#TheNativity

Merry Christmas to everyone! I thought you all might enjoy this video from a talented YouTuber. It's about what might have happened if Social Media and the internet existed...on that silent night.

Thank you for watching!

Discouragement Debunked

      If you're a human being, you know what it's like to be discouraged.  No one goes through a "cherry-pie" life where everything works out all the time and nothing ever backfires or misfires.  Anyone with experience of any kind can probably name a time they were discouraged.  However, we aren't always discouraged when our plans don't work out.  Sometimes we get discouraged because our good intentions get ruined before we can even try to execute them.  Other times we get discouraged because of something someone tells us: "You don't belong.  You can't finish that.  You can't be redeemed from that mess you made.  Who do you think you are?"  We can even discourage ourselves by dwelling on our mistakes or imperfections.  It's surprisingly easy to become discouraged.  Of course, how people handle discouragement tends to vary.  Some just shake it off, while others let it weigh them down.  Still others pretend to forget it, but never really do.  When opportunity comes, they can't reach for it anymore.  Or perhaps it's not that they can't, but that they don't know that they can...

     There was a king in ancient Israel whose name was Joash.  One day he was given an opportunity by God from a dying prophet, and not just any prophet, but the famous prophet Elisha, who had performed a number of miracles throughout his career.  However, Joash's receiving the gift was preceded by the prophet telling him to do something rather unusual.  How he handled this is told to us in 2 Kings 13. 

     "Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”  And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows.   Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.  And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.”  Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped.  And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.” (2 Kings 13:14-19 NKJV)

     Can you see yourself here?  "Um...no," you might reply, "I fail to see what this has to do with me at all.  I'm not king of Israel, I'm not talking to dying prophets, and I haven't shot any arrows out the window lately".  Granted, this literal situation has probably never been replicated in real life, but there are some analogies we can draw out of this.  You see, the king quit early.  Essentially, he gave up.  He was given a task, albeit a strange one, but he didn't finish it.  Why?  I don't know, but my guess would be that he felt silly or thought he had done enough.  Maybe he even allowed his feelings about smacking the ground to discourage him.  After all, what could he accomplish by smacking the floor?  The prophet was sick and dying.  Maybe the king thought Elisha was delusional.  At any rate he stopped.

     I can't prove these thoughts went through Joash's head.  I'm purely speculating, but whatever his reason for quitting, the repercussion was simple: he would not be as victorious as he could have been against his enemy, and he would not accomplish what he could have accomplished.

     So often we let discouragement hold us back.  Since discouragement can be caused by a huge variety of things, its versatility makes it a prime weapon for the devil to use against people.  If we get truly discouraged, we don't finish.  We stop, just like Joash did.  Instead of pursuing our dreams and the plans God has for us, we drag our heels and live like we've been defeated, before we even try.  Then we dwell on ourselves, and become further discouraged with just how little we've done and seem able to do.  We wonder where God is in our mess, and that can discourage us too.  We lose focus, passion, energy, and quality of life.  While this doesn't affect everyone on the same levels or with the same intensity, there is no doubt that discouragement can keep us back from what we could do if we'd only fix our eyes on our God, and not ourselves.  Here's the deal, though.  To put it quite simply, 

God did not make us to be discouraged!!!

God sent His Son Jesus to die...for you. (John 3:16)

God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell...in you. (John 14:26)

God put entire circumstances and plans in place...for you. (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10)

God did not come to condemn but to save...you. (John 3:17)

There is no counting the number of thoughts God thinks...towards you. (Psalm 40:5)

Power beyond human comprehension has been invested...in you. (Acts 1:8)

    Allow me to just blast away a few false things you may be believing about God without even realizing it:

He's not sitting in heaven waiting to smack you when you sin.

He's not fuming about your past mistakes.

He isn't sick of you.

He hasn't given up on you...and He never will.

He's not surprised by your failures.

He knows you better than you know yourself, and loves you anyway.

He's not using a check list to evaluate you.

     You see, God never wanted you to serve Him religiously.  He wants you to serve Him relationally, to give Him your best and trust Him with the rest, not because you are obligated by some rule or precept, but because you love Him and He loves you.

     Don't believe for a moment that God is disappointed in you.  Resolve as a Christian that you will no longer live defeated.  You may lose the occasional battle against sin.  When that happens, turn and ask forgiveness from Jesus, Who won the war against sin.  Your plans and ideas may not come to fruition, or may fail miserably.  When that happens, take them to God.  He'll redeem your mess.  You may face insurmountable obstacles.  When that happens, ask God to bring you through them.  He can, and will.  He cares for you.

