12/9/2009 9:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Imitating the enemy
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Judges 2:1-5
Message
of the verses: “1 ¶ Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal
to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led
you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never
break My covenant with you, 2 and as for
you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall
tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have
done? 3 "Therefore I also said, ‘I
will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your
sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’" 4 When the angel of the LORD spoke these words
to all the sons of Israel,
the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5
So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the LORD.”
In the last SD the words “did not”
are highlighted many times and these "did nots" spoke of the different tribes in
Israel that failed to destroy the Canaanite nations and so now I come to this
portion of the book of Judges where the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate
Jesus Christ, comes to them to let them know that because they had failed to
fulfill their part of the covenant with the Lord that there was trouble
ahead. God had made conditional
covenants with Israel
that are found in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy and there were
consequences for not obeying those covenants and now they would see these
consequences just as the Angel of the Lord tells them.
It is recorded in verse four that
the children of Israel
wept, but there are no evidences of repentance seen here. 2 Cor. 7:8-11 speaks of true repentance: “8 For
though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did
regret it— for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a
while— 9 I now rejoice, not that you
were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of
repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that
you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will
of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the
sorrow of the world produces death. 11
For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has
produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear,
what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated
yourselves to be innocent in the matter.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have
had a very rough couple of days in which things were done that I certainly
happy with or proud of as I seemed to be tricked up by the evil one as his
plans are crafty for sure. The words to
“A Might Fortress is our God” help me understand what happened: “A mighty fortress is our God, a
bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Put on the spiritual armor: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
- Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
- Trust the Lord to forgive my sins: “9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
12/9/2009 9:50 AM
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