reflection Questions for the Week

{These questions are included inside the journal .  If you do not have the journal, I encourage you to reflect on these questions and answer them in your notebook.}

Chapter 1:

Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulan, Asher and Naphtali failed to drive the inhabitants off their land as they were commanded.

Name a time when you only partially did what God laid on your heart. How did that situation turn out?

Chapter 2:

Israel turned their backs on God and began to seek out new gods.

Is there something in your own life that you seem to seek out more than God?

Chapter 3:

Israel was tested to see if they would obey God’s commandments. Each time they failed the test.

Have you been tested in your Christian walk lately? In what ways?

Chapter 4:

Barak didn’t want to move forward with the plan God had already laid out for him without Deborah.

Name a time when you have been too afraid or unwilling to do what God has asked of you because you didn’t want to do it alone?

Chapter 5:

Deborah and Barak’s song tells us the people offered themselves willingly.

Do you offer yourself up willingly for God or do you struggle with giving over complete control?

The Verses of the Day

Monday:

Judges 1:2: The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.”

Tuesday:

Judges 2:10: And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Wednesday:

Judges 3:7And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Thursday: 

Judges 4:14:  And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?”

Friday:

Judges 5:31:  So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.

Don’t forget to join me out on Instagram every morning at GuysInTheWord.

Please share in the comments:

Are you joining us?  Tell a little about yourself.  What is your name, where are you from and anything else you would like to share.

If you have any questions – ask below. 

I’ll see you back here this Friday as we wrap-up our week of Bible Study.

Johnathan

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Introducing the Book of Judges

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Welcome!

Good Morning Guys is an on-line Bible Study geared at guys ages 10  and up.

We are reading through the Bible – one chapter a day – 5 days a week.  Every Monday, we’ll kick off the week with free resources and accountability here on the blog and on Fridays, I’ll be here to wrap-up our week in the Word, with a devotional.

We’ll be starting in the book of Judges Monday, October 17th.

The {optional} Good Morning Guys Judges Journal
is available now exclusively on Amazon.

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I’ll be back here next Monday with free resources to get you started in your Bible Study.

Until then, I encourage you to subscribe in the sidebar so you don’t miss a post and follow me out on Instagram at GuysInTheWord.

I hope you’ll join us as we grow in Christ!

Johnathan

Let’s Talk:

Are you studying the book of Judges with us?

Introduce yourself in the comment section – share your age, where you are from and a little about yourself.

If you haven’t read my introduction yet – you can learn more about me here.

This post contains an affiliate link.

What Do You Worship?

A crowd level view of hands raised from the spectating crowd interspersed by colorful spotlights and a smokey atmosphere

Do people still worship idols today like they did in the Old Testament?

You might think that they don’t, but idolatry is an even bigger problem today than it was back then.

Obviously you don’t see people running around bowing down to statues anymore, but almost everyone alive on earth has worshiped someone or something other than God. The most shocking and scary thing is that we as Christians often commit idolatry as well, and we don’t even realize it. Let’s look at our passage this week, which comes to us from Joshua 24:14-18. Open your Bible there and follow along as we study.

Joshua 24 shows Joshua giving a final charge to the people of Israel.

Joshua is old and about to die, and Joshua 24 serves as his goodbye speech to Israel, challenging them to remember God and live for Him.

Verses 1-13 are actually the Lord’s words to Israel spoken through Joshua reminding Israel of all that God had done for them.

Then in verses 14-18, our passage today, we see the speech shift to a challenge from Joshua himself to the people of Israel. He challenges them to continue worshiping God and living only for Him, not worshiping idols.

Verse 15 is where we get the famous quote, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” which you’ve probably seen somewhere in at least 1 person’s house before.

In verse 15, he uses some irony by sarcastically suggesting other gods that they could worship, such as the gods their fathers served or the gods of the Amorites. He is basically saying, “You can worship those gods, but good luck with that!”

Thankfully in Verses 16-18, Israel agrees with Joshua and refuses to worship idols, remembering all that God had done for them. They commit themselves to following only the true God. This response from the Israelites should be our response as well.

So the big question is; how do we make sure we are serving only God and not idols today?

You may think that you’ve never committed idolatry. After all, you’ve never worshiped a statue or prayed to a god that doesn’t exist. The sad reality is that all of us have committed idolatry, and you probably do every day without even realizing it.

Idolatry isn’t just worshiping an idol, it’s loving anything more than God. Jesus even says in Matthew 10:37-39 that those who love their family more than Him are committing idolatry.

We can see idolatry in our priorities, most of all.

What we make most important in life and spend the most time doing is naturally what we love the most.

Do you make reading the Bible, praying, and going to church regularly more important than anything else in your life?

If you’re missing church all the time for sports or because you’re tired, or you’re not reading the Bible because you’re too busy playing video games, you are putting other things like sports, sleep, and video games before God.

In God’s eyes, that’s idolatry, and you are making those things your god.

Trust me, I know this is really hard, and I’m just as bad at making God most important in my life as you are, but it’s something we all need to realize is a problem and do our best to fix. The comforting thing is, God is there to help us conquer our idolatry if we just ask Him.

So today, ask God to help you make Him the most important thing in your life, and then take action. Instead of constantly playing sports or video games, take some time to sit down and worship God today.

The more time you spend with God, the easier it will be to love Him above anything else.

Let’s talk in the comments below:

What are some things that distract us from loving God above anything else?

How has God helped you conquer idols in your life?

Johnathan

Don’t forget to order your journal now to get it in time for our next study.

We will begin the book of Judges on Monday, October 17th.

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Good Morning Guys Resources {Joshua 21-24}

Good Morning Guys Resources Joshua 21-24

 

Welcome back to our final week in the book of Joshua!

If you wondering what’s coming next – it’s the book of Judges. We will begin our study in the book of Judges on Monday, October 17th.

We have a Judges journal available if you’d like to have a guide to assist you in your study.  It’s available now exclusively on Amazon.

judges-guys-spine

I’ll post more details about this study next Monday.

If you’re new, feel free to jump right in and follow along.

Everything you need for this week is below, including this week’s Bible Reading Plan, Reflection Questions, and Verses of the Day.   Don’t forget to check back on Friday for my weekly blog post.

Here’s This Week’s Bible Reading Plan

Monday –  Joshua 21

Tuesday – Joshua 22

Wednesday –  Joshua 23

Thursday –  Joshua 24

The Reflection Questions for the Week

{These questions are included inside the journal .  If you do not have the journal, I encourage you to reflect on these questions and answer them in your notebook.}

Chapter 21

Though their journey had been long. God delivered on His promises to His people.

How does this bring you comfort as you are dealing with your current battles?

 

Chapter 22

Now that the people are all settled in, it was important to remind them to continue to love God with all their heart and to continue to follow His commandments.

Has your heart been tempted to stray? How do you stay focused on God through out the day?

 

Chapter 23

Temptation is always around us. Yet it is important not to allow our temptations to get the best of us.

How do you combat your temptations? Do you have a special friend you can talk with or maybe a special Bible verse that keeps you on track?

 

Chapter 24

We are reminded we cannot serve two masters.

Is there something in your life that is standing in the way of you serving God fully today? Make that change today!

The Verses of the Day

 Joshua 21:45

Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Joshua 22:5

Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways and keep his commandments and cling to him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Joshua 23:3

For it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

Joshua 24:15

Choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

 

Don’t forget to join me out on Instagram every morning at GuysInTheWord.

I’ll see you back here this Thursday as we wrap-up our week of Bible Study.

Johnathan

Don’t forget to order your journal now to get it in time for our next study.

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