Judges 1-3; Psalm 16;Luke 20

Judges 1- 3 It’s so sad to see all the self inflicted pain the children of Israel put themselves through again and again just because they walked in disobedience. The lesson learnt here is the price to pay for disobedience could be very costly!!

After Joshua and all the Elders that were with him died things seemed to go to plan until in Judges1:27 Manasseh made the grave mistake of not following God’s instructions and that was when things started going wrong. God was angry with them and sent His angel to rebuke the Israelites for making covenants with the canaanites and other inhabitants of the land, they served their gods and worshipped them. The bible talks about a new generation that arose after Joshua’s generation had died who didn’t know God or what He had done in Egypt so they worshipped other God’s and God punished them and defeated them at war because God’s hand was against the Israelites at war.

God in His mercy raised Judges to save them but the Israelites would return to their wicked ways and it became a vicious circle of defeat and rescue but they never left their wicked ways…

A number of lessons can be learnt here. 1/Why was there a generation that didn’t know God after Joshua’s generation..could it be that their fathers/mothers never taught them about God or were they just rebellious and enticed by the lifestyle of the other nations? – We must spend time teaching our children about our God from a young age and continue to have conversations about our God and the Christian faith with them even when they are grown up. 2/We must realise that when we walk in disobedience not only will God turn against us, we will also be left open to the enemy to plunder us. We must also be careful about the types of covenants we have with people who are not Christians or children of God which is why the bible says we shouldn’t be “unequally yoked with unbelievers”. Every covenant or relationship must be aligned with God’s word, if it’s in any way contrary to His word then don’t do it!!

Psalm 16 Here I see God is my all in all..He is the source of my refuge and “…apart from you I have no good thing”(Ps16:2 NIV) In verse 5 the Psalmist declares “…you make my lot secure” and in verse 8 he declares also “….with Him at my right hand I will not be shaken”. The Psalmist goes on to proclaim “you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead” and also “..you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand..” All these snippets of Psalm 16 just confirm to me we need nothing more than God because He is more than enough!! He is the all sufficient one..Glory!! Hallelujah!!

Luke 20 I see Jesus here demonstrate His wisdom and knowledge and how He was not only confident in the word He knew just when to speak, when to be quiet and the correct response for every situation. May we also learn from the example of Christ by spending time in the word so that we can confidently answer any questions from the world and also be able to teach our fellow brethren who may struggle with understanding God’s word. Most importantly though may we learn to trust in the Holy Spirit for guidance and instruction on when to speak and when to be quiet

In Christ

BM

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Joshua 22-24; Psalm 116; Luke 19

Today I’m sharing Psalm 116 in my own words followed by a song, entitled Psalm 116, by one of my favorite artists. (If you’ve never rearticulated/rewritten a Psalm from your own perspective back to God, I encourage you to try it!)

Psalm 116

I love you, Father.  Thank you for knowing me and knowing my voice specifically and for HEARING and ANSWERING my prayers.

You have shown me in the past that You hear and listen, so I know that, for the rest of my life, I can talk to You anytime and You will hear me.

I have experienced grief and sorrow.  At times, the sadness and fear are almost too much to bear.  

But I remember! Because I know that You have heard and answered in the past, I can call on You NOW and ask for help and comfort.

God, You are so kind and loving to me.  You make ALL things right even when this world seems very WRONG to me.

Thank You for protecting me even (and especially!) when I don’t realize I need Your protection.  You guard me in every way- physically, spiritually, and emotionally. You protect me from my own ignorance and inexperience. You pick me up and carry me when I am at my very weakest.
 
I’m a worrier, God. I lose a lot of sleep worrying. But I should be able to rest peacefully, having left all my worries and concerns with You.  You have blessed me more than I could ever know or articulate. Because you have done good things for me in the past, I know You will do them in the future.

Unlike the author of this Psalm, I haven’t faced the possibility of my own physical death.  Although I have experienced times when it seemed like death would be a welcome relief from the struggles of life and the sins of the world, You give me hope.  Your Word and Your reputation of kept promises console me and keep me from spiraling into despair.

And I have the assurance that, while I live on this earth, I am living in Your very presence because of the salvation You have so generously bought for me.

I confess that often, during difficult times, even when others assured me that You were working for good, I didn’t believe them.  I couldn’t understand how my circumstances could possibly be good.

But now I can look back and clearly see Your repeated goodness to me.  And although it seems silly to ask, I wonder how I could ever repay You?

I know what I can do! I can thank You again and again!  I can continue to pray so that You can answer my prayers and put Your goodness and love for me on display for everyone to see. And then I will have the opportunity to thank You yet again. 

I trust You to work on my behalf in the future so that I can see Your goodness and praise You again.  I will tell others of Your goodness so that they too can see what You’ve done and can believe that You will do the same for them.

Death is not something to be feared! Because all of Your children are precious to You, You welcome us to eternity when death arrives.

You have given me true freedom to serve You forever.  Thank you for the godly heritage I have been given in parents and grandparents and great grandparents who loved and served You.  May I give my own children this same invaluable inheritance that was given to me.

Thank you, Lord.  I have committed my life to you, and I want all my days to be a sacrifice of thanksgiving to You. I will do what I’ve promised to do in fellowship with other believers and in Your church.  Hallelujah!