The deadly end of flirting with temptation

The binding of Samson - Rembrandt

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 16-18; Psalm 75

TO CHEW ON: "Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." Judges 16:4


Delilah was not the first woman to lure sensuous Samson into trouble. His first wife (not named) used whining and wiles in a similar way to get Samson to say more than he should have (Judges 14).

Samson's cat-and-mouse game with Delilah illustrates his vulnerability to feminine temptation and how dangerous it is to play with sin. Three times Samson put Delilah off. Yet even as he did, he crept ever closer to telling Delilah the secret of his strength when he told her:

• Seven fresh bowstrings would hold him (Judges 16:7).

• New ropes never yet used would make him weak (Judges 16:11).

• Weaving his hair into the web of a loom would neutralize him (Judges 16:13).

• And then he broke down and told her the truth about his uncut hair (Judges 16:17). The story ended tragically in his death (Judges 16:23-31).

There are some lessons for us here in how to deal with temptation.

1. We need to be students of ourselves and aware of our own weaknesses and what situations are likely to cause us to compromise and sin. Samson's irresistible temptation was women. What is ours? Money? Earning the praise of people? Needing to be liked? Fearing to offend? Self-indulgence?

2. We need to resist temptation instead of flirting with it. How do we do that? The Bible has some good advice:

• "Take heed to yourselves" ("Be on guard" - J.B.Phillips & Message; "Watch out!" - NLT; "Be careful" - NIV) about our tendency to be led away and distracted from godly things - Luke 21:34.

• Be warned or forewarned against temptation - 2 Peter 3:17.

• Prepare for it by putting on the armour of God - Ephesians 6:13.

• Don't say the first 'yes' to temptation - Proverbs 1:10.

• Refuse to even put our feet on the path to giving in to sin, let alone walking that path - Proverbs 4:14.

• Present our body parts to God for His use and not to sin as "instruments of wickedness" (NIV) or "weapons of evil" (J.B.Phillips) - Romans 6:13.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to know myself and the things that tempt me. Help me to be prepared for temptation by keeping myself clothed in spiritual armour. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 75

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Angel visits

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 13-15; Psalm 74

TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?'" Judges 13:18

An amazing thing happened to Manoah's barren wife. An angel visited her, told her she would have a son, and gave instructions for how she should live during her pregnancy as well as how to raise her soon-to-be-born little boy.

When she told Manoah, he prayed for an another angel visitation and the Angel appeared to his wife again, stuck around long enough for Manoah to meet Him, quiz Him, even offer Him food.

Did you notice my capitalizations there? That's because in this instance it seems that the Angel was none other than God Himself—a theophany—the Angel of the Lord as distinct from an angel of the Lord. Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology chapter on angels says:

"Who is the Angel of the Lord? Several passages of Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, speak of the angel of the Lord in a way that suggests that he is God himself taking on a human form to appear briefly to various people in the Old Testament.

In some passages "the angel of the Lord" (not "an angel of the Lord") is spoken of as the Lord himself. [He goes on to give some examples and continues] .... These are clear instances of the angel of the Lord or the angel of God appearing as God himself, perhaps more specifically as God the Son taking on a human body for a short time in order to appear to human beings" - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 401.

In addition, in this case the fact that the Angel says His name is "wonderful" reminds us of Isaiah 9:6 where "Wonderful" is one of the names of the coming Messiah.

Why did God choose to visit Manoah and his wife in this way? Why does God ever break through in supernatural visitations and unexplainable phenomenon? Some time ago I read a fascinating book called Angels, Miracles, and Heavenly Encounters. It is a collection of first-person and as-told-to stories of people who have experienced angelic visits.

