Judges 10:16
Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.
Exodus 3:7
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
Hosea 5:15
Then I will return to my lair until they have borne their guilt and seek my face— in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”
Can you hear it? Press in just a little and it’ll become clearer. Listen… you can hear it. It’s … the Father’s heart. Don’t miss it. I don’t dare overlook Israel’s sin. It can’t be overstated. They had forsaken God completely. They were absolute violation of the Commandment. Over a long period of time. But God never forgot them. Never. And He never stopped acting on their behalf. Love lasts. God’s love is eternal. He separated a people unto Himself. He cut Covenant with their forefathers. He held fast to His promises and never forsook them. When they rebelled, He redeemed.
The same is true for us. There are many among us who know not the Lord. But, He loves us anyway. Created in His image and His likeness, when we picked up a Bible or visited a Church, He began the process of redemption. In the Word and in the Church he provides the tools, the knowledge, the map to find Him. He provides a path to true worship, true worship and eventual peace in Him.
Someone you know doesn’t know Him. But He loves them as much as He loves you. And He put them in your path. Don’t be shy or afraid. He has equipped you for this moment: the moment that He has chosen to bring another of His Prodigal children home. Be the instrument. Be the voice. Be the ambassador. Open the door and show His child the way.
God’s not looking for the great or powerful, the wise or the charismatic. He’s just looking for someone who will tell the story. To tell them about the Heart of the Father.
Peace,
.wb
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Exodus 34:6
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sunday School Lesson for July 24, 2011: Let God Rule (Judges 7:2-4, 13-15; 8:22-26)
Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he
Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
2 Corinthians 10:4
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Often times our greatest obstacle is staring at us… in the mirror. Before we can be victorious, we have to ‘see’ ourselves as victorious, don’t we. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Personally, I don’t want to talk about it (smile). Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that my first glimpse of me in the morning is not a good look. But, a shower, a shave, a few minutes of ‘sprucing up’ and “ OK, I can do this” Right?
Beloved, we all need a ‘Word’ from the Lord: a little bit of prodding and encouragement in the way that he would have us to go. When God chose Gideon, he chose from among the least of the least of Israel. And in Gideon’s case, he thought exactly that about himself. “Why me, God?” Don’t those words echo in your own ears? They did in Gideon’s. And because of this, God had to gently convince Gideon that he had indeed chosen him to be Israel’s deliverer. Gently, carefully, repeatedly, God confirmed His call to Gideon, such that when Gideon finally trusted God fully, he routed Israel’s tormentors completely and convincingly. But first he had to win the battle between his ears. He had to overcome his doubts: his past failings, his present shortcomings and the bleak outlook that was his future. Before God revealed himself to Gideon, Gideon completely ‘owned’ his condition. Completely. He was what he thought he was. God had to patiently, lovingly overcome… Gideon.
In your private time, read Gideon’s entire story in Judges: chapters six through eight. You’ find in Gideon, a man who over a short period of time, God took from the lowly position of a thresher of wheat to a mighty warrior who led Israel in several victorious campaigns. For him, complete obedience wasn’t instant, but God gently persisted, until He produced in Gideon a man who could and would follow Him… confidently. When Gideon, finally submitted himself completely to God’s way of thinking, he found the ability to completely over come. When he ‘knew’ that God was with him, he understood that God with Him was more than his enemies against him.
The same is true for us as believers. We need convincing. Convincing that we too can do great things with God’s help. And so God gently, lovingly, caringly and carefully speaks to us through His Word and by His Spirit. He reminds us of the victory he gave us at the cross. He instructs us on the privileges that Christ’s victory affords us, then He leads us, guides us into the conflict around us equipped with the knowledge the we are more than conquerors because we are so completely loved by Him. We come to know that: He loved us while we were yet sinners, He loves us fiercely, even when we seem most unlovable and, going forward, His love will never fail us. Whatever your station or your situation, Beloved, know that God loves you. Rest in that knowledge and you will overcome.
