Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Spiritual Training 24 May 2012

Posted: May 24, 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
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 4:4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at the time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.

The Bible records several women who held national leadership positions, and Deborah was an exceptional woman. Obviously she was the best person for the job, and God chose her to lead Israel.

Lets bring it home: God can choose anyone to lead his people, young or old, man or woman. Don’t let your prejudices get in the way of those God may have chosen to lead you.

Spiritual Training 23 May 2012

Posted: May 21, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 3:12, 15-21, 30
12Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon King of Moab power over Israel.

15-21: Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them deliverer-Ehud, a left handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites went him with tribute to Eglon King of Moab. Now Ehud had made a double-edge sword about a foot and a half long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. He presented the tribute to Eglon King of Moab, who was a very fat man. After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way the men who had carried it. At the idols near Gilgal he himself turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O King.” The king said, “Quiet!” And all his attendants left him. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his summer palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the King rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the Kings belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.

30: That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Ehud is called a deliverer. In the broadest sense, all the judges can be looked upon as foreshadowing the perfect Deliverer, Jesus Christ While Ehud delivered Israel from its enemies, Jesus delivers us from sin, our greatest enemy.

This unusual story demonstrates how God can use us just the way he made us. Being left-handed in Ehud’s day was considered an exceptional ability. Many Benjaminites were left-handed (see 20:16), making them highly specialized troops, able to use a sling or bow with tactics designed to repel right-handed warriors. Eglon’s bodyguard never checked Israel’s messengers for left-handed weapons. But God used Ehud’s overlooked ability to give Israel victory.

Lets bring it home: Let God use you the way you are to accomplish his work. The enemies we face are as real as Ehud’s, but they are most often within ourselves. The battles we fight are not against other people but against the power of sin. We need God’s help in doing battle against sin. We also need to remember that he has already won the war. He has defeated sin at the cross of his Son, Jesus. His help is the cause of each success, and his forgiveness is sufficient for each failure.

Proverbs 18:21 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 18, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Proverbs 18.21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Satan uses the tongue to divide people and pit them against one another. Idle and hateful words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly, and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. We dare not be carless with what we say thinking we can apologize later, because even if we do, the scars remain. A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build. Before you speak, remember that words are like fire-you can neither control nor reverse the damage they can do.

 

Spiritual Training 18 May 2012

Posted: May 18, 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
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 3:10-11 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim King of Aram into the hands of Othniel who overpowered him. So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Othniel was Israel’s first judge. In 1:13 we read that he volunteered to lead an attack against a fortified city. Here he was to lead the nation back to God. Othniel had a rich spiritual heritage-his uncle was Caleb, a man with unwavering faith in God (Numbers 13:30; 14:24). Othniel’s leadership brought the people back to God and freed then from the oppression of the King of Aram, Naharaim. But after Othniel’s death, it didn’t take the Israelites long to fall back into their neighbors’ comfortable but sinful ways.

Lets bring it home: The Holy Spirit is available to all believers today, but he will come upon believers in an extraordinary way for special tasks. We should ask the Holy Spirit’s help as we face our daily problems as well as life challenges

Spiritual Training 17 May 2012

Posted: May 17, 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
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 3:8-9 The Anger of LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim King of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother who saved them.

Othniel was Israel’s first judge. In 1:13 we read that he volunteered to lead an attack against a fortified city. Here he was to lead the nation back to God. Othniel had a rich spiritual heritage-his uncle was Caleb, a man with unwavering faith in God (Numbers 13:30; 14:24). Othniel’s leadership brought the people back to God and freed then from the oppression of the King of Aram, Naharaim. But after Othniel’s death, it didn’t take the Israelites long to fall back into their neighbors’ comfortable but sinful ways.

Lets bring it home: How many of us, when we win battles by asking other people to pray to for us or even going to God when we need to win a battle forget about Him and go back to our sinful ways after being shown favor.

Proverbs 14:29 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Proverbs 14:29 -A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

A quick temper can be like a fire out of control. It can burn us and everyone else in its path. Anger divides people. It pushes us into hasty decisions that only cause bitterness and guilt. Yet anger, in itself, is not wrong. Anger can be a legitimate reaction to injustice and sin. When you feel yourself getting angry, look for the cause. Are you reacting to an evil situation that you are going to set right? Or are you responding selfishly to a personal insult? Pray that God will help you control your quick temper, channeling your feelings into effective action and conquering selfish anger through humility and repentance.

Proverbs 11:02 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 11, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command 

Proverbs 11:02 – When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.  

Proud people take little account of their weaknesses and do not anticipate stumbling blocks.  They think they are above the frailties of common people.  In this state of mind they are easily tripped up.  Ironically, proud people seldom realize that pride is their problem, although everyone around them is well aware of it.  Ask someone you trust whether self-satisfaction has bind you warning signs.  He or she may help you avoid a fall.

Spiritual Training 10 May 2012

Posted: May 10, 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
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 2:16-19 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders.
Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD’s commands. Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Throughout this period of history Israel went through seven cycles of (1) rebelling against God, (2) being overrun by enemy nations, (3) being delivered by a God-fearing judge, (4) remaining loyal to God under that judge, and (5) again forgetting God when the judge died. We ten to follow the same cycle remaining loyal to God as long as we are near those who are devoted to him. But when we are on our own, the pressure to be drawn away from God increases. Determine to be faithful to God despite the difficult situations you encounter. Recognize the importance of maintaining contact with other believers.

Spiritual Training 07 May 2012

Posted: May 7, 2012 in Acceptance, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Disobedience and defeat

One generation died, and the next did not follow God. Each generation failed to teach the next generation to love and follow God. Yet this was at the very center of God’s law (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). It is tempting to leave the job of teaching the Christian faith to the church or Christian school. Yet God says that the responsibility for this task belongs primarily to the family. Because children learn so much by our example, the home offers the most effective place to pass on the faith to the next generation.

Judges 2:10 After the whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

Spiritual Training 03 May 2012

Posted: May 3, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, Proverbs, 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 2:1-3 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars. Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.

This event marks a significant change in Israel’s relationship with God. At Mount Sinai, God made a sacred and binding agreement with the Israelites called a covenant (Exodus 19:5-8).

Because they rejected and disobeyed God, the agreement to protect them was no longer in effect. But God wasn’t going to abandon his people. They would receive wonderful blessings if they asked God to forgive them and sincerely followed him again.

Although God’s agreement to help Israel conquer the land was no longer in effect, his promise to make Israel a nation through whom the whole world would be blessed (fulfilled in the Messiah’s coming) remained valid. God still wanted the Israelites to be a holy people (just as he wants us to be holy), and he often used oppression to bring them back to him, just as he warned he would (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28).

The book of Judges records a number of instances where God allowed his people to be oppressed so that they would repent of their sins and return to him.

Too often people want God to fulfill his promises, while excusing themselves from their responsibilities. Before you claim God’s promises, ask, “Have I done my part?”

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

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