     What would happen if the church were to suddenly shrug off discouragement once and for all and fix its focus on the One Who founded it?  What if we spoke of God's power rather than our failings?  His love more than our bitterness?  His grace more than our sins?  His peace more than our worries?  What if we fixed our eyes on Jesus once and for all and chose to take our strength from Him?  What if we refused to let discouragement have one more day of our lives?  

Let's say this Light bulb represents a Christian.  He has a light to shine.  He can impact the room he's in, and can put light where darkness once was, because He's plugged into the ultimate power source.

 

Now let's take that force and multiply it, using it to represent the church.

  

No matter how dark the background of this blog is, these lights stand out.  They won't be wiped out by the font color either.  Nothing the enemy does can stop us unless we let him.  Let's not let him anymore.  We are made and loved by an all-powerful God who saved us from our sins!  Now, let's live like it.  No more discouragement allowed.  God gave you a dream, a life, and gifts.  Give them to Him, and see what He will do!





(NKJV means New King James Version)
(Light bulb animation acquired from http://www.animationlibrary.com/animation_download/24389/, a webpage not owned or operated by I-BulldogStudios)

There's No Such Thing as Hopeless!

     There was a man, a terrible violent man whose name was Saul.  He had a reputation for throwing people into jail.  This would not have been bad if he'd had a good reason, but he didn't.  The people he jailed were Christians, and that was the reason he persecuted them.  He believed that as long as there were Christians about it was his duty to hunt them down and punish them on behalf of the Jewish religious authorities of his day.  His good qualities were in a solar eclipse because of the terror he inspired.  Surely there was no hope for this man.  Why would God want him anyway?  He was fighting the Christian church with violence!  There could be no way that he was even desirable to God.

     So we'd conclude.  However, the Scripture seems to contradict that opinion.  An examination of Acts 9 will confirm the unexpected.  This overzealous religious bully was about to experience one of the biggest turnarounds in history.

   Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”  Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.  And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:1-9 NKJV)

     An extraordinary turn of events, to say the least.  Saul (wisely) does what he is told, and is baptized and becomes a Christian.  He also gets his sight back, and a changed name.  The murderous Saul became the famous apostle Paul, who wrote large pieces of the New Testament.

     How does such a turnaround occur?  The power of God knows no boundaries.  God has plans for the most hopeless and rebellious of people.  The fact is that Paul wasn't seeking Jesus.  His salvation was not through his own strength.  He simply made the choice, and while his story is not likely to be replicated in every hard-hearted person's life, it does prove that as far as God is concerned there's no one He can't save!

     John Newton was a sinner, and proud of it.  He made it a habit to tempt others to sin.  He was arrogant, and moral abandonment was his order of the day.  He deserted the British navy, and was even a slave trader.  His lifestyle must have seemed very difficult to ever redeem.  Even though he nearly died multiple times he remained hardhearted and continued trying to break down the faith of those around him.  That changed one night when, at sea on a ship, in the midst of imminent peril from a storm he finally believed in Christ.  Nonetheless, he continued in the trade of slaves for some years, and it took time before he matured in faith.  Yet this man would go on to write the most famous hymn ever sung.  Perhaps you know the words to Amazing Grace?  These were penned by a man as sinful as ever there was, who met Jesus in the middle of a tempest.

     The conclusion to be drawn from this is straightforward enough: you are not untouchable.  God can save anyone, because the truth is that as bad as these men were they are no worse off than we are.  In fact, all of us are equally guilty before God.  If God cannot save my wacky co-worker who uses God's name in vain in every other sentence and refuses to even acknowledge the Bible, well I'm in trouble because in reality I was never any better!  

     Paul wrote to the Corinthian church saying "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10, NKJV, boldface added)

     Since no one's salvation depends on their action, anyone can be saved!  God wants none to perish, and since it's His power that brings people into His kingdom, we can rely on His Son's words.  "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:37 NKJV)

      No one is hopeless.  God has a plan for each one of us.  So pray for those who seem "too far gone".  There's no such thing as hopeless.






(NKJV Means New King James Version)
Sources about John Newton:
The Creation of "Amazing Grace", Last Updated: 02-27-2007, accessed at the Library of Congress at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200149085/default.html

John Newton Reformed slave trader

posted 8/08/2008 12:56PM accesssed at Christianity Today at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/pastorsandpreachers/newton.html

None of the above webpages are owned or operated by I-BulldogStudios.

The Will of God Is not Something We Need Sherlock Holmes to Figure Out.

