Superstitious Faith

“Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.” (Jud 17:13 AV)

Ignoring the larger issue of disobedience and reducing the blessings of God to a simple object is treating God as one would a superstition.  Micah was guilty of idol worship.  He had stolen money from his mother to create a graven image.  When his mother caught him, he returned the money.  She, in turn, did that which he desired and hired out to a metal worker who created a graven image for Micah.  He then hired a man of Dan to be his priest.  Sensing a lack of blessings from the LORD, a Levite happened along and Micah hired him to be his personal priest.  Micah erroneously believed that merely because he had a Levite as his personal priest, God would bless him in spite of the idol which he worshiped.  Not only was Micah misguided, but the priest was also deceived.  A priest was not be a personal employee of an individual.  He was to be a priest to the community to which the LORD would send.  The failure here was that God’s people saw the ceremonial law as merely trinkets and potions.  An incantation to summon the blessings of God apart and separate from complete obedience to the all of the law of God.

The tribe of Dan isn’t the only one with this bad habit.  I remember a day when the thought that service to the LORD cancelled out obvious disobedience.  There was a thought that as long as one was a faithful soul-winner and had the right outward appearance, it really didn’t matter how holy one was on the inside.  This led to gross sin in the camp of God’s people.  Then there was the thought that holiness is a mere conformity to an outward standard.  Like the Pharisees, they tithed down to the smallest grain of spice, but ignored the weightier matters of the law like forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.  An old pastor of mine helped me to see this principle and used a different word for it.  Compartmentalism.  When we compartmentalize our lives and believe that conforming to one area means we are ok in all areas, we fail to see the consequences of the failures we are ignoring.  We do so to avoid having to deal with the areas of life which we would rather not.

Micah believed God would bless him because the appearance was obedience in one area while gross negligence reigned in another.  Just because we have the right Bible doesn’t mean God will bless in spite of other faults.  Just because we have the right music does not mean that God ignores the time we spend on our phones.  Just because we dress godly does not mean God does not consider our lack of concern for the lost.  In short, God’s blessings are a total sum game.  Complete, and not partial obedience is the condition of God’s blessings.

Our Best Half

“But his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.” (Jud 13:23 AV)

Manoah had this fear that God was going to kill both he and his wife.  The fact one sees God at any time results is death was an established belief by the time Manoah and his wife had the visitation from the angel of the LORD.  Knowing the Bible as he did and seeing the miracle of this visitation, Manoah concluded the end draweth nigh.  But it was the level-headed faith of his wife that brought Manoah back from the edge of neurosis.  His fear, if not for the fact the visitation was for events of the future, might have been well founded.  It took the common-sense faith of his wife to see things as they were and point out the obvious so that Manoah could have the same faith she had.  God knew what He was doing by visiting Manoah’s wife first.  Praise the LORD for our wives!

Is it sufficient to say, “been there, done that?” Thank God for the wife of whom He has blessed me with.  There were a few times, like Manoah, my thinking got the better of me.  Thinking I had solid scriptural reasons to think as I was thinking, in her awesome wisdom, she pointed out things of which my complicated system of theology missed.  Leave it to our wives to bring us back to earth.  And then, what becomes embarrassing, is that we missed the obvious to begin with.  In my years of marriage and as a pastor, I am always moved with how strong our wives can be, and need to be, at times of our weakness.  It is often spoken of in jest that this fact is why men could never be the vessel for birth of a child.  It takes a stronger person than we!

Peter correctly puts marriage in proper perspective and with a beautiful truth when he states, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” (1Pe 3:7 AV)  Trying to expound on the above phrase is impossible, for it cannot be stated any better.  We are heirs together.  Not just joint-heirs of life.  But joint-heirs of the grace of life.  To think for a moment that we could survive without our wives is a gross lack of truth.  We cannot.  We need them.  Just as much, if not more, than they need us.

You're On Your Own, Kid.

“Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.” (Jud 10:13 AV)

Some of the saddest verses in this book.  Although God changes His mind two verses later because they put away their strange gods, the reality of God’s limited mercy is something to ponder.  God, in quantity, had limitless mercy.  However, having unlimited mercy does not necessitate God exercise that mercy.  He can and does choose to withhold that mercy.  Particularly if He has repeatedly exercised that mercy to no avail.  The Book of Judges is all about the nation of Israel repeatedly falling away from the LORD unto the gods of their neighbors.  Once they do, they become tributary or enslaved by them.  They then cry unto the LORD who sends a judge to rescue them from their captors and rule them back into fellowship with God.  This cycle continues through the whole book.  This statement is half-way through.  If the people of God refuse to repent, then God is not apt to show mercy in helping them out.

