DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY! Have you ever heard of one? Have you been a member of one? You can probably answer yes to the first question and hopefully no to the second. The characteristics of a dysfunctional family are: don’t talk, don’t tell, don’t feel and hide family secrets from everyone. Some would say this kind of family is a recent invention native to the last fifty years. The good and bad news is that the dysfunctional family has been around from the beginning of time.

As you have been reading about some of the biblical families in your Daily Walk Bible, you have probably come to the conclusion that they all suffered from some severe dysfunctions. In the past week, you have been reading about King David the man who one day sought to please God and the next day committed adultery and then murder. Like me you probably wonder how this computes on the God level.

I think the great teaching here is not that we can all violate God’s standards and get away with it but that when we repent of sins committed, God is willing to forgive and will allow his amazing grace to wash over all of us. David paid dearly for deviating from God’s standards. God loves us and forgives us when we follow our own path but we often carry the scars of our misdeeds for the rest of our life. Sometimes scars are God’s way of reminding us what we have lived through and learned about His amazing love for each of us.

Jim Smoke

I love the story of David and Goliath. The greatest thing is that it’s not just a story – it’s a real event – it really happened – and it’s in the Bible so we can know something very important about God and ourselves. How many of us have faced a giant in our lives—some impossible situation where our own strength and ingenuity is not enough to fight it.

David is our example. He was just a boy in the eyes of those around him. But, in the audience of God, he was Mr. Great Heart, ready to do battle with Goliath, the one who caused the entire Israelite army including King Saul to shake in fear. David knew it was not his battle, but the Lord’s. And David knew that God was greater than Goliath. And so, Mr. Great Heart set out to fight Goliath with stones, a shepherd’s staff, a sling, and God. When David faced Goliath, he saw what Goliath had—a sword, a spear, a javelin, and the names of his gods. David shouted out to Goliath: “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and I will cut off your head…And everyone will know that the Lord does not need weapons to rescue His people. It is His battle, not ours. The Lord will give you to us!” Now that is what I call “holy boldness.” It’s a boldness based on the unseen realities of God and His Word. Oh that God would raise up more great hearts who know their God and who will boldly stand on what God says and who He is.

I like what Alan Redpath shares in his incredible book (on my top ten list) entitled The Making Of A Man Of God: “David was strengthened by experience: he could look back upon a day when he slew a lion and a bear. The confidence you may have as you go out in the name of the Lord today is that in the pages of your memory you can find days when you have faced a situation that was absolutely impossible, and the Lord stepped in and gave victory. It isn’t the first time you have stood against a Goliath—you know what it is to be strengthened by experience and sustained by the Word of God. So many Christians believe in the God of history and the God of prophecy; we believe all the great things He did in Wesley’s day and in Moody’s day. We believe in the great things He is going to when He comes again. But how few of His people really believe that He is the God of today, that He is a present, living power in our hearts! In Saul’s mind, God was absent from the whole conflict; He didn’t enter into it. But in David’s mind, God was the greatest reality of all. Is God real to you like that today? Is He God not only of the yesterdays of your past, nor of the hopeful tomorrows of the future, but of death to self and absolute victory today?”

What a great question for us in our lives as we think about the giants we face today. Is God the greatest reality of all for you in your life today—even greater than the giants? If so, then you are one of those with a “great heart” for God who marches daily into battle saying “I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty…It is his battle, not ours” (1 Samuel 17:45-47).

Right about now, many of you reading through the Bible are probably getting a bit discouraged by all the battles that Israel seems to habitually fall into. Second to that, you are struggling to pronounce all the names of the characters caught up in those battles. Hang in there and don’t get discouraged. Through all of these beginning books of the Bible, God appears to Israel as a God of grace, love and forgiveness. The really good news is that He is that God of love, grace and forgiveness to you and me today.

There are two distinct verses from the book of Judges. In Judges 17:6, we picture the true state of confusion that Israel finds itself struggling with: “In those days, Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” At the end of Judges in chapter 21:25, we read the very same words. It’s not rocket science to understand that Israel broke their relationship with God whenever they decided to do what they thought was right rather than asking God what He wanted them to do.

Fast forward to today. God’s word spells out the direction and instructions for living a life that is God honoring. Like Israel, we only get in trouble when we decide WE are going to do what we want and not what God wants. If you have gotten a little off the God track in your life, it’s time to talk to God about getting back on his pathway. His grace, love and forgiveness is there for the taking!

Jim Smoke

Hi everyone! Just want to know what you are learning these days from the Word of God. I am loving the reading in Judges. It’s incredible. My favorite verse so far is in Judges 5:21 - “March on, my soul, with courage!” We need to shout these words everyday as we run the race that is set before us. It is the battle cry of great hearts who walk with the Lord faithfully with great endurance in the audience of one or a thousand. The Lord is their great encouragement and the Word is their beacon of light on the path, day by day. God bless you friends and keep on marching, with courage!

Joshua gives so many important, strong encouraging words to the people of Israel at then end of his life. In my opinion, his words are the secrets to a successful life. And his words challenge me. One phrase stands out to me in particular: “be very careful” in Joshua 22:5, 23:6, 23:11. The NASB translates that word as “diligence.” No matter how far along I am in my relationship with the Lord, I cannot just “coast” along. I must pay attention to my relationship with Him. That’s what I believe Joshua means when he says “So be very careful to love the Lord your God” (23:11). And what I do today affects what happens tomorrow (see 22:18). I must diligently work in the following ways to draw near to the Lord and love Him, rather than turn away according to 22:5: Love the Lord my God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, be faithful to him, and serve him with all my heart and all my soul. That word “serve” is “abad” (Strong’s 5647) in the Hebrew and means to work and labor with such diligence that it is as a slave would work for a master. I often think of the commitment of Dr. Bill Bright many years ago - he signed a contract that he wrote out to the Lord - part of his contract to the Lord was to be a willing slave of the Lord Jesus Christ for the rest of his life. I wonder if we are willing to make such a commitment - to say yes to whatever and wherever He leads. I love what Joshua said in 24:15, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I echo those words. I want to run the race that the Lord has set before me and not miss one ounce of what He has planned. I want to be faithful. I want to love and serve Him with all my heart and all my soul. But I know that it means saying “no” to some good things in order to say “yes” to the best. It means saying “no” to those things that would pull my heart away from Him. We must “choose” for ourslves today whom we will serve (24:15). The word for “choose” is “bachar” in the Hebrew and implies that we are to distinguish the best amid many choices. And Jesus is the best! Just look at the book of John: He is the way, the truth, the life, the Good Shepherd, the light of the world, the bread of life, the true vine, and the resurrection and the life. And He is so much more. John said this about the things Jesus did while on earth: “there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which were written” (John 21:25). As for me, I will serve the Lord. What about you?