Month: September 2016

Same thing over again

“Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.”

Judges 3:30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years

Judges 4:3
Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years

Judges 5:31
And the land had rest for forty years

Judges 6:1
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.

Judges 6:7
When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ’ But you have not obeyed my voice.

Psalms 106:42
Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love

 

With the right godly leadership Israelites had rest from battles for 80 years, and then again they fell away and did not obey him and were treated cruelly for 20 years.  Once again they called out to God in their distress and God delivered them.   They had rest for 40 years and they fell away from God and were in bondage for 7 years.  Drifting away from God will never give us rest or peace.  What is it that this world offers us that has appearance of rest and peace?  Money, material gains, with out need of much of anything.  Do we really think this will give us rest, peace and happiness?  What does God have to do to get our attention away from this false sense of peace?  Does He need to put us in bondage.  Does He give us government officials who do not follow after Him?  Does He allow us to follow our heart away from Him?  What will it take for us to understand that all we have has come from Him.  It is not ours but rather we are stewards of it.  All abilities and gifts we have, have been given to us from Him.  We are blessed beyond measure with the eternal gift of life through Jesus Christ.  For this alone we should humbly serve Him for His honor and glory.

Out of Darkness

“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man”

Judges 3:8
But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan- rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan- rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

1 Samuel 12:10
And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.

Psalms 106:44
Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love

Psalms 107:13
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man

 

These scriptures tell of His abundant steadfast love. Does God’s love change? Definitely not. We find ourselves in times of trouble and wonder how did we get there.  It seems we have a desire to serve things that please us.  If our heart desire is to find satisfaction outside of God and His purpose for our life, this path will lead us to false hope and illusions.  It is sad to see how easy it is to drift away from God into places of unrest for our soul. We can easily follow our sinful nature and the culture we live in but the fact remains that we were created by the one true triune God.  Doesn’t it seem strange that we choose to live apart from His love and purpose for our lives.  We are not immune to this.  I think this is why He has created a body of believers who help each other when trials and trouble comes our way.  We are to encourage each other with our faith, worship, and love.  We demonstrate this through our actions which point to God the purpose of our being.  Be an encouragement to someone today. Speak God into their life.

Over and Over

“Make them known to your children and your children’s children”

Judges 3:7
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth

Deuteronomy 4:9
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—

Deuteronomy 32:18
You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
and you forgot the God who gave you birth

Psalms 78:11
They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them

Psalms 106:7
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea

It seems like the theme this week has been the same over and over again – Unmindful – Forgetting God – Not Remembering – Following what they deemed best in their own eyes – Rebelling – Doing evil in the sight of God.      I keep thinking that it does not have to be this way.  We do have a choice in the matter of serving God.  However we seem to like to choose self over God.  Me, myself, I are always wanting to put self first.  Do I assume I know best?  Do I think I am able to find satisfaction away from God?  I have no idea why self keeps pushing to the forefront but I do know that I find life more fulfilling with God leading.  A  good start for every day would be for us to chose to  humbly serve God every day. Keep in mind that self wants to be first and we need to die to self every day.

Tested

They did not destroy the peoples,
as the Lord commanded them,
but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
They served their idols,
which became a snare to them

Judges 3:1
Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal- hermon as far as Lebo- hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods

Exodus 15:25
There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer

Who likes to be tested?  If I am fit for the testing I don’t mind.  I remember training for a marathon and how there were routine testings of duration – how long could I run and at what pace.  Even before the marathon I only ran 21 miles as a test to give myself confidence that I could make a full marathon.  I was told 21 was the magic number and if you could do this you could finish.  Still you don’t know until you test your body against the challenge of 26 miles.  When I finished my first marathon it was then I knew I could make it.  The test was complete.  God gave the Israelites times of testing to see if they would obey.  There were those who would obey and many more who would not.  We are told to train ourselves up to be humble servants honoring and glorifying God.  Being tested helps us hold on firmer, see more of His holiness, deepen our faith, experience happiness, joy, peace, and learn what it means to follow God in good times and times of troubles.  Our training is never done when it comes to knowing God.  Keep your heart, mind and soul focused on humbly serving Him.  God may test you to grow your walk with Him.  He may test you to show you an area of your life that needs to change.