Daryl Pint – Page 251

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.

450 Years

And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges.

Judges 2:16
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not

Psalms 106:43
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

Did you take note that the time from when the Israelites took possession of the land until the time of Judges was ~450 years. During this 450 years many times the Israelites were under God’s punishment for not following Him. We can look back at this and see the first place of not obeying God was when they took over the land God had given them. They did not put away all of the people as God said to. They did right by what was in their own eyes and this lead to a continuous falling away from God. I remember shortly after I was saved, my pastor who was discipling me, said “one thing he saw and it troubled him greatly was the fact that the church seemed to always be 10 to 15 years away from whatever the current culture accepted.” What was deemed not in alignment with God’s word by the church now seemed to be ok or severely watered down within 10 to 15 years. Spend some time to think about this and see if it is not true. We ask for revival but are we willing to put away all that causes us to stumble? Have we lost sight of what God would have us do and replaced it with what the culture says God would have us do? The only way we will ever get on top of this is to personally spend time in God’s word with the intent of allowing Him to speak the truth of it into our mind and lives. If we think for a moment we will get this type of understanding from a sermon once per week we fool ourselves and will only continue to drift away from God while running full speed ahead to that which is neither God honoring or beneficial for our lives. Purpose to read daily and desire/expect God to breath life into these words in your heart, mind and soul.

The Wrong Choice

They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them.

Judges 2:11
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress

1 Kings 15:26
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin

2 Kings 17:14
But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God

Why is it we would willingly choose to abandon God? Why would we choose to to be stubborn and not list to Him? Does it ever work to abandon what God has called us for? History will tell us NO. If we would be honest I am sure we would say it does not work out for the present either and if we believe the smallest truths in scripture we know it does not work out for the future. This I do know – If you believed trust in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ for your sins – If you choose to keep your heart desire with a single purpose to honor and glorify God – If you choose to continually seek Him first – If you choose to remain humble before Him – If you choose to stay in His word – If you continually choose to listen for His leading – If you choose to obey His leading – If you choose to learn to deny self – you will find, joy, peace, love, hope, grace, kindness, gentleness, patience and purpose for this life. Every day we make a chose on who we will follow.

What Must I Do?

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Judges 2:4
As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept

Acts 2:37
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

Luke 3:9
He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father. ’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.

Acts 16:26
and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

What truth could be spoken to you where you would weep or ask what must I do? I imagine it comes down to where we think truth comes from and how much we believe in that source. Are we like those who Crist called a “Brood of Vipers” who had a head knowledge but their was no action or fruit. Their heart was not in serving God but rather in themselves. How close does this sound to how we live today. Do we practice the presence of God in our heart, mind and soul? Is it Him we are wanting to bring honor and glory to? What would a life look like, what actions would be seen, what thoughts would be going through their head, how would they respond to others, who would they help????? What ever answers you come up with to these questions will give you a very good starting point. A good place to keep these questions coming from is staying in His word and thinking about what He is telling you. Stay close to Him. Learn to hear His voice, Obey what He is telling you. Weeping will be that of Joy and your question turns from what must I do to “What do you want me to do” I am willing!!!

Drive Them Out

“Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you”

Judges 1:27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33,
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely

And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites
Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants
Asher did not drive out the inhabitants
Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants

Judges 2:1
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. ’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

Deuteronomy 31:16
And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them.

The plan of God was known and understood. The covenant with God’s chosen people was sure and true. Why is it that the people chose to abandon what God had clearly told them to do? It is easy to look back and say why did they not listen to what God told them. I have to think it has to do with not staying in His word, not remembering what He has done and promised to do, and living life with Him in the back ground. Do we think we are any different? We have God’s word at our finger tips every second of the day. We have recorded history of what He has done. We have testimonies of people who declare what God has done and is doing. Yet we chose to live two separate lives. One full time for us and very little part time for God. Do we think for a second we are different and what God has done in the past will not be done in the present or future? He wants our whole heart, mind, and soul. He wants our desire to be for Him alone. Are we afraid that this will not be enough to fulfill us? God will give us the desire of our heart. If it is without Him we will surely get that and along with it much frustration, no lasting satisfaction and eternity in Hell. If it is with Him, He has promised to guide our path, that He will never leave or forsake us, He will be our power, strength, hope, and joy, He will continue to give us more understanding, He will give us peace that passes all understanding and most importantly eternal life with Him in heaven.

Seek, Ask, Obey

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Judges 1:1
After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them

1 Samuel 22:9
and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions

2 Samuel 5:19
And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines

Philippians 4:5
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

It is important for us to remember to seek God and ask Him for guidance. How are we to know what God has planned for us in the situations we find ourselves? If we blindly follow what we think is right – what is it that guides our decision one way or another? Is it scripture or is it the culture we live in? Little time spent in His word leaves us void of faith, hope, and trust. This will leave us being tossed around and asking “Why” when the true course of action would be to seek God, listen for His voice speaking to our heart, and then through faith/trust obeying His leading. God is just and when we ask in line with His word with a heart and mind desire to yield to His leading, He will most certainly lead us down a path that brings honor and glory to Him!

Path of Least Resistance

“Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”

Joshua 24:27
And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath- serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.

Judges 2:6
And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel.

Judges 2:10
And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:12
Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.

It should not go unnoticed what leadership can do for a family, city, and nation. Joshua continually kept the word of the Lord before the people. He spoke of all that God had done prior to and during his life. He spoke of God’s power, might, strength, love and the benefits of living for and following Him. He more importantly spoke of the consequences of not following God with their whole heart. When Joshua died the elders of Israel continued to follow and serve God. It was a determined way of life. However there arose a generation that did not know the Lord or the work He had done. How sad is this….. Fathers somewhere along the line became occupied with “life” and no longer spoke of the things of God. Maybe this happened when the leaders too became more occupied with other things. We do not need to look far to see this happening in our culture as well. Fathers have easily forgotten what God has done and no longer speak of His greatness. Fathers have become occupied with “life” and do not speak of what it means to know God and to serve Him. Fathers have lost the ability to hear God’s voice speak to their heart. Fathers have lost sight of being able to see God’s work in everyday settings. Fathers are raising a new generation that does not know God and what it means to serve Him. Life happens and we choose if we are going to be fathers of faith that lead our families in reference and service to God. There are many things that pull us away from God and we seem to blindly follow the path of least resistance. We need father leadership. Fathers who walk close with God. Who listen for His leading. Who choose to serve Him with their whole heart. Who obey His leading. Who openly speak of His love, mercy, grace, power, and strength. Who speak of how God is working in their life. Who understand it is their leadership that will determine if the next generation knows who God is, that He is alive, that He gives rest, hope, faith, joy, happiness. Who teaches the next generation that God alone is their rock. Each father is responsible for the next generation to know God and to bring them up to serve Him. The path you choose will determine blessings or wrath for your family. Start now with a determination to Lead rather than follow the path of least resistance.