The Good News A Journey Through the Bible

Today’s lesson is brought to you from Judges 11″ Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. 2 Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,” they said, “because you are the son of another woman.” 3 So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him.
4 Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, 5 the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.”
7 Jephthah said to them, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”
8 The elders of Gilead said to him, “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.”
9 Jephthah answered, “Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me—will I really be your head?”
10 The elders of Gilead replied, “The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.” 11 So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.
12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: “What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?”
13 The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”
14 Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 saying:“This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. 16 But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea[a] and on to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
18 “Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.19 “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’ 20 Sihon, however, did not trust Israel[b] to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.
21 “Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.23 “Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess. 25 Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? 26 For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? 27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
28 The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”36 “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”38 “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.From this comes the Israelite tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.”
I found this piece of history interesting on so many levels. There are a couple of lessons to be learned. First of all, the main character in this story is Jephthah, his father was a warrior and his mother a prostitute. Even though he had other brothers, Jephthah was driven away by the people and his half brothers because of his mother’s history. He suffered because of the injustice of his half brothers not because of anything he had done but because of what his mother had done. And yet, God used Jephthah in spite of the history of his mother. The next lesson here is when the going got tough- the same people that rejected Jephthah and ran him out of the camp, found him and begged him to return to save them. Figure that one out – they said, “Come, and be our commandder, so we can fight the Ammonites.” Now I don’t know about any of you, but if some one has kicked me out, tossed me to the curb and then comes back and says, “Oh, wait, we need you for this or that, I would not be inclined to help out. And this was Jephthah’s response, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?”
The people responded with basicly, well, that is in the past, let’s not talk about that. What is important is that we are getting ready to get our hats handed to us and you are the warrior who knows how to fix this.And if you do come back we will make you the head over all of us.
Jephthah, was skeptical as I would be- you know if it sounds to good to be true, that sort of thing. His response to exact a promise from them so as to ensure he would not be run out on a rail after they were finished using him. Once that vow was in place Jephthah, sent a message to the king of the Ammonites to try and resolve things without bloodshed. And as most people who have their knickers in a twist are prone to do, he refused to listen. The second lesson is sometimes cooler heads do prevail and sometimes, they don’t – When he refused Jephthah said, okay. So, he made a vow with God that if he would be with him as he fought this battle, he would sacrifice to God the very first thing that met him as he returned home. Well, in theory, that might not have been a bad vow. However, the decision he made and the vow he made, created consequences he could not change. A vow was unbreakable especially to God. Jephthah won the battle, and returned home with victory in his eyes. The very first thing that ran to meet him with a smile on her face and joy in her heart was his only child. His daughter who had never been married. Unintended consequences of a not well thought out vow made in haste. When he realized what he had done, it broke his heart. He had sacrificed his only child, a daughter who would never marry – never bless him with children and his line would die out because he made a vow in haste. This is the third lesson in this passage. When we do things without thinking them through the consequences can be dire. How does this translate into today you might ask. Well, let me explain it to you. 1. We must never use another’s past for an injustice we feel might be right or wrong. The past is the past. It can never be undone. 2. When we make a decision right or wrong we will always suffer the consequences which can be greater than the decision – 3. If we have faith that God is with us we do not have to bargain with him. He already knows the outcome,and if we do bargain with him we must be prepared to hold up our end of the bargain and 4. Logical reasoning is always the first line of defense, violence only creates more violence. #godsplan,#vows,#injsutice

