Choose Your Words Carefully!

When I was a child, my parents affectionately called me “Motor Mouth.” I understood; my mouth turned on when I woke up and it did not stop until long after I was tucked in bed. The flow of words was ceaseless. Today, I talk MUCH LESS! Sometimes I love to simply sit in silence, listening. Turning off the word-faucet is so peaceful.

The older we get, the less some of us should talk.  We must communicate well—and LISTENING is a big part of that.  Listen and think before you speak.

Jephthah was a judge in Israel and had to battle the Ammonites.  Before leading his brothers into war he made a vow.  What are the rules for vows?  First, God punishes people who make vows but do not keep them.  There are many examples.  Second, do not make rash vows.  Think about what you are saying!

Jephthah made this vow to the Lord:

“If you will hand over the Ammonites to me, whatever comes out of the door of my house to greet me when I return in peace … will belong to the Lord, and I will offer it as a burnt offering” Judges 11:30-31.

Maybe Jephthah’s house had an old blanket hanging in front of an open door.  Maybe goats and sheep were regularly wandering in and out of his house.  That is not as unusual in his culture as it would be in ours, particularly in bad weather (animals may shelter on the dirt-floored lower level and the family live on the second).  But this vow sounds rash to me.  Seriously rash.  The rashest of rash.  God provided a great slaughter of the Ammonites.  Jephthah won 20 cities and came marching home proudly, staring eagerly at the door to see what would come out first.  Would it be a sheep, a goat, a chicken, or a dog, maybe? 

“When Jephthah went to his home … there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no other son or daughter besides her.  When he saw his daughter, he tore his clothes and said, ‘No! Not my daughter! You have devastated me! You have brought misery on me.  I have given my word to the Lord and cannot take it back” Judges 11:34-35.

“Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” James 1:19. 

WORDS MATTER. Choose wisely.

ΑΩ

The Spirit of the Lord Took Control of Gideon.

Do you ever feel amazed by the incredible feats in the Bible? How did Samson kill 1,000 men with a piece of bone? How did little David, a teenager at best, face Goliath with such boldness? How did Gideon and 300 men take on over 100,000 Midianites—an enemy who filled the land “like a great swarm of locusts”?  And for that matter, how could Noah build a huge, sea-worthy ship when he had never seen a ship before? How could Moses challenge Pharaoh, the king of the known world? How did Elijah face down the 400 evil prophets of Baal and Israel’s evil king and queen?

There is only one answer:

“The Spirit of the Lord took control of Gideon” Judges 6:34.

God had appeared to Gideon in a pre-Incarnate appearance of Jesus, and addressed him: “Hail, mighty warrior, the Lord is with you” v.12. He told Gideon that he had been chosen and Gideon had doubts and was afraid.  But Gideon OBEYED GOD.  He took small steps and God began to use him.  And then “the Spirit took control of Gideon,” and after that the man fought and led with total courage and boldness.  I believe something similar happened to each of the people named above.  A few chapters later, “the Spirit of the Lord took control of Samson,” and he killed a lion with his bare hands in Judges 14:6. The phrase is repeated in 14:19, 15:14.

Great achievements come when we submit to God.  We must obey God.  We seek him, we hear his plans, we obey, and then when we have fully submitted to him, the Spirit of the Lord can take control.  I know this experience: God can give you courage to face anything, and a mental sharpness that helps you make good decisions quickly, as you allow him to lead you step-by-step.  It is an amazing experience—a rare one for me—but it is amazing.  And it follows total submission of ourselves to whatever God wants.  When we obey Him and are available to Him, He will take control and do amazing things.

God, help us listen and obey. Help us submit to you and allow you to work in us and through us.  May your spirit take control of us!

ΑΩ

“May the Force Be With You”

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU.

There will never be another STAR WARS.  What a blockbuster movie franchise.  By some estimates, the saga generated more revenue from toys and “merch” than from films and DVDs.  The whole world jumped on board.  We bought the tickets, we bought the tee shirts, we bought the Millennium Falcon, we bought the philosophy. 

