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"Instructions Included" by David Middendorf
Judges 13:1 Again the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, and Adonai handed them over to the P’lishtim for forty years.
2 There was a man from Tzor‘ah from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless. 3 The angel of Adonai appeared to the woman and said to her, “Listen! You are barren, you haven’t had a child, but you will conceive and bear a son. 4 Now, therefore, be careful not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean. 5 For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb. Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra’el from the power of the P’lishtim.”
6 The woman came and told her husband; she said, “A man of God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now don’t drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb until the day he dies.’”
8 Then Manoach prayed to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.” 9 God paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoach wasn’t with her. 10 The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband, “Here! That man, the one who came to me the other day, he’s come again!” 11 Manoach got up, followed his wife, went to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” He answered, “I am.”
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What a blessing it would be to first-time parents to have their first child come with instructions included. As we are introduced to the parents of Samson, Manoah and his wife, they find themselves being given very precise prenatal instructions, as well as specific directions as to how the child was to be raised.
Actually, we have been given instructions in the raising of our children. Just as "the man of God" gave Samson's parents instruction. One Scripture that comes to mind can be found in Proverbs 22:6 "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." The training of our children in the way of the Lord is the most important gift we ever give them. Just like Samson's parents, we need the instructions that have been provided to us through the Word.
Our world today has much to say about how to bring up a child, some good, some not so good. We call that knowledge. The Word helps us to separate the good from the bad. We call that wisdom.
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Hymn for Today: "How Firm a Foundation" from John Rippon's Selection of Hymns, 1787
1. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
2. “Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”
3. “When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.”
4. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”
5. “E’en down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.”
6. “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!”
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Thought of the Day: Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves diligently as long as you live, so that you won’t forget what you saw with your own eyes, so that these things won’t vanish from your hearts. Rather, make them known to your children and grandchildren —
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Please Pray: That many people in Guinea will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKadosh.
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Please Pray: That many people in Guinea will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKadosh.
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