There comes a time when the LORD’s help actually becomes counter productive and actually enables the bad behavior which He is trying to break.  By constantly bailing out His children, they are learning no matter how bad they may be, Dad will always come for us.  This mindset only leads to worse decisions.  Over my thirty plus years of ministry, I have seen this quite often.  Parents who constantly bail out their children without requiring of them responsible choices enable the bad behavior which they also disdain.  Why?  When I was a child, my father forced us to accept and live with the consequences of our decisions.  He didn’t completely remove himself.  He offered advice and encouragement to overcome those consequences.  But he rarely removed those consequences to make our lives easier.  If we got ourselves into a fix, then we were going to get ourselves out.  If we hung with the wrong crowd, he would punish.  If we chose to break the law, he didn’t stop the police from exercising the full extent of the law.  This happened several times in our family.  My father had to come get us from the police station, or the loss prevention office of a department store, or the principles office.  But he did so after we had suffered for our choices.

We tread on very thin ice sometimes.  We presume upon God’s grace when God is not obligated to exercise that grace.  If we do as we please, expecting God to fix the messes we make, one day we will discover that God will not fix what we broke.  One of these days, we will realize just how gracious God has been and know deep in our heart that if we want God’s blessings and protection, we had better stop treating him as a two-year-old treats his mother – taking Him for granted.

Bad News is Good News

“And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” (Jud 6:13 AV)

This is typical Gideon.  He has to see the end from the beginning before he will exercise faith.  If God was blessing and the Midianites were not your captors, Gideon, there would be no need for your calling right now.  The fact of the circumstances above dictate God calls a judge as a deliverer.  The conditions of which you see, Gideon, are the indications you are called and needed.  Not the opposite of which you are suggesting.

The LORD has granted me two privileges of ministry over the years.  The first is to influence young men for the ministry.  He has granted me the awesome opportunity to encourage them and guide them in the more spiritual aspects of preparation for the ministry.  Not so much the academic.  More so the practical and spiritual.  For this I am truly humbled and grateful.  The other blessing is the opportunity to take challenging churches and try to influence them to a more stable or sound foundation for which another man of God can build thereupon.  The LORD has asked me to take churches that most men of God would pass over.  Which is a shame.  Most of these churches are gems.  They are a diamond in the rough.  Recently I had a conversation with a young man preparing for the ministry.  Among other observations of thirty years of ministry which I shared, we talked of candidating at churches.  I mentioned that there is no perfect church.  And, sometimes God may send you to a work who’s short-comings may dissuade others, but God has called you there because they need you to be the pastor that assists the Spirit in growing them out of those short-comings. 

Gideon’s question was actually an answer.  He may have seen it as a problem without a solution.  But, he was the solution.  The circumstances around him were not cause to reject the call.  They were verification of the call.  He saw a lack of God’s blessing and a merciless captor.  These were not a reason to quit before one starts.  They were the reason to start!  So, if all we see in from of us are obstacles, then perhaps that is not a reason to circumvent those challenges, but rather, to take them head on.  This is the reason why we are here.  Not the reason to retreat.

The Adversarial Nature of God

“Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.” (Jud 2:15 AV)

This is a horrible place to be.  When Israel failed to follow the LORD and went after Baalim, then God was against them.  Not merely removing Himself from their nation, but actually working against them in the pursuits of life.  The LORD frustrated their cause.  He allowed the enemies that remained in the land to become their captors.  No matter what they tried, it didn’t work.  There were no blessings.  There was no success.  The LORD worked contrary to the goals and wishes of His children.  This is a horrible place to be.  One that we are all experienced.

