Moving Forward

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Having rejected the King of Kings and his spiritual leader Samuel, Israel demanded a king, and God relented and gave them Saul.   Saul was anointed as king by God and Samuel, and shortly after,  Saul led Israel to a resounding defeat of their enemies the Ammonites.  It was now the perfect opportunity to confirm Saul as king before the people, to put him on the throne of authority that Israel so desperately desired.  With new leadership and a brand new "government," Samuel, the man of God, gave his parting speech.


As he had always done in the past, Samuel spoke with humility of heart, but never shied away from the warning of God.  Having shared with Israel of God's great deliverance for them countless times, there was a strong warning to them that they had rejected The Great Deliverer--God Himself--for a man.  He knew that he had caused them to fear because of his strong words against their disobedience.  But he didn't let them stay in their fear and hopelessness.  He offered them a way to begin moving forward from the error of their ways.

Isn't that what we all need?  It is one thing to be warned of the consequences of our disobedience.  It is always appropriate to teach what will happen if you disobey.  But  Samuel, acting on the wisdom of God,  went on to offer Israel the hope that they needed to make a course correction.  Read his words and let them be your direction from the Lord toward the right course of action in walking past your failures.


"Do not fear.  You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.  You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot  profit or deliver, because the are futile.  For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. . . Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you."  (I Samuel 12: 20-22, 24)

Did you catch it?

• Don't fear the consequences
• Do not continue in your pattern of error, trusting and worshiping what you should not
• Turn back to God (repent of your sin and leave it behind in His grace)
• Trust His presence with you
• Start fearing/reverencing/worshiping/loving Him again
• Begin to serve God again

As I continue to teach through this blog, I want to say, with Samuel, that "I will instruct you in the good and right way" with love in my heart for my God and for those who are listening to His words spoken through me.  I will continue to pray that The Unbroken Heart will be a blessing to your spiritual journey. 

(And I would love it if you would click "follow" in the upper right-hand side of this blog and daily follow this blog!  I would love to know who I am teaching and praying for!)

Trusting in the Wrong Thing

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Do we?

Israel was living in some of their darkest days.  It was the time of the judges, and the rule of thumb was that "everyone did what was right in their own eyes."  They had woefully fallen short of the commands of God to go into the Promised Land and dispossess all of the people living there.  So those very people became their enemies, thorns in their sides.

One of their fiercest enemies was the Philistines, who were stronger, bigger, and had implemented iron into their weaponry.  Fierce doesn't begin to describe them.  Unstoppable.  That was what they were.  

When Israel received word that the Philistines were about to draw up battle lines, the elders declared this to the people, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?  Let us take for ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies."  Yes indeed, the people were doing whatever they wanted.  No corporate prayer, no fasting, no discussion with the priests, no High Priest consulting the Urim and Thummim in his breastplate to determine the will of God.  They were doing what was right in THEIR eyes."

At that point, they were trusting in the ark of the covenant to defeat their enemy and be their protection, not in the God that had delivered them countless times before.  One commentator said that, "They trusted in the Ark of God instead of the God of the Ark."  And the result in trusting in the wrong thing?  The Bible tells us that the Philistines destroyed Israel with a great slaughter--30,000 soldiers to be exact.  But that was the primary victory.  The Philistines also captured and took away the ark of the covenant, God's very real presence with Israel.  (I Samuel 4: 1-11)


Israel trusted in the ark instead of their God to carry them through.  Seems ridiculous until we realize that we do the very same thing.  So often when something comes against us, or when life becomes more difficult than we like, we are just as prone to turn to everything else but God.  We soothe our hurt feelings in so many ways:  food, anger, bitterness, shopping, gossip, dumping our story out over and over and over. We withdraw so we don't have to deal with our life by hiding ourselves in TV, the internet, romance novels, work.  We will do whatever it takes to keep from taking care of it with God.  We trust in everything else out the God who can help us win the battle! 

One of the worst ways is to throw ourselves into our ministry or benevolent works, trusting in them instead of God to overcome our enemy.  This attempt to defeat the enemy in our lives  looks just like the Israelites who trusted in the ark, not God!  And the end result of trusting in these kinds of idols will have the same type of result.  We will eventually be overtake by them.  They will win the battle, not us.

So what would it look like to trust God first?  The Israelites figured it out just a few chapters later.  We would do well to follow their example.  (I Samuel 7: 5-11)   Samuel, their spiritual leader now, called the Israelites together  and they began to trust the Lord together.  This is what they did, and it is what we should do as well.

When faced with an enemy, Israel:

• Prayed, crying out to God, pouring out their hearts before Him, including in that prayer
• Confession of sin
• When they saw the enemy advancing, they cried out AGAIN to be saved from the enemy
• They made a sacrifice to God

What should you sacrifice to God?  Yourself!  It is you that must die.  It is you who must crucify your flesh.  You must surrender to the will and hand of God, and let Him fight your spiritual battles if your intend to win them!  Israel constantly learned the hard way.  How long will you?  Who do you want fighting for you?  You weak and ineffective gods or God Almighty, the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts?