     Have you ever heard of the saying, "Scientists delight in finding things out, God loves hiding them" or something similar to it?  This almost gives the impression that God likes leaving us in the dark.  This idea seems to pervade our thinking.  We all believe it to some degree.  Why?  Why do we believe that God likes hiding things?  Perhaps it's because we can't see what He sees.  Maybe it's because we don't understand what He does.  Whatever our reasons, our perception is inaccurate.  God is not someone who puts things in the dark; He brings them into the light.  After all, He's the Father of lights. (James 1:17) 

     So many times we ask God His will, and how we should act, but then we act (or at least feel) as if He wants us to figure it out on our own, as if we need to find out without His help.  WRONG!  Here's a good example of why: when our parents wanted us to do something we could choose to listen and do what they said, or not.  God is our Father.  When He wants us to do something He will tell us, and then it will be up to us to decide whether we listen or not.  We hear from God and see only glimpses of His will, but these glimpses give us an idea of how to live our lives before Him.  He never leaves us to walk blindly.  Look at Psalm 32:8, where God says:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye." (NKJV)

     That's fairly self-explanatory.  The mystery of God's will is just that: a mystery because we don't always understand our part in it, but not a secret we don't get to know.  This doesn't mean we can't disobey God, but it does mean that He doesn't expect us to live our lives and "figure His will out for ourselves".

     So what's the takeaway here?  We don't need to panic about understanding God's will.  God does not delight in confusing His children.  Seek His will, but don't fear that you're completely missing it just because you don't know what to do yet.  He'll tell you.  After all, He's your Father.  Less depends on us than we realize, and more depends on God than we probably can realize.  Look at the following:

How would you like to operate this puppy?  You don't know what it does or how it works, and no user manual would simplify all of it.  Good thing God's the one operating it, not you.  Oh, wait.  God doesn't have a switch directory.  He has His will, and that's definitely not dependent on You.  So loosen up a little.  God loves you too much to purposely hide from you what you need to know and do.  His will for you is not something you need to Google and then look through 12,000 pages to find.  When the time comes, He'll show you His will for you.  Just be sure you're listening by reading His Word, praying, and having a heart willing to serve Him at any cost.  Those are the basics.  Do your best for God and trust Him with the rest.  Live for Him, and He'll do more with you than you could have imagined.




(NKJV means New King James Version)

The Switches graphic was accessed from http://www.graphicsfuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/toggle-switches-ui.jpg, a page neither owned nor operated by I-BulldogStudios.  Alterations were made to this graphic by I-BulldogStudios.

Great Expectations

     Prayer is something that Christians do every day.  The Bible encourages it.  It's popular enough, even with those who aren't Christians.  Which begs the question: why do we pray?  The answer seems simple enough: we hope things will happen when we pray.  This should be especially true of Christians.  Here's a question though- what do you pray for?  This isn't a question you need to answer me on, it's something for you to think about.  Maybe you pray for the health of others.  Perhaps your prayers are for your finances.  You might even be praying for a miracle (it's not all that uncommon).  Whatever you pray for, you probably expect that God is listening.  You trust that He'll act on your prayer, right?  Otherwise you might as well not pray.  Well, here's the thing- prayer is ordained by God, but we need to expect the results of our prayer.  Sound like I'm stating the obvious?  Maybe so, but I think that while Christians have no problem with the first part, the second part is a little difficult for us at times.  For an example of what I mean, we can look at Acts chapter 12 verses 1-19, because even the early church struggled with this at times.

     In this story evil King Herod (not the same Herod who tried to kill baby Jesus, but apparently not a whole lot better than that one) is persecuting the church.

     "Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.  Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.  And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.  So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.  Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.  And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.  Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.  Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”  So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.  And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”  (v 1-11, NKJV, underline added)

     What an amazing example of the power of prayer!  It's truly awesome to think what God will do for His people when they pray.  If ever there was a testimony to God and how He listens to prayer, it would be this. The church must have been ecstatic, right?  Let's read on:

     "So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.  And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.  When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.  But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”  Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.  But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.  Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.  But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.  And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there." (v 12-19 NKJV, boldface and italics added)

     I'm not sure what's more amazing in this passage- the power of God or the stunned response of the church!  Why on earth would they ask God for something, and then refuse to believe He did it?

     Then again... maybe they weren't the only ones.  How often do we ask God for something, and then become the most surprised of anyone when He grants it to us?  Granted, some things are beyond our control, but does it do any good for us to spend time praying and not expect anything?  When God answers our prayer, why should we be so stunned?

     I propose that it would be better to live our lives in expectancy- expecting that God will answer our prayers, and always for the best.  He may not always answer with a yes- but when He does, our best response should be one of joyful thanksgiving, not dumbfounded cynicism.  The church thought Peter's angel was at the door.  What does that even mean?  Did they think he'd died already, or that his guardian angel had come to the gate looking like him?  What did they think?  We must be careful not to repeat the error they did.  Never try to explain God's actions away.  Not only is it erroneous, its dangerous.  Instead, when we pray we should live as if we expect God to do something.  When you ask someone by e-mail if you can borrow their car and your license is expired, you go and renew the license, partially because if they say yes you need to be able to drive!  It's the same with God.  If we ask, we should live as if we will receive, and we should keep expecting until God says "Yes" or "No"!  This isn't a smug assumption that we get whatever we want, but rather a joyful lifestyle that expects the best from God because that is what He wants to give!