Compiler James Stuart Bell in the Introduction gives us some reasons as to why God may choose to break through in such ways:

"The supernatural world, the world revealed to us in the Scriptures, is normally apprehended by faith and not by our senses. But at times, though they may be few and far between, for God's own mysterious reasons, we are allowed a window into that world. He may be trying to warn us about some danger, encourage our faith, or provide guidance in terms of our behaviour .... Some of these experiences may be meant to be shared to edify others ... these very personal stories ... convey how much God cares for us and how active and close He is to us—fighting our battles and revealing the eternal consequences of our choices and behaviour, even our thoughts and attitudes here on earth" - James Stuart Bell, "Introduction," Angels, Miracles, and Heavenly Encounters, Kindle Location 130 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your involvement in human existence. Thank You for these stories of angel visits—old and new—that reinforce Your reality and how much You care for us. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 74

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Destructive cycles

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 9-12; Psalm 73

TO CHEW ON: “Then the children of Israel again did evil in th sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths…

So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines …

And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD…

And the children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned…’

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:6,7,10,15,16).

In the depressing chapters of our reading today we see firsthand the living out of the summary of this book from Judges 2:

1] The people leave God to worship idols - Judges 2:11-13. 

2] God gives them over to plundering neighbours and nomads who wreck their land and livelihood - Judges 2:14-16. 

3] In desperation the Israelites pray to God for help - Judges 2:15,18. 

4] God sends a leader—a judge—to deliver them - Judges 2:16. 

5] They have peace during the judge’s lifetime but on his death revert back to idol-worshiping ways - Judges 2:19. 

6] The cycle begins again - Judges 2:20-23.

As we read today’s stories of Israel descending with every generation and judge into greater anarchy, chaos, and depravity, it’s easy for us to feel critical. How could they not recognize the self-sabotage in their cycles?

Yet I would submit that their actions are only an outworking of the condition of the human heart that by default rebels against God and looks for other deities.  And I’m not so sure we’re immune from these same kinds of cyclical reactions that keep us from freedom and forward motion.

Do we find ourselves in the same spot of joblessness or debt or hoarding or obesity or addiction or relationship problems that we’ve broken free from in the past? 

Could the answer to complete and final breakthrough be that we need victory over spiritual rebellion in some chamber of our own hearts? Are we returning to our own idols of self, indulgence, fear of not enough, lust, etc. 

Let’s pray for God to give us insight into our own destructive cycles.

PRAYER: The destructive cycles of Israel are not unfamiliar to me. Please help me to see and recognize the rebellions and idols of my own heart that have me going in circles. Please show me the path to breakthrough. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 73

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Playing games with God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6-8; Psalm 72

TO CHEW ON: "Then Gideon said to God, 'Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.'" Judges 6:39

This little story is the origin of the saying 'put out a fleece' meaning ask for a sign to test a situation.

Asking for or depending on signs was a frequent thing in the Bible.

• Abraham's servant asked for a sign when he was sent to find a wife for Isaac - Genesis 24:42-44.

• Samuel told Saul that certain signs would prove that God was with him as he assumed the role of king (1 Samuel 10:7).

• Later Saul's son Jonathan determined that the sign he and his servant should fight the Philistines would be if they said: "Come up to us" instead of "Wait until we come to you" - 1 Samuel 14:10.

So why did Gideon seem fearful of God's anger when he asked for this sign?

I believe it was because this was the second sign that he asked for to confirm the same situation. God had already given him an answer with a sign, so he realized that in a way he was trivializing God's first response by asking for another one.

Perhaps Jesus' vexation over the Pharisees' request for a sign was the reaction Gideon feared from God: "When the Pharisees came to dispute with Him and sought a sign from heaven to test Him, He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign?'" Mark 8:12.

Seeking sign upon sign can easily disintegrate into playing games of stalling, quibbling, and rationalizing with God—what the Pharisees did again and again. That is not the behavior Jesus calls "blessed." Rather, He praised simple faith that believed because of the signs it already had. To Thomas, who insisted that he see Jesus' scars before he will believe that He rose from the dead, Jesus said: "'Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" John 20:29.

The Bible is full of reported signs: "... these (referring to "this book"—John, and all of Scripture) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name" - John 20:31. Let's let them be enough for us.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, please grow my faith so that Your sign-filled Bible is enough for me. Help me to recognize the signs of guidance, confirmation and affirmation that You send my way. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 72

MORE: Reckless faith

"If you debate for a second when God has spoken, it is all up. Never begin to say - "Well, I wonder if He did speak?" Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, June 18th reading

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A sanctified imagination

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 4-5; Psalm 71

TO CHEW ON: "'Thus let all your enemies perish, O Lord!
But let those who love Him be like the sun
When it comes out in full strength.'" Judges 5:31


Judge Deborah was a woman with a vivid imagination. The "Thus..." in the verse above refers to the details of her victory over Sisera as we find them in her song (Judges 5:1-31). This victory ballad is full of imaginative specifics.