 

Feelings Vs. Commitment

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Active Commitment

Naomi had lost nearly everything.  In moving to Moab in the middle of a drought and famine in Bethlehem, she and her husband and two sons had walked away from both their God, Jehovah-Jireh (Provider), and their beloved homeland. During her ten years in Moab, her husband and sons died, leaving her only two daughters-in-law who were not of her faith.  Naomi's bruised heart and battered faith beckoned her to move home!  Home. . . the place where family and friends might surround her with love and protection.  Home. . . returning to her God and her trust in Him.   How she surely longed for everything that "home" meant.

The three were not far down the road, close enough to still return to Moab, when Naomi tried  to strongly suggest they let her go to Bethlehem alone.  Though both "daughters" desired to go with her, Naomi found every reason to insist that they stay in their own homeland.  But she was unsuccessful in convincing them.  It is in her "daughters" responses that we gain our wisdom today.  It is in their individual actions that we can see the stark difference between "what we feel" and "what we are wholly committed to do."

Surely both young ladies had  deep feelings for Naomi, or they never would have left with her.  Both of them loved their mother-in-law, and likely had concerns for her welfare.  However, though both had the same feeling for Naomi, they did not choose the same route.

Orpah gave Naomi a loving kiss and then departed from them and returned to Moab.  No one could blame her.  That is where her family was.  That was her homeland.  That was the place where she was comfortable.  That is where her gods were.  Moab was her life.  Her feelings ran deep for her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, but Moab was home to her.  So she turned around and went home.

But Ruth could not leave Naomi.  Her loving feelings spilled over into a bold and courageous action.  Ruth clung to Naomi, like a child who does not want to be left behind.  Her love for Naomi would be shown by her lifelong commitment to her mother-in-law.  Her actions overpowered her feelings.  As a result, her friendship had grown into loyalty, and her loyalty revealed her great love.  Orpah felt strongly; Ruth acted strongly.

Here are Ruth's words spoken to Naomi:  "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried."  (Ruth 1: 16-17a)  Ruth's feelings are not what are important in what she is saying.  It is her commitment to Naomi that shouts to us today!

In your relationship with God are you a believer who has really strong feelings about God, your ministry, study, fellowship, and worship, but your life reveals that you are more comfortable with your gods?  Does your old and familiar lifestyle draw you, or are you drawn by the unknown and uncomfortable way of the journey that the Holy Spirit wants to take you on?  Do you hold the reins or are you surrendered to going where God wants you to go?  Do you turn from God or do you cling to Him?  Do you see the danger in living in your feelings?  Do you see security in leaving where you are to go to the place God desires you to be? 

I couldn't help but think of the lyrics of one of Chris Tomlin's newest songs.  I am pretty sure that he had Ruth's words in mind!

I Will Follow

Where You go, I'll go; where You stay, I'll stay;

When You move, I'll move; I will follow You

Who You love, I'll love; how You serve, I'll serve

In this life I lose, I will follow You, I will follow You!

All Your ways are good, all Your ways are sure, I will trust in You alone.

Higher than my side, high above my life, I will trust in You alone. 

Light unto the world, light unto my life, I will live for You alone.

You're the One I seek, knowing I will find, all I need is You alone, is You alone.

In You there's life everlasting, in You there's freedom for my soul.

In You there is joy, unending joy, and I will follow!

Do you have strong feelings about the words of that song?  Or do you live and do them?  Will you live in Moab, feeling strongly about God and the things of God, or are you packing for the journey to Bethlehem?  Which is your home?

Is It Really All About Me?

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Is it really all about me?

We are very capable of creating our own gods. When we begin to worship them, we are opening a door not only to feed our flesh, but a door that many others might follow us through. Our self-created gods have one purpose. In the end, they make US god. As we worship them, our flesh gets to be in control and do what it wants, making us the god of our own lives. Life then becomes all about me, not the God I claim to worship.

There is a woman in the Old Testament who gave her silver to her son to create an ephod (Israel's priests already had one that they used in worship at the Tabernacle) and other household idols (teriphim that were worshiped to gain prosperity and guidance).  In the end, her son created graven and molten images that were idolatrous duplications of the priestly ephod and ark of the covenant.  He even hired a wicked Levitical priest to be the priest of his family.

You might ask how this story is relevant to us.  The answer is found in the historical account of what Israel was like in the days of the Judges.  This one sentence is repeated throughout the book of Judges:  "Every man did what was right in his own eyes."  Doing this very thing, this Jewish son re-created a religion that would be to his liking and his benefit, a religion in which he was in control.  He already knew what was right in God's eyes, and turned from it to what he deemed right.

This man led his family astray.  And he could not have known that the creation of his own god according to his desires would also lead one of the twelve tribes of Israel into idolatry as well.  The tribe of Dan discovered this ephod, fake image of the god, and the priest who absolved this family of any guilt, and the tribe of Dan stole them!  Now following this "god" instead of Jehovah, Dan is led astray and is not even mentioned in the twelve tribe in Revelation 7: 4-8.  By the same token, Eve would have had no idea that putting herself first would affect every other human being!  One person's sinfulness can have disastrous consequences in the lives of many.

What are the gods of your life?  What is it that you have created to protect you, bring pleasure to you, make you feel good, put you in the driver's seat, let you do what you want?  What is it that seems right in your eyes because it is not hurting anyone else?  Is it tobacco, alcohol, television, exercise, Facebook, pornography, working too much, material goods of any kind that you just can't get enough of, ministry?  Is it self-sufficiency that says you don't need anything or anybody, pride and arrogance, self-absorption, believing that everything is just fine in your life, false humility otherwise know as the "Eeyore syndrome"?  Every day we should be looking deeply within our hearts so that we might see the gods we have created.  Then we should be about the business of destroying them by surrendering to the only God who can.  

