Like a Dread Champion

""And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has been fighting for you. 

"One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. 

"Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.  

'You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus I gave them into your hand. 'Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. 'I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'  (Joshua 23:3, 10, 14; 24:11-13)

O God, we have heard with our ears, Our fathers have told us The work that You did in their days, In the days of old. You with Your own hand drove out the nations; Then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples, Then You spread them abroad. For by their own sword they did not possess the land, And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, For You favored them. (Psalms 44:1-3)

But the LORD is with me like a dread champion; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten." (Jeremiah 20:11 NAS95S)

Observation:  In case you had any doubt, let the preceding words sear your heart with the awesome truth that the Lord fights your battles.  He is with us like a dread warrior, like a dread champion.  Victorious in all His ways.  Victorious through the Cross and Resurrection.  As Paul declares:

"but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."  (1Corinthians 15:57-58 NAS95S)

We can press on, we can pursue righteousness, we can seek to drive the enemies of guilt, shame, and unrighteousness out of the land of our hearts because it is God who fights for us.  We can work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is Christ who works within us to will and work for His good pleasure.  Yeah, we get the victory!  But we get that victory through the power of our dread champion Jesus Christ who fights for us.  

Application:  In what areas of my life do I need Jesus to wield His sword today?  Fear and Focus.  I need to be focused on what He is calling me to do.  I need Him to solidify my values.  I need Him to drive out the enemy of fear and regret.  I need Him to role away my self-reproach and the reproach of my past.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I thank You for giving me the victory.  Thank You for fighting my battles for me.  Thank You for being my dread champion!

Am I Desperate Enough?

""For the LORD will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free. "And He will say, 'Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge? 'Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place! 'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand."  (Deuteronomy 32:36-39 NAS95S)

Observation:  God vindicates the victim; whether we have been victimized through our own hand or the hand of another.  God vindicates the addict; whether our addiction was self-induced or passed down through generations.  The reality of God's vindication comes when we are at a point of paralysis, when all our strength is gone, when our addictions can no longer numb the pain, when they have before afflictions in and of themselves.

Application:  Am I at that point?  Am I desperate enough for God?

Prayer:  O Lord bring me to the point that You may vindicate my life.  Place me in the position of desperation.  Put me where You can shape me into Your likeness; wound so that you may heal, kill so that you may bring back to life.  Amen!

Respect the Past

"Then they came near to him and said, "We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land." (Numbers 32:16-17 NAS95S)

Observation:  The sons and Gad and Reuben were not intimidated by past experience, but neither were they resistant to it.  

Application:  Often in the church, we are confronted with nay sayers.  People who say we can't do this because... Because God closed a door.  Because we tried it.  Because, because, because.   But, But, But.  

However, what I hear the Lord saying through this story is:  Respect the past as You move forward into the future.  And respecting the past is all about respecting the people to who it is still the present.  Respecting the God to whom it is still the present.  You have nothing to fear for the future except you forget how I have led you in the past.

Prayer:  O dear Jesus.  Help me to listen to what you are saying out of the past.  Make my heart receptive to the voice of history.  May I learn from the mistakes of others rather than repeating them.  May I honor those who are my elders.  May I listen to their voice of wisdom but not be paralyzed by it.  Grant Your favor that I might influence the elders in my life with honor, respect, and vision.  In Your name Lord Jesus.  Amen!