Have you ever seen a child who is frustrated because he cannot have what he wants?  Having raised three sons, these times were numerous.  Instead of removing what he wanted but was not allowed to have, he was forced to confront his own selfishness or stubbornness.  Perhaps an object that was not for little fingers.  Mom or dad picks the child up and sits him in front of a toy which he is allowed.  He is frustrated, turns about, and crawls to the object not allowed.  The parent picks him up, places him back down in front of the toy allowed, and the contest resumes.  The more the child fights the more frustrated and angrier he becomes.  It takes a bit of time, but eventually he realizes his parent is much bigger than he and controls his movements.  The next step in this resolution is the child figures he cannot win by turning and crawling, so he sits in front of the toy allowed and does nothing.  He refuses to play with it.  It is at this point the parent either wins or loses.  That child will sit there and then reason that if he cannot play with an object not allowed, he will simply pick another toy that he is allowed and play with it instead of the toy in front of which he is placed.  He turns toward it and crawls.  The parent has a decision.  The contest of the wills is on.  Repeatedly placing him back in front of the toy allowed may seem like a cruel thing, but what that parent is teaching that child is that acting contrary to the will of the parent is frustrating and, in the end, robs him of blessings.  Once surrendered to the toy allowed and thus the will of the parent, the relationship between parent and child changes.  They are not longer adversaries.  They are friends.

If we work contrary to the will of the Father, He will work contrary to us.  He will not bless our efforts no matter how sincere they may be.  He will become and adversary.  One that cannot be defeated.  One that seeks to curse all our ingenuity and pursuits until we submit to His perfect will.  This is a horrible place to be.  One of which we need to seek remedy by repentance and conformity.

Saved and Sanctified to Serve

“And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.” (Jos 24:18 AV)

We often think of our lives as a sporting event.  This is how we are acclimated.  We compartmentalize the struggle with the enemies of God as a separate and apart aspect of our lives that have little or nothing to do with other aspects of our walk with the LORD.  If we win the contest at the end of a day, then we relax and relish in the win.  We see each contest as a separate contest.  Each enemy as an individual enemy and the only point to defeating the enemy is to add another mark to the win column.  This is not how Joshua saw it.  He did not see the nation of Israel entering Canaan for the sole purpose of defeating the enemies of God so they might gain lands, houses, and goods.  There was a greater purpose here.  It wasn’t to enjoy the benefits of a win.  It goes much deeper than that.

Although we should apply this principle to our individual case, which I intend to do, one cannot miss the obvious application to our own nation.  Making America great again means nothing unless it results in a nation that fears God and seeks to serve Him.  As long as we protect baby murder and same-gender marriage, God cannot bless us no matter how many other unbiblical practices are ceased.  As long as we worship wealth and prosperity more than we do the God who created it all, we will end up like all other nations.  For the saint, there is also an obvious application.  God saved us from our sin.  He did not do so that we might have a vacation from it.  In fact, if that is how we treat our growth, then growth becomes counter-productive.  As an enemy of God is defeated, there is another willing to take its place.  If substance abuse is defeated, then lust can take its place.  Sin is replaced by service.  This is the principle Joshua was attempting to get across to he brethren.

The next book is perhaps one of the saddest of all books.  When I get to it, I have the feeling of remorse knowing I have to read of the failures of Israel.  What did they forget?  They forgot the above principle.  God brought them out of Egypt and defeated the enemies of Canaan so that the Jewish nation could serve Him.  They didn’t.  What resulted was repeated enslavement to the remaining enemies of God.  Instead of busying themselves in service to the LORD, they did every man according to what was right in their own eyes.

Vision Must Include Plans

“And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?” (Jos 18:3 AV)

Lack of plan and lack of vision are related.  Joshua is rebuking Judah and its neighboring tribes for not being industrious to take the land that was given to them.  It wasn’t because of fear of an enemy.  Manasseh was guilty of this.  The rest were not.  What they lacked is found in the following verses of this chapter.  They saw the entire land well enough.  They knew that entire land needed to be taken.  What they lacked was a survey of how they would divide the land and the assigned lot fallen to each tribe.  Joshua choses three men from each tribe who has interest in the unclaimed land to journey through the land to survey it.  Joshua would them draw lots guided by God’s hand to assign each tribe their inheritance.  What they lacked was not opportunity.  What they lacked was not a general view as to the task at hand.  What they lacked was a game plan and specific goals that would reach the overall goal of taking it the land.