She describes the incident of Jael, the tent peg, and the hammer in gory detail (Judges 5:24-27).

She imagines Sisera's mother waiting for her son to return from battle. When he delays, she envisions how this woman and her maids will explain his lateness to themselves:

"Are they not finding and dividing the spoil:
To every man a girl or two;
For Sisera plunder of dyed garments..." (Judges 5:30).

But Deborah's most inspiring use of her imagination is in Judges 4, before she ever had reason to sing that song. Then the situation was still dire. Israel under the thumb of Canaanite King Jabin (and Sisera, his army commander), hadn't seen a ray of hope in twenty years (Judges 4:3). Yet Deborah said to Barak (the commander of Israel's army):

"Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?" (Judges 4:14).

Her faith in God fueled her imagination so that she saw the victory before it ever actually happened.

Deborah's use of imagination demonstrates three ways we can use our imaginative ability.

• To communicate the human experience in literature: Her description of Jael's actions is imagination put to use in the service of story and poetry. It is one God-given way we can use our visionary ability.

• To reassure ourselves: Deborah's speculation of how Sisera's mother was handling her son's delay shows how imagination can bolster feelings of well-being. However this kind of imagining can easily disintegrate into worry when we  fuel it with pictures of the bad things that could be happening.

• To affirm our faith: We sanctify our imaginings when we use them in the service of faith like Deborah did. This is building a visionary future on God—His person and promises—and then going into action to make it a reality.

May we have more of the kind of imagination that, ignited by God's promises and fed by faith, sees victory before the battle has even begun.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for my imagination. Please help me to fuel it not with fear but with faith in You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 71 

MORE: The gift of imagination

"Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. If you have been bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, it will be one of the greatest assets to faith when the time of trial comes, because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together" - Oswald Chambers, February 12th entry in My Utmost for His Highest.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All it takes is one generation

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 1-3; Psalm 70

TO CHEW ON: “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD, nor the work which He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10


In our reading through the Bible, we’ve just finished the book of Joshua. The Israelites have finally arrived in the Promised Land. They have divided it into sections for the twelve tribes and begun routing the Canaanites living there. But they have not utterly destroyed them, as told to, for very soon we see them adopting Canaanite ways, especially religious ways (Judges 2:11-13).

Thirty-two years have elapsed between when Joshua took over from Moses and Joshua's death. During those years and a few beyond that, the old timers who had experienced God’s miracles firsthand—the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the manna and water from the rock, the path through the Jordan and the crumbling Jericho walls—have kept alive the memories of Yahweh at work in Israel.

But of the generation following we read that they DIDN’T KNOW GOD.

God had warned that this could and would happen, had given the people feasts and holidays to commemorate their experiences with Him, their escape from Egypt (Passover) and His care during their years of wilderness wandering (Feast of Booths). Moses had lectured them in specifics of keeping God and His laws uppermost in their homes  and families (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). They had pledged with Joshua to cultivate familiarity with God’s words (Joshua 1:8,16). But still they forsook Him in the very next generation.

This is a huge warning to me—to us. Because for us too, all it takes is one generation.  

So let’s keep telling and writing the stories of our personal history with God, planting God’s word in our children from infancy on, establishing family altars of Bible reading, prayer, and story telling so that it can never be said of us: “... Then another generation grew up that didn’t know anything of God or the work he had done…” Judges 2:10 MSG.

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to be faithful to You and the next generation by continuing to tell my children and grandchildren about You and instilling in them a deep love and respect for the Bible. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 70

The Bible Project VIDEO:  Judges (Read Scripture series)



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.


Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

When mothers arise

"Deborah" by Gustave Dore

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 4:21-5:11

TO CHEW ON: "In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath,
In the days of Jael,
The highways were deserted,
And the travelers walked along the byways,
Village life ceased, it ceased in Israel
Until I Deborah arose,
Arose a mother in Israel." Judges 5:6-7

A mother arising—I love that picture. I can identify with it, especially as it relates to mothers arising in defence of their children.