     We can take the example of King David in Psalm 62, which the NKJV titles as "A Calm Resolve to Wait for the Salvation of God".

"My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense;
I shall not be moved.
 In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.

 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah"  (Psalm 65:5-8 NKJV)

     We should live our lives with great expectations, for God has great things for us.  Don't be surprised when He moves for you.  He's already sacrificed His Son to save you.

Following the Leader?

     Leaders are important.  I think that's a statement almost anyone if not everyone would agree upon.  Whether they are political, medical, ministerial, or something else, nearly every type of leader is essential in some way.  Some leaders do a poor job, though, and even the best of them will make mistakes daily.  Therefore, Christians must be careful to measure the words and decisions of leaders.  Not one type of leader will always do things in line with God's Word.  The best of them can't do it.  This isn't to say how horrible leaders are, it's to say how wise Christians must be.

     For a great example, we can look at Peter.  Anyone who knows about Peter knows he was one the church's earliest and greatest leaders.  However, he wasn't a perfect man, and he did have his fair share of mistakes after becoming a top man.  We read about one of his mistakes in Galatians 2:11-21.  In it, Paul retells us the story about  Peter's hypocrisy, and how Paul had to call him on it.

"Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.  And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.   
     But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?  We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 
     "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!  For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.  For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”  (NKJV)

     Peter made the mistake of not being straightforward about the Gospel.  Under the Old Covenant established before Jesus, Jews along with Gentiles who wanted to serve God had to follow a set of rules, which in reality no one could fulfill completely, ever.  Under Jesus, these laws were shown to not be the way by which men were saved, and many of the rules and regulations and rituals were no longer necessary. However, there were some men who believed the whole law must still be followed to a "T", and when they came to Peter was, he left the table of the Gentiles because Gentiles in that day did not fulfill all the laws, including the laws about circumcision.  When Peter did this a number of other Christians followed suit, including a prominent evangelist.  Why?  A large part of it probably had to do with Peter's influence.  Peter was very well-known in the church, and was an established leader.  However, here he led the people astray.  Yet they still followed him.  This is a lesson to us to not just accept what people say or do, especially people in leadership.  Anything you wish to apply to your life or take action on should be measured to make sure it is in line with the Word of God.  For an example of this, we can look at citizens of Berea:

Acts 17:10-12:

   "Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea.  When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men." (NKJV, boldface added)

     The Bereans had a great perspective on discernment.  Rather than just accepting anything Paul said, they looked at the Scripture to make sure he was accurate in his sayings.  This is a shining example of how Christians must be especially in this information-bombarding age.

     In Disney's movie Peter Pan, a boy named John is taking the Lost Boys on a rather silly expedition to capture Indians.  Along the way they sing a little song, the chorus of which goes something like this:

We're following the leader, the leader, the leader,
We're following the leader,
Wherever he may go!

     Does this sound familiar from what people have said?  At any rate, they fulfill the song quite faithfully.  However, as John is showing his followers his plan to capture the Indians, the Indians are slowly sneaking up on them.  The youngest brother Michael notices the sudden danger, and attempts to warn them, but is shoved away and ignored.  The result?  The Indians capture the expedition rather than the expedition capturing Indians.  They nearly lose their lives at the stake.

     Does this sound like us?  How often do we blindly follow the leader?  Whether the intentions of a person are good or bad, he will make mistakes, and when leadership people make mistakes the consequences are too great too often.  The Church can't afford to accept everything leaders say and not question any of it.  That's not to say we shouldn't listen to them at all or blow off anything they do, but it does mean that measuring what our leaders are leading us into by looking at God's Word is imperative.  Following human leaders without exception will lead to disaster without exception.  Jesus is the only leader Who never makes mistakes, and His Word is the final authority without question.  His authority must take priority over the authority of others, no matter who they are.

Happy Dad's Day!

All of the greatest gifts in the world
Are given to us straight from God.
One of the best that I ever recieved,
Was from my Father; I called him daddy.
As time went on, the name changed to dad.
Still he lifted me up as in the young days when I became sad.
He was always there and he loved me so,
He reflected my Father which I was proud to know.
The men in our lives who are dads to us
Have influence unmistakable.
My dad is a man who I'm proud of,
Because God is the head of his table.
We thank you dads, for all you do,
Society depends upon God through you,
Stand strong in your Father and boast in His name.
We're proud that you're here.
Because thanks to your Father, you're never the same.

Revenge.

