12/3/2009 10:00 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Spearing the enemy
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Judges 1:21, 27-36
Message of the verses: “21 ¶
But the sons of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have lived with the sons of
Benjamin in Jerusalem
to this day.
“27 But Manasseh did not take possession
of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants
of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the
inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; so the Canaanites persisted in living
in that land. 28 It came about when Israel became
strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out
completely. 29 Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were
living in Gezer; so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. 30 Zebulun did
not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol;
so the Canaanites lived among them and became subject to forced labor. 31 Asher did not
drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, or of
Achzib, or of Helbah, or of Aphik, or of Rehob. 32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanites,
the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out. 33 Naphtali did
not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of
Beth-anath, but lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; and
the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath became forced labor for them.
34 Then the Amorites forced the sons of
Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 yet the Amorites persisted in living in Mount Heres,
in Aijalon and in Shaalbim; but when the power of the house of Joseph grew
strong, they became forced labor. 36 The
border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.
During this
time of the nation of Israel
it was the priests job to read the book of Deuteronomy to the people every
Sabbatical Year. Contained in this
wonderful copy of God’s Word was found words that explain why it was that all
of the yellow highlighted words above happened to the nation of Israel. They were to get rid of the Canaanite people
by killing them, and would have been successful in doing this if they had
obeyed the Word of God.
The nation
of Israel was to receive and preserve the Word of God, and they were to be the
nation that would give birth to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, which
they did but it seems that the majority of the nation did not listen or read
the Word of God telling them how to live and what to do.
In earlier
SD’s I have gone over why these Canaanite nations were to be destroyed, and it
is enough to say that if God told Israel to slay them there was a good reason
for them to do it, but Israel failed to do this and because they kept them
alive they fell into the trap of their ungodly religion, which caused them to
fall and to be judged by the Lord.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: These Canaanite people are not around
physically today, but there are others who tempt me into following things that
are opposed to the Word of God, and because of this I have at times listened to
them and have fallen into temptation. It
is said of Moses in the book of Hebrews that he thought it was better to serve
the Lord and the people of Israel
instead of enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season. Sin has its pleasures for sure, but life is
very short and it is better to live for the Lord and reap rewards in heaven
than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
- Take heed to the Word of God.
- Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
- Put on the spiritual armor: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
- Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
- Continue to learn contentment.
12/3/2009 10:38 AM
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