• Sarah was such a mother when she asked Abraham to expel Hagar and Ishmael from their home to guarantee that Isaac would be Abraham's sole heir (Genesis 21:9-13).

• Jochebed, Moses' mother, arose, albeit ever so secretly, to protect her infant son from Pharaoh's butchers (Exodus 2:1-3).

• Hannah's arising in the form of pleading prayers caused God to open her womb and she became the mother of prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:9-17).

• Bathsheba's arising took the form of a meeting with elderly King David to remind him of his promise to anoint Solomon as his successor, even as Solomon's brother Adonijah was organizing his own coronation (1 Kings 1:15-17).

But Deborahs's arising was on another level altogether. Her mother-heart embraced all the citizens of the nation as her children. The forsaken villages and deserted highways—emptied as people hid in fortifications for fear of Jabin and Sisera—outraged her. She, together with Barak and their army of 10,000 eventually routed Sisera and his iron chariots. He alone fled on foot to Jael's tent where she dealt the final blow (Judges 4:21).

As mothers we have tremendous influence. The proverb "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" is no idle saying. And that influence isn't only through the impact of our kids. It comes in other ways too. Have you noticed, for example, how many women have arisen, often out of personal tragedy, to form organizations that bring good things out of bad:

Candace (Candy) Lightner started Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) after a drunk hit-and-run driver killed her 13-year-old daughter.

Betty Fox formed the Terry Fox Foundation (an organization that raises money for cancer research) after cancer took the life of her son Terry.

Wilma Derksen was instrumental in bringing Child Find to Manitoba and started Victim's Voice, an organization that supports victims of crime, after her 13-year-old daughter Candace was abducted and murdered. (She tells her story in Have You Seen Candace?)

As mothers let's harness the powerful nurturing force within us by rising up first within our families, and then by following God's leading into other ventures in our communities and nations.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the example of Deborah's mother-heart for her nation. Help me to take my place with all the godly mothers who have arisen to make an impact in their homes, their communities, their nations, and the world. Amen.

MORE: Wilma's story

In the 2011 100 Huntley Street video "Wilma Derksen—A Victim's Voice," Wilma and Cliff Derksen talk with Magdalene John about the impact of Candace's death, how God helped her through this time of unthinkable tragedy, and the good things that have come out of it.



The man accused and sentenced for Candace's murder in 2011 has since been retried and in October of 2017 declared not guilty. Read the Derksen's reaction to this development in "It's over for us" - (National Post).

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deborah - anointed leader

"Deborah" by Ferdinand Max Bredt

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 4:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "And Barak said to her, 'If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!' Judges 4:8

We read here of a rare time when a woman led Israel. Deborah was the nation's judge. Her wisdom attracted the children of Israel to come to her for counsel and justice (Judges 4:5).

She was also a visionary who called for Barak to deploy troops and go to battle against Jabin.

Barak was willing to go. But he wanted Deborah to go with him. Was this a lack of faith or wise realism? Even my Bible's notes differ on what his reluctance to go without Deborah meant. The footnotes to Judges attribute this to a lack of faith. But I like the interpretation expressed in the sidebar article "A Woman Essential to Victory":

"Barak, a great man of faith (Hebrews 11:32) is a classic study in the wisdom of a man's acknowledgment of the potential power of a woman's contribution to a goal. Because of Deborah's godly and skillful leadership traits, Barak (as commander of Israel's armies) would not go into this battle without her, even when told that he would not get full honour for the victory (Judges 4:9). His priority was the welfare of the nation, and he knew that their combined efforts would ensure success as each brought their distinctive, God-given strengths to the challenge" - Jane Hansen, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 319.

Doesn't Barak's reaction help us recognize our own desire to be led by people—men or women—in whose lives God's presence and power is evident? Such anointed leaders are God's gifts to us as individuals and the church.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the godly men and women who are the leaders in my life and my church. Help me to follow their lead and respect them as Your gift to me. May I be experience Your anointing as I lead in my small way. Amen.