This may sound like common sense, but it bears our mediation.  I grew up living in an old house that is went through renovation.  This house was over one hundred years old and had never gone through an extensive renovation.  When my parents bought the house, it had to seem overwhelming. The house looked uninhabitable.  It looked like it needed to be torn down and hauled to the dump.  However, there was a plan put into place.  The first was to solidify the bones of the house.  Then there was a plan for the downstairs and the upstairs.  Attention was given one room at a time.  Repairs were made on a most important to least important basis.  Little by little, there was a game plan put into place one room at a time.  A little paint here, a little patch there, a bit of rearranging and the larger vision of a repaired and updated house slowly came into view.  The challenge was not the overall view of what the house needed to be.  The challenge was to see the individual changes needed and a plan to get it done.

As a leader of God’s people, a vision alone is not enough.  We are slack if we do not survey the land and prioritize what needs to be done.  Many visions die on the altar of lack of planning.  These surveyors could not advise the best plan on conquering the land until they first drew up borders.  They could not advise the men of war on how to best overcome the enemy until the first surveyed the enemy, its strengths and weaknesses, and any kind of advantage the landscape might provide.  If our ministry is failing, it may not be for lack of a general vision.  Rather, it may be failing because we are slack to come up with a specific plan to accomplish that which the LORD has called us to.

Only When the King Arrives

“As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.” (Jos 15:63 AV)

The heart of the kingdom will never be clean until the king resides there!  This city, also called the city of David, would be the heart of the kingdom of Israel.  It still is.  When Israel entered the land, the tribe of Judah was unable to take this city.  It would remain occupied by the Jebusites for roughly four hundred years.  Joshua entered and conquered the land roughly around 1400 B.C.  David would not come to power until around 1050 B.C.  The heart of Israel would be occupied by the enemies of God until a king shows up.  No judge, prophet, or military man could free the heart of Israel.  Only a king can free the heart of Israel.  One a King can free the heart of the saint!

Part of counseling is to give the individual step-by-step practical goals that will help them achieve that for which they strive.  Perhaps it is sin that is so easily besetting him or her.  Or, perhaps it is fear as they are confronted with a step of faith which seems more than they can handle.  We show them the proper principles of life that will result in that which they desire.  However, if implemented, the victory may only be temporary.  That is, because we have failed to go to the heart of the matter.  We struggle because our heart is occupied.  It is occupied by the enemies that war against that which God desires for us.  They occupy and defeat the saint.  They do so because the King is not there.  We can do noting in our own strength.  We cannot contain the evil that is in the heart.  The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.  The wickedness that resides in the heart is deep and well rooted.  It must take a King to overthrow it!

All problems can truly be boiled down to our relationship with God.  If the LORD Jesus Christ is not King of our hearts, then that which resides there is.  Whether it is envy, lust, anger, pride, etc., they reside there until the King of Kings sits there.  We preach salvation in Christ.  As we should.  But we do not continue the process of growth that results in Jesus Christ being the center of our lives.  Not what we do for Him or what we know about Him.  Rather, our day to day walk with the Savior in prayer and bible meditation is not the center of our lives.  We fill our time with activities.  Some of them even beneficial to our knowledge of the holy.  But if we do not surrender our hearts and ask the King of Kings to reign there, then our walk is superficial at best.  It will fail.  The only event that can completely grant us victory is if the King comes to be the center and ruler of our hearts.

All At Once

“Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.” (Jos 10:5 AV)

Just because a bunch of enemies show up all at the same times does not mean it is a bad thing.  In our passage, five kings decided to gang up on Joshua and Israel.  They had heard that Gibeon had surrendered to Joshua.  This concerned them because Gibeon was a royal city.  If Israel could intimidate Gibeon, they Israel could intimidate all.  Their thinking was to chasten Gibeon so that no other city would think to do the same.  They made a league between the five of them and came up against Gibeon and Israel.  From Joshua’s point of view, this may have seemed a bit overwhelming.  In my humble opinion, I would have thought it would have been easier to battle five smaller cities one at a time rather than five all at once.  However, the LORD does know what He is doing and often heaps trials one upon another that we might learn a greater principle and rest in between trials.

I was in the restaurant business for about seven years.  An assistant manager at one of the busiest of all pizzerias in my home state, when it got busy, it got really busy.  There was always this debate of whether it was better to have multiple rushes with down time in between or a steady flow of orders.  The problem with a steady flow is that one was just busy enough there was no time to catch up on some of the other smaller details of filling orders.  Prep work became something you had to fit in when one could, but could never really get ahead.  Chopping vegetables, prepping puree, or grating cheese was something we were better off making a project of rather than a little bit here and there.  It was better to have rushes with down time in between.  It was better to have the dinner rush from 4-7.  Then we had about two hours to do prep work and get ready for the next rush.  Better to face the giants all at once than one at a time.  At least in some circumstances.