In the book of Judges, there was a Judge who happened to be a woman. She was before Gideon and she was given her position by God. Her name was Deborah. The story starts in Judges 4. God’s people the Israelites are once again looking inward instead of instead of upward. They did not obey God’s laws, they in fact, did evil in the sight of the same God that delivered them from Egypt where they had been in bondage for many years. They decided they knew more than God and refused to turn from their wicked ways. So, God did what God does when his people refuse to obey him, he sold them into the hands of Jabin, King of Canaan. They were oppressed for twenty years. They finally woke up and one more time cried out to God asking for his help. Beginning in Verse 4 through the end of the chapter
” 4 Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading[a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”
8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law,[b] and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera summoned from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River all his men and his nine hundred chariots fitted with iron.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. 15 At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.
16 Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left. 17 Sisera, meanwhile, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin king of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.
19 “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he told her. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone in there?’ say ‘No.’”
21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
22 Just then Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you the man you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple—dead.
23 On that day God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder against Jabin king of Canaan until they destroyed him.”
The back story is this, Deborah was the only woman Judge. She was part of God’s plan. Deborah, sent for Barak and told him what to do in order to save God’s people. But, he did not want to listen. He did not believe that God would be with him and win the battle for him. So, he told Deborah he would only go, if she went with him. Deborah, having more character and courage than this mighty warrior with an army behind him went. However, before she went she told him that he would never be given credit for the victory. That a woman would be given the credit. This in itself was an insult as women in general were not considered any better than livestock. They had no say in matters of goverment, or business. They pitched tents and raised kids. Off to the battle they go. Barak with his ten thousand men headed into a battle against Sisera with his men and nine hundred chariots of iron. The battle raged with God at the helm and Sisera fled. He found himself exhausted at the tent of Heber who had remained neutral during this entire exchange. Heber’s wife Jael, however had not remained neutral. She invited Sisera inside. He thought she was hiding him because women did not invite a man who was not their husband into their tents.Jael offered the exhausted Sisera a drink of milk after which he lay down and fell asleep. She covered him up. As soon as he was in a deep sleep. Jael took a tent peg and a mallet in her hands. When it was all over, Jael had driven the tent peg through the temple of her enemy. When Barak arrived she showed him the now deceased Sisera. There as once again several lessons in the this story. The first lesson is when God chooses to use someone for his endevours, it matters not what sex they are. What matters is the character of the person. Deborah was made a judge by God because of her character. She led the army into battle because of her courage and her faith in God. The second lesson is She believed God would do what he said he would do. Barak on the other hand was weak and refused to believe that God would do what he said he would do. As a leader of a vast army- the ultimate insult was Jael getting the credit for killing the enemy. This mighty warrior got nothing. Again, God did what he said he would do.- Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in troubled times. The enemy that is the Devil, is walking to and fro seeking whom he may devour. We are in his bondage. We are walking in the ways that are evil. Are we ready to be sold into even more bondage? It is not too late to cry out to God to deliver this country from destruction. When we do cry out, God will provide a strong leader who has faith and courage. The question is do each of you have the faith,courage and the character it takes to stand up and be counted. To go into the spiritual war we are facing. Are you strong enough to sustain your faith with God at the helm? If not, then there is a storm coming. I think it is time for another Deborah, and Jael. #judges,#jael,#deborah, #bible,#godsplan