MORE: Deborah in art

Canadian artist Donna Smallenberg uses art to depict inspiring Bible women and spiritual themes. Her painting of Deborah and the explanation of the painting give us even more appreciation for this Bible character. 

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Anticipate your Judge

Photo from Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: PSALM 96:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth." Psalm 96:13

I enjoy watching real life crime mysteries, the kind one sees on shows like Dateline. A frequent complication of these stories is the person convicted of the crime insisting on his or her innocence.

The dramatization (or replay of film footage of actual events) usually shows both the prosecution and defense sides of the story. So we watchers become a sort of jury, left to make up our own minds about the guilt or innocence of the accused.

More than once I've found myself disagreeing with the verdict that actually came down. I've left the program feeling that justice was not served, that truth did not win.

The psalmist in today's reading is overjoyed about an aspect of God's someday coming that we might expect him to dread—God's judgment. Why would someone look forward to God coming in judgment? Perhaps our focus verse explains it:

"He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth."

As we saw yesterday, Jesus' kingdom is the kingdom of truth. So when He judges, He also judges rightly, knowing the truth. Just as we would look forward, if we were a Dateline character falsely accused, to the coming of a judge who knew the truth and would judge righteously, so we can anticipate the coming of God, the just judge of the Earth, who is knows all the facts.

Of course, not one of us could stand before Him on our own, free of the guilt of sin. For we were born sinful. But if we have come to Jesus on His terms ("I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" - Jesus in John 14:6), God sees us as forgiven and pure. Then on the day we stand before our righteous judge who knows the truth, we can look forward to His exposé and be assured that He will deal righteously with all earth's people and events.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus, who has taken the punishment for my sin, so I can anticipate instead of dread Your coming as judge. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

What are you?

"The Call of Gideon" by Gerard Jollain
Engraving, about 1670.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6:1-21


TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" Judges 6:12

The description the Angel of the Lord gave Gideon — "mighty man of valor" — doesn't seem unusual until we read on and discover Gideon was anything but that. He himself argued against it when he said to the angel: "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house" - Judges 6:15.

Later, just beyond the end of today's reading, he did what the angel told him to do but at night, "...because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day..." Judges 6:27.

He reminds me of Peter. Remember the cowardly Peter, so intimidated by events that he couldn't even bring himself to admit knowing Jesus? Then, only weeks later, he was the one who stood up and explained the Holy Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, turned the healing of the lame man into an altar call, and just wouldn't stop talking about Jesus even when commanded and threatened (Acts 4:18-20).

What made the difference?

In Peter's case the priests themselves figured it out: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" - Acts 4:13.

Gideon would also turn out to become what the angel said—a man of valour. When we read his whole story (Judges 6-8) we see that as he spent time with God, heard His instructions and did them he truly came to impersonate what the angel said he was (though at the end of his life, there was slippage - Judges 8:27).

What does God say about you and me? Here is a sampling:

• We are the salt of the earth - Matthew 5:13.*

• We are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14.

• We are saints - Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2.

• We are God's living stones, being built up as a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

• We are children of God and will resemble Christ when He returns - 1 John 3;1-2.

Do these things seem true about us? Or would we like Gideon argue otherwise? We can make it so as we spend time with Jesus, letting Him change us.

PRAYER: Dear God, I would love it if people puzzled over the grace and power evident in my life — and concluded that the only reason for it was because I had been with Jesus. Amen.


MORE: Five more things we are:

• We are God's workmanship (handiwork) created (born anew) in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that we should do - Ephesians 2:10.

• We are righteous and holy - Ephesians 2:24.

• We are citizens of heaven and seated in heaven right now - Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6.

• We are sons/daughters of light not of darkness - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

• We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession to proclaim His excellencies - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

*Taken from "Who Am I?" p. 8 of Resolving Personal Conflicts workbook, Dr. Neil T. Anderson, 1990, Freedom in Christ Ministries.

(From the archives)

Spirit-clothed

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6:19-40

TO CHEW ON: "But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet and the Abiezrites gathered behind him." Judges 6:34

"The activity the Spirit of the Lord in the book of Judges is clearly portrayed in the charismatic leadership of the period," says my Bible's introduction to Judges. In Gideon's case the moment where God's power really took over is described in Judges 7:34: "But the Spirit of the Lord camp upon Gideon." A footnote in my Bible says. "In Hebrew this literally says 'the Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon.'" (New Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 324) What an understandable and powerful image!

