God is not a rescue agent

Shof’tim (Judges) 10:10-16

Then the people of Isra’el cried to ADONAI, “We have sinned against you by forsaking our God and serving the ba’alim.” ADONAI said to the people of Isra’el, “I saved you from the Egyptians, the Emorim, the people of’ Amon, and the P’lishtim, didn’t I? Likewise, when the people of Tzidon, ‘Amalek and Ma’on oppressed you, you cried out to me; and I rescued you from their power. Yet you abandoned me and served other gods; therefore I will not rescue you any more. Go and cry to the gods you chose; let them rescue you when you’re in trouble!” The people of Isra’el said to ADONAI, “We have sinned! Treat us in whatever way seems good to you, but save us today, please!” They got rid of their foreign gods and served ADONAI, and he became troubled by Isra’el’s misery.

We as a people cannot be like the people of Isra’el at this time, only crying out to ADONAI when they were being oppressed and sinning in whatever way pleased them when they were not. False piety and using God like a fire brigade just to rescue you in times of trouble will only lead to God identifying our infidelity to Him and divorcing us from the land and prosperity He had promised us in our covenant with Him. For almost 2000 years Isra’el was removed from the land for their sin, how could we be so bold as to think God would be any more forgiving of any other nation. Lord heal our land and let us once more turn back to You for good. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Get off the fence

Shof’tim (Judges) 8:4-6

By now Gid’on and his three hundred men had come to the Yarden and crossed over. They were exhausted but were still pursuing the enemy. In Sukkot he asked the people there, “Please give some loaves of bread to the men following me, because they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zevach and Tzalmuna the kings of Midyan.” But the chiefs of Sukkot said, “You haven’t captured Zevach and Tzalmuna yet, so why should we give bread to your army?”

Here is a problem in the greater body today, too many of us who confess to trusting in the sacrifice of Yeshua and the lordship of God in our lives are really just fence sitters like the leaders of Sukkot. It was plainly obvious that ADONAI had His hand on Gid’on and was moving mightily in delivering Isra’el from the Midyan yet the chiefs of Sukkot withheld their support and missed a blessing in joining with the move of God in the land. How many of us, myself included have missed great blessings because we were unsure of who God picked or didn’t understand the times and events around us? Trusting is stepping forward with God without needing to know what the result will be but knowing that good or bad all things will lead to His glory forever. Lord let me be bold in following You. Strengthen me to be a light in the storm and a safe friend and supporter in these uncertain times. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

With God, I fear nothing in this world

Shof’tim (Judges) 6:25-31

That very night ADONAI said to him, “Take your father’s bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba’al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it, and build a proper altar to ADONAI your God on top of this strong-point. Then take the second bull; and offer it as a burnt offering, using the wood of the sacred pole you cut down.” Gid’on took ten of his servants and did what ADONAI had told him to do. He didn’t do it by day, because he was afraid of the men in his father’s household and those from the city, so he did it at night. When the men of the city got up the next morning, there was the altar of Ba’al destroyed, the sacred pole cut down, and the second bull a burnt offering on the newly built altar. They asked each other, “Who could have done this?” But after investigating, they concluded that Gid’on the son of Yo’ash had done it. “Bring out your son,” the men of the city demanded of Yo’ash, “so that he may die, because he destroyed the altar of Ba’al and cut down the sacred pole next to it!” But Yo’ash said to all those crowding around him, “You’re defending Ba’al, are you? It’s your job to save him? Anyone who defends Ba’al will be put to death before morning! If he’s a god, let him defend himself! After all, somebody destroyed his altar!”

Gid’on followed the direction of Adonai in his life immediately. He didn’t do it with courage or out of his strength but by overcoming fear of reprisal from the community that he lived in. God will preserve us as He did Gid’on as long as we are operating under His will for our lives. Dear Lord let me be as quick to follow Your will in my life. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Lest we forget

Shof’tim (Judges) 5:31

“May all your enemies perish like this, ADONAI;
but may those who love him be like the sun
going forth in its glory!”
Then the land had rest for forty years.

ADONAI had supernaturally given Isra’el victory over the Kena’an and their general Sisra. Liberating again the nation from oppression yet at the end of the song of D’vorah and Barak there is that little line that the land only rested for forty years. Within one generation the sons and daughters of Isra’el had forgotten by whose hand they had be saved. We look to the news and the state of the world around us and we can see the hard times are upon us again. Will we as a people turn back to ADONAI and cry out for rescue and if we do will we be better than the generations before us and teach our children that there is only one God and only one salvation through the blood that Yeshua sacrificed for us over 2000 years ago. Lord let me be the one that stands in the gap and keeps the memory of Your mighty hand and joy we receive when You turn Your face upon us, so I can share with others Your salvation. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Bring up the next generation in the Word

Shof’tim (Judges) 2:10-12

When that entire generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation arose that knew neither ADONAI nor the work he had done for Isra’el. Then the people of Isra’el did what was evil from ADONAI’s perspective and served the ba’alim. They abandoned ADONAI, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, selected from the gods of the peoples around them, and worshipped them; this made ADONAI angry.