What is damaging our walk with God has the potential to damage others as well.  Who is your "collateral damage?"  Is it your spouse, your children, your parents, your co-workers, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Putting your flesh first is destructive to the kingdom of God and the work He wants to do before Christ returns.  

Think about it.  Ask God to show what your gods are.  Pray about it.  Surrender to the God Almighty, confessing your idolatry (agreeing with God that it is true).  Then stand up and walk in faith in the only God, as a witness to the whole world!

One Step at a Time!

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One Step at a Time!

Often we ask God for more information than He is willing to share. Before Samson was born, God told his parents that he would be a Nazarite from birth, and they were to follow all the instructions that He had given them. His father wanted to know what kind of life Samson would live and what his job would be. God's response? "Do the things I just told you to do...obey Me!" One step at a time! Don't get ahead of God!

Haven't you asked those kinds of questions?  I know I have.  Both fear and excitement caused me to ask the kinds of questions that insist on God being our "seer," rather than our omniscient Father.  Sometimes I want to know the full "blueprint" of my life rather than being satisfied with the small, but sufficient, view I am being offered.  

In the last few years I have gone on the amazing journey of writing and publishing a book.  I can remember clearly the day my fear began to overwhelm me when I asked God, "How do I go about publishing this book you have called me to write?"  For sure, both elements of fear and excitement were intermingled in my "desperate to know" request, but also that desire to take the "easy route" of knowing the specifics of what God intended to do.  God certainly answered my nagging question with a loving, but firm response.  "My precious one, begin to write chapter one."

I felt like Samson's father surely felt.  I wanted to reply, "But You didn't answer my question!"  I closed my mouth before I could say that, but God knew exactly what I was thinking.  Then I heard Him speak to my heart.  "I will take you through this process.  You can trust Me.  If I tell you everything, you will be overwhelmed.  Today's work must be done.  Today's work is for you to start chapter one.  I will show you what is next ,bit by bit, as you need to know. . . just take one step at a time."

God called me to simply obey the current command.  By doing that I would be protected from an enemy who wanted to steal my faith and joy.  Needless to say, chapter 1 began to take form that very day.  I know now that He had each step clearly laid out, for now that very book is due to be released May 1 of this year!  Though I have many more "steps" on this particular journey, I know my God is faithful to lead me to the next when the time is right.

This principle was reiterated recently by a doctor giving a surgical update.  While every concerned person involved wanted to know "things in the future" because of their great love for the patient, the doctor could not answer all of their questions (though God knows the answer to each one, for sure!).  His exact words to them were, "We have 200 steps to take, and we are on step one." 

Are you trying to get ahead of God, and gain answers to questions He has not answered?  Think about what the last thing God told you to do concerning your question.  Whatever He told you. . . begin to do it!  Obey everything He has said.  One day you will find yourself at the top of the steps!

Saying Is Not Doing

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Great acts of courage can elevate a man. Gideon humbly assumed the role of "judge" and fought for Israel's freedom. Israel wanted him to rule over them, and with great sincerity he refused, saying no man would be their ruler, only the Lord. But immediately he began acting like a king. Out of his spoils of war (that he required from each man), Gideon made an ephod for Israel to worship, and it became a snare to them.

There are many quotable quotes from Gone With the Wind, but there is one that applies here.  While this may be a more "formal" use of the language, the quote is perfect for today's blog.  Saying simply is NOT doing.

Gideon had chased an army, far larger than his own, 150 miles and defeated them, killed their kings, and secured peace, both militarily and domestically, for his nation.  When he returned to his people, they cried out for him to be their ruler.  With what appeared to be a sincerely humble heart, Gideon declared that neither he or his bloodline would be their ruler because the Lord was the only ruler that they needed.

When you read that passage in the Bible your first though, like mine, was that this is a man of great integrity.  It would be pretty difficult to turn down such a request, with all of its power, prestige, and financial blessing! My own heart was challenged as I question what my true response would have been. Yet Gideon declines.  I trusted in the true and humble integrity of a man who had been born into a family considered to be the "least in Manasseh."   And in his own family Gideon was also the "youngest in his father's house."  He seemed to know his place while at the same time knowing God's.

But something wasn't right in Gideon's heart.  His actions did not match his words!  While he refused to be become Israel's ruler, he had no problem asking each of his soldiers to give him part of their spoils.  Though they might have offered it to him because he had led them well, to ask for what was theirs revealed a heart that elevated itself above others.  What he received from them was more than 50 pounds of gold, making his "take" far greater than theirs. 

Not only did he require what was not his, adding it to his own portion, Gideon also took the exquisite ornaments and purple robes of the two Midianite kings and the neck bands of the camels of the Midianite army.  Then Gideon made an ephod out of the metals and set it up in his city.  The people were so enamored with it that they came and worshiped before it.  Gideon, the great judge of Israel, introduced another form of idolatry to God's people.  Gideon had led the army well in defeat of their physical enemies, but he led his people astray to worship the enemy of their heart!

Gideon's success as a leader brought out the "god" of his heart.  Success corrupted him to the level that he was able to convince Israel by his words of his sincerity of heart, when all along his heart was stained with pride, self-interest, self-elevation, and idolatry.