This morning I want to tell you the parable that Jotham the only surviving son of Gideion told to Abimelek after all of his other brothers were murdered. This parable came to fruition even though it took three years, Starting in Judges 9: 7-21 “7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17 Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18 But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.
If you notice in this parable Each tree is asked if it wants to be king and each tree declines. Finally a thorn bush is asked if it wants to be king and the thorn bush accepts. When Jotham finished the parable he asks a very pertintant question- he asks if the people had acted honorable by making Abimelek king? He reminded the people that his father Gideon fought for them and risked his life for them and they repaid him in kind by revolting against his father’s family, killing his brothers on a single stone. He stated that if indeed they acted honorably then may they all find joy in each other – but if not, then may fire come out of Abimelek and consume all of them. Now, three years later, the parable begins to come true, In Verse 26-29 Gaal son of Ebed moved with his clan to Shechem and all the people put their confidence in him. They went out into a field gathered the grapes pressed them into wine and held a festival in his honor in the temple of his god. While they were in the thros of eating and drinking they began to curse Abimelek. Gaal became very interested and wanted to know who this Abimelek was. Then he wanted to know why they should bend a knee to him. Then he makes this statement. Verse 29 “If only his peple were under my command. Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek , “Call our your whole Army.”
When the Governor of the city heard this news he went stright to Abimelek and told him. There ensued a battle where Gaal and many of the people died. Then when the people fled to a stronghold of the temple Abimelek set it on fire with the people in it. Now, you may think that the parable is not coming true, however, there is more. Abimelek became even more revengeful. He left that smoking mess and moved on to Thebez and captured it. However, the tower there was stronger and the people were able to lock themselves in and race to the roof. And this ladies and gentlemen is where God’s power and the parable come together. Verse 52-53 “Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. .But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.
Not wanting to be killed by a woman in Verse 54 he does this. “Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so they can’t say, “A woman killed him.” So his servant ran him through and he died.”
There are two lessons here. One, even though it took three years for the parable to come true, it did. Jotham stated that if Abimelek was not honorable, that fire would consume those who not only followed him, but was complicent in the murder of his brothers. Also that fire would consume Abimelek. Which it did. Because Abimelek was the one who attempted to tourch the entrance to the tower, he was struck down by a millstone. A millstone is not just some little rock ( Millstones come in pairs. The base or bedstone is stationary. Above the bedstone is the turning runner stone which actually does the grinding. The runner stone spins above the stationary bedstone creating the “scissoring” or grinding action of the stones. A runner stone is generally slightly concave, while the bedstone is slightly convex. This helps to channel the ground flour to the outer edges of the stones where it can be gathered up.) A millstone is heavy enough to kill someone.
Now, the second lesson is this, a woman, yes a woman, picked up that heavy millstone, and tossed it over the tower on to the head of Abimelek. Where were the men? Why didn’t they have the forthought to do that? Who knows, maybe that was God’s plan as well. When Abimelek saw it was a woman who did that, he was embarrassed. Here was this mighty warrior and “king” with an army behind him, reeking havoc throughout the land and he is taken out by a woman. And then this foolish man thought he could re-write history by having his armour-bearer run him through with a sword. The lesson here is this, one cannot re-write history- no matter how one tries. It always comes to the surface – The mighty who matter who big they think they are- how strong they believe they are and now matter what size army they have behind them, will fall in God’s time. And in God’s way. God uses people that are unassuming, defective, and flawed to bring his plan to fruition. He does not use the mighty, the strong or the invincible. God is not slack concerning his promise. He will fulfill it and in ways we never see coming. God’s history does not change and cannot be rewritten. God’s message never changes. So, I ask each of you this are you willing to be an Abimelek? Are you willing to tempt God? #God,#Godsmessage,#awoman

If we pay attention to history we learn many things. If we pay attention to the history of the Bible, we not only learn many things we understand why God does what he does. I have been writing about the Judges in the Old Testament. The past two days have been about Gideon. A humble man of God who did as he was asked after testing God. We are told in Judges that with God leading Gideon he struck down and killed the Midianites. And then when he died, the Israelites again turned from God and once again prostituted themselves to the idols (Judges 8:33) And God knowing they would do this allowed it to happen. Because he does give free will. However, there were consequences to those decisions. Gideon’s son Abimelek rose up and against all that he had been taught. Judges 9:1-26
” Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2 “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.”
3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” 4 They gave him seventy shekels[a] of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.
7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17 Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18 But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”
21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.
22 After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, 23 God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. 24 God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. 25 In opposition to him these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelek.
26 Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his clan into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. 27 After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelek. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelek, and why should we Shechemites be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub-Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the family of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? 29 If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!”
Abemelek’s hunger for power caused him to committ even more sin, he murdered all but one of his seventy brothers. Once he stole the power, it was not enough, he had to have more and more. He became consumed by the mistress of power. When a person is so consumed by power he no longer controls it – the power controls him. When the lust for power became so strong he could not longer control it- he wiped out his brothers and any cities that did not bend the knee.
Abimelek was not the standard of man that God wanted for a judge. But God is patient. He allowed Abimelek to judge for three years using his terroristic ways before he stopped him.
While we think that God does not see all – know all or hear all- we are fools – God does. He may not act on things immediatly but he will act. He fulfill his plan. Evil will never win. For ever move the Devil plays, God has a counter move that he puts into play. While we may try to change the message, it never changes, we do.
It is way past time to stop being an Abimelek and to turn back to God. It is way past time to try to make it work our way and turn back to God. His plan will be fulfilled, his message will be received. #God,#message,#plans

Yesterday in my lesson I spoke of Gideon- today I will continue with him. Gideon you all know the people of God were in bondage because they refused to follow God. They had relied on their own understanding, not destoryed the enemy and fallen into the ways of idol worship. These were just a few of their transgressions. And as humans are prone to do when the fire got too hot, they called on God. Yes, we all do it. When all is going well we put God on the back burner and feel like we are in control, then trials – tribulation and other maladies happen and all of a sudden God becomes important to us again. Go figure. But back to Gideon- Gideon was a nobody he was just an ordinary man trying to survive in a time of bondage trying to serve his God amid the rabid enviorment he lived in. Threshing wheat in a winepress so as not to bring attention to himself or the wheat so it would not be confiscated. God used this humble man to defeat their captors. And yet Gideon questioned God. He wanted to believe that God would keep his promise and yet he questioned his ablity. Judges 6: 13-40 13
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah[a] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old.[b] Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[c] beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of[d] altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second[e] bull as a burnt offering.”