     Isn't it amazing how hard it can be to let things go?  When someone hurts you it's pretty easy to not forgive them.  In fact, rather than forgiveness we find that bitterness is most often the response we have to people who hurt us, or those we love.  Sometimes bitterness is as far as it goes.  Other times (more often) it can turn into something more sinister.  When bitterness seizes the heart of a person, it usually turns toward revenge, even if that revenge is on a small scale, such as insulting the offender in your mind.  Revenge is a strangely famous concept.  We hear about it from comedians, watch in it movies, and read about it in books.  Not all of these tell us the truth about revenge, however.  Revenge has a tendency to do more than just hurt the person plotted against.  It most often harms those who plot it.

     Among King David's aides was his general, named Joab.  Joab was a warrior, a fighting man who won a great number of victories for his king.  Joab rarely lost his military battles, if ever.  If anyone could boast about military victory, it was Joab.  However, he had another battle he often fought, and he lost it.  It was his battle against revenge.  This inability to beat revenge eventually killed him.

     The first example we see of Joab's weakness is in 2 Samuel 2-3.  In 2 Samuel 2, David is king over Judah but not all of Israel, yet.  A man named Abner has anointed one of Saul's sons king over Israel, and now a power struggle has begun between the two houses of royalty.  One of the early effects of this is a battle.  Abner and Joab both go to war to fight for their respective kings, and in the process, Abner's army is defeated.  A real problem for Abner arises when he is followed by a rather overenthusiastic man named Asahel who is one of Joab's brothers.

     "Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle.  So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.  Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Are you Asahel?”  He answered, “I am.”
And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.  So Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab?”  However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still." (2 Samuel 2:18-23 NKJV)

     This is a sad story.  Asahel, the brother of Joab, is killed in battle by Abner who is doing little more than executing self-defense.  Abner did not seek Asahel's life.  He did not want to kill him, but he likely would have been slain had Asahel caught him.  Abner did survive the ordeal and called for the end of the battle, something which Joab granted.  Joab did find out his brother was dead, however, and he also knew who had killed him.

     Later on Abner switches sides after becoming very angry with the man who, up till now, he has served as king.  He determines to hand over Israel to David (Abner has much of the power in Israel anyway), and sends to David to work out the details.  Of course, David is pleased with this and after eating with Abner, David sends him away back home in peace.

     "At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.  When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent him away, and he has gone in peace.”  Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone?  Surely you realize that Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.” And when Joab had gone from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it.  Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother." (2 Samuel 3:22-27 NKJV)

     Joab killed Abner in cold blood.  However he may have loved his brother, his action could not be justified.  Abner had not maliciously sought out Asahel to kill him, but Joab did exactly that to Abner.  When David heard of it, he held public mourning for Abner, which Joab had to participate in.  This wasn't the end of Joab's thirst for revenge, however.

     Later on Israel suffered a political coup in which David's son Absalom tried to usurp him as king.  He failed, and Joab ordered his execution in spite of David's orders to keep Absalom safe.  This may or may not have been what caused David to make the decision to make Amasa, the man who had been his treacherous son's general, to lead the army for him.  This decision was probably unnecessary, and it certainly hurt Joab who had been serving David for years.  Unfortunately, Joab handled it with another murder.  When Sheba the son of Bichri came against David, the king told Amasa to mobilize the troops.

     "And the king said to Amasa, “Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself.”  So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him.  And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.”  So Joab’s men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.  When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them.  Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he was going forward, it fell out.  Then Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in health, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.  But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died.  Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.  Meanwhile one of Joab’s men stood near Amasa, and said, “Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David—follow Joab!” (2 Samuel 20:4-11 NKJV)

     Regardless of how unreasonable David's decision was, there was no justification for Joab's actions.  These two murders were an unfortunate blot on Joab's record, and David never forgot them. In his words to his successor and son Solomon he said: "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. Therefore do according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace." (1 Kings 2:5-6 NKJV)  Later on we read how Solomon handled Joab.  "Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar.  And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.”  So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ‘Come out!’”  And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”  Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.  So the Lord will return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword—Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it.  Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever. But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there shall be peace forever from the Lord.” (2 Kings 2:28-33 NKJV)

     This is a tragic end to a man who was close to David for years.  Revenge ruined him.  We must not make the same mistake Joab did.  We cannot allow ourselves to hate people who wrong us or hurt us, and seek revenge on them.  God has said:
 
"Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you." (Proverbs 20:22 NKJV)

     It's not our job to personally avenge ourselves on those who do us wrong, or who indirectly hurt us, or whatever.  God who loves us will see that justice is done for us.  He saves the oppressed, not us.  This isn't to say that we should let people run roughshod over us and never take any action, indeed, God has appointed people to execute justice in society.  But we must never allow our lives and energy to be fueled into nothing but a passionate desire to get even with others.