Integrity is heart- defining.  It can't be faked for very long.  What you say must be followed up with actions that are in line with your words.  Saying is not doing.  Integrity is the character trait of aligning your words with your actions. Do your actions match the words that you speak?  Can you be described by your actions as "full of integrity?"  Are you winning the spiritual battle in your heart?  Or are you just saying that you are?  Remember. . . saying is not doing!

Gods of the Flesh BecomeThorns in our Sides

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The land belonged now to Israel, but instead of removing everything (and everyone) that was vile to their God, Israel chose to "live among" the pagan worshipers. God had committed to the removal of the Canaanites, but Israel chose to keep them around. So God punished them by allowing the Canaanites to stay. They became thorns to Israel, the source of their destruction. What are your pagan strongholds?  What sins have you left "living among" you?

Israel stumbled yet again.  Israel had been given a promise from God that He would drive out every enemy before them.  They promised to obey His every command so that they might experience His victories.  But Israel didn't keep its end of the bargain.  When they walked away from God, He gave them exactly what they wanted.  He chose not to drive out the Canaanites since Israel would not join Him in the battle to drive them out.  The pagan people, with all of their idol worship, led Israel even farther away from God.  His beloved Israel, called to be set apart and pure, intermarried with the impure and became pagan in their belief, joining Canaanite gods to THE God.  The result of Israel's defiance and idol worship was that they would not become who God designed them to be.  His allowance of Canaanites in the Promised Land would forever be a test to Israel.  Would they follow and obey Him,  or follow their pagan neighbors and the gods of their flesh?

But have you noticed that we are not much different?  We have the same God, and we behave toward Him in exactly the same way.   God's word to us is full of His promises that He is waiting to fulfill in our lives, but we experience few victories over our sins because we are unwilling to "put them out of our midst."  So those sins and idols become thorns to us, taking us away from God.

God is not obliged to wave a wand and remove our sins, those things we worship rather than Him.  But the funny thing is this:  He is willing to destroy every one of them in us!  Most of us ignore His willingness to drive out our sin. Until we are willing to surrender them to Him, putting into His hand those sinful, pagan things that have become apart of our lives, we will not know the victorious life He has planned for us.  

The Israelite men desired and lusted after the Canaanite women.  They wanted what they wanted!  And we behave the same way when it comes to wanting what is in opposition to God and His will for us!  We have a choice set before us several times a day:  Will we remain pure and set apart from the world or will we partake and join with the world in all kinds of sin.  How long will we try to join the two together?  When will we understand that holiness can never be joined to unholiness?

Our defiance and disobedience keeps us from becoming everything that God designed us to be.  Will you settle for less by keeping your sins among you, or will you strive, by the Spirit and surrender and obedience, toward a deeper, more vibrant and victorious life?  You are choosing between the thorns and the beautiful, fragrant rose bud.  We shouldn't have to think very hard!

God, First and Only

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Joshua called Israel to a heavy commitment. He is calling us to the same commitment today. It should be entered into with eyes wide open. "Fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away the gods which your fathers served. . . and serve the Lord. . . As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." We cannot sincerely and truthfully serve God until we put our idols away!

As believers it is our main calling to serve God.  When we become a part of a church, we typically look for just the right way to serve Him.  Then we jump into ministry and determine that we are now "serving" God.  Don't take me wrong.  Serving in a ministry we feel called to certainly is service to God.  But there is a big difference between doing service to God and serving Him.  We only need look at today's verse in Joshua 24: 14-15 to realize that difference.

"Doing" ministry is easily defined.  It is actively participating in God's work by implementing our God-given gifts to further the gospel of Christ.  But by using the verse quoted above we can define what a life committed to serving God looks like.

It begins with fear, a holy reverence for God.  That fear is what stirs up inside of you as you think of the magnitude of your God.  This reverent awe understands that God is Supreme and we are nothing without Him.  So, logically we can say that before we serve the Almighty we have to utterly respect all that He is, and says, and does.

Once we find that we respect Him in those terms, we begin to have a "heart" to be obedient to Him.  It is in fearing God that we become truly sincere in our relationship with Him, and that sincerity flows out of a heart of humility that knows He is the Potter and we are merely clay being molded by His might hands.  This molding causes us to realize just how ugly our heart is.  His molding and reforming reveals the things the He desires to change in us.  In this process the ugly truth comes out and is replaced with His truth.  

It is the next line of the verse that tells the real story of our ugly, dirty, sin-stained hearts.  "Put away the gods. . ."  Do you realize that every sin you commit comes forth out of your heart, from a place inside that is worshiping and serving some other god, even if that god is you?  When you watch something on the television or computer that you know God hates, your god in that moment might be Lust.  If you must have the trendiest clothes for yourself or your children, your god is Materialism or Prestige.  When you are addicted to texting or you simply must take every call that comes in on your cell phone (even when you are on a call that you have made to someone else), your god might be Self-Importance.  When you get up in the morning and spend no time with God throughout the whole day, your god is Self.  What are your gods?  You cannot serve gods and God at the same time.  

Joshua's message is screaming at us today in 2011!  We wonder why we are not impacting the world.  We wonder why we are not spiritual growing.  We wonder why we feel so dissatisfied with our lives.  The answer is clear.  We are god-loving Christians who leave God behind for every other god that we serve.  If we want to truly and sincerely love the God we say we fear, then we must put away our gods!  

