Judges 11-12; Ps. 50; 2 Cor. 1

1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” Judges 11:1-2

Jephthah didn’t have what you would call a storybook beginning. He comes from a dysfunctional family to say the least. His mother was a prostitute so his brothers from his step mother disowned him and know he has no family at all. Yet Jephthah becomes the leader of Israel called to Judge the nation. Why is it that some who start off in the worst circumstances can end up successful and fruitful, while others can never get away from their past? It is simply choices. Every person has choices to make. The choice to live in self pity, the choice to focus on the past, the choice to be self centered, the choice to blame others for their lot in life, the choice to blame God, the choice to look to the future, the choice to be thankful, the choice to look to God for help, the choice to forgive, the choice to rejoice, the choice to use your hurts the help others, to become what God intended for you from the beginning. YOU ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT.

Pastor Rick