JUDGES

It is Tuesday morning, and I'm so looking forward to the day.  To walk with God another day and be conscious of His abiding presence is my goal today.  To be yielded, submitted, humble, and attentive to His voice.... to simply have an impression of His whim.... and let that be my command.  Let's walk together Lord. Here are some things I noted as I read in Judges: 1) INCOMPLETE VICTORIES- Judges chapter one sets the stage for the whole book.  It tells how tribe after tribe had incomplete victories and it all comes back to bite them.  The people's they left to serve them become the people they later will serve.  Israel did not convert them... Israel was converted to idolatry by them.  What incomplete victories do you and I have in our lives?  Have we settled for having grown in the LORD to this degree that we are ready to stop growing in Christ?  No!  Let it never be!  Let us go on to full victory by God's Spirit. 2) JEHOVAH-SHALOM- In Judges 6:24, we see that Gideon called the place where he offered a sacrifice to God:  Jehovah-shalom.  This was under the Oak tree when the angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon.  He went home and got a sacrifice together and placed every thing upon a rock.  The angel set it on fire and then disappeared.  Gideon called the place:  Jehovah-shalom, meaning:  The LORD our Peace.  The land was dominated by the Midianites, and the Israelites were under terrible oppression and in deep poverty by the acts of their enemies, and yet.... in the midst of all of this chaos.... the LORD our Peace is revealed.  In the midst of your chaos.... the LORD is still our only source of Peace.  Can you see that today?  Do you recognize that?  Be conscious in the fact that circumstances do not provide peace.... the LORD is our Peace!  WE have Him... we have Peace! 3) DON'T LET THE BLESSING BE A SNARE- In Judges 8:27, after God gave victory by the hand of Gideon, he had an ephod of gold made, and the "thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house."  Gideon allowed the blessings of God (the victory over the Midianites) to be a snare (a trap) to him and his house.  Dear friend, let us never be filled with pride because of the blessings of God..... Why humble ourselves before God, only to see Him work mightily, and then be filled with pride to our own destruction?  Keep a humble heart, no matter what God does through you, your ministry, your family, your business, etc.  It is HIS doing, not ours!  Don't let the blessing be a snare! 4) DOES HE MOVE YOU?  In Judges 13:25, it says:  "And the spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol."  This is talking about Samson.  God began to move him at times.  The question is:  Does he move you?  The Spirit of God indwells us and ought to MOVE US.  I mean MOVE US at times.  Not by a mighty hand, but a gentle, soft voice in our spirit.  Oh LORD, move me I pray.  Move me away from my own hearts indifference.  Move me away from my own sinful complacency.  Move me to love like You love, to walk where You lead, to hear what You speak, to see what You show me, to be all that You desire.  Dear God in Heaven, please take this little pile of flesh and bone and blood, and use it for Your glory.  Let me walk with You.  Let me revel in Your presence, trust each step taken today is Your path for my life.  Glorify Yourself through the imperfect lens of this vessel.  Let others see Christ in me, not me at all.  To abide in your presence is my goal, my vision, my expectation.  Oh may it ever be!  Amen