"Offline"

"And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." Judges 16:20

Yesterday, I was unable to send out the devotional because there was a problem with my server. I tried and tried and tried to connect to the Internet and my server but never could. But even though I did not get to send yesterday's devotional, something good came out of it any way- today's word.

The thought kept coming to me-- many people are trying to do something for God without being "connected" to Him. If the connection is broken you can't do it; try as you will, but it just won't work. You can't witness effectively, you can't have the boldness that you need, you can't shine brightly, you aren't salty, your testimony doesn't have much influence.

Yesterday, there was an outage on the server that caused me not to be able to do what I needed to do to get the word out. But for us, the disconnection comes through many avenues. It comes through disobedience. When we are living in disobedience it will hinder the connection, and without the connection we are powerless, as was the case with Samson. He had the call of God, but he didn't have the power because he disobeyed. Also, being negligent to do the things we need to do to stay connected will cause a problem. Such things as reading the Bible, having communion with the Lord in prayer, going to His house, spending time in worship. This all are factors.

When the problem continued and I was unable to connect to the Internet, I finally decided to call my Internet provider. They confirmed the problem was an outage but that it was over and I should have been able to reconnect. They gave me the solution-- reboot my modem. I did and I was "back on line".

Are you "offline" this morning- spiritually speaking- trying to "do" without being connected to "The Source"? Then it is time for you to "reboot"! Get back to where you left off. Go back to the place where you stopped being obedient, where you stopped giving attention to the things that kept you connected, repent and start doing it now. Once Samson's hair grew back- symbolic of restoration- he then accomplished the work of the Lord, and did an even greater work then he had before-- "So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." (Judges 16:30)

Have a great day. If you are "offline" and trying to accomplish something in your own strength, you can't do it. It's time to "reboot" and get reconnected to the Lord.

For further reading:
Zechariah 4:6
John 14:12
Isaiah 1:19
Judges 16