We have those times.  Times when it seems that trouble is just cascading.  We wish for the problems to cease.  They will.  But perhaps the LORD is asking us to face many giants all at once so that God can be strong on our behalf.  Perhaps the LORD is asking us to face many fronts all at once so that each on individually doesn’t sap away our strength, robbing us of the ability to have a vision and goals.  Perhaps a broken water main is better than a constant drip that never can be fixed.  Get it over with once and for all and claim the ground of victory that comes with it.  It wasn’t the enemies Joshua conquered that caused Israel the greatest of trouble.  It was the enemies left behind that constantly harassed them that finally wore them down.

Stop Crying About it and Fix It!

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?” (Jos 7:10 AV)

The people had just lost their first battle.  Joshua sent up three thousand men to take the city of Ai.  A rather small city which should have been easily taken.  However, the Jewish forces fled from the face of the men of Ai and thirty-six died in the battle.  We now find Joshua on his face before the LORD because he is led to believe the enemies of Israel will hear of this one defeat.  He is afraid they will hear of this battle, organize, and come after Israel.  He is afraid Israel will lose and it were better for them to be back in Egypt.  He is praying his heart out before the LORD.  The verse above is God’s response to this prayer.  In essence, the LORD is refusing to hear the prayer until Joshua grows up and finds the cause for the failure.  The LORD is not about to entertain a pity party when there is somethings that could be done about it.

Every parent has this experience with his young child.  The young child attempts something and fails.  He sits that on the floor and feels sorry for himself.  He may even throw a temper tantrum.  Pity is not what that child needs.  If he is trying to do something which he can, indeed, accomplish, the dad needs to reject the child’s self-pity.  For instance, every child goes through something like this.  He sits on the floor and plays with a toy that requires pieces be attached.  He sees older children successfully assemble the toy.  He tries and the pieces fall apart.  He whimpers.  He tries again.  They fall apart again.  He cries.  He tries again. They fall apart again.  Now he is mad and throws the pieces.  There is one of two things Dad can do.  He can take pity on the child and comfort him is his failure, removing the toy so it does not further frustrate the child.  Or, the wise father can get on the floor with the child, show him time and again how it works, and make him figure it out.  Without the self-pity.  Figure it out, kid!  Stop the crying and grow.

We do this every time adverse circumstances come our way that may be a result of our own choices.  Even if they are not, these circumstances are an opportunity to overcome.  These circumstances are an opportunity to correct sin, or learn to trust God deeper than we have before.  What we do not need to do is sit there in a stooper of self-pity and waste or energy wishing the circumstances were not there.  My mother was a great example of this.  Other than camping, I never heard her once complain about any circumstances of life.  She was an overcomer.  She never asked for any pity and often rejected it from others.  That was the way she raised her children.  Stop crying about it and find a way to fix it!  That is the backbone of a leader.

By God's Grace, You Can Do It

“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.” (Jos 1:7 AV)

These words are tender and challenging.  These words are from the LORD to Joshua upon the death of Moses.  They are a challenge because it places success in one’s life and calling squarely on obedience to the word of the LORD founded upon the faith given by the Spirit of God.  This need not any more exposition, but it needs more emphasis.  Many desire success and blessings in life, but few are willing to exercise the discipline of obedience to attain it.  Obedience requires yielding.  Yielding to the influence and control of the Spirit.  Relying upon the power granted by the Spirit as we walk with God to fulfill that which God asks.  He does so as every godly parent desires the same.  We desire for our children to be successful before the LORD and enjoy the blessings which come of the obedience.  There is no greater joy than to learn self-denial that the grace of God might abound to His glory!  There is another side of this verse which we wish to meditate upon.  That truth is the tenderness of God towards His children and the desire of the divine to see that His children are blessed indeed.