Yes, the philosophy.  “Use the force, Luke.”  It was weirdly cool in 1977 and maybe it still is—but is there any truth to it?  What “force”?  You’re telling me there is a force out there in the universe, some impersonal energy that will help me pull the trigger on my X-Wing Fighter and blow up the Death Star, if I can reach a state of Zen-like calm during battle (as pictured above)? 

You may recall that Anakin Skywalker who later takes the name Darth Vader has history’s highest number of midi-chlorians in his blood, and passes it to his children.  Thus Vader later says of Luke, “the force is strong with this one.”  Yet, even on May 4th, you won’t find Obi-Wan Kenobi in a hooded robe talking about Midi-Chlorians, the microscopic life-forms that connect Star Wars characters to the Force.  No one speaks seriously of the Force.  Instead they call it “The Law of Attraction.”

Those who promote the so-called “Law of Attraction,” whether Oprah, Osteen, Steve Harvey, or Jim Carrey, explain that if you speak positive things into the universe, the universe will send positive things back to you, and if you speak negative things, negative things will come to you.  They argue that “like attracts like.” 

First, one concession: there is nothing wrong with positive thinking.  Optimism and hope certainly have their place.  And “visualization”? I admit it: standing over a golf ball and imagining your swing is helpful. That kind of visualization works, just like imagining a difficult conversation before you have it.

But the thought, the “visualization” just before swinging a golf club is a rehearsal, not some hocus-pocus negotiation with the universe (which is not listening anyway). The problem with the law of attraction is that it assumes the universe is PERSONAL and that the universe is LISTENING.  But how?  The universe is an impersonal arrangement of various created things.  Do trees listen to you?  Or air?  Or soil? Rocks? Plants?  Or George Lucas’s make-believe midi-chlorians?

Only God is personal.  Only God is listening.  Everything else in the universe is a created thing.  We are commanded to worship the CREATOR, not the creature.  We do not pray to the universe—and the universe does not listen.  It requires only the most cursory reading of the Bible to see that God will not tolerate those who worship His creation.  We are required to worship Him alone.  Yet the law of attraction says that either God is listening to everything we say, a Heavenly waiter trying to fulfill our wishes, or God created a universe that listens and responds to whatever we “manifest.”

Do you MANIFEST?  Can you speak and believe really hard and somehow MANIFEST your desires?   

Can insisting on a specific outcome make it happen?  Can you command the universe to do YOUR will, simply by refusing to accept any other result?  (How’s that working for ya’?)  You cannot.  Sometimes, things go your way, other times they don’t.  God is not a genie and you are not Aladdin.  He is the Sovereign King of the Universe. 

The Ancient of Days, the Almighty Maker of Man’s First Breath is not here to make MY dreams come true.  I am here to serve His plans.

Consider these arguments:

“You can’t trust the universe to bless you just because you’re putting out positive vibes. Indeed, because the universe is a created thing, it has no power at all to either bless or to curse – that power belongs to God, alone. In the end, this belief is just another futile attempt to manifest happiness and prosperity through one’s own efforts.”

“There is a scientific basis for visualizing an action before performing it, and how that makes you more likely to succeed. This is different from visualizing yourself winning the lottery, however.”

“Law of Attraction proponents teach that you can overcome sickness and poverty, etc. if you let your mind conquer your body. But God’s Word teaches that he is the Creator, who is sovereign over his creation (Colossians 1:16).  If you’ve ever had the stomach flu, you know that all the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to get you out of it. You can’t manifest a cure for cancer. Instead, we must turn to God the Creator and trust him in both good times and bad.” [1]

“For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities.  All things have been created by Him and through Him and for Him” Colossians 1:16.

God is sovereign.  Bow before Him.  Present yourself to Him to do His will.  Pray as Jesus did in the Garden: “Thy will be done.”  THAT is the only thing you need to “put out there” into the universe.  Otherwise, believe in the so-called “Law of Attraction” if you must, but don’t pretend that the doctrine is Christian.  It is not. 

ΑΩ

[1] From “What is the Christian Perspective on the Law of Attraction?” available at https://newportbeachchristiancounseling.com/articles/what-is-the-christian