Shalom,
.wb
1 Samuel 30:6
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he
Colossians 3:15
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
2 Corinthians 10:4
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Often times our greatest obstacle is staring at us… in the mirror. Before we can be victorious, we have to ‘see’ ourselves as victorious, don’t we. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Personally, I don’t want to talk about it (smile). Without going into a lot of detail, suffice it to say that my first glimpse of me in the morning is not a good look. But, a shower, a shave, a few minutes of ‘sprucing up’ and “ OK, I can do this” Right?
Beloved, we all need a ‘Word’ from the Lord: a little bit of prodding and encouragement in the way that he would have us to go. When God chose Gideon, he chose from among the least of the least of Israel. And in Gideon’s case, he thought exactly that about himself. “Why me, God?” Don’t those words echo in your own ears? They did in Gideon’s. And because of this, God had to gently convince Gideon that he had indeed chosen him to be Israel’s deliverer. Gently, carefully, repeatedly, God confirmed His call to Gideon, such that when Gideon finally trusted God fully, he routed Israel’s tormentors completely and convincingly. But first he had to win the battle between his ears. He had to overcome his doubts: his past failings, his present shortcomings and the bleak outlook that was his future. Before God revealed himself to Gideon, Gideon completely ‘owned’ his condition. Completely. He was what he thought he was. God had to patiently, lovingly overcome… Gideon.
In your private time, read Gideon’s entire story in Judges: chapters six through eight. You’ find in Gideon, a man who over a short period of time, God took from the lowly position of a thresher of wheat to a mighty warrior who led Israel in several victorious campaigns. For him, complete obedience wasn’t instant, but God gently persisted, until He produced in Gideon a man who could and would follow Him… confidently. When Gideon, finally submitted himself completely to God’s way of thinking, he found the ability to completely over come. When he ‘knew’ that God was with him, he understood that God with Him was more than his enemies against him.
The same is true for us as believers. We need convincing. Convincing that we too can do great things with God’s help. And so God gently, lovingly, caringly and carefully speaks to us through His Word and by His Spirit. He reminds us of the victory he gave us at the cross. He instructs us on the privileges that Christ’s victory affords us, then He leads us, guides us into the conflict around us equipped with the knowledge the we are more than conquerors because we are so completely loved by Him. We come to know that: He loved us while we were yet sinners, He loves us fiercely, even when we seem most unlovable and, going forward, His love will never fail us. Whatever your station or your situation, Beloved, know that God loves you. Rest in that knowledge and you will overcome.
Shalom,
.wb
1 Samuel 30:6
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Sunday School Lesson for July 17, 2011: Use God’s Strength (Judges 3:15-25, 29, 30)
1 Chronicles 12:2
they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed; they were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin):
Judges 20:12
The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
1 Samuel 9:21
“But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel,
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
There are two distinct aspects to today’s lesson. Please allow me to briefly speak to both. Israel cried out to God and God sent them Ehud. Like many other biblical characters, Ehud may not have been a pillar of Israel’s society from a character stand point. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, the least regarded of the twelve. In addition to being least regarded, the Benjamites had an edge to them. I won’t take time in this venue to fully explain, but suffice it to say that the tribe of Benjamin was from the ‘other side of the tracks’. Additionally, Ehud was left handed. Left handedness in mentioned in relation to the tribe of Benjamin frequently. Amongst the Israelites, left handedness was akin to a birth defect, but, and this is important, left handed soldiers were particularly skilled fighters, greatly feared. Left handed soldiers in particular carried a rather sinister aura. Think of Ehud as ‘the neighborhood bully’ or ‘ the trouble maker who was also a gifted athlete’ or…..’a hit man’. Ehud was 'dangerous'.
