Recovery Devotional 343 When God Departs

JMD Devotional 343 Judges 16:17-20 When God Departs

17-20 Then he told her all his mind and said to her, A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my birth. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his mind, she went and called for the Philistine lords, saying, Come up this once, for he has told me all he knows. Then the Philistine lords came up to her and brought the money in their hands.

And she made Samson sleep upon her knees, and she called a man and caused him to shave off the seven braids of his head. Then she began to torment [Samson], and his strength went from him. She said, The Philistines are upon you, Samson! And he awoke out of his sleep and said, I will go out as I have time after time and shake myself free. For Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

There are several tragic instances of God and His Glory departing from His people in the scriptures. In 1 Samuel 4 judgment comes upon Eli the Priest for not correcting his sons who had made a mockery of that office, and of abusing the gifts, sacrifices, and even abusing the people who brought offerings to God. Eli and his sons die in a single day, and the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines. Upon hearing of these things, Eli’s daughter-in-law gives birth to a son she names “Ichabod”, meaning ‘the glory (of Israel) is departed.’ A generation later, in 1 Samuel chapters 15 and 16, King Saul grows proud, and disobeys the Lord, and offers sacrifices that are unlawful for anyone but an ordained priest to administer, so: “…the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented and troubled him” (16:14). Then, the Gospel of Luke (ch 13:34-36) records Jesus chastising the religious leaders in response to their idolatry and apostasy, “Your house is forsaken!” (Abandoned, left to you destitute of God’s help). “You will not see me again…until the time comes when you shall say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” When God departs, all that is good is gone! Obedience is not an optional or casual requirement for harmony with God. As Christians, who have been saved by God’s grace and promise, our salvation is secure and our relation is solid: we will always be His children; but the harmony of our relationship and the special presence and power of God in our life waxes and wanes in accordance with our obedience.

Dear God,

Thank You for the assurances I have of my salvation. May I not use Your grace as an occasion to sin; but may I earnestly cling to You and Your ways out of gratitude and because Your way is right. Help me to not be wise in my own eyes; but to fear You, and turn away from evil. Search my heart and make me aware of where I am leaning toward rebellion. Please exert Your holy influence on my life to get me in step with Your Holy Spirit. The wages of sin is death because You are the source of life in all of its dimensions, its only source. Your nearness is my good. Abide in and with me. Abba Father.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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