     One of my favorite short board games is "SORRY!", which is known on the side of it's box as "The game of sweet revenge."  Oddly enough, the game has very little to do with revenge at all, and if it weren't for the slogan on the side, it would be a game of card-playing coincidence, not revenge.  Just as the slogan can make people vengeful, however, revenge brought forward as the motivator for actions tends to take the joy out of things that could otherwise be good.  Not only does revenge rob us of good things, it robs us of the joy of doing good things.  Strangely, the game's slogan actually can encourage people to try and "get even" with one another when in reality the order of the cards dictates the whole game.  In the same way, God is in control of what happens around us, and frankly, He's not impressed with a thirst for revenge.

     So how do we handle people who try and go out of their way to harm us?
Paul writes:
"Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:19-20 NKJV)

Who's to say that your returning good for evil to those who treat you unkindly will not result in the glorification of your God and the bringing of those who once hurt you to the Gospel?

Still the Sovereign Savior.

     The world around us sometimes looks like it's falling apart.  If we believe the media, almost nothing's going right these days.  People are acting absolutely terrible.  Abortions, poverty, sinfulness, power-grabbing, selfishness, terrorism, the list goes on and on.  In the middle of it, we may wonder if there are hardly any people left to stand against the flow of sin.  We wonder when righteousness will triumph over flagrant sinfulness.  While man certainly sins we must not allow ourselves to think humanity is single-handedly fighting against God for all that is wrong.  The devil is the one we as Christians continue to struggle against.  King David gave us a nice perspective in Psalm 12.

Psalm 12. 

To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.

 "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
² They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
⁴ Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

⁵ “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

⁶ The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
⁷ You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸ The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men." (NKJV)

     David had a rough life.  Circumstances around him looked like they were falling apart more often than anyone would want.  But when that happened, he turned to God.  He did ask why wicked men appeared to be succeeding and asked for God's judgment on them.  But no matter what straits he was in, he always acknowledged that God was the most powerful of all.  He never doubted this for a second.  That's an example we can follow.  Look at verses 5-7.

“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.

⁶ The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
⁷ You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.” (Psalm 12:5-7, NKJV)

     No matter what man or devil plots, God's words always stand.  He's sovereign over the world, and though we don't always understand what He's doing, on this we can rely: no matter how bad things look, God is still in control and will save us.  His words stand against all others.  The devil may appear to be winning the war, but in reality he can only win battles.  God has given us the power to defeat him.  As we walk in God's Word and follow His path, we needn't worry about the devil or the schemes of man.  Instead we can use the power given us by God to fight for Him and trust Him to uphold us when we're weak.  Things are not as hopeless as they may look because God is always present.

Happy Mother's Day!

     Thank you mom for all you do!
We wouldn't be here without you!
     Whether young or old or young we know it's true
We owe a debt of gratitude to you.
     So enjoy the day and have some fun.
Signed sincerely, both daughters and sons.

God bless you-

I-BulldogStudios

Not the only One.

     Have you ever felt lonely?  That's rhetorical, actually.  Everyone is lonely sometimes.  But have you ever felt uniquely lonely, as if you were the only one like you?  As if you were the odd one out, not because you were wrong, but because you were right?  I have.  The other day I came home as discouraged as I've been in a while.  I couldn't believe the examples of human behavior I'd seen that day, because, let's face it, each of us knows it's not true, but wants to believe that people are basically good anyway.  I felt like I was the only Christian in the place, as if there was no one else in that room who even respected God, let alone knew Him.  True, I acknowledged there probably was a Christian there besides me, but if so, it sure wasn't obvious enough.  But then as I was airing my grievances my Mom reminded me of an important story, and that's what  we're looking at today, because each of us has been discouraged and felt alone at one time or another, and the truth is, we're not.

     Before we dive right in, let me give you the context of this story.  We're in Biblical Israel again, under the reign of King Ahab, who happens to be one of the worst rulers in the history of the nation for sinfulness and idol-worship.  It doesn't get much worse than him.  But he has an opponent named Elijah, a prophet of the Lord.  In a time where Israel has been opposed to God and his followers, he stands out as a man who will serve the Lord.  Better yet, he's just shown to the king and Israel that God is the true God.  Not a bad victory, overall.  But look what happens.  After Elijah has killed the "prophets" of Baal, Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab (who's even worse than he is), finds out about Elijah's victory.

     1 Kings 19:1-10

     "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”  And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.  But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”  Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”  Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.  And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”  So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”  (NKJV)

     Do you see what has happened here?  Elijah has just won a major spiritual victory (one chapter ago!) and yet he only needs one threat from the queen to send him packing.  After running for his life, this thoroughly discouraged man wishes for death, a request God doesn't grant.  Instead, He asks Elijah "What are you doing here", and Elijah's response is something that many of us relate to, at least, for the most part.  "I alone am left.  There's no one else here who loves You, God.  What am I supposed to do?  How can I possibly stand for You when I'm the only one left who even cares?  I've tried to serve you, but I'm the only one!"