Maybe you know some people like Ehud. I do. I’ve had friends and have friends who were ‘Ehud’. I have two separate groups of relatives who are ‘Ehud’. They’re OK as long as you stay on their ‘good side’. If they don’t show up at the reunion, every one breathes a little easier. You know the person I’m talking about. The guy who hasn’t had a good time until a fight has broken out. The guy who’s ‘packed’, and not particularly for the purpose of self defense. Ehud was that guy. With this in mind, consider the following:
Ehud was selected by his countrymen to perform this task, to rid Israel of the over lord King of Moab. A probable ‘suicide mission’. If Ehud didn’t make it back, who would miss him? However, God was with Ehud. In fact, God chose Ehud and God sent Ehud. God is not a respecter of persons. Beloved, If God…. If God would use a ‘bad actor’ like Ehud to deliver Israel, he can use anybody. As it turns out, Saul of Tarsus was from the tribe of Benjamin. He persecuted the early Church, killing many believers and was greatly feared. By his own words he was the ‘chief of sinners’. Surlines had not left the tribe of Benjamin. But God stopped Him on the road to Damascus. God opened His eyes and revealed Himself to Saul. He changed him so deeply, that after that day He was known as Paul, the greatest Apostle and author of the two thirds of the New Testament. Aside from Jesus, the single greatest influence on the Church as we know it. Paul: a descendant of Ehud.
With my second point, I’ll be brief. Ehud faced Israel’s great enemy head on. He set an example for how we should confront the greatest hindrances in our own lives: directly. His weapon of choice: a double edged sword, representative of the Word of God. Internalize the Word and the Word will deliver you and keep you. He brought a tribute large enough to have to be carried by the King’s servants, but after he killed the king, he left the tribute, left the dead king, locked the door behind him and left. No looking back, no hesitation. He was poorer and richer on that very day. He left a great deal behind, but he gained relationship and intimacy with God and deliverance and peace for Israel. What ever it is in your life you need to lock the door on…. Just do it!
Blessings,
.wb
Acts 8:3
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 9:5
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Romans 11:1
[ The Remnant of Israel ] I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed; they were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin):
Judges 20:12
The tribes of Israel sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin, saying, “What about this awful crime that was committed among you?
1 Samuel 9:21
“But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel,
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
There are two distinct aspects to today’s lesson. Please allow me to briefly speak to both. Israel cried out to God and God sent them Ehud. Like many other biblical characters, Ehud may not have been a pillar of Israel’s society from a character stand point. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, the least regarded of the twelve. In addition to being least regarded, the Benjamites had an edge to them. I won’t take time in this venue to fully explain, but suffice it to say that the tribe of Benjamin was from the ‘other side of the tracks’. Additionally, Ehud was left handed. Left handedness in mentioned in relation to the tribe of Benjamin frequently. Amongst the Israelites, left handedness was akin to a birth defect, but, and this is important, left handed soldiers were particularly skilled fighters, greatly feared. Left handed soldiers in particular carried a rather sinister aura. Think of Ehud as ‘the neighborhood bully’ or ‘ the trouble maker who was also a gifted athlete’ or…..’a hit man’. Ehud was 'dangerous'.
Maybe you know some people like Ehud. I do. I’ve had friends and have friends who were ‘Ehud’. I have two separate groups of relatives who are ‘Ehud’. They’re OK as long as you stay on their ‘good side’. If they don’t show up at the reunion, every one breathes a little easier. You know the person I’m talking about. The guy who hasn’t had a good time until a fight has broken out. The guy who’s ‘packed’, and not particularly for the purpose of self defense. Ehud was that guy. With this in mind, consider the following:
Ehud was selected by his countrymen to perform this task, to rid Israel of the over lord King of Moab. A probable ‘suicide mission’. If Ehud didn’t make it back, who would miss him? However, God was with Ehud. In fact, God chose Ehud and God sent Ehud. God is not a respecter of persons. Beloved, If God…. If God would use a ‘bad actor’ like Ehud to deliver Israel, he can use anybody. As it turns out, Saul of Tarsus was from the tribe of Benjamin. He persecuted the early Church, killing many believers and was greatly feared. By his own words he was the ‘chief of sinners’. Surlines had not left the tribe of Benjamin. But God stopped Him on the road to Damascus. God opened His eyes and revealed Himself to Saul. He changed him so deeply, that after that day He was known as Paul, the greatest Apostle and author of the two thirds of the New Testament. Aside from Jesus, the single greatest influence on the Church as we know it. Paul: a descendant of Ehud.
