Judges 17:6 (KJV) Religious but Wrong

Judges 17:6 (KJV) 

In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

I recently heard Pastor Clifton Miser (First Baptist Church of Englewood, CO) give a helpful perspective on this verse and others like it. He described it not merely as atheism, but as people being religious while still doing things their own way.

There is only one King we need—Jesus.
Without Him, no matter how sincere our faith or our practice, it is empty.

Micah’s story is a perfect example. Though he had stolen his mother’s money, he repented, confessed, and restored it. From that point on, he seemed to want to do what was right. But having no King—no true submission to the Lord—he kept making one bad spiritual decision after another.

• His mother made him an idol.
• He made a hobby of gathering people around himself.
• He hired a Levite to be his personal priest.

And every decision appears to flow from the same reasoning:

Judges 17:13 (KJV)
Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

The sad truth is that the Lord would have gladly been with him and done him good. God had provided a way through the prescribed worship at the tabernacle, through sacrifices and offerings, and under the legitimate priesthood—everything designed as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Micah missed the very thing he wanted because he chose his own way instead of God’s.

America is full of people who long for the blessings of God. Just a few days ago, President Trump said church attendance is rising again in the United States. Unfortunately, it seems to be a kind of religious revival without the King. It is church of a sort, but it is every man doing what is right in his own eyes. It is worship, but not according to Scripture.

And this is nothing new. It explains the birth of many denominations. It is the fruit of professing believers abandoning the King and settling for a pope, or government favor, or the power of the masses, or the sacraments… you get the idea.

The trouble is this:
If Christ is not our King—our Sovereign—if we are not submitted to Him, then whatever our practice of faith may look like, it amounts to nothing more than doing what is right in our own eyes.

#JesusIsKing #FollowGodsWord #BiblicalTruth #ChristCenteredFaith #DoRightGodsWay

Religious but Wrong: Revival Without Christ

Looking for real Bible answers in a world where everyone is “doing what’s right in their own eyes”? 📖✨ If this passage from Judges spoke to you, don’t stop here—dig deeper into what it means to follow Christ as King, not culture or personal opinion.

👉 Want more solid, Scripture-based teaching? Visit: marvinmckenzie.org
You’ll find daily posts, Bible studies, and resources to help you stay grounded in God’s Word. 🙌

Question for you:
Have you ever seen someone mean well spiritually, yet drift because they followed their own ideas instead of the Bible? Share your thoughts below! ⬇️💬

 To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
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Judges 17:6 (KJV) Religious but Wrong

Judges 16:17 (KJV) Samson’s Blind Spot and Ours

Judges 16:17 (KJV) 

That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.

Samson remains an enigma. He was far from a holy man—as we usually understand holiness through Scripture—yet God used him. The plan God intended for Samson was ultimately carried out despite his sin with the harlot and his foolish entanglement with Delilah. How could he not see that she did not love him? She was using him, and she worked for the enemies of God’s people.

But he did not see.

Time after time she tricked him, attempted to betray him, and pressed him with her pleas. Each time he gave in, though he refused to tell her the truth. What happens next deserves serious reflection. Scripture says she “vexed him daily with her words” until he finally revealed what would strip him of his strength.

• Did he decide the Nazarite vow mattered less than his parents had taught him?
• Did he assume that since God had helped him before, he could still prevail even after breaking the vow?
• Did he come to think the power was his own rather than the Lord’s?

I see much of modern Christianity drifting in that same direction. Many see little reason to stay true to the Bible. They find ways to accomplish what they believe is the work of God while setting aside obedience to His Word and devotion to Him.

Samson “wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”
I fear much of today’s Christianity is in the same condition.

The good news is that God still used Samson, and Samson was able to return to fellowship with the Lord. It cost him dearly, but he was restored. Wherever our drift has taken us, we must turn back to God.

#BibleTeaching #SamsonLesson #BackToGod #SpiritualWakeup #KJVBibleTruth

Samson’s Blind Spot and Ours: When Drifting Hearts Don’t Notice God Is Gone

If Samson could lose sight of God’s calling, any of us can. The good news? The Lord still restores those who return to Him. If you’re searching for solid Bible answers, truth you can trust, and teaching rooted in Scripture, you’re in the right place. 📖🔥

👉 Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible studies, devotionals, and conservative Baptist resources that keep you anchored in the Word.

Question for you: What part of Samson’s story challenges you the most today? Share your thoughts below! ⬇️💬

 To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Judges 16:17 (KJV)  Samson’s Blind Spot and Ours

Judges 15:20 (KJV) Power Without Stability

Judges 15:20 (KJV) 

And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.

Samson judged Israel for twenty years, yet during that time he had only begun to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He never completed that work. The final step would come through an act of tragic greatness.

His life was an enigma. He was strong, Spirit-empowered, and capable of tremendous feats, yet he was also unpredictable, impulsive, and passionate—often in the wrong direction.