This is what happens when we as the adults fail to pass on the history of our people. Our children forget and, in the forgetting, go chasing after the profane to fill what is lacking in their spirit, a connection with ADONAI. Today we see thousands of religions and millions of self-professed gurus and prophets who only seek to enrich themselves lead tens of millions of our younger generations away from God for lack of our teaching our testimony and history and I say it is our shame that we have let that happen. Lord forgive me for not more zealously supporting Your Word in my life so those who are around me of all generations would know You are the only God I serve. Support me and strengthen me so I may do better in the days to come. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Focus on each other

1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1

Just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not looking out for my own interests but for those of the many, so that they may be saved; try to imitate me, even as I myself try to imitate the Messiah.

We are to imitate Sha’ul with looking out for the whole body of believers, not just the great speakers or the fantastic worship leaders but for everyone who puts their trust in ADONAI. We are to be our brother’s keeper even if they take two hours of talking about nothing to get to the question they stopped you to ask or any other reason that brings annoyance to our selfish worldly flesh for the good of the whole congregation. Denying ourselves, serving others, and focusing on God’s Word in our lives, these are the actions of Sha’ul and what we should focus on in this time of uncertainty. Lord guide me to those that need Your help so all may know Your Shalom. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Seek the truth

Y’hoshua (Joshua) 22:10-12

When the descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe arrived in the area of the land of Kena’an near the Yarden, they built an altar there by the Yarden, a large, impressive altar. The people of Isra’el heard of it and said, “Look! The descendants of Re’uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh have built an altar by the frontier of the land of Kena’an, in the area by the Yarden, on the side that belongs to the people of Isra’el.”
When the people of Isra’el heard of it, the entire community of Isra’el gathered together in Shiloh to wage war against them.

Just as the nation of Isra’el that remained at Shiloh jumped to conclusions, still today we continue to have this problem. Instead of asking the source what they are doing we make declarations that have no basis in fact or string together unrelated facts to create a missive that fits our current narrative. With the advent of social media this has grown worse not better, and all this gossip does nothing more than to destroy the witness of the body of believers. Sha’ul tells us not to be an obstacle to anyone seeking God, yet how can we keep from being a roadblock when we are too busy gossiping and judging each other without knowing what is truly going on. Lord keep me away from snap judgements and hold me securely with You. Let Your light shine in all that I do and let all my actions be for You. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Only fully made with God

Y’hoshuah (Joshua) 15:17-19

‘Otni’el the son of K’naz, Kalev’s brother, captured it; so he gave him ‘Akhsah his daughter as his wife. After becoming his wife, she persuaded him to ask her father to give them a field; when she got off her donkey, Kalev asked her, “What do you want?” She said to him: “Give me a blessing: since you gave me land in the Negev, also give me sources of water.” So Kalev gave her the Upper Springs and the Lower Springs.

Just as ‘Akhsah knew the land her father gave her husband would be worthless without a good source of water, so are our lives without the living water of salvation from Yeshua. We are nothing more than a bell without a clapper, only ringing weakly when the debris of life strikes us. But once we have accepted Yeshua’s sacrifice and have the infilling of the Ruach HaKodesh, then we are fully made, clapper and all, so as to ring true throughout the land. Lord I struggle with denying my flesh and following You, fill me to overflowing with Your Ruach so that there is no selfishness left in me, I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Don’t let opinion become “God’s Word”

1 Corinthians 7:40

However, in my opinion, she will be happier if she remains unmarried, and in saying this I think I have God’s Spirit.

Throughout this part of Sha’ul’s letter to the Corinthians he writes about the question posed to him by that congregation, is it good to stay celibate? As Sha’ul answers he makes a distinction on what is found in the Word concerning marriage and what his opinion is from personal experience. Never does he put forth his opinion as God’s Word. I know too many times I have given my opinion like I was coming down from the mountain myself instead of Moshe. It is the Word that convicts the heart to change, not my desire to change it for them. Lord let me be humble and let Your Word do the work You would have it do in our lives. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.

Ignore offense

1 Corinthians 6:7-8

Actually, if you are bringing lawsuits against each other, it is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves wrong and cheat; and you do it to your own brothers!

This chapter starts with Sha’ul upbraiding the congregation in Corinth for suing each other as a practice, summing it up with “Why not rather be wronged?” It has taken a long time and several different teachers for me to understand that if we truly cling to ADONAI as our God and seek the indwelling of the Ruach through the blood of Yeshua, then no one can offend us. So, if we cannot be offended then there is no way we can be wronged and if we are never wronged then there is no reason to take anyone to court, the battles of this place have already been won by the blood that Yeshua shed and by that and that alone is anyone saved. If we fail to act in this forgiving way Sha’ul warns it will become habit and perhaps a generational curse that we pass on to our children that taking advantage of people is the norm, even in the body of believers. Lord don’t let me be so self-centered that I take advantage of those around me. I ask this in Yeshua’s name, amen.