27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

28 In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

29 They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 The people of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” 32 So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal[f] that day, saying, “Let Baal contend with him.”

33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.”
My question on this day is how many times do we test God? How many times do we feel it is necessary for God to show us who he is and what he will do? How many times do we have to make God prove his mighty power? We as humans are so foolish. We refuse to see the strength of God in front of our face, we constantly make God prove who he is and yet we take the world at its word. We believe everything we read and are told by politicans and the media and others who claim to be experts.We do not demand they prove who they are or what they are about. And yet, we constantly test our creator, we constantly question his authority. We constantly put him on trial. This is a sad comentary of who we are as a creation of God. God does not need to prove himself. He IS the GREAT I AM. He is the final decision maker, he is the only one who determines the outcome of our lives. We as a nation and a world have turned away from him. We has a nation and a world have decided we are smarter than God. We as a nation and a world have taken sin on as right and accepted it – adopted it and it has become our idol of choice. In turn God has allowed us to turn on each other, to destroy ourselves to wallow in our own feces. God did not leave us we have walked away from him. We have allowed others to tickle our ears with soft words, and even softer actions. We have allowed others to dictate how we react in our enviroment. We are the product of our own actions from several generations back. We will create the product of our decendants by our actions now. We have allowed others to take away our faith, our God and our understanding that he is in charge. We have become an untoward generation. It is time – no past time to bring God back to the helm. To put him back in charge of this sinking ship – it is time to allow him and his power to steer it in the right direction before he says “enough” and allows it to simple sink into the sea of nothingness. Before he says “enough” of your sinful ways and allows all of us to enter into a bondage we will never return from. #gideon,#bondage,#godispowerful,#enterity

As I sit here thinking about what the significance of this date is and how hard men and women have fought and died for the freedoms that are enjoyed in this country, I reflected on the book of Judges in the Bible. The book of Judges is the history of the people of God after Joshua and his generation died. When they were all dead a new generation rose up and completly destroyed what Joshua and his generation built for the people. They had no respect for the sacrifices of the men and women who had gone on before. Who had wondered in the wilderness, fled Egypt, fought wars and finally were given land God promised them. They had no respect for the history of their ancestors. They tore down all of the history, tried to re-write it and then to add insult to injury, they turned from God, the person they owed everything to. Starting in Judges 2: 10-23 “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. The followed and worshipped various gods ofthe peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the ashroteths. In his anger against Israel the Lord gavem them into the handsof raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hand of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just ashe had sworn to them. They were in great distress.Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancesotrs, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived.; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.Therefore the Lord was angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any nationsJoshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands ofJoshua.”
As I read this scripture, it dawned on me. We as a nation, have forgotten the ways of the Lord. We as a nation have raised up a generation of children who do not even know the Lord. Much less know what it took to come to this country which was wild and filled with unknowns, much like the promised land God gave the Israelites. We as a people have forgotten that without God, there would be no nation, without God we would have been overtaken many years ago.So, now here we are in 2020 with a generation of people who have thrown God aside, and are relying on their own understanding. They are making choices that will have dire consequences; consequences of being turned over to those who wish to destory us. We have a generation who worship a different kind of idol and that is the idol of “me”. We have a generation who has completly ignored God’s teaching, A generation who believes they can save themselves and that there are no consequences for their actions or decisions. God has allowed them to walk this path for a time. But he will turn them over to their enemies. He will allow this country to be over run by those who seek to destory us if, we do not turn back to him and put him first in our lives. All down throughout the history of the Bible, God allowed people to make their own choices and their own decisions, but he made them face the consequences of those decisions. He even told them what was going to happen and still they did not listen. They were after a time held accountable. Ladies and gentlemen we all will be held accountable to God. It is not too late to stop the madness, to turn back to the only one who can save all of us. That one is God. We do not have the capacity to save ourselves. Personally the only one I want to rule over me is God because he is merciful and has grace, man does not. Ladies and gentlmen it is your choice to return to God or not, but understand you will face the consequences – God’s message never changes,and he is not slack conerning his promise. #godmessge,#overtaken,#turningfromgod

