Judges 16
Samson, still ruling as judge over Israel, again gave in to his lustful temptations in Gaza, where he met with a prostitute. The people there conspired to kill him at dawn, but he escaped again with a display of God-given supernatural strength. Next, Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman in Sorek, named Delilah. The Philistine leaders made a deal with her, paying her generously to lure and manipulate Samson into revealing his weakness and the source of his great strength. After many days of nagging, prodding, and torment, Samson finally gave in to her manipulation and explained his Nazirite status and that his great strength would be lost if he broke his vow and shaved his head. The Philistine leaders helped Delilah shave Samson's head while he was asleep and they then subdued him and seized him, gouged out his eyes and imprisoned him. Samson was surely humbled and realized his desperate need for God's mercy and grace, praying "O Sovereign Lord, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more". He was taken in shackles before the rulers of the Philistines to entertain them. But, Samson braced himself against the two central support pillars on which the temple stood and pushed them, toppling the structure down on the rulers and all the people, killing "many more when he died than while he lived".

Judges 15
When Samson learned that his wife was given away to a Philistine, he went off to get even with them. He set fire to the Philistine vineyards, olive groves, and stored grain. But when the Philistines heard what Samson had done, they burned his wife and her father to death. Samson had gone away to stay in a cave in Judah, but the Philistines pursued him there and asked the men of Judah to surrender Samson to them. The men of Judah confronted Samson and he allowed them to tie him up and hand him over to the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson in power and he broke away the ropes and struck down a thousand Philistine men with the jawbone of a donkey. Afterwards, Samson cried out to the Lord in acknowledgement, "You have given your servant this great victory". He was very thirsty and God provided an opening in a hollow place and water came out for him to drink. Samson's strength was renewed again and he led Israel for twenty more years in the days of the Philistines.

Judges 14
God lead Samson to Timnah, where he met a Philistine woman and desired to marry her. His parents didn't know this was from the Lord and didn't like the idea of Samson choosing a wife from the uncircumcised Philistine people. On the way to introduce his parents to the woman in Timnah, Samson was empowered by the Spirit with great strength in order to kill an attacking lion. Samson gave a feast for seven days, as was customary for bridegrooms. He gave a riddle for the people and offered a challenge to solve it, but the people threatened Samson's wife to get the answer for them. Since they had solved the riddle with deception and evil threats, Samson was empowered again by the Spirit and struck down thirty Philistine men. The Lord would continue to use Samson to confront the Philistines who were ruling over and oppressing the people of Israel at that time.

Judges 13
A man named Manoah had a wife who was unable to have children. An angel of the Lord came to her and instructed her not to drink any fermented drink nor to eat anything unclean for she was to soon conceive a son who would be a Nazarite. The angel told her that the boy would be set apart to God from birth and would help deliver Israel from the Philistines. Manoah prayed, asking God for further instruction and wisdom in how to raise the boy. When the boy was born, he was named Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him and the Spirit of the Lord stirred within him.

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I have become aware from my recent studies and readings (Luke 14-15, Romans 5-10, and the book of Judges) that I often do not acknowledge the fullness of God's grace and mercy towards the lost (and myself included). Sometimes I lack a rightful appreciation for these and pray that God will grant that His will be done in my heart and change me, so that I may have the compassion that Paul had in chapter 9 of Romans, "... my conscience confirms in the Holy Spirit--- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers ". Lord, I want to extend your extravagant love and grace to the lost and rejoice with you upon their return to fellowship with you, just like you have done for me and continue to do for me every day.

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On the occasion that I ponder my current status with God, assessing my closeness or level of intimacy in my fellowship with God, my default thoughts go directly to evaluating my obedience compliance both to the so-called "holy habits" ( regular time in the Word, prayer, bible study, fellowship with the body, serving the church, etc) and secondly to behavior compliance in regards to sin management. Instead, my default thoughts should be acknowledging that my status in right standing and fellowship with God depends only on His grace and my position in Christ as an eternal child of God. Just like we can not steal the glory from Christ's work at the cross to boast in our efforts, works, and desires in our regeneration, we can not trust in our behavior compliance or sin management to impact our level or rate of spiritual growth. Our sanctification is the work of the Spirit. We have been destined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son-- only God can change our hearts and this is His work in us. Paraphrasing from 1 Corinthians 5: In Him, we are being enriched in every way... He will keep us strong to the end, ... and we will be declared by Him to be blameless on the day of the Lord. God who has called us into fellowship with Him is faithful !

in Judges 12, Jephthah led the Gileadites into a victorious battle against the Ephraimites. Jephthah then led Israel six years before he died. He was succeeded by Ibzan (7 years), Elon (10 years), and Abdon (8 years) before the Israelites returned to their evil ways again and the Lord allowed them to be oppressed by the Philistines for the next 40 years.