With my second point, I’ll be brief. Ehud faced Israel’s great enemy head on. He set an example for how we should confront the greatest hindrances in our own lives: directly. His weapon of choice: a double edged sword, representative of the Word of God. Internalize the Word and the Word will deliver you and keep you. He brought a tribute large enough to have to be carried by the King’s servants, but after he killed the king, he left the tribute, left the dead king, locked the door behind him and left. No looking back, no hesitation. He was poorer and richer on that very day. He left a great deal behind, but he gained relationship and intimacy with God and deliverance and peace for Israel. What ever it is in your life you need to lock the door on…. Just do it!
Blessings,
.wb
Acts 8:3
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 9:5
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Romans 11:1
[ The Remnant of Israel ] I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday School Lesson for July 10, 2011: Listen to God’s Judges (Judges 2:11-19)
Romans 6:12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
God is coming for you. He really is. No matter the depth of rebellion you find yourself in. No matter how you’ve turned you life over to the oppression of sin and shame. No matter the darkness that envelopes you or the chaos that surrounds you, God is coming for you. It may be out of the mouth of a child. It may come from a wizened old soldier who’s been under the blood stained banner for a sometime. “How will they hear without a preacher, and how shall he preach except he be sent.” God will send one of his own…for you. Will you have an ear to listen? In the time of the Judges, God allowed Israel’s enemies to remain among them so that Israel would learn to fight, and to win. Led out of Egypt by Moses, into the land of Promise by Joshua, then besieged on every hand by enemies when the elders among them finally passed off the scene. This particular period of history very accurately mirrors the times we currently live in. Like the peoples of Israel, we too often do what seems right in our own eyes. Suddenly, there is no open vision, no Word of the Lord, no sound from heaven. We find ourselves spiraling away hope, assurance and blessing to a place of uncertainty, despair and pain. Ensnared by bad choices, bad relationships, the allure of the World, we find ourselves in a place of utter hopelessness, but Help is on the way.
God loves you. When the dust settles and you emerge, scarred but victorious, you’ll know what generations of saints before you have come to know: If God is with you, He’s more than the world against you. There’s some stuff, that God brings you out of at the outset of your salvation. For me it was liquor. He took the taste of alcohol completely out of my system. However, I still have some stuff to deal with; we all do. My choices are to give in and give up and become a slave to my very worst instincts or to turn it all over to Him. All of it. To lay aside every weight and sin that hinders me as I run this race. To place my focus on Jesus; the very First Breath and the very Last Word. The only way to manage the battle against besetting sin is to turn it over to Jesus. That was the lesson for Israel in the days of the Judges, and the lesson for us in this day: Let the Lord fight your battles. I choose Life.
God has a Word for you. He’ll use a modern day ‘Judge’ to deliver it. A pastor of a local church; a church near you. The church of a friend, a family member… it might be a TV evangelist, but somewhere God is sending deliverance. Listen. Listen to God’s Judges. One of them has a Word for you. Listen and choose Life.