Yesterday I talked about King Jehoshaphat and how he brought the people together to pray for victory in the battle with the enemy. 2 Chronicles 20- Well the story does not end there. Once the enemy was defeated and all was well in their world, Jehoshaphat decided to lean on his own understanding. Even after the fear of God came upon the surrounding kingdoms- King Jehoshaphat put God on the back burner. He made a pact with King Ahaziah of Israel whose ways were wicked. (2 Chronicles 20:21) Together they agreed to build a fleet of trading ships. When it was done, Jehoshaphat was told by Eliezer that because he had made this pact – the ships would never sail. They were destroyed by God. Shortly after that he died and his son Jehoram became King of Judah. 2 Chronicles 21. “When Jehoram established himself firmly over his’s father’s kingdom, he put all of his brothers to the sword along with some of the offcials of Israel. Jehoram was thirty- two years old when he becme king and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
There are always consequences for any decision that we make. One of these consequnces is that our decisions become generational. What our children and grandchildren see is the example they will follow. In today’s world, the toxic enviorment we live in will become the footprint of the future. Our grandchildren and greatgrandchildren will behave worse than this untoward generation. Brother will turn on brother,sister will turn on sister, mother will turn on child and father will turn on all of them. We are teaching the future generation that it is okay to do evil in the site of God. That there are no lasting consequences for those decisions. That the behavior is condoned, the actions are condoned and that no one cares for the future footprint. As God has shown us time and time again in the Bible, history does repeat itself both in action, word, thought and deed.
Because Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord he received a letter from Elijah a prophet of God and the letter stated this, 2 Chronicles 21:12- 16 ” This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: “You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshphat or of Asa, King of Judah.But, you have followed the ways of the Kings of Israel, and you have led Judah and the people of Jerusalem to protitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab did. You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family,men who were better than you. So now the Lord is about to strike your people, your sons, your wives and everything that is yours, with a heavy blow.You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes you bowels to come out.” In verses 16-20 that is exactly what God did. He rose up the hated enemy, the Philistines who attacked Judah, invaded and carried off all the goods, found in the king’s palace, his sons and his wives. The only son left was the son by the name of Ahaziah, who was the youngest. And after all of this God kept the next promise he had made Jehoram, he struck him with the disease of the bowels. He struggled with this disease for two years, in extreme pain and finally his bowels came out of his body and he died while in pain from which there was no relief. There was no state funeral in his honor. The point of this piece of history is this. God allows people to make their own decisions good or bad or indifferent, he has given us all free will. However, with that free will comes consequences and God’s message never changes. Translate that into what is going on today. Everyone of you has the free will to riot, destroy, divide, hate, kill, hurt, ,maim you name it. You can do that. God has said, make your own decisions. However, there is a price to be paid. Part of the price is that your descendants will pay for those decisions due to the consequences of your actions, second if you do not pay the price now you will later. Sure one can take history out of the history books, one can refuse to treach history, one can destroy all of the visuals that pretain to said history, but understand this, God still has that history, God still knows what is going to happen and God’s message is still the same. It never changes. God see all, knows all and understands all. God knew that the one son ofJehoram who was left after the invasion would only reign for one year. That he would do evil in the sight of God and that he would be influenced by his mother who was of the house of Ahab. God knew the house of Ahab would become his advisors and that those decisions would be his downfall. Ahaziah had the choice to take a different path, and yet he didn’t. His path didn’t change but the message stayed the same -God is in charge. The consequnces of decisions are generational. We can choose to break the cycle or not. We can choose to learn from history or we can hide it – try to rewrite it or try to destory it- but it will come back upon us.God’s message never changes. #godsmessage,#learningfromhistory, #standup