God used Samson, and his story remains one of the most familiar and instructive accounts in all the book of Judges. Still, his life is not one we would recommend anyone try to imitate.

I see shades of Samson in many of history’s most notable leaders.

• Unpredictable.
• Perhaps unlikeable.
• Passionate.
• Powerful.

Capable of great good or great evil.

Some made poor decisions and bore the consequences—men like Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. 

Others wrestled with the pressures and contradictions of their times—Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. 

And some are remembered only for their wickedness: Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin.

The rest of us stand back and either admire or tremble at the effect their presence leaves on the world.

#BibleTeaching #BookOfJudges #SamsonLessons #ChristianLeadership #KJVDevotional

Power Without Stability: Samson and the Puzzle of Human Greatness

If you’re searching for clear, Bible-based answers and practical guidance for everyday life, you’re in the right place. Samson’s story reminds us that strength without spiritual stability can lead us down a dangerous path—even for God’s chosen servants. 💬📖

👉 Want more Bible insights and conservative Baptist teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for devotionals, studies, and resources that keep God’s Word at the center.

Question for you: Which biblical leader has taught you the biggest lesson about walking with God? Share your thoughts below! ⬇️

✨ Let’s grow in truth together.

 To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Judges 15:20 (KJV) Power Without Stability

Judges 14:4 (KJV) When a Child’s Walk With God Becomes Their Own

Judges 14:4 (KJV) 

But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

I firmly believe that God gives us our parents specifically to guide and direct us. As a boy grows into a young man, their influence is not only valuable but critical. Samson’s parents had been given clear instructions regarding his upbringing, and they obeyed them faithfully. It also seems evident that Samson understood those instructions and submitted to them.

But then came a day when God led Samson in a way He did not reveal to his parents. “His father and mother knew not that it was of the LORD.” In fact, there were times when the Spirit of God moved upon Samson, and he never told his parents. He had reached the point where his relationship with the Lord was personal—no longer directed by his parents—and in some respects hidden from them by both the Lord and Samson.

It’s humbling to let our children go, especially when we have invested so much in them and do not always understand how God is working in their lives. Yet it is also healthy to let them go. It is the only way they can develop their own walk with God, and the only way the Lord can accomplish His good pleasure in them.

#BibleTruthToday #ChristianParentingWisdom #WalkByFaithNotSight #TrustGodWithYourChildren #Judges144Insights

When a Child’s Walk With God Becomes Their Own: The Hard Grace of Letting Go

If you’re searching for Bible answers, Christian parenting wisdom, or guidance on how to trust God as your children grow, this passage from Samson’s life is a powerful reminder that the Lord leads in ways we don’t always see. 🌟

👉 Want deeper biblical insight and daily encouragement? Visit: marvinmckenzie.org

I’d love to hear from you—Have you ever watched God lead your child in a direction you didn’t fully understand?Share your thoughts below. 💬👇

Let’s grow together in faith as we learn to trust the Lord’s hand in every season. 🙌📖

 To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Judges 14:4 (KJV)  When a Child’s Walk With God Becomes Their Own

Judges 13:5 (KJV) God Works on a Long Timeline

Judges 13:5 (KJV) 

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Notice both the patience and the provision of the Lord. Even as God used the Philistines to judge the sin of Israel, He was preparing the one who would deliver Israel from the Philistines.

Imagine Manoah and his wife then, receiving news from the angel that they would have a son and that he would be the deliverer.

• Nine months pregnancy.
• 20 years upbringing
• 10 years maturing

It sounds like then another 10 setting the situation up that Swanson would be in a position to accomplish the deliverance. (God said they were in the hands of the Philistines 40 years.) 

We know now, don’t we the whole story of Samson. The means of his work of deliverance was sordid and sad. But his parents would have known none of that. They would just have known there would be much time between the promise of God and the answer. But notice we hear none of that. There is no complaint about time. There is no discussion about why it would be so long. Their only concern is that they do their part in the plan of God for His people.

And they were concerned especially because that plan involved their child.

Are there not lessons for us?

• Ours is not to question the when of God’s plan. 
• Ours is not to complain about the patience of God in His plan.
• Ours is only to occupy ourselves with our part in God’s plan, and especially to bring up our children to know they too have a part in that plan.

#BibleMeditation #Judges135 #GodsTiming #FaithfulParenting #TrustHisPlan

God Works on a Long Timeline: Raising Children for God’s Bigger Plan

If you’re searching for clear Bible answers and real help for your walk with God, don’t miss what Judges 13 shows us about trusting the Lord’s timing. God is always working, even in the long, quiet years. ⏳📖

Here’s a question for you:
👉 When has God asked you to wait, and what did He teach you in that season?
Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear your story. 💬

For more Bible studies, devotionals, and solid Baptist teaching, visit marvinmckenzie.org and keep growing in the Word. 🌟✝️

 To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7000 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Judges 13:5 (KJV) God Works on a Long Timeline