Blessings,
.wb
Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Revelation 12:11
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
God is coming for you. He really is. No matter the depth of rebellion you find yourself in. No matter how you’ve turned you life over to the oppression of sin and shame. No matter the darkness that envelopes you or the chaos that surrounds you, God is coming for you. It may be out of the mouth of a child. It may come from a wizened old soldier who’s been under the blood stained banner for a sometime. “How will they hear without a preacher, and how shall he preach except he be sent.” God will send one of his own…for you. Will you have an ear to listen? In the time of the Judges, God allowed Israel’s enemies to remain among them so that Israel would learn to fight, and to win. Led out of Egypt by Moses, into the land of Promise by Joshua, then besieged on every hand by enemies when the elders among them finally passed off the scene. This particular period of history very accurately mirrors the times we currently live in. Like the peoples of Israel, we too often do what seems right in our own eyes. Suddenly, there is no open vision, no Word of the Lord, no sound from heaven. We find ourselves spiraling away hope, assurance and blessing to a place of uncertainty, despair and pain. Ensnared by bad choices, bad relationships, the allure of the World, we find ourselves in a place of utter hopelessness, but Help is on the way.
God loves you. When the dust settles and you emerge, scarred but victorious, you’ll know what generations of saints before you have come to know: If God is with you, He’s more than the world against you. There’s some stuff, that God brings you out of at the outset of your salvation. For me it was liquor. He took the taste of alcohol completely out of my system. However, I still have some stuff to deal with; we all do. My choices are to give in and give up and become a slave to my very worst instincts or to turn it all over to Him. All of it. To lay aside every weight and sin that hinders me as I run this race. To place my focus on Jesus; the very First Breath and the very Last Word. The only way to manage the battle against besetting sin is to turn it over to Jesus. That was the lesson for Israel in the days of the Judges, and the lesson for us in this day: Let the Lord fight your battles. I choose Life.
God has a Word for you. He’ll use a modern day ‘Judge’ to deliver it. A pastor of a local church; a church near you. The church of a friend, a family member… it might be a TV evangelist, but somewhere God is sending deliverance. Listen. Listen to God’s Judges. One of them has a Word for you. Listen and choose Life.
Blessings,
.wb
Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Revelation 12:11
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sunday School Lesson for July 3, 2011: God Responds to Disobedience (Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-26)
Wayne’s two cents worth
Achan: a’-kan (`akhan (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, `akhar, "troubler"):
Romans 6:12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost: The most Holy trinity. Spirit, Soul and Body: Man in three parts. A couple of notable ‘three’s’ in Scripture. I point this out because there is a notable ‘three’ in this account of Achan: A gold wedge, 200 shekels of silver and a Babylonian robe. All devoted to God, purposed for destruction, but stolen by Achan. What purpose a wedge? To wedge a door open or closed. To keep an access way open or to deny access to. Which was Achan guilty of? A little of both. In holding onto the devoted thing, he placed a wedge between God and Israel, between God and himself that God would not breach. A wedge. When used to keep an access way open, it normally represents a path backwards, a ‘way back’. Back to what? Back to a way of life that we should have completely abandoned when Jesus came. A wedge. Trouble.
Two hundred shekels of silver. That would have immediately made Achan a player wouldn’t it? How many ‘get rich quick’ schemes are out there these days? A lot of money quickly will get you a lot of attention quickly. Ask any lottery winner. While your at it, ask them how all that turned out for them. Achan had dreams, all of us do. Every one of us dreams of a life of no worries, no problems. Money can get us that, can’t it. Trouble.
A robe. Not just any robe, but a Babylonian robe, a robe representative of the pleasure and allure the ‘world’ has to offer. The yacht, the limo, the penthouse, the country club, the luxury suite; you know, the very, very, very best that the world has to offer. Why not you? Why not now? After all, Jesus just knocked down the walls didn’t He? You just got saved. ‘Hey God, turn on that Blessing Machine quick”. “I’m saved now, let’s get those Blessings flowing”. Real trouble.
Doesn’t work like that, does it? It’s not supposed to. When we get saved, we say” God, come on in.” “Yes Jesus, come into my heart.” :Clean me up”. There it is, right there. Jesus does not save us to leave us like we are. In our carnal, unsaved state, we’re not worthy of eternity. God, who is Mercy, would not damn us to an eternity staying the way we are: our own worst enemy. He loves us too much for that.