I have known a few fathers who have been intimidated by the success of their children.  It seems they were in a constant state of competition with their child so their child never exceeded their own accomplishments.  Instead of words of encouragement and motivation for higher goals, these fathers tear down their children and convince them they will never measure up.  These children go on into life being under-achievers.  Because their father had no faith in them, they have no ability to have faith in what God can do with them.  They are stuck in a life of mediocrity because they think their life will always be one of failure at worst, average at best.  In our verse above, God certainly does not think that of Joshua.  The verse is not only one of challenge, it is one of encouragement and positive expectation.  This verse above shows us God’s tenderness towards His children and His belief that if the child of God will simply obey His word and trust Him with all, there is nothing God cannot do with him.  What a word of hope!  What a word of dreams and visions!  Goals can be set and achieved.  There is nothing too hard for the LORD.  Yielding is the only thing God requires.

The devil makes a career out of discouraging the child of God.  He is the accuser.  He is the destroyer.  If he can convince you that you are beyond God’s ability to transform to the end He might gain the glory, the he has won.  This is his device.  This is his hope.  He hopes the child of God will see himself as absolutely beyond God’s grace and give up in his mediocrity.  This results in pattern of life of disobedience and lack of faith.  Maybe not out and out rebellion.  Just enough disobedience to make his life of no consequence.  If God believes you are not beyond His grace and work, then you need to believe the same.  Walk in obedience and faith and be astounded at what the LORD can do through you!

God our Guide

“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” (De 32:10 AV)

The context is the song which God gave to Moses which he was to teach to the children of Israel.  It was a reminder of what God did for them and what God is capable of doing when times are hard and the enemy seems overwhelming.  God promises that no matter what challenges they will have in the future, He is more than able to meet and defeat those who would harm the apple of His eye.  One of the manners in which the Holy Spirit gives us emotional and spiritual victory is to remind us of where we were when the LORD came down.  The verse above speaks of Israel in bondage to Egypt.  The verse speaks of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness as a means for the people of God to learn some lessons they would in no other way, learn.  When we are struggling in the present, it is always good to look back and see how far the LORD has brought us.

I remember one of the first times I climbed the mountain behind my in-laws house.  My Father-in-law was teaching me how to still hunt.  Directly behind his house is perhaps one of the steepest of all places to ascend.  He could walk up those hills without breaking a sweat.  Me?  Heart attack city.  The further up we climbed, it seemed the harder it became.  The thing is, the higher we went, the less steep it was.  I also remember getting near the top.  I couldn’t go any further.  But then I looked behind me and across the valley.  Realizing that I had far more trouble behind me than ahead, we pressed on to the top.  Sitting down on a log and enjoying some hot coffee from a thermos never tasted so good.

The point is this.  Sometimes we can have our eyesight on the trouble right in front of us that we forget just how miraculous our journey has been.  We forget how fruitless and pointless of a life we had before Christ saved us.  My life almost ended in suicide.  I had nothing to live for when Jesus came and changed all that.  As I get older, the LORD has given more patience.  The hill doesn’t seem nearly as steep as it once did.  The apex is near.  The race is two-thirds run.  I may not be able to sprint, but I can trudge on because the God who brought me thus far will carry me over the finish line.  That dry and thirsty land is in the distant past.  God did a work for me.  A work that still boggles the mind.  He has brought me through a great divide.  Over treacherous waters He has carried me.  Always faithful.  Never derelict in His duties!  God will honor His word.  There is still a mighty climb to ascend.  But He is there!  More so then ever before.

Yeah, I Don't Think So

“And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:” (De 29:19 AV)

The height of obstinacy is to believe one will not suffer the consequence of misery for one’s sin.  This hypothetical is a Hebrew citizen determining that he will enjoy his life and be at peace with it even though he is in direct disobedience to the laws of God.  One can do ahead and make that choice.  But it will only last for this lifetime.  Once eternity starts, there is no choice he can or will make that results in peace while in torments of a devil’s hell.

This verse describes perfectly the attitude of our present world.  They know that are in rebellion against God.  They are ok with the natural results of their sin.  What comes to mind is the tragic results sin is having on the most innocent of us all.  The most hideous being the murder of unborn or partially born human beings.  When a society does not protect the most vulnerable, it is on its way to complete hedonism.  This lack of concern and deliberate rebellion is spilled over into our young people as well.  Those who are in rebellion could not care less of the spiritual and emotional trauma sodomy and perversion causes our young people.  They are happy in their sin and at peace with the consequences.  I have had my share of funerals of those young people who have taken their own lives.  If there was never another, it would be great. Yet, they happen at a breakneck speed.  Those in the periphery who mourn the loss of an acquaintance, never give a thought to what drove them to do such a thing.  They are at peace with the decision of the deceased will those closest to him or her struggle with confusion, regret, and bitterness.  The tragedy that surrounds our species is celebrated.  It is seen as normal and acceptable.  We are at peace.