     However, God doesn't respond to Elijah's complaint right away.  Look at what happens next:

     "Then He [God] said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.  So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”  And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”  Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.  Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.  It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.  Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:11-18 NKJV, boldface added)

     God is all-powerful.  The world shakes at His presence.  He hung the moon in place.  Nothing is beyond His reach or ability.  He can create earthquakes, fire, and wind at His will.  But He does not use these things to talk to Elijah, although they precede His words.  When He talks to Elijah, He uses a still small voice.  He is gentle.  His question is repeated, and so is Elijah's response, "...I alone am left..." (v. 14, NKJV).  What does God do?  He gives the prophet a new mission.  This may seem a bit hard on a man as discouraged as Elijah.  Surely some sympathy should be given for him.  But then God says, "Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (v. 18, NKJV)  Why does He say this?  Because Elijah needs to know that he is not alone.  He's not the one and only God-fearing man left in his generation.  There are others, however hard to find they may be.  Not only is God with him, but there are still people "with" him as well.

     So Elijah did as God told him to.  Eventually he went to heaven. He didn't die, God just took him.  

     Elijah's encounter with God on the mountain is easily applicable to each one of us. Even after a victory, we can get quickly discouraged, especially if we feel overwhelmed or unable to beat the enemy.  It's easy to get discouraged, but we have to remember we're not alone.  There are people who love God and are serving Him, even in the midst of depravity and sin running rampant through our culture.  Is it easy all the time?  No, and discouragement may last a long time (over forty days for Elijah).  But our God is on the throne at all times, and is sovereign over the earth, and He will hold us up and bring us into glory.  In the meantime, let's give our best, trust Him with the rest, and we'll be able to have childlike faith in an adult's world.




(NKJV Means New King James Version)

Don't Leave it in the Dark.

Please note: This article is for adults.  Although the themes it contains are all biblical, adults may wish to preview it before showing it to children.

     Have you ever made a mistake that you didn't want anyone else to know about?  I sure have.  It's so easy to hide the mistakes we make because we are ashamed of them.  We are tempted not to tell anyone about our sin, and to either "put our guilt on mothballs", or justify our sin.  Everyone is susceptible to it.  Take the example of King David.

     There are few men in the Bible with as respected a reputation as King David.  He's known as one of the greatest heroes in the Old Testament.  He has a position in the Hall of Faith, a collection of men and women who had faith in God mentioned by the writer of Hebrews.  Plus, he is the only person to have the title "a man after God's own heart". (Acts 13:22)  But he had his fair share of bad choices.

     You've probably never thought of sleeping with someone else's spouse and then killing them in an effort to hide it.  I think I can safely say that most people wouldn't.  But David, the mighty, God-fearing king of Israel, did.  There was a woman named Bathsheba.  David was already a polygamist, but when he was walking around on the roof of his palace, he saw Bathsheba bathing, and instead of turning around and leaving her alone, he sent for her, although he had already been told she was married. Then he got her pregnant.  His response at this point was repentance and tears, right?  Wrong.  Although he should have just admitted what he had done, he instead invited Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite to his palace, and after getting him drunk, tried to get him to sleep with Bathsheba so that when she gave birth the child would be thought to be Uriah's and not David's.  The plan fell through, since Uriah would not go home.  Finally David sent to his army commander, and told him to put Uriah at the front lines so he would die.  That worked.  But God, who is way smarter than any man, and sees all of our hearts, knew what David did, and called him on it, pronouncing judgment on his sin through the Prophet Nathan.

"Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!  Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.  Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’  Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.  For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’”  So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.  However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.”  (2 Samuel 12:7-14 NKJV)

     Did you notice how David responded?  He did not storm against God.  He did not justify or deny his sin.  He did not say "Well, I'm not going to die. That's all that matters."  He said "I have sinned against the Lord".

     Shortly after this incident, David wrote this song:
"Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.
 For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.
 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
 O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (Psalm 51 NKJV)

     There are a few things in this Psalm I would like to examine.

1.  Acknowledgement.  We have trouble acknowledging our sin.  It's not easy to admit we've messed up in any capacity.  But it's exactly what David did.
"For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
 Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge." (verses 3-4)

     David doesn't excuse himself.  He makes himself vulnerable by admitting his sin.  He also declares the justice of God.  When we sin, it's never God's fault.  It's not the devil's fault.  It's not our neighbor's fault, our parents' fault, or the dog's fault.  It's ours.  David understood this, and it was the first step in his redemption.