Achan had all this ‘stuff’ in his tent. He was holding on to a future of his own design, not God’s. He was exchanging a royal inheritance for… disaster and didn’t even know it. He was trading relationship with God for a few silver shekels and some shiny clothes. Treasure will rust or the moths will eat it. Achan traded real treasure, God’s treasure for ….trouble.
What about you beloved? What have you hidden in your tent? What are you holding on to that puts a wedge, a barrier between you and a deeper, closer walk with the Lord? At the end of the day, all that is temporal will be burned in the fire. All that will remain will be that that God desires: a faithful people. Let me leave you with this: Whether in this life or the next, God fully intends to bless you beyond all that you can ever ask or even imagine to ask. He promises us this in is Word. All of earth’s treasure pale in comparison to the riches God has awaiting us in eternity. God seeks Relationship….with you…above all else. Devote yourself to Him fully. God is Jealous for you. Rejoice in that.
Shalom,
.wb
Romans 8:10
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Achan: a’-kan (`akhan (in 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achar, `akhar, "troubler"):
Romans 6:12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost: The most Holy trinity. Spirit, Soul and Body: Man in three parts. A couple of notable ‘three’s’ in Scripture. I point this out because there is a notable ‘three’ in this account of Achan: A gold wedge, 200 shekels of silver and a Babylonian robe. All devoted to God, purposed for destruction, but stolen by Achan. What purpose a wedge? To wedge a door open or closed. To keep an access way open or to deny access to. Which was Achan guilty of? A little of both. In holding onto the devoted thing, he placed a wedge between God and Israel, between God and himself that God would not breach. A wedge. When used to keep an access way open, it normally represents a path backwards, a ‘way back’. Back to what? Back to a way of life that we should have completely abandoned when Jesus came. A wedge. Trouble.
Two hundred shekels of silver. That would have immediately made Achan a player wouldn’t it? How many ‘get rich quick’ schemes are out there these days? A lot of money quickly will get you a lot of attention quickly. Ask any lottery winner. While your at it, ask them how all that turned out for them. Achan had dreams, all of us do. Every one of us dreams of a life of no worries, no problems. Money can get us that, can’t it. Trouble.
A robe. Not just any robe, but a Babylonian robe, a robe representative of the pleasure and allure the ‘world’ has to offer. The yacht, the limo, the penthouse, the country club, the luxury suite; you know, the very, very, very best that the world has to offer. Why not you? Why not now? After all, Jesus just knocked down the walls didn’t He? You just got saved. ‘Hey God, turn on that Blessing Machine quick”. “I’m saved now, let’s get those Blessings flowing”. Real trouble.
Doesn’t work like that, does it? It’s not supposed to. When we get saved, we say” God, come on in.” “Yes Jesus, come into my heart.” :Clean me up”. There it is, right there. Jesus does not save us to leave us like we are. In our carnal, unsaved state, we’re not worthy of eternity. God, who is Mercy, would not damn us to an eternity staying the way we are: our own worst enemy. He loves us too much for that.
Achan had all this ‘stuff’ in his tent. He was holding on to a future of his own design, not God’s. He was exchanging a royal inheritance for… disaster and didn’t even know it. He was trading relationship with God for a few silver shekels and some shiny clothes. Treasure will rust or the moths will eat it. Achan traded real treasure, God’s treasure for ….trouble.
What about you beloved? What have you hidden in your tent? What are you holding on to that puts a wedge, a barrier between you and a deeper, closer walk with the Lord? At the end of the day, all that is temporal will be burned in the fire. All that will remain will be that that God desires: a faithful people. Let me leave you with this: Whether in this life or the next, God fully intends to bless you beyond all that you can ever ask or even imagine to ask. He promises us this in is Word. All of earth’s treasure pale in comparison to the riches God has awaiting us in eternity. God seeks Relationship….with you…above all else. Devote yourself to Him fully. God is Jealous for you. Rejoice in that.
Shalom,
.wb
Romans 8:10
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
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