But there will come a time when there is no peace.  When the sodomite must suffer an eternal torment because he or she had never repented and placed their faith in Jesus, it won’t seem as so much fun anymore.  When the wicked are turned aside to suffer an eternity for choices of which they came to peace with, they will wish they made peace with God.  The Bible clearly and correctly states, there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

Joy Is A Matter of the Eyes

“And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.” (De 26:11 AV)

The good things God gives don’t always fade away.  There are good things that remain.  It is those good things in which we should always rejoice.  Yes, there are hard times.  I agree with Job when he declares that man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.  However, no matter how much trouble we are born unto, there are still good things for which we can rejoice.  Perhaps this is a commandment because we are prone to see only those things that are not good.  We dwell on those things and because we do, we cannot rejoice.  Perhaps our admonition should be that when things get hard, think on those good things so that we can endure through the hard things with joy.

When we stop and take inventory of our lives, if we are honest, we can see the hand of God’s blessings all over our lives.  The problem is, we are not acclimated to look for them.  One of the traditions that families have at their Thanksgiving meal is to give a testimony to one thing for which they are grateful.  Young people and guys usually groan at such a task.  The young people do so because it seems too irrelevant and manipulative.  The guys have a hard time with it because we have to get in touch with our emotions.  Or, at least that is how we see it.  Some struggle to come up with one thing.  How about looking at the table in front of you?  Or, the family God has given?  What about the clothes on your back?  Most importantly, what about salvation?  How about the relatively good health you enjoy?  Or, how about the country you live in?  Perhaps a reflection of God’s grace is in order.  What about the forgiveness of sin that comes by the blood of Christ?  What about the blessings of prayer?  How about the indestructible word of God which few generations had so readily as we?  Our culture tempts us to be discontented and discouraged because it is trying to sell us something which will overcome it.

The context above is the general attitude the nation of Israel was required to have once they entered the land of Canaan.  An attitude which their forefathers failed to have, and which cost them their inheritance.  Because they murmured in the wilderness and failed to live in faith, God required that generation die off in the wilderness so that a new one could take its place.  A new generation that would be grateful for whatever the LORD provided even if they were still in want of other things.  A nation that was willing to walk in obedience and faith so that God could bless them more and more.  Perhaps it is not about the lack of blessings, but our neglect in numbering them that is the cause of our discouragement.

Distinct Purpose Requires Distinct Appearance

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” (De 22:5 AV)

When we speak and teach of dress standards, we seldom consider the entire context of the above verse.  What we need to notice is that separation of kind also means separation of purpose or function.  In the context of this verse, we find the requirement to separate other things as well.  There is the separation of a mothering creature as meat verses a non-mothering creature.  There is the separation of a rooftop and other floors of a house.  The roof top is to be secure.  There is the separation of different seed.  Each has its own purpose.  There is the separation of an ox and ass.  Both serve a different purpose.  There is the separation of different clothing material.  Wool is used for colder climates wherein linen is used for warmer applications.  Considering the verse above, it does not say a woman cannot wear the cloths of a man.  The word of God says that which pertains to a man.  This would include garments but are not limited to garments.

God created things different and distinct.  I love watching nature shows.  The balance and interdependence of creation is a testament to the wonder of God’s wisdom.  Each creature fulfills a unique purpose in the system in which it finds itself.  There is no other creature that can fill that purpose.  On one such show regarding hunters and prey, it astounded me how many animals are singly focused on a particular prey.  It is all they eat.  There are other animals who serve a purpose that is not exclusive to their survival, but it is to another species.  Regardless, God has created all things with a distinct and unique purpose.  Their appearance aids in that purpose.  Whether it is a fish that looks like a rock or a bird that attracts a mate, their appearance serves a purpose.  Some creatures are camouflaged.  Some have the appearance of a larger animal so as to scare off a predator.  Their appearance serves a purpose.

