ALERT

During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington's army, Rall was still playing cards.

Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present--their first major victory of the war.  (From: Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 21.)

Jesus warned the disciples, and Paul and Peter both warned the saints to be on the alert.  In our distracted, careless society these are important warnings for Christians.  So what does it mean to be “on the alert”, and what are we to be alert for? 

To be alert means to be: watchful, observant, undistracted, on guard, quick, sharp, vigilant, wary, prepared; in other words aware of what is going on around you.

The opposite condition is to be: sleepy, distracted, unaware, incognizant, careless, sluggish, falsely secure.

According to Scripture, we should be alert:

1.	For the Lord’s coming	(Matthew 24:41-43, Matthew 25:13, Mark 13: 33-35, Luke 12:37)
2.	In prayer	(Luke 21:36; Colossians 4:2, Ephesians 6:17-19)
3.	In teaching the truth and guarding against deceivers	(Acts 20:28-31)
4.	Against temptation	(1 Peter 5:8)
5.	Against an unforgiving heart	(2 Corinthians 2:8-11)

At the same time, we are not to be anxious.  Being anxious is not the same as being alert. Instead, staying watchful depends on our being in constant contact with the Lord, our first Love, who is the source of all the strength we need, and staying in His word (which is how we know what He wants).  In this way, we can stay both alert and at peace. 

What Money Can’t Buy and Death Can’t Take Away

 A pastor friend of mine in Tennessee had a cross-stitched hanging on his living room wall that simply read “PASSING AWAY”.  Being in my early 20’s at the time, I thought that was just a zealous saying; impractical to consider.  I was just beginning get the things I wanted.  But through the years, the experiences of life have enlightened me a bit.  Careers, family, friends, finances, health, respect, human love; all seem to live so briefly.  They appear and then disappear long before we are ready for them to.
I happened on a radio program last week.  The speaker, the late Adrian Rodgers, was encouraging listeners to make a list of all the things (we have) that money couldn’t buy and that death could not take away.  I thought on this for a good while and could only arrive at a very short list that met both criteria.  Essentially these things would have to be both un-purchased, that is gifts, and eternal.  Three scriptures came to mind. The first clearly sets out three things that are eternal: Faith, Hope, and Love:

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13:12, NASB)

The second explains the eternal basis for the first three, the Word of God:

The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8, NASB)

The third gives us the benefit of the greatest of Faith, Hope, and Love:

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38, NASB)

So, here is my short list:

1. God’s love, graciously shown to me when I was without hope, and had no use for Him;
2. God’s righteousness, freely give to me through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One;
3. Fellowship with God now, in this life;
4. An enduring Hope: Eternal life in the presence of the One who has given these gifts.

So, whatever comes my way (or leaves me), I can now rest assured that I have an eternal and loving God and Father, who has first given me Himself and then bestowed on me the finest gifts; practical, strong and enduring—just what I always wanted but couldn’t quite see it.
Scripture Quotations from the New American Standard Bible.

Peace of God; God of Peace

 

King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, (other than Christ) wrote:

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:10, NASB)

We may protest that we do not love money in that way, and believe we can excuse ourselves from this futility; but, the implication of this passage, in context with the rest of the book, is that we can substitute anything we want for the word “money” (except, of course God) and the passage still applies.

Solomon was clear that money, sex, knowledge, notoriety, work or status, while not bad in themselves, could not satisfy him; and he had them all in abundance.

Many of us are living troubled, futile and out-of-focus lives because we are still trying to fill ourselves with things that cannot satisfy our real need: to know Christ and His Word, and to live out that Word every day.

Do you feel you have no peace lately?  Are you worried, troubled and anxious?  Do you believe God is not blessing your efforts, and that everything you attempt ends poorly?  Here’s the cure:

⁶Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

⁷And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

⁹Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you. (Phillipians 4:6-9, Amplified Bible)

To sum up: Are you anxious? Do you lack peace? Pray and be thankful.  Do you feel God is not with you or blessing your efforts?  Try practicing the things you have learned from scripture.

*End Note: This post is for Christians.  If you haven’t believed the Gospel, and don’t know Christ Jesus, peace can’t be yours.  But if you will believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for your sins, and rose from the dead, the peace of God will be yours and will grow as you listen to and obey the Word of God.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE

 

Is God Glorified Even When We are Disciplined By Him?

 

As we are living out and working out our salvation, we may find ourselves in challenging situations or even times when we are being disciplined by the Lord.  The Book of Hebrews tells us that this is always for our good. In fact, we have the promise that God causes ALL things (even what we would call the bad things) to work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.

In Jeremiah 2, God in His complaint against the people of Israel recounts how he brought them through the desert:

“…through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man dwelt…” (Jeremiah 2:6, NASB)

Israel’s desert sojourn was God’s punishment for their disobedience and unbelief demonstrated in their refusal to go into the Promised Land.  They were to spend 40 years as nomads in one of the most hostile landscapes on earth; a place that “no one crossed and where no man dwelt.” 

Though the punishment was severe, it was not TOO severe; and though punishment was one goal, it wasn’t the only one. What good could come from this?  Even in this awful place, while the evil and rebellious died out or were killed by disease or other misfortunes, God still provided for their every need.  During that time they were sustained by food directly from heaven; their shoes didn’t even wear out. Even in this, God was being glorified.

This could not have gone unnoticed by nations on either side of the desert.  Consider what they must have thought about this people.  The Israelites, the refugees of Egypt,  were obviously surviving by  miraculous means by the hundreds of thousands in a hostile place where no one crossed or lived.  Food fell out of the sky for them; water came out of rocks.  Flocks of birds flew to their camp.  Anyone who attacked them was defeated or destroyed.  They were not only surviving, their population was growing. 