This will always be left up to our choice.  God will not do a "microwave zap" to heat up our cold hearts.  It is OUR choice.  Joshua declared without disclaimer (it mattered not who else would follow his lead), "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"  He could not truly say this unless in his own heart he had removed any god that would keep him from serving in sincerity and truth.   "Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve!"  Will it be the gods of your past, your current gods, or the Lord God Almighty?

 

Comfort Vs. Surrender

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Many battles had been won; it was time for Israel to take full possession of their homeland. It was parceled off to each of the 12 tribes. God had done what He said He would do--He brought them to a secure land and equipped them to take it. He was utterly faithful, but Israel was not. They did not take it all, leaving God's land polluted. What is polluting your heart? Does He have full possession of it?

The consequences of not taking all of the land would be disastrous for Israel.  Because they chose to "relax" once they received their land, instead of driving out the Canaanites, they would fall prey to the spirit of the land.  They did not conquer it all, so their victory would be short lived.  Though God had given them everything they needed to reach this summit, they sat down in the easy chair and were quite content to dwell with the pagan people in the land.  They shared with the Canaanites what had been promised to them alone.

Don't we do the same thing?  We have been given entrance into the Kingdom of God, and the moment we come through the Door, we sit down in our comfortable salvation.  We enter into comfortable and enjoyable ministry, and we take on an attitude that is comfortable saying, "I am so grateful that I have Jesus in my heart."  

In the life of every believer there will be a moment of true heart reckoning.  Our attitude and mindset must come to the place where we ask, "Is the Holy Spirit 'comfortable' dwelling in my sinful heart?"  If you are like me, you have become comfortable hiding your sin within the walls of your heart, the very walls that contain the Holy Spirit.  This is the battle between our flesh and the Spirit.  We walk more often in our flesh, completely ignoring the Spirit's counsel.  Just like Israel was given the tools to overcome every sinful group of people in their land, we too have been given "everything we need for life and godliness."  We can dispossess the sin in us by daily putting our flesh to death.  How?  By that "everything" we have been given!  Our "everything" is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  They are enough to overcome every sin in our life.  But in order for them to be operative in us, there is one thing that God will require of us.  He requires our surrender to Him.  Without our surrender we will continue to walk in our flesh, not overcoming and dispossessing sin from our lives.  We truly are like the Israelites when we walk in this manner.

God's ways are not our ways.  In order for us to gain victory in our spiritual lives, cleaning out what God does not want in our hearts and lives, we must surrender.  Are you ready to surrender to Him ALL of your heart?  Leaving sin inside your heart reveals complacency with your sin.  Make today a day of booting out something that God says must go!

 

Garbage Removal

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Several huge battles had been won. Israel was conquering their new homeland. But the time had come for the land to be divided between the 12 tribes. Each parcel of land still had small cities and towns that would have to be destroyed. The individual tribes would be on their own now to fully possess their property. Have all of your gods been destroyed? Does our God fully own your heart? What are you holding back?

Every working day all over the United States, streets are lined with garbage cans filled with our trash.  Junk yards are filled with cars that have been disposed of.  Sinks are built with garbage disposals.  They all serve one purpose:  to rid our lives of the stench and clutter that garbage brings to our lives.  Leaving this trash just laying around our homes is unthinkable.  We seem to have no problem with the routine of removing junk in our lives, and if we miss putting our trash cans out to the street on the right day, we might be caught accomplishing the task in our pajamas the very moment we hear the garbage truck in our neighborhood! I know, because it has happened to me.  Trash is not something we want to live in or with.  We want it removed; it makes life much more pleasant.

Let's relate that now to the story of the Israelites who were entering in to conquer the long-Promised Land.  Many kings in Canaan had been killed and the cities and peoples destroyed as God had commanded them.  But there was still a lot of work to do.  God had a plan for that as well.  As the Promised Land was "sub-divided" each tribe was charged to go into their piece of the land and remove every person.  (These people were worshipers of false gods, and would have had a negative effect on Israel's purity and separation unto their God.)  When they removed the people, they were removing the false gods, idols, and pagan practices which God abhors.  Some of the tribes were obedient to remove all that offended God; but others were lazy.  They did not remove the people and the gods, and there would be a great price to pay, down the road a bit, for their disobedience to God's command.  

You can leave this information in your mind now, thinking on it as a great history lesson.  That is what most would be prone to do.  However, there is great truth to be gleaned from the lives of God's chosen.  We must always introspect after we have learned a principle from the Word.  So, here are just a few questions to ask yourself.  I will be asking myself as well.

What gods (idols, sins, attitudes) have you already destroyed in your life?

What gods still remain, alive and well, operating in you as "your flesh"?

What prevents you from destroying them?

With the stench of sin and the clutter of your "garbage" in your life, what kind of an example of Christ to the lost world are you?

What do you think God thinks of your "junk"?

Are you willing to continue in your disobedience, allowing your "trash" to accumulate in your life?

Looking down the road, what are a few logical consequences if you continue walking in your flesh?

What is your spiritual application today as you consider your "garbage"?

How much more uncluttered would your life be if you surrendered your "trash" to God, and removed it from your life?

Stuck in the Mud

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 Israel was preparing to enter into the Promised Land. Only the rain-swelled Jordan separated them from it. Under the wise direction of Joshua, the priests and the ark of the covenant entered the river first. A thousand yards behind the ark the 2 million plus group crossed over on dry land with their eyes firmly fixed on the Presence of God, the ark. If you are in a raging river, who are your eyes fixed on, yourself and your circumstances, or the Almighty God?

God has a "promised land" for you and me.  It is called the abundant life of Spirit.  It is a life in which we are to walk in the power of the Spirit and leave our crucified flesh on the altar of surrender.  The Israelites are such a great example for us today.  The spring rainy season was occurring, and the Jordan River constantly was out of its banks.  Yet, this is the very moment that God chose to bring His people into their new land--2 million people and all of their animals and belongings!  But Joshua, their new leader, trusted God and called the priests to bring the ark and set out across the river.  The very moment they exercised their faith, the dangerous river pulled back into on big heap upstream.  When the priests feet hit the riverbed, it was completely dry, as well!  One by one, the entire company crossed over on dry ground. 

So why do we struggle so with our faith in God to take us through our journey to that "impossible" heart transformation that He desires in us?  Why is it that we refuse to see that God is waiting for us to put our full focus and trust in Him so that He can do that "impossible" work in our hearts?  He is capable of helping us cross the great divide between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit.  He has the path laid out for us and He wants His Son to lead us to that abundant life by His Spirit within us.  Yet, we continually attempt to "cross the river" in our own strength and power.  Consistently, we keep drowning in our self-efforts to accomplish what we were never fashioned to do.

The Israelites were not to just sit on the banks of the Jordan, though, as if waiting for God to pick them up and move them.  On the contrary, when it was time to walk across, they were expected to walk!  But they could never have pushed the water back into a heap, and they likely would have drowned had they attempted to swim across.  God did the impossible so that it would make the "walking" easier.  The same is true in our journey to holiness.  God awaits your surrender to His will and His way.  He awaits that trusting gaze upon Him with a heart that says, "I believe YOU can do this in me; and I know that I cannot; so please GO AHEAD!"  When you get to that kind of surrender, watch out!  You might just see the "water" rolled back and the way become very clear--AND NO MUD dried up so that you do not get stuck along the way! 

Take Courage!

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"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." These words of Moses were for his nation as they entered the Promised Land. Are you fearful today of what lies in front of you? What is making you tremble? God is with you, friend! Cling to Him as you walk in His strength that is found deep inside of you!

Israel had another journey ahead of them.  Their very near future included crossing the Jordan River.  It was separating them from the Promised Land.  But to cross it would be difficult, since it would be overflowing its banks due to the spring rains.  Once they crossed over, there would be many obstacles to overcome, not the least of which were all of the towns and cities they were commanded to dispossess.  Indeed, the road ahead of them was likely overwhelming.  God knew just what they needed.  A shot of courage!  Enter Moses, who speaks those encouraging words to them.

We have to learn the same things that Israel surely learned.  It is not enough for someone to say, "Be courageous."  It is not enough for us to pray for courage.  Courage doesn't just come to us like "magic fairy dust."  Instead, strength and courage, like love, and patience, and joy, are elements of the Christian life that can be prayed for over and over again, with no result.  Why?  Because we already have the very thing we are praying for!  God, who dwells within every believer in the form of the Holy Spirit, is our "promise."  The Holy Spirit is fully God.  The very power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in our hearts.  When we pray for courage, He must surely be saying, "Here I am!  Surrender to Me, and I will take over!"

God doesn't necessarily want to make us bold and fearless.  He wants us to, in our weakness, surrender to Him so that He can be our strength.  Do you see the difference.  So often we are trying to attain to the place we think we ought to be.  We try and try and try again, yet never really achieving the goal.  We do not succeed because self-works were never intended to be the way of walking in strength and victory with an overcomer's mentality.  We become strong overcomer's of the difficulties in front of us by surrendering to the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.  He overcomes only as we allow Him to walk out boldness and courage through us.  

It doesn't matter what your difficult circumstances are today.  Whatever they may be, you can get through it because God will never leave you nor forsake you.  You can get through, as well, by laying down your right to walk yourself through on your own!  Surrender is the key to a victorious life.  So once again let me ask these two questions:  Are you fearful today of what lies in front of you? What is making you tremble? God is with you, friend!  Inside of you!  Surrender to Him and cling to Him as you allow Him to walk in His strength!  Let your heart take courage!

Take Careful Aim

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Before Israel could enter their new land, Moses was commanded to set before them the choice for either blessing or curses, and it all hinged on their obedience to the Lord. God seeks our surrender today to Him so that we might fully obey all that He has declared to us in His Word. We, like Israel, have seen God's great favor upon our lives. Could there be a more proper response than our obedience?

Those who were now preparing to enter their new homeland, had been small children when they left Egypt, or maybe not even born yet.  But those small children had witnessed the mighty arm of God, working in their midst.  They had seen His miracles, favor, and provision.  They had also seen the death that had come to the chronically disobedient.  They had watched as their fathers failed to keep their covenant promises to their covenant-keeping God.  Now it was their generation's turn to make the same promises to obey their God.  How would they fare?  The choice was up to them, and the results of their lives, whether it be God's blessings or curses, be based on the depth of their obedience to Him.


