Full of Something
Judges 6:1-6 – “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord turned them over to Midian for seven years. 2 The Midianites overwhelmed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made shelters for themselves in the hills, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east would attack them. 4 They invaded the land and devoured its crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for the Israelites to eat, and they took away the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. 5 When they invaded with their cattle and tents, they were as thick as locusts. Neither they nor their camels could be counted. They came to devour the land. 6 Israel was so severely weakened by Midian that the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.”
As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, I was both challenged and encouraged, and I gained insight and enlightenment. A ray of hope broke forth in my heart.
In the account of Gideon in Judges 6, we see something interesting, and even in the negative, there is encouragement. Gideon was “hiding.” He saw himself as small and insignificant. That’s one of the reasons God chose him; he wasn’t full of himself.
The angel came and declared him to me a valiant warrior! That literally made Gideon laugh. He knew the condition of Israel and his own timidity. It sounded like a joke! The angel told him to deliver Israel and said, “You have the strength.” Gideon did not immediately surrender and commit; rather, he doubted and hesitated.
Then Jephthah’s story is one revealing that God can bypass our doubt if we are obedient. Faith is required to please God, but the Kingdom is of utmost importance. Jephthah made a stupid vow out of his doubt that cost him his only daughter. Doubt is costly.
Then, in 2 Timothy, something challenged me that I had not previously considered. In 2 Timothy 1:5-6, we love to quote “No Fear but Power!” Consider the context. Paul focused on the heritage of faith and said in verse 6, Because of your faith heritage, “rekindle” (stir up) the gift you possess through the laying on of my hands. In that context, he gives verse 7 – “For God has not given us a Spirit of Fear…” Don’t be afraid to use your gift! Stir up your gift and take action. Be a good soldier! Soldiers have a singular focus and purpose.
Let our confidence in God, our hope in Christ, and our faith in the Truth motivate us to act. Remember what is ahead as is revealed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Don’t become like those who “maintain the outward appearance (words, not deeds).”
Don’t let doubt that you are usable steal your dream or call. No Fear, God is near! Stir up and refresh your gift, then reject fear and step out! Look at Gideon. Defeated over 120,000 with 300. Impossible, naturally, but if Christ is in us, we don’t operate only on the natural.
No Fear! LORD, help us to live emptied of self and without fear!
Failing to Become
Joshua 18:1-3 – “The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. Though they had subdued the land, 2 seven Israelite tribes had not been assigned their allotted land. 3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long do you intend to put off occupying the land the Lord God of your ancestors has given you?”
As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I saw a themed progression in my reading. In Joshua 18:1-3, Israel had subdued the land, but 7 tribes had not yet taken possession of or occupied their allotted land.
The voice in my heart said, “After you dispossess, you must actively possess. Just as you labored vigorously to dispossess, you must labor vigorously to possess.” Winning the battle is only step one in the process and progression of life and spiritual development. Emptying out is necessary, but filling with the new afterward is vital.
Sometimes we become so focused on knowing that we fail to become! Knowing can be equated with dispossessing and becoming with possessing. We must become who God designed and desires us to be to be usable and effective for the kingdom in these last days.
In 1 Timothy 4:14-15, Paul instructed Timothy to recognize the confirmed spiritual gifts in him. He was charged to develop those gifts and take time to absorb himself in the prophetically confirming words spoken over him. Do warfare with the prophetic words.
Our focus is God, not positions or possessions. 1 Timothy 6:6 is intriguing. “Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.” Then, in verse 9, we have the warning against longing to be rich. In verse 11, we are instructed to take the path of pursuing spiritual things, not earthly. We justify our craving for wealth, saying, “Look what I could do for God with it.” That is still craving riches. Our craving should be for God; then we use what He brings rather than being owned by the desire for wealth.
Our focus in life must not be on position or possession, but on becoming who God designed us to be so as to fulfill God’s purposes! My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. Nothing is more important than God. Let’s ensure our focus is on God. Dispossess and Possess. Empty out to be filled. Seek first the Kingdom, and He will bring to you that which is to flow through you!
LORD, help us to become who You have designed us to be!
The Accountability in Responsibility
Romans 14:7-9 – “For of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.”
As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, responsibility and accountability filled my thoughts. None of us is exempt! All of us have responsibilities, and even if we are accountable to no other human, we are accountable to God!
God does not take our disregard for His commandments lightly. Tragically, our sin does not just affect us; it affects others. In Joshua 7:5, we find that because Achan sinned in Jericho, 36 men lost their lives at Ai. One sin cost 36 men their lives!
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I’m not hurting anyone else.” We fail to realize the ripple effect of our actions. Remember Adam’s sin and the impact on humanity?
Romans 14:7 – “For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for himself.” We are not deserted islands; our life and death affect others. Therefore, we have a responsibility to consider the impact of our actions on others.
Every promise carries with it a responsibility to prepare and pursue the promise. Caleb, in the wilderness at 40, was given a promise. Now, 45 years later, at 85, he said, “Give me this mountain.”
Realize that he was not asking for ease because the mountain he requested was filled with fierce enemies. He would have to fight to possess it. He asked permission, which would equate to a promise. He received the promise, made the preparation, pursued the purposes of God, and finally possessed the promise. In Joshua 17:14-18, Joseph’s descendants asked for an easy gift to expand their territory. Joshua said, “No. If you want more, go take it!”
