Judges 11, Proverbs 19, Hebrews 4

God wants you. If you think you're a nobody and that God can't possibly use you to accomplish His purpose, then you read the right chapter today. Jephthah's experience dispels those thoughts. If we think some one else is unworthy of Christian fellowship because of their pedigree or their past, reading about Jephthah will disprove those notions. He is one example of many in the Bible where God chose the most unlikely candidates to carry out His missions.

Take it seriously. Jephthah is also an example of the seriousness of promising God we'll do something. The incident with his daughter is hard to understand. But a couple of things are clear.
1. A vow to God must be kept. 
2. We should carefully consider the vows we make and not spout off whatever pops into our heads in a moment of excitement. Consider the cost.

Wisdom, words, and action all go together. The wise person speaks only after careful thought and only the truth. She then acts in ways that are kind and merciful. A foolish person speaks without regard for truth or the well-being of others and her actions result in destruction.

The Power of Word. God spoke the world into existence, and then rested. The gospel of salvation brought through the work of the cross has been spoken, or preached, to us. The Word of God, scripture, is living and powerful. Jesus is our High Priest, to whom we can go for mercy and grace in our times of need. Let us hold fast our confession. If we say Jesus is Lord, we need to be prepared to live it out so we can enter the rest of heaven.

Live your words. Let's recognize that God wants to us each of us in His plans, accept the gift of salvation and live it out with wise words and actions.

Judges 10, Proverbs 18, Hebrews 3

Judges 10 says as much about God as it does about the Israelites. Their fickle nature is well-known to us and we recognize both their almost unbelievable lack of sense and the same tendency within ourselves. But God, although He needed to punish their waywardness, could hardly stand it. The cries of His people, no matter how just their suffering, tore at His heart. And so He prepared to save them. Just like He prepared to save us when He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (v 10) The name of the Lord is the only name by which people are saved. And that only happens because of His great mercy and love.

Unbelief is the one thing that will keep us from being saved by the name of the Lord and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We must cry out to Him, run to Him, trust Him, and believe that He is Who He said He is. Then He will come to our aid and save us. Even though we don't deserve it.