Consider what the surrounding nations must have thought watching this people become a nation out of nothing, in a place where there was nothing.  Is it any wonder that the fear of them was on all the surrounding nations?

Those paying attention to these events would have seen that the God of Israel was worthy of worship as the only true God.  They would have seen both His justice and His mercy.  God wasn’t just punishing a disobedient people that he scraped out of Egyptian slavery; He was also spreading His fame throughout the area and teaching His own people obedience and endurance.  Had those surrounding nations paid attention and understood, they could have shared in the blessings of Abraham.

We can take hope and comfort in this when we are suffering discipline or even just suffering:  nothing escapes Gods sovereignty, and nothing happens except by his permission.  Even our disobedience, for which we sometimes suffer His discipline, cannot thwart His good purposes or diminish His glory.

Scriptural References:  Jeremiah 2; Romans 8:28; Hebrew 12.

Lessons from the Life of Gideon 10: Full Circle

The battle was over. The Kings and leaders of the Midianite armies were dead and their armies dead or scattered.  The Israelite collaborators at Penuel and Succoth had been disciplined or executed.
Because of this miraculous victory the the men of Israel were ready to have Gideon be King over them (Judges 8:22).  Gideon refused in accordance with the instructions of Moses, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you. (Judges 8:23). 
Then we find one of the saddest words found in the annals of heroes of any era.  This word, where it is found in scripture, dealing with the affairs of God and men, usually brings no good with it.  The word: “YET”.
Gideon refuses to be made King over the Israelites and take glory that belongs only to God; however, (YET) he decides that he should get something for his trouble, (just to dedicate to God):

²⁴Yet Gideon said to them, "I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil." (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
²⁵They said, "We will surely give them." So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil.
²⁶The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the neck bands that were on their camels' necks.  (Judges 8: 24-26)

It is with the gold he receives that he makes an Ephod and sets it up in his home town, perhaps to commemorate the victory.  But it fell into use by the Israelites as an object of worship.
Pretending not to want to rule, Gideon has begun to deceive himself by degrees.  The account further says that Gideon had seventy sons by his many wives, (a sign of a ruler wishing to ensure his continued reign) plus one son by a concubine whom he named Abimelech.  The meaning of this name: “Father is King”. This Abimelech, in his lust for power and wealth, has his seventy brothers killed at the same time, and is himself later killed in a battle by a woman who drops a millstone on him. 
Even so, God allows Gideon to live to a ripe old age, and Israel has peace for forty years.  But as soon as Gideon is dead, the cycle that ends centuries later with the destruction of Israel and Judah begins again:

³³Then it came about, as soon as Gideon was dead, ^(R)that the sons of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made ^(S)Baal-berith their god.
³⁴Thus the sons of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side;
³⁵nor did they show kindness to the household of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in accord with all the good that he had done to Israel. (Judges 8: 33-35)

In this we see the character and fate of the unchanged, un-regenerated heart.  No matter what good it may first intend, the end is always the same: evil.  Only when God has made us new creatures in Christ Jesus are we capable of not sinning (though we do).  And in the end, when we leave this body and live in His presence, we will finally be incapable of sinning.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission

Lessons From the Life of Gideon 9: No Neutral Ground

Considering the gracious leading and patience Gideon had received from God while in preparation for the great battle, it might seem ironic that Gideon would threaten (and carry out) such severe punishments on the residents of Succoth and Penuel for refusing to supply him and his men while they were pursuing the Midianites.

15He came to the men of Succoth and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?'" 16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and he disciplined the men of Succoth with them. 17He tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city (Judges 8:15-17, NASB)

To help understand this, let’s take a look at the scene. First, we see Gideon and his 300 men (note that none had been killed because God was with them), crossing over the Jordan in pursuit of the Midianites. The enemy still fielded a sizable force of 15.000 men, even though 120,000 had fallen from internal fighting and at the hands of the combined forces of Israel that were mustered after the battle began.

Nevertheless they were fleeing before Gideon. The retreating enemy would have been visible to both Succoth and Penuel, even though it may have seemed to them like a vast pride of lions was being pursued by a little flock of goats.

Even so, the men of both cities responded to Gideon’s request for assistance, not with reluctance or even cautious aid, but with taunts. These were Israelites refusing help in the battle or even aid to their countrymen who were in harms way. While they may have believed they were preserving their cities by remaining neutral in the conflict, they actually became collaborators with the enemies of Israel. As a result, after the battle was won, the elders and men of Succoth and Penuel shared, in some measure, the lot of the enemy.

LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF GIDEON PART 8: Grace Learned

Jezreel Valley where Midian camped

Gideon had called for the people of Ephraim to cut off the retreat of the Midianites. They did so and captured and killed Oreb and Zeeb, two Midianite leaders. They brought their heads to Gideon, but were angry that he had not called them when he first went out to fight the Midianites.

1Then the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?" And they contended with him vigorously. (Judges 8:1, NASB)

We are not told why the men of Ephraim were so angry with Gideon or why Ephraim and Issachar, who each had territory bordering on the Jezreel Valley, were not initially called, when the other territories adjacent to Manasseh (Asher, Naphtali and Zebulun) were.

Instead of rebuking them for their pettiness, Gideon wisely consoled them. The once cynical Gideon had learned by God’s example of patience and grace towards him.

2But he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3"God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that. (Judges 8: 2-3, NASB)

It is important also for us to remember that we Christians have been graced by God, and that we must offer to others who offend us, anger us, or just plain annoy us, the same grace that we have received from God.

“7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8which He lavished on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8, NASB)

In Part 9: the aftermath. Why was there no mercy for the leaders of Midian and the two cities that would not help Gideon?


Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission