"TELL ME HOW TO TORTURE YOU."

Judges 16:6 ISV
So Delilah asked Samson, “Please tell me the secret to your great strength and how you may be tied up and tortured.”

Dear Believer,

Delilah didn’t sugarcoat her request. He made it plain to Samson, “If you truly love me, then you must make yourself completely vulnerable to me.”

She didn’t ask for Samson’s weakness, she asked for his strength. If you get a man’s strength, what chance does his weakness have?

“Let me know the source of your great strength so that I may bind and turrure you whenever I want to.”

Every man has that area of strength that is the defence for his areas of weakness and all his life in general. Take that away and you can bind and turture him at will.

Ironically, it was Samson’s weakness that exposed his strength. His voracious sexual appetite put him on the lap of a murderous temptress. Once there, it was only a matter of time before he was subdued.

Believer, the Lord has given you strength. You have the Holy Spirit in you. As you build your strength in the Lord and develop your gifts and abilities, realize that the way to a man’s strength is his weakness. That is why you shouldn’t just build your strength alone you must use your strength to make your weakness strong.

Those who found themselves in places of torture weren’t necessarily weak; it just happened that their weaknesses weren’t taken care of.

Samson was strong, even while committing sin. They built their strength while neglecting their weakness.

A warrior whose right hand is strong but whose left hand is wounded can still fight well, but if he doesn’t get his left hand healed, it may be the death of him.

Many put their strength forward and refuse to work on their weakness. I repeat, the way to a man’s strength is his weakness.

Don’t join people to say, “We all have our weak points.” Once you know your weak points, start working in them. Never excuse them, be in denial about them or philosophize about them. Deal with them until those areas of your life become strong, too.

Do you realize how dangerous a single weak link is to a chain?

When you leave your weakness untreated, all the enemy needs to do is keep mounting pressure until you give in. Delilah never gave up. She was determined to crack the hard nut called Samson, and she did.

Weakness should never be neglected because you have strength in some areas. Reach for help when you need it about any area of your life where weakness is detected, whether moral, spiritual or in character.

The weakness of Samson was all too obvious, but he left it untreated and concentrated on his strength. His weakness opened the door to the enemy who then took his strength away.

Believer, learn from this.

May the strength of the Lord flood any area of weakness in your life in the name of Jesus.

Have a fine day.

Your friend,
Deon.
—
For more study, read Judges chapter 16.

Luke 13:22 KJV
And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

Dear Believer,

Jesus died on a hill in Jerusalem on the outskirts of that city. He was buried there. He resurrected there. He ascended there. That’s how pivotal Jerusalem was to His earthly destiny.

He knew Jerusalem had everything to do with His death and resurrection. So at some point in His ministry, He began to move towards Jerusalem.

Luke 9:51 KJV
And it came to pass, when the time came that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.

He knew within His Spirit that His time to die, resurrect and be taken up to heaven was getting near. He knew this would take place in Jerusalem, so He began to move towards the place as He preached, taught and healed. Jerusalem here represents the fulfilment of what He came to do on earth.

Jesus had a sharp and urgent sense of destiny.

He didn’t waste His time moving towards India, or Samaria, or Egypt, or Africa. The Gospel would eventually reach those places, but now He must go to Jerusalem.

One important way to fulfil your destiny is to know when and how to begin to move towards the direction and location of its fulfilment. The focus scripture of today says as Jesus went through the cities and taught, He made sure He was doing it in such a way that His journeys took Him towards Jerusalem. (Luke 13:22).

Many Believers get themselves into unnecessary problems in life by making choices that move them away from the direction and location of the fulfilment of their destiny. They choose spouses that don’t believe in their vision, profession or ministry. They move with friends that speak against what God is telling them to do. They live in places that make it impossible or difficult for them to do God’s will for their lives.

Long ago as a prayerful young man looking forward into the future, God’s Spirit showed me how some skills would be useful in some of the things I would have to do in the future. I immediately set out to acquire those skills even when it gave me much discomfort to do so.

It didn’t make sense then to many people, but I knew I was moving towards my Jerusalem, a place of destiny fulfilment. Those skills turned out to be the reason I wasn’t stranded when challenges came.

Avoid distractions. Ask God to show you the direction of your destiny and then begin to move towards it. This is what will make you pray the right prayer, live in the right place, have the right friends, marry the right person, study the right courses and generally make relevant decisions.

This will help you avoid wasting precious time on things that have no bearing to your life and destiny. Your precious energy would be used to do precious things.

You can’t attain relevance by doing irrelevant things. You can’t attain distinction by moving in the wrong direction.

Destiny is about destination. Everyone moving gets somewhere eventually; only those who move in the right direction get to the right location.

Be sure to pray about this!

The Lord help you to move towards your Jerusalem in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Have a beautiful day.

Your friend,
Deon.