Posts Tagged ‘spirituality’

Spiritual Training 05 June 2012

Posted: June 5, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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UNDER GODS COMMAND

Judges 5.8 – When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 

War was the inevitable result when Israel chose to follow false gods.  Although God had given Israel clear directions, the people failed to put his words into practice.  Without God at the center of their national life, pressure from the outside soon became greater than power from within, and they were an easy prey for their enemies.

Lets bring it home: If you are letting a desire for recognition, craving for power, or love of money rule your life, you may find yourself besieged by enemies-stress, anxiety, illness, fatigue.  Keep God at the center of your life, and you will have the power you need to fight these destroyers.

Spiritual Training 04 June 2012

Posted: June 4, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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UNDER GODS COMMAND Deborah (Judges 4-5) 

Key verse: “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading  Israel at that time ” (Judges 4:4)

Wise Leaders are rare.  They accomplish great amounts of work without direct involvement because they know how to work through other people.  They are able to see the big picture that often escapes those directly involved, so they make good mediators, advisers, and planners.  Deborah fit this description perfectly.  She had all these leadership skills, and she had a remarkable relationship with God.  The insight and confidence God gave this woman placed her in a unique position in the Old Testament.  Deborah is among the outstanding women of history.  Her story shows that use was not power hungry.  She wanted to serve God.  Whenever praise came her way, she gave God the credit.  She didn’t deny or resist her position in the culture as a woman and wife, but she never allowed herself to be hindered by it either.  Her story show Great God can accomplish great things through people who are willing to be led by him.  Deborah’s life challenges us in several ways.  She reminds us of the need to be available both to God and to others.  She encourages us to spend our efforts on what we can do rather than on worrying about what we can’t do.  Deborah challenges us to be wise leaders.  She demonstrates what a person can accomplish when God isn in control.  

STRENGTHS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

  • FOURTH AND ONLY FEMALE  JUDGE OVER ISRAEL
  • SPECIAL ABILITIES AS A MEDIATOR, ADVISER, AND COUNSELOR
  • WHEN CALLED ON TO LEAD, WAS ABLE TO PLAN, DIRECT, AND DELEGATE
  • KNOWN FOR HER PROPHETIC POWER
  • A WRITER OF SONGS
LESSONS FROM HER LIFE:
  • GOD CHOOSES LEADERS BY HIS STANDARDS, NOT OURS
  • WISE LEADERS CHOOSE GOOD HELPERS

Spiritual Training 23 May 2012

Posted: May 23, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 4:3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.

After 20 years of unbearable circumstances, the Israelites finally cried to the LORD for help. But God should be the first place we turn when we are facing struggles or dilemmas. The Israelite’s chose to go their own way and got into a mess.

Lets bring it home: We often do the same. Trying to control our own lives without God’s help leads to struggle and confusion. By contrast, when we stay in daily contact with the LORD, we are less likely to create painful circumstances for ourselves. This is a lesson the Israelites never fully learned. When struggles come our way, God wants us to come to him first, seeking his strength and guidance.

Proverbs 23:17-18 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 21, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Proverbs 23:17-18- Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

How easy it is to envy those who get ahead unhampered by Christian responsibility or God’s laws. For a time they do seem to get ahead without paying any attention to what God wants. But to those who follow him, God promises a hope and a wonderful future even if we don’t achieve it in this life.

Spiritual Training 18 May 2012

Posted: May 18, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, 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 16 May 2012

Posted: May 16, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 3:7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

Baal was the most worshiped god of the Canaanites. Most often cast in the form of a bull, he symbolized strength and fertility and was considered the god of agriculture. Asherah was Baal’s female consort, mother goddess of the sea who was worshiped by means of wooden pillars that substituted for sacred trees.

Lets bring it home: It is difficult to imagine the people of Israel trading worship of the Lord for worship of idols of wood, stone, and iron, but we do the same when we forsake worshiping God for other activities, hobbies, or priorities. Our idols are not made of wood or stone but they are every bit a sinful

Proverbs 16:03 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 16, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Proverbs 16:3 –Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the LORD.

• Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the project is being done for the LORD, but in reality they are doing it for themselves.
• Others give God temporary control of their interest, only to take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect.
• Still others commit a task fully to the LORD, but put forth no effort themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed.

We must maintain a delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him, while working as if everything depended on us. Think of a specific effort in which you are involved right now. Have you committed it to the LORD?

Proverbs 11:02 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 11, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, 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 11 May 2012

Posted: May 11, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Disobedience and defeat

Judges 2:17 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.

Why would the people of Israel turn so quickly from their faith in God? Simply put, the Canaanite religion appeared more attractive to the sensual nature and offered more short-range benefits (sexual) permissiveness and increased fertility in childbearing and farming). One of its most attractive features was that people could remain selfish and yet fulfill their religious requirements. They could do almost anything they wished and still be obeying at least one of the many Canaanite gods. Male and female prostitution were not only allowed, but also encouraged as forms of worship.

Faith in the one true God, however, does not offer short-range benefits that appeal to our sinful human nature. The essence of sin is selfishness; the essence of God way of life is selflessness. We must seek Christ’s help to live God’s way.

Spiritual Training 10 May 2012

Posted: May 10, 2012 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Judges, Personal Growth, 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.

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