2. Cleansing.  After openly admitting our sin, we have to ask God to cleanse us from it.  Christians have to do this everyday.
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (v. 7)

3. Strengthening.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."  (v. 10-11)

     David wants to avoid future sin as well.  He asks God to renew his passion to follow God steadfastly.  In essence, he asks God to help him stay on the straight and narrow from now on.

     David's sin had some serious repercussions in his life, and the lives of others.  But his sin did not ruin his life, although it seems like a mistake that no one could bounce back from.  The secret to David's success was his response.  David had to have his sin brought out of the dark before he repented, but when he did, it was complete and genuine repentance.  That's what God wants from us as well.

     It's so easy to live two lives and keep our sin in the dark.  But here's the deal:  everyone sins, and God is not standing there with a big wooden mallet looking to smack you the first time you mess up.  He is simply waiting for you to repent, so He can forgive you and you can move on.  There is a grand exchange of forgiveness and peace that comes when we simply confess our sin to God.  He wants to redeem us from our mistakes, but we have to let him.  Don't leave your sin in the dark.  Step into the light of God's forgiveness.


(NKJV Means New King James Version)

Deuteronomy's Battle Advice.

     Deuteronomy has one of my favorite names in the Bible.  It's one of the books written by Moses, and is arranged as the fifth book in the Bible, though not chronologically.  Moses led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, where they had been enslaved for about 430 years.  God intended to bring them to a new land He had promised to them and their forefathers, but they hadn't gotten there yet, because of their own bad choices.  Moses is now speaking to a new generation of Israelites, and, knowing that he won't be going with them into the Promised Land and that they will have new leadership, he is speaking to the people.  One of the challenges they will face, however, will be the defeating of hostile nations that are stronger than they are.  The land they are about to enter is already inhabited by wicked and sinful nations.  This is a fairly intimidating obstacle.  But listen to what Moses says:

     "If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’— you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.  Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.  You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.  And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed.  And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them." (Deutoronomy 7:17-24 NKJV)

     What does this have to do with us?  Well, there are a number of similarities to be shown between our lives and those of the Israelites.  I'll chart them below:

Israel	Christians
They’d been promised a land flowing with milk and honey.	We’ve been promised eternal life
They’d have to fight hostile pagan nations.	We have to fight the enemy of God and man
They had God to help them do it.	We have God to help us do it.
They would win the war, but wouldn’t be able to do it all at once.	We still have to fight battles with the enemy, even though our God has won the war.

     Are you beginning to see the similarities?  The Israelites had a pretty formidable enemy, but the Israelites had God among them.  We face a formidable enemy as Christians, but God dwells within us.  If God's power among the Israelites was great enough to let them possess the land He'd promised them and defeat their enemies, how much greater is His power within us to defeat the enemy and enter the eternal life He's promised us!

     Let's take a closer look at this passage.  Deuteronomy 7:18-19 says "you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.  Moreover the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed.  You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you." (NKJV)  God had already done great things for the Israelites.  When He brought them out of Egypt, He did it in power, after teaching Egypt through some miraculous disasters that He was God.  He had rescued them from hunger, thirst, hostile armies, and slavery.  Now He was promising to do to Israel's new enemies as He had done to their old enemy, Egypt.  He also promised to be with them.

     Christians are given a similar promise.  We have a formidable enemy, but when he tries to defeat and intimidate us with the pressures of life, spiritual attack, or insecurity, no matter what he throws at us, we can look back at the times God rescued us, protected us, saved us, and fought for us, and take confidence that He will do it again.  Just for the record, the devil is afraid of you, because he knows  that a Christian can do all sorts of things through God's power that would wreck his plans.  That's part of why he fights you so hard.  The Bible promises the devil's ultimate demise, in Revelation 20:10. "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (NKJV)  Be assured, as big as the devil talks, he knows he's lost, and will be thrown into hell, so right now he wants to take as many people as he can with him.  But "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

     Of course, this doesn't happen all at once.  That can be frustrating.  As encouraging as it is to know that I have ultimate victory over the devil, I still have to put up with his attacks, which are not as few and far between as I'd like them to be.  But look at Deuteronomy 7:22-23:

     "And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.  But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed." (NKJV)  God knew that if He let Israel take over the land all at once it would be worse for them, since they'd have to deal with wild beasts.  I don't know why God hasn't thrown the devil into hell yet, but I do know that He's smarter than me, and I also know that I learn to rely on God more when I'm fighting the devil. Here's what the Bible says: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NKJV)  Even though we still have to fight the enemy, we can trust that God always knows what He's doing.

     The conclusion we can draw from this is that there's no need to fear.  God still fights for us as much as He fought for the Israelites long ago.  Listen to words spoken to Israel later in their history when they had to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem while constantly threatened by hostile men. "Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV, boldface added)

     We take joy in our Savior, for the war is won, the victory is ours, and we are saved by grace.