The reason why we have a problem with distinct dress standards for distinct genders is our pursuit of the unisex generation.  Breaking down the bounds of gender specifics has now come to its natural conclusion.  There are no genders.  All are gender fluid.  This is what happens when we do not honor the design of gender specific purpose in family and society.  It is not just about dresses verses slacks or boots verses clogs.  This is not merely about hair length.  It is about God’s design for gender specific roles.  When we do not embrace the wonder of how and why God created us, then we will refuse to appear in the manner in which God intended.

No Harbor

“And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.” (De 20:11 AV)

What God demanded of the enemies of Israel, He demands of the enemies of the saint.  The LORD is not interested in a truce.  He demands surrender.  When Israel conquered Canaan, the inhabitants had only two choices.  They could either surrender and become servants, or die in their efforts of resistance.  Before we get a bit too empathetic towards the inhabitants of the land, they were described as devil worshipers in the previous chapters.  Regardless of the fact of who was there first, the fact of the matter is, the land belongs to God.  Period.  He has the right to evict anyone whom He pleases.  But I digress.  God is not interested in maintaining the status quo.  He is not interested in an amiable agreement.  Those who are His enemies must be in subjection to those who are not.  There is no other way.

We have three enemies.  We have the world, the devil, and the flesh.  These three enemies war against our spirit as we seek to walk with God.  They are God’s enemies as well.  We are not to pacify them. We are not to be amiable with them.  When the word of God and their values or desires conflict, then it is the enemies of God that must be in subjection as far as our own heart goes.  There is no middle ground.  There is no agreement or referendum of understanding.  God’s law and God’s way must rule.  The devil is a no-brainer.  We can understand that and war accordingly.  He has nothing to bring to the table of which we might feel we need or desire.  The world and the flesh are different.  There are things of value which each brings to our existence.  The world provides the means of living.  The flesh lives.  These two are always in a state of mutual relationship.  But that does not mean we are required to placate their demands.

It amazes me how much the people of God have given up their true liberty.  The freedom to determine for self that self will walk with God and need not be in subjection to any and all that which would hinder that goal.  We readily take the position of subjection when it comes to the world and the flesh.  “Live free or die” was the cry of our nation’s birth.  This should be the same for the believer.  Better off to bring the enemy into subjection.  If not, we become the slave.

New And Improved is Not Improved at All

“Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.” (De 16:21 AV)

As a child, my father had purchased a bit of land that was originally a potato farm.  He dug a two-acre pond, planted a massive amount of fir trees, and allowed the rest to revert back to nature.  We used this land as a place of rest and exploration.  We cleared a court for volley ball and badminton.  There was the every-under-construction log outhouse.  There was the fire pit for cooking and the fire pit for water sterilization.  We took our bicycles with us and had our own wilderness BMX trail.  One particular activity was for all us boys to build our own ‘forts’.  My father would not allow us to cut down trees, but we were able to use fallen timber to construct our own ‘home-away-from-home’ which no one was allowed to visit.  No matter how crude, we took pride in our shelters.  They were something that we built from our own imagination and with our own craft.  It wasn’t nature.  It was a manipulation of nature.  Such is the case above.  Improving on, or modifying God’s design because man might have a bit of pride in doing so, was forbidden.

The Hebrew word for ‘…grove…’ is the same word used as the name for a Phoenician goddess.  Although in this particular passage, the grove that was planted was not carved into a goddess, the images mentioned in verse twenty-two were.  The altar was to remain in the court of the tabernacle and eventually the temple.  If the children of Israel were to plant groves to surround the altar, one of two things were true.  They would have to replace the tabernacle with something of their own design, or believe they were improving on God’s original design.  Either way, if they were to do this, they believed God’s design lacked a certain human ‘flare’ and the addition of groves or idols would only enhance the worship experience.

I have been around a long time.  I have seen many things.  There is a fine line between divinely ordained and designed worship and man’s attempt at improving upon it.  It is easy to cross over into what is not of the LORD and purely man-made.  Much of what we offer today has too much humanity in it.  This is the entire foundation of bible translation perversion.  This is the foundation of much of what we call Christian music today.  Even preaching has devolved into this practice of commentary on our behalf and little to do with Holy Spirit empowered and lead preaching.  I have been guilty of this very thing.  Holy Spirit led worship cannot be improved upon.  Mankind and God’s people have been tempted to do this since Cain offered vegetables.  To the LORD, this is an abomination.