Today, though believers are under grace (God's favor), that same grace does not mean that when we sin and disobey God's word that we are off the hook. God is our loving Father, and out of His love He will always discipline a wayward child.  Consequences are inevitable.  That is why it is critical for us to aim carefully at the right target!  That target is every word of the Word.  

What are you aiming at?  Do you start your day thinking about all the ways that you can be obedient to God, or all the ways you can "fudge" what He is really asking you to do?  Do you begin your days in a posture of surrender?  (Okay, now I really jabbed myself!)  God's is not winking at our disobedience.  It is not His will that we would claim our human nature as our justification to keep on doing what is displeasing to Him.  If the target is walking in the favor and blessing of Almighty God, are your arrows straight and true?  Is your aim?  God is looking to see where those arrows lie....on the ground, all around the target, or in the bull's eye.

 

Led Out of Egypt

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 For 400 years Israel was kept in Egypt by their God who loved them and who was growing them while keeping them pure from the influence of other nations. They were overworked and mistreated by their captors. But when Moses was recounting those days, he referred to them as the days of "sojourning." Where are you being held captive today? Keep in mind that you are only "sojourning."

Life in Christ will not always be a "piece of cake."  As a matter of fact, God chooses to use the times of our distress and afflictions to mold into the image of Christ.  It is in the darkest days that we are more prone to be on our knees with our eyes on the Lord.  During our sufferings we are stripped of everything comfortable and we learn that "comfortable" just doesn't work if we want to grow, though our flesh longs to slap the "easy" button.

Israel was taken to Egypt to be protected when a great famine came upon the land.  Joseph was there to make sure that they were fed well.  But after many years Joseph died, as did the Pharoah who had shown Israel favor.  Eventually, as Israel became larger and mightier in number, they became a threat to the Egyptians.  To put a salve on their jealous hearts, Egypt made Israel their slaves.  And they were not kind masters.

For 400 years Israel struggled and was kept in bondage.  For 400 years they labored for evil masters.  For 400 years they cried out to the Lord to set them free.  God was not deaf to their cries.  He saw their pain and torment and the affliction of their hearts.  And He had a plan for their deliverance.  But that plan would take 400 years to bring about!

When Moses refers to this period of Israel's history, he refers to those 400 years as "sojournering."  Do you know what that means?  Sojourn means a temporary stay, as in a "vacation," a "rest," a "visit," a "stop-off"!  Truly, does Moses think the time in Egypt was just a "stopping-off" point in history?  Surely he didn't!  But what he did think was that in retrospect, it was just a moment in the whole history of the Israelites.  

What is your "Egypt" right now?  Has it already lasted forever in your mind?  God wants you to know a simple truth.  Even if your "Egypt" lasted your whole earthly life, it would still be a blip on the radar when you consider eternity.  Our "light and momentary afflictions" have one purpose, always.  They are to take us deeper into the most amazing relationship known on earth, our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  We will fellowship with Him in His sufferings by going through our own.  But when we look back on them, they will be more like a "temporary stay" than a "permanent dwelling."  You sufferings today are merely a part of your whole life.  

Fix your eyes on the Author and Perfecter of your heart.  He will lead you out!

Personal Freedom vs. Spiritual Surrender

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Every 7 years Israel was to set their slaves free, but if that slave loved his master he could choose to stay with him forever. To show his loyalty he would allow his master to pierce his ear as a sign of his commitment. Jesus committed Himself to the Father this way before coming to earth (Ps. 40:6--"My ears You have opened.") It is our choice. Have your ears been forever "opened?" Do you love Him that much?

Becoming a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a simple, verbal commitment made to feel good or guarantee your place in Heaven.  It is a personal choice; one that only you can make.  Jesus can't make it for you; neither can your family members or friends. Becoming a bond-servant of Christ will require your total surrender.  It will affect everything that you think, say and do.  It will make your relationship with Christ permanent and eternal, but it will require that you give your life up for His to be lived through you.

In the days of the Israelite, a slave could declare his love and loyalty to his master by refusing to be set free from his servitude.  His master would then "take an awl and pierce it through the ear into the door." (Deut. 15:17)  The slave's choice resulted in a marking that would prove to the world that he truly would forever be  a member of his master's family.  And in making such a choice, he willingly gave up his right to personal freedom.  His master's rules would be his rules.  He would not be "his own man," but would forever belong only to his master.  His "mark" revealed his loyalty.

In our world today we have been content to let the "marks" of our loyalty be our attendance in church every Sunday, our ministries, our tithes and offerings, our fellowship with the saints.  The world knows that we are Christians because we talk about and do these things.  But is this the "mark" that Christ desires or requires of us?  While all of these are good things, their mark becomes much more insignificant if the real, true mark is not there.  What is that mark?  It is surrender of our lives into the hands of Christ.  This mark in us reveals we do not live for our  personal freedom, but that we now live in complete spiritual surrender to Christ!  My personal freedom is willingly given up so that I can permanently serve my Savior.  When the world sees that kind of freedom in us, it takes note of it, and might even be attracted to it.

Paul's marks were the scars of a life surrendered to the will of God, scars from whippings and beatings.  Christ submitted Himself to the Father by having His ears "opened" before He came to earth.  And then He committed Himself to us by allowing 3 spikes and a sword to pierce His hands and feet and side.  Have you willingly and loyally laid you ear against the doorpost, allowing God to put His mark on you?  God is looking for your surrender to Him.