In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, we have the oft-quoted passage. “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.” Paul had already addressed brothers who live undisciplined lives of sin. If they fail in their responsibility for right living, they are to be held accountable for their actions. In verse 13, he encouraged the people not to get discouraged in living and doing right. The hypocrites around them were a source of discouragement. Hypocrites discourage others by their lives.
Our life is not (our life) in the sense that it affects only us. We are members of the Body of Christ. Just as the human body, our individual parts impact the whole; in the spiritual body, each of us impacts others.
Our responsibility is to love God with our all and our neighbor as ourselves. We are responsible for stewarding the grace given to us. God will hold us accountable for our disobedience and reward us for our obedience.
We have a promise from God (life); our responsibility is preparation (prayer, study, submission), pursuit (I press toward the mark), and possession. Just like Caleb and the sons of Joseph, or Israel in Canaan, we must possess the promise we have prepared for and have been pursuing! The how is the issue.
How? By total commitment. By faithfulness. By the Holy Spirit. By Christ IN us! By refusing to give up!
LORD, help us accept our responsibility with accountability and possess your promises!
God’s Intentions
Deuteronomy 31:21 – “Then when many disasters and distresses overcome them this song will testify against them, for their descendants will not forget it. I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land I have promised.”
As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the eternality, Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipotence of God awed me once again.
In Deuteronomy 31, God told Moses that after Moses’ death, Israel would rebel. He said in verse 21, “I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land or place, I promised.” Our amazing God knows our thoughts and plans before we do!
In Deuteronomy 32:30, God reminds Moses and us that the exploits of God, the miracles, cannot happen unless He moves! In Deuteronomy 33:27 – “The Everlasting God is a refuge, and underneath you are His everlasting arms…” Take hold of that! That is life-giving!
When Israel prepared to enter the land, the two spies warned Rahab, “Everyone must stay in the House (under the covering).” When they crossed the Jordan, they set up memorial stones in the Jordan and then again at Gilgal. We need markers to remind us and trigger our faith. Things, places, events, people that remind us of who God is, what God has done, His promise, and our goal. Frequent reminders!
There comes a time when we have endured the wilderness, crossed the Jordan, and stand at the threshold of the promise; we must “Shout!” (Joshua 6:20.) When we do, the Walls Fall.
It is not wishful shouting or shouting to make it happen; it is shouting because we believe and see the Promise. It is when we have come to the place or the House of Promise. It is when we have fully embraced our position and condition. Today is the day to shout for many; is today your day to abandon all of Him and shout the walls down?
I think of the encouragement to the Thessalonians. We are not destined for wrath, but salvation. Our charge is to admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all, always rejoice, constantly pray, and always have an attitude of gratitude and Thanksgiving.
If we see what Jesus did at the Cross, then death and life take on a new meaning. How we grieve, how we celebrate, and how we live reveal how we view the Finished Work of Jesus. If we see, we can Shout, and the Walls will Fall.
LORD, we embrace Your intentions for us and desire to be the People You have purposed us to be!
The Heart Has Eyes
Deuteronomy 29:2-4 – “Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: “You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 3 Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. 4 But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!”
I pray that the eyes of your heart receive full enlightenment so that no deception or discouragement hinders you. As I prayed, read, and meditated on the Word of God today, several things (more than I can share) captivated my thoughts.
In Deuteronomy 29:2-4, I was brought face-to-face with the understanding that seeing events does not bring full enlightenment. Seeing miracles and the hand of God move is intriguing, but that alone does not transform. Only Jesus in the heart truly transforms.
In Deuteronomy 30:6, the powerful reality and promise leaped off the page and gripped my heart and mind: IF we turn to God, He will cleanse our hearts. But the staggering part is, AND our descendants! Then even more amazing is the promise – “So that we can LOVE God with our entire being. Lord, give us cleansed hearts!”
Colossians 1:5 caused me to stop, look, and listen. Our faith rises or is produced out of HOPE. Hope rises from the Gospel. The source of Faith and Love flows from Heaven or God.
Colossians 1:13-14 provides a foundation of hope and assurance that is beyond amazing. In Christ and His work on the Cross, we are delivered from the power, influence, and control of the devil’s domain of darkness. We are Transferred into the Kingdom of the Son! We changed citizenship. We are Redeemed, bought, or bought back by a price (The Blood of the Lamb). We enjoy the totality of Forgiveness and the Freedom embodied therein.
We become the overcomers He was. Colossians 2:6-7 gives us the picture and pathway to victory and becoming. We are “IN” Christ and live rooted in Him. We are being Built Up and established firmly “IN” Him. We become those who Overflow with Gratitude!
Paul explains how this can be in verses 9-10. “For in Him (Jesus) ALL the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, AND YOU have been FILLED in Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
We are not filled with Him but “IN” Him. We are placed “IN” Him, and in Him we become one with Him. It is there that the reality of the truth, “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith OF the Son of God,” becomes a demonstrable reality. I live His life by His Spirit, being filled with His fullness. The old me no longer exists; my DNA and ancestry have changed. Christ IN me, the Hope of Glory!
When we have the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we will become who He sees and says we are! The chains will be gone! We will live a life few know, and most don’t believe possible.
LORD, open the eyes of our hearts so we can see, believe, and be!
Roy's Covenant Corner 