Where ever you have a lack...that is where the enemy will attack!

Judges 16:1-3 Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. When it was told to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” Now Samson lay until midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.

Ill – A wife woke her husband and said "There's a burglar downstairs. Her husband had heard this a lot over the past 3 decades! Still, he wanted her to feel safe so he got up and went downstairs…to his shock there was a Burglar! 

The thief stuck a gun in the guy's face and said, "Give me all your valuables. The man gathered them up handed and them over to him. The burglar said, “you just sit in that chair, while I escape and no one will get hurt!” The man said,  "Oh please, don't leave yet, would you mind coming upstairs. I'd like to introduce you to my wife. She's been looking for you for 30 years!"

Silly story, but it makes the point of someone that lacked connection with their own imagination. Any kind of “lack” can be dangerous, we will see two in this portion of Scripture.

This section of Scripture deals with individuals that are lacking certain things. First, lets look at the people of Gaza, and then we will look at Samson.

These folks seem to be really lacking common sense! Samson was well known and if anyone was paying attention they would know how dangerous this man was. Not only did he rip a lion in two, which may not have been public knowledge, but he also captured hundreds of foxes, tied their tails together, and burned the place down. Then another time, he killed 1000 men with a single jawbone! It is amazing how emotions like anger and hate can skew our mind, making us lose touch with reality. Why in the world would these men think that they could kill Samson, when his strength was the stuff legends are made of? 

We need to stop ourselves here, and ask the same question. When we are in a highly emotional state, is that the time to make decisions? Is it wise for us to ignore the facts, just because we really want something? Eve knew that there was only one tree she was forbidden to eat from, remember she corrected the serpent. Yet, she ignored that fact because she wanted to taste the fruit! How often do you or I know that what we are about to do is not pleasing to God, but ignore the facts that this will insult Him, will break our fellowship with Him, may bring chastisement from Him, etc. still, we press on because it is what we want!

Just to emphasize the facts about Samson’s strength; based on archeological evidence of these kinds of city gates; they could have weighed 2 ½  - 10 tons! Samson not only picked them up, he then carried them. Based on where the Scripture states he carried them, it could be as far as 36 miles and went from 100 ft above sea level to as much as 3300 ft above sea level! This is not a man you want to mess with!

We would be wise to learn from this story, to temper our emotions with the facts before we act. There is much common sense needed in living the Christian life! 

Samson continues to show his greatest lack, no sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Here is a man that God has called to serve Him and be used by God to deliver the people of Israel, yet his flesh continually leads him, not yielding to the Spirit of God. He sees a harlot and decides he wants her, so he takes her. No struggle in his spirit about right and wrong, no hesitation on how this will not glorify God. Each time we see Samson move toward sin, it is presented in a way that communicates “speed,” and I believe that is a key! If we look at David, his life was much more meditative, and even though he did sin, it was not the defining description of his life. Samson seems to run from one sin to the next!

Perhaps this should be a warning for us today. Life is coming at us so fast and many times we are endeavoring to travel at the same pace. How many times have you realized that you are in sin, and you don’t really remember how you got there? To really be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we must quiet the noise of our flesh, slow down the pace of our life, so we can reflect on what we are doing and what we are about to do.

We should continue to thank God for the truth of this verse:

1 Corinthians 10:1–11 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.  These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

Samson, though now with the Lord for a long time, can continue to teach us so we do not make the same mistakes!

Meditation: We are all flawed beings, so we will all have certain lacks in our lives. What is important is that we become aware of what those lacks are. Have you reflected on your strengths and weaknesses, because that is where you will discover where your “lacks” are? Make a list and see what the Holy Spirit can do to illuminate you. If you discover a “lack” what are you willing to do about it?

The "Circle of Life" may be a nice song...But the spiritual "Circle of Life" is very important!

Probing Proverbs 11:30–31 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls. If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth, How much more the
                                                           wicked and the sinner!

A little coffee plant was growing in the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. It was sent across the ocean to Nyassaland. In sixteen years the one plant produced five million plants, and the coffee culture became the chief source of prosperity.^[1]

If we plant the right seed and nurture it, the fruit it bears can be unbelievable!

As a follower of Jesus Christ, we know that we are to seek to live righteously, just because we love Him. God states clearly that we are to live holy because He is holy. Yet, it is important to take note that the Scriptures give quite a few other practical reasons why that life style is beneficial. I do not have space to share all – just look at a small section taken from the book of Psalms.

* Psalm 5:12 For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

* Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.

* Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.

* Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

* Psalm 37:16 Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.

* Psalm 37:29 The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.

* Psalm 37:39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.

* Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

* Psalm 64:10 The righteous man will be glad in the Lord and will take refuge in Him; And all the upright in heart will glory.

* Psalm 92:12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

This Proverb also gives some very positive input on why it is worth living righteous. The word “fruit” also means “offspring.” That really helps us see the positive outcome from a life that seeks to live righteously. This life style leads to a “tree of life!” What could be better than experiencing all that God intends our life to be? Whenever God’s Word speaks of “life” not only does it reflect quantity, (eternal) but it also includes quality! (Life in Full)

Part of that “wisdom” mentioned here, points out that a righteous person understands what really makes life full, i.e. impacting other human beings! The word “wins” also means, “Captures!” A righteous person understands that the only thing that is really eternal are others and so the most important and fulfilling thing we can do in our life is to help others in their walk. 
What could be more important than help someone understand that their Creator loves them and desires a relationship with them?

Remember, we are not selling something, or trying to get others to agree  with us; we are simply allowing them to see the impact a relationship with God has had on our life!

This is what Peter admonished:

1 Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.

Notice, your life is so different, that they are led to ask you why it is so! This is not manipulation, or pushy.

Lastly, we are left with a very stark reality, if God rewards the righteous, “how much more” (surely) the wicked will reap what they sowed.

It must be noted here, that when Scripture speaks of us living righteously, it is addressing our practical life style. None of us are righteous on our own in God’s eyes. We are all sinners! However, when we enter into a relationship with Christ we are declared “righteous” and God expects us to seek to live that way. The great truth is that God still knows we cannot do that on our own, which is why He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and enable us to seek to live a righteous life!

It is an interesting circle that God has created and if we just allow the Spirit to lead us, we will see that this circle just continues. When we enter into a relationship with Christ, God views us through the Blood of His Son, so we are declared “righteous.” At that moment the Holy Spirit enters us and gives us a thirst to live in a way that pleases God (righteous) – so if we just continue to pursue that thirst, it will lead us to godly living, which produces more practical righteousness. The more practical righteousness we experience, the greater our disdain for sin. The greater our disdain for sin, the greater for our thirst to live righteously! It is an unending circle, unless we choose to rebel and follow the flesh again! 

Remember, no matter the mistakes or sins you do, you are one prayer away from restoration and the Holy Spirit will fill you again with a thirst for righteousness, which will begin that circle again!

Meditation: There are two "circles of life." One is where we allow the flesh to feast on sin, which never is satisfied, so that just leads to more sin! The other is the one we just described, where living righteously leads to a greater desire to live righteously. Which circle are you in? Why? If in sin, do you desire to get out? Why? What can you do to get out? Do you know this verse: 1 John 1:9? Will you act on it right now? 

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^[1] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1501). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.