 

Altars of False Worship

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Moses speaks to Israel just before they enter the Promised Land. He commands them to "utterly destroy" all the places where the Canaanites had worshiped. We also are to tear down every worldly god that we worship right along side of God. What pagan worship places can be found in your heart? Stuff, money, prestige, your calendar, anger, food, TV, computer? God is calling you to crush them and follow Him alone!

Israel's job was to "tear down altars...smash sacred pillars...burn the Asherim poles with fire...cut down the engraved images of their gods...and obliterate their name from that place"  (Deuteronomy 12: 3)  Then they were commanded to "not act like this toward the LORD you God."  It all seems so Old Testament-ish, doesn't it?  Sometimes it is hard to relate to the world that they were living in.   We don't have "engraved images" that we set around our house and bow down to.  We don't have altars out in the wood that we go to to worship the god of weather.  So how does this apply to us?

You don't have to look much further than your heart.  If you are really honest with yourself, you know that there is much hidden there that you might prefer the rest of the world not see.  But if, again, you are really honest with yourself, you are aware that the rest of us can clearly see at least some of the things that you worship.  

But can we worship something else along side of our worship of God?  Of course, we can!  You go to church every week, pay your tithe, sing praises to God, listen to solid teaching, and minister in those areas that you feel called to.  But at the same time, you have to have the latest fashions (and so do your children).  You  do whatever it takes to make more and more money (to pay for more and more stuff).  Your calendar may be so booked with your social events (or all of your children's activities) that you make no personal time for the God you say you worship.  And we all know how glued we are to our phones, our facebook, our computers and our television sets.

Does God like it that we have other gods besides Him?  Of course He doesn't!  Does He just wink at our other gods? NO!  What He wants from us is the same thing hat He wanted from Israel.  He wants us to go into our hearts, see what is there, and destroy and abolish every single thing that draws us away from our singular worship of Him!

What are the gods that live around you and in you, in the very midst of God? When God said, "You shall have no other god before Me" He meant that we are not to have any other gods and they are not to be flaunted in His face!  He is not interested in being "added" to our lives.  He want to be our life!

Tear down....smash....burn....cut down....obliterate.  These are strong words for the very thing God is calling you to do to your gods.  Will you?

No Other "gods"

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When Israel demanded a golden calf when they thought Moses would not return, he came down the mountain and burned and crushed their man-made idol. He put the dust of it in their water and made them drink it. When we create "gods" in our lives, THE God will not only crush it to pieces, but we often have to drink of its bitter consequences. "You shall have NO other gods before Me. I am your all in all!"

I was surprised to learn as I studied this review of the 10 Commandments that "before Me" literally means "in God's sight" or "to His face."  It does not mean that you as long as you have God in 1st place in your life you can have your little gods, too.  

When we create a god in our lives, whether it is a particular sin that we default to or a pervasive sinful attitude, we have actually put our god right in God's face!  This is not permissible.  We cannot claim that God is our 1st love while having other "loves" on the side!  If God is truly our first love and priority, the One we default to, then there is no room for other gods.  With God as our only God, and if we truly love Him, then we are living our lives "to keep the commandments of God".  If gods are present in your heart, you cannot fully follow Him.

What is inside your heart?  What is it that you constantly try to keep hidden from others? What is it that you have written off to "your personality" or "inherited behaviors?"  God wants your heart to be circumcised, with the flesh cut away from it, leaving only the Spirit who dwells there within you.  What does this then require of you?  Check out Deuteronomy 10: 12, 13, and 16.  God clearly states what He expects of us:

Fear Him (reverence and honor Him as the only God.)

Walk in His ways (as Christ walked, where He tells you to walk)


Love Him by intentionally setting your affections on Him

Serve Him with every bit of your heart and soul (no room for other gods)

Keep (DO!) God's commandments, all that His word tells us.




This is how you circumcise your heart; this is how you stop "stiffening your neck".  God wants your whole heart, all of you, not just the parts you choose to give Him.

 

 

Little By Little

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Israel would soon enter the Promised Land to conquer the people there. But God would not simply and swiftly destroy them. Instead, He told His chosen that it would happen "little by little," knowing that removing all of their enemies would leave them vulnerable. God wants permission to come into our hearts and destroy every one of His enemies, but it will be a process, little by little, until all are destroyed.

One of the hardest things for me in my spiritual journey is that the weeding out of the sinful overgrowth in my heart is taking a long time.  I want the flower bed to be free of weeds right now!  I have figured out that I cannot do the transforming; only the Spirit of God in me can.  But that means I have little say in when my transformation regarding a particular sin will be complete.  As a matter of fact, my only part in that is to surrender to His control, and obey when I hear His voice directing my pathway.

God, in His infinite wisdom, also knows that if I am to grow spiritually, that removing everything now would rob me of the ability to put down deep roots as I grow that will help me withstand the next temptation to fall to that sin.  Quick removal of all my sin would leave me quite vulnerable to the temptation.  When Moses was speaking to Israel about the "little by little" removal of the Canaanites from the land, he warned them that quick destruction of the people in the entire land would cause them to fall prey to the "wild beasts that will grow too numerous" for them.  The same principle is true for us!

God is utterly faithful, though.  By His Spirit His purpose and plan is to drive out every evil thing in us, until they are "utterly destroyed."  Little by little, He will do this as He watches us grow in our trust and faith in Him, and in our patience as well!