But this did not happen all at once. Gideon seems to have been naturally timid and certainly cautious. When the angel first appeared to him and told him how he would save Israel, he asked for a sign (6:17-18). When God told him to tear down his father's idol images, he did it at night "because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much" (6:27). Even after he was Spirit-empowered, he asked for physical confirmation that God would really do what He said and God indulged him, twice (6:36-40).

The Holy Spirit in him didn't overpower his personality, but worked through his 'quirks' to bring him to the place of doing the needful thing: to obey. If he had heard God's destiny for him  yet balked at tearing down those idols, would the Holy Spirit have come upon him as He did? Perhaps not.

We can cooperate with God's purposes for us by modeling Gideon and obeying God's instructions to us. As Oswald Chambers says:

"If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter, bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ with regard to it and everything will become as clear as daylight….


The tiniest thing we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is quite sufficient to account for spiritual muddle, and all the thinking we like to spend on it will never make it clear. Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern."

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (September 14th reading).

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, I want my life to be clothes for You. Please point out and help me deal with areas of self-will, stubbornness, disobedience. Amen.

MORE: Signs?

Gideon's request for a sign has made its way into our language. We all know what it means when someone says they are "laying a fleece." But is asking God to confirm something to us with a sign a good thing?

In the New Testament, it was the skeptical scribes and Pharisees, those religious leaders who seemed determined to scoff in spite of everything, who were continually bugging Jesus for signs:

Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; John 2:18; John 4:48; John 6:30

We hardly want to be lumped in with them when Jesus praises those believers (in His time and in the time to come) who trust without the need of a sign. (John 20:24-29)

(This meditation is a re-post from July 3, 2010)

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

What are you?

"The Call of Gideon" by Gerard Jollain
Engraving, about 1670.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Judges 6:1-18


TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!'" Judges 6:12

The description the Angel of the Lord gave Gideon — "mighty man of valor" — doesn't seem unusual until we read on and discover Gideon was anything but that. He himself argued against it when he said to the angel: "Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father's house" - Judges 6:15.

Later, just beyond the end of today's reading, he did what the angel told him to do but at night, "...because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day..." Judges 6:27.

He reminds me of Peter. Remember the cowardly Peter, so intimidated by events that he couldn't even bring himself to admit knowing Jesus? Then, only weeks later, he was the one who stood up and explained the Holy Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, turned the healing of the lame man into an altar call, and just wouldn't stop talking about Jesus even when commanded and threatened (Acts 4:18-20).

What made the difference?

In Peter's case the priests themselves figured it out: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" - Acts 4:13.

Gideon would also turn out to become what the angel said — a man of valour. When we read his whole story (Judges 6-8) we see that as he spent time with God, heard His instructions and did them he truly came to impersonate what the angel said he was (though at the end of his life, there was slippage - Judges 8:27).

What does God say about you and me? Here is a sampling:

• We are the salt of the earth - Matthew 5:13.*

• We are the light of the world - Matthew 5:14.

• We are saints - Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2.

• We are God's living stones, being built up as a spiritual house - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

• We are children of God and will resemble Christ when He returns - 1 John 3;1-2.

Do these things seem true about us? Or would we like Gideon argue otherwise? We can make it so as we spend time with Jesus, letting Him change us.

PRAYER: Dear God, I would love it if people puzzled over the grace and power evident in my life — and concluded that the only reason for it was because I had been with Jesus. Amen.


MORE: Five more things we are:

• We are God's workmanship (handiwork) created (born anew) in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that we should do - Ephesians 2:10.

• We are righteous and holy - Ephesians 2:24.

• We are citizens of heaven and seated in heaven right now - Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6.

• We are sons/daughters of light not of darkness - 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

• We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession to proclaim His excellencies - 1 Peter 2:9-10.

*Taken from "Who Am I?" p. 8 of Resolving Personal Conflicts workbook, Dr. Neil T. Anderson, 1990, Freedom in Christ Ministries.