Deborah had the distinction of being both a Judge and a Prophetess over Israel when she called Barak and gave him a command from the Lord. ‘Go, take 10,000 troops with you and I will lure your enemy Sisera and his troops into your hands.’ Barak was willing to go, but only if Deborah went with him. She agreed, but told him in the end it would be a woman getting the praise for the death of Sisera not him. As all of his troops fell around him, Sisera fled to a tent where Jael, a Kenite woman stood. He asked her to hide him, so she covered him inside the tent and stood at the entrance watching. But after Sisera fell asleep, she quietly slipped to him with a tent-peg and a hammer and drove the peg through his temple and he died at her feet. Thus the prophesy was fulfilled by her being honored rather than Barak.
Month: June 2013
Acts 17: 28 ” For in Him we live and move and have our being.”
I think Job 12:10 said it best, ” In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” The Lord holds our very life in His hand…for without Him we are nothing. We can go without oxygen for about 3 minutes, without water for about 3 days, and without food for about 3 weeks…but we can’t go even 3 seconds without God giving us life.
I Kings 3:25 ” He then gave an order: Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
Wise King Solomon had quite a dilemma brought before him to judge…two prostitutes who lived together had just both given birth to baby boys…during the night one had smothered her infant while she slept, so she switched babies…but the mother of the live baby knew the difference, but couldn’t prove it. Now here they were in front of King Solomon arguing their case. The rather barbaric decree Solomon gave was intended to flush out the truth…It says that, “The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the King, ‘Please my Lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!’ ” Hearing such a merciful and sensitive outburst coming from this woman, King Solomon then knew who the true mother of the baby was.
Habakkuk 3: 17-18 ” Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
There comes times in everyone’s life when we feel all is lost and ruined…everywhere we look in our lives we see devastation and destruction. When we are staring at this bleak landscape called our life, we need to do what Habakkuk did. He used one tiny word to change his mindset and attitude. That word was “yet”. That little word allowed him to place his focus on and draw strength from his Lord and Savior, and in doing so was able to rejoice in the face of ruin.
Matthew 6:9 ” Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name.”
On this Father’s Day I wish all Dads a blessed day. And for those of you who might not have had the best Dad while growing up, or didn’t have a Father figure in your life at all…look towards you Heavenly Father for inspiration, love and compassion. When kids come from broken homes, many times they are hesitant about becoming parents, not wanting to make the same mistakes that their Mom and Dad did. Again, by looking to our Heavenly Father they can see the perfect example to emulate in their lives as parents.
Matthew 18:14 ” In the same way your Father in Heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
Jesus’s passion was for the lost…it showed every time He spoke about them to His Disciples. What are you passionate about? What do you have great enthusiasm, fire and intensity for? God can take our passions and use them for His good everyday. For me, my passion is cooking and baking…you could call me a real “Foodie”. I will admit without shame that I have a library of cookbooks, plus 6 binders of collected recipes from the last 30 years. My poor long-suffering husband never knows what he’ll be eating, for I’m always trying new recipes out on him. But the Lord has me using this passion to bake cookies, birthday cakes, cupcakes, and cheesecakes to surprise and bless many, many people. He has taken my passion and focused it outward to bless others…He can do the same with yours.
Isaiah 54:2 ” Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”
Do not put limits on what the Lord can do in your life…don’t stop His presence from doing mighty things, simply because of your very limited vision of yourself. Be courageous and give Him permission to expand not only your vision, but the limitless possibilities He can do through you…the only thing that will restrict Him is you and your pup tent.
Luke 5:31 ” Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’ “
Most people don’t go to the Doctor if they’re not sick, and Jesus didn’t come to Earth to tell the righteous what a great job they were doing and sit around the campfire singing hymns…He came to show the Way for those who were lost and missing the mark. He came that the lost would have a change of heart, turn from sin, and embrace their Savior. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Psalm 42: 11 ” Why are you downcast O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”
This particular verse is repeated two more times in Psalm 42 and 43…why so? Do you ever give yourself a pep talk? Something like, “I know you can do it, you can do it! Hang in there and just do it!” I believe the Psalmist was doing the same thing… “Ok Soul, why are you moping around? Instead, we need to be remembering all the things the Lord has done for us in the past…and all the wonderful things He’s going to be doing for us in the future… so now, get up, and get going…you have nothing to mope about!
James 4:1-2 ” What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
“I want, what I want, when I want it!” Anyone that’s seen a 3-year-old throwing a temper tantrum knows what this means. Most of the strife and disputes in our lives come from selfishness on our part… we crave, covet, and lust after things and want our way no matter who we have to go over to get it. We may be much older…we may not thrash around on the floor kicking and screaming…but we can still throw tantrums when we don’t get our own way. Some take a more passive/aggressive approach, while others pout and make life miserable for everyone around them until they relent…either way, a tantrum is a tantrum, whether you’re 3, 33, or 83.
Safetypinlove 