Today’s lesson is taken from Acts 19: 25-27. “He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says, that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
Now here is the lesson. Greed, is the glue that holds riots together. Greed is the reason that people decided to incite others to cause division and destruction. When Paul was preaching the doctrine of Christ Demetrius was not worried about the doctrine, his concern was the loss of revenue. He and his fellow tradesmen made idols and had been making a great living at this trade. Demetrius’s concern was the people changing their thought process and believing the teachings of Paul. So Demetrius very cleverly appealed to the tradesmen’s pocket book. Then he encouraged them to hide that greed behind the mask of patriotism and religious loyality. In their eyes they were the heros of the hour or the sake of the land and “their” beliefs. Now, let me translate this entire lesson into what is happening today – Politicans, and groups with an agenda have no concern for the right of the people. They disguise their greed under the blanket of many words. They incite people using some of the same words that Demetrius used. Words meant to appeal to emotions and not logic. Words meant to stir up people so they will forget the real reason for the riot in the first place. Demetrius wanted to control the money flow. Control the people because when he controled the people he controled the money. It had nothing to do with Paul’s teachings. This is proven in Demetrius’s statement, “There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the provinceof Asia and the world, will be robbed ofher divine majesty,” Doesn’t that sound like some of the verbage used today to incite riots and looting and division? The core is not about right or wrong, the core is about greed. The core is about filling cofers with money and control of people. The core had no concern for “social injustice”, or any of the other catch phrases now being used. The core is all about the core. Just like Demetrius and his plan for inciting riots. Continuing the scripture in verses 28-41 ” When they heard this,they were furious and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. Paul, wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some the officials of the Province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater. The assembly was in confussion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesnt’ all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the the temple of the great Artemis and her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settle in a legal assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it. After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.”
As you see from the rest of the chapter, it did not take much for the masses to head into a fulll fledged riot ready to burn the place down and kill Paul and his friends. The sentence that hit me like a ton of bricks was this one, “Most of the people did not even know why there were there.”
This is a powerful statement that is true in the envoirment we are currently in. Most of the people do not even know why they are there. They have no clue that is greed. They, also like today, during this riot brought on by greed, not only became anti- Christian, they became anti- Jewish. Does this sound familiar? Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to put away the greed, hate, division and things of this world. The time has come to put on Christ, to understand that this world as we know it only exists because God is trying to give us every chance to come to him. To know that he is God and he is in control. Not the rioters,not the poiticans, not even the medical “experts”. God is in control and with a word, all of this can go away in the blink of an eye. Time to put down the weapons of greed, the actions of rioting and division, time to come together to become more Christlike. Time to be humble, honest and forgiving. #godsplan,#greed,#scripture

Every night when I go to bed, I ask God for the wisdom to find the right scripture for my daily posts in order to help each of you. This morning this is the scripture that came up. Psalms 146.
” Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your turst in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God ofJacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them- he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.”
Now shall I break this down for those who still do not understand. Bottom line, powerful people, you know those who have been elected, those who have an agenda and those who stir up trouble, are not our saviors. No matter what they promise,no matter how much strife – hatred and discontent and malcontent they stir up they are not our saviors. One day they will die and they will be gone and all of their promises, words and actions will be gone with them. The only entity that keeps his promise is God. He has proven that over and over. God also will frustrate the plans of the wicked because his values are opposite of those of the world. Wicked will never overcome God’s goodness no matter how hard it tries. The present world chooses gods of power and self to get their way. God has another plan and message, he chooses, service and self – sacrifice for those of us who follow him. God knows what is happening, God knows what will happen. God knows the consequences of the decisions both good and bad which are being decided. God has a plan and that plan will not change no matter what man chooses to do or not to do. God has a message and that message will not change no matter how many times many’s message changes. At any time God can choose to stop all of this with a word. He does not need our permission, he does not need any one in power, with an agenda or a platform to give him permission. God is in charge. God sets the stage and God is the director. My question for each of you is this. Are you ready to face God? Because believe me when I say every one will stand in front of him. Everyone will have to give an answer for their actions, and decisions. It does matter if you are a king, a pauper, the color of your skin,the length of your hair, the color of your eyes, your politcal affiliation, your sexual preference, or anyof the other things we label people by. We all stand before God in the end. We all give an accounting of our time here on earth. Even if you don’t believe in God, you will stand before him one day. So all who are putting their faith in the politics, the orgainzations, the platforms, these will go away, you will not be able to use them when you stand in front of God. God already knows the heart. #godsplan,#standingbeforegod,#themessagestaysthesame