Posts Tagged ‘libya’

Spiritual Training 28 May 2013

Posted: May 28, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Romans, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Romans 13:1-5 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

Are there times when we should not submit to the government? We should never allow government to force us to disobey God. Jesus and his apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed, it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God. Their disobedience was not cheap: they were threatened, beaten, thrown into jail, tortured, or executed for their convictions. Like them, if we are compelled to disobey, we must be ready to accept the consequences.

Willingly or unwittingly, people in authority are God’s servants. They are allowed their positions in order to do good. When authorities are unjust, however, upright people are afraid. When authorities are just, people who are doing right have nothing to fear. This provides our principal motivation to pray for our leaders.

Lets Bring it home: Praying for those in authority over us will also mean that we will watch them closely. If we pray diligently for our leaders, we will be functioning as God’s sentinels.

Spiritual Training 31 July 2012

Posted: July 31, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Read Judges 10:6 – 12-7
Jephthah

It’s hard not to admire people whose word can be depended on completely and whose actions are consistent with their words. For such people, talking is not avoiding action; it is the beginning of action.  People like this can make excellent negotiators.  They approach a conflict with the full intention of settling issues verbally, but they do not hesitate to use other means if verbal attempts fail.  Jephthah was this kind of person.

In most of his conflicts, Jephthah’s first move was to talk.  In the war with the Ammonites, his strategy was negotiation.  He clarified the issues so that everyone knew the cause of the conflict.  His opponent’s response determined his next action.

The fate of Jephthah’s daughter is difficult to understand.  We are not sure what Jephthah meant by his vow recorded in Judges 11:31 In any case, his vow was unnecessary, We do not know what actually happened to his daughter-whether she was burned as an offering or set apart as a virgin, thus denying Jephthah any hope of descendants since she was his only child.  What we do know is that Jephthah was a person of his word, even when it was a word spoken in haste, and even when keeping his word caused him great pain.

Lets bring it home: Ho do we approach conflicts?  There is a big difference between trying to settle a conflict through words and simply counterattacking someone verbally.  How dependable are the statements you make?  Do your children, friends, and fellow workers know you to be a person of your word?  The measure of your trustworthiness is your willingness to take responsibly, even if you must pay a painful price because of something you said.

Spiritual Training 17 July 2012

Posted: July 16, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Abimelech

People who desire power always outnumber those who are able to use power wisely once they have it.  Perhaps this is because power has a way of taking over controlling the person using it.  This is especially true in cases of inherited but unmerited power.  Abimelech’s life shows us what happens when hunger for power corrupts judgment.

Abimelech’s position in Gideon’s family as the son of a concubine must have created great tension between him and Gideon’s many other sons.  One against 70: such odds can either crush a person or make him ruthless; it is obvious which direction Abimelech chose.  Gideon’s position as warrior and judge had placed Abimelech in an environment of power Gideon’s death provided an opportunity for this son to seize power.  Once the process began, the disastrous results were inevitable.  A person’s thirst for power is not satisfied when he gets power-it only becomes more intense.  Abimelech’s life was consumed by the thirst.   Eventually, he could not tolerate any threat to his power.

But this time, ownership had change: Abimelech no longer had power-power had him.  One lesson we can learn form his life is that our goals control our actions.  The amount of control is related to the importance of the goal.  Abimelech’s most important goal was to have power.  His lust for power led him to wipe out not only his brothers, but also whole cities that refused to submit to him.  Nothing but death could stop his bloodthirsty drive to conquer.  How ironic that he was fatally injured by a woman with a farm implement! The contrast between Abimelech and the great people of the Bible is great.  He wanted to control the nation; they were willing to be controlled by God.

Spiritual Training 29 June 2012

Posted: June 29, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Gideon

Judges 8:15-17 The Gideon came and said to the men of Succoth, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me by saying, Do you already have the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna in your possession?  Why should we give bread to you’re your exhausted men?”  He took the elders of the town and taught the men of Succoth a lesson by punishing them with desert thorns and briers.  He also pulled down the tower of Peniel and killed the men of the town. 

 Gideon carried out the threat he had made in 8:7.  It is difficult to determine whether this act of revenge was justified or whether he should have left the punishment up to God.  Gideon was God’s appointed leader, but the officials of Succoth and Peniel refused to help him in any way because they feared the enemy.  They showed neither faith nor respect for God nor the man God had chosen to save them.

Lets bring it home: We should help others because it is right, regardless of whether we will benefit personally.

Spiritual Training 30 April 2012

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

Judges 1:4-6 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy Kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table, Now God has paid me back for what I did to them, (Lev 24:19 If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him) “They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The maiming of Adoni-Bezek was one example in a long string of actions that demonstrated Israel’s tendency to disobey God’s instructions by only giving partial obedience. Enemy Kings were supposed to be executed, not humiliated. This defeated king recognized God’s righteous punishment more clearly than God’s people acknowledge God’s commands. When we understand what God tells us to do, we run great danger if we don’t carry out both the letter and the spirit of his words.

Spiritual Training 30 April 2012

Posted: April 30, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

Judges 1:4-6 When Judah attacked, the LORD gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy Kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table, Now God has paid me back for what I did to them, (Lev 24:19 If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him) “They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

The maiming of Adoni-Bezek was one example in a long string of actions that demonstrated Israel’s tendency to disobey God’s instructions by only giving partial obedience. Enemy Kings were supposed to be executed, not humiliated. This defeated king recognized God’s righteous punishment more clearly than God’s people acknowledge God’s commands. When we understand what God tells us to do, we run great danger if we don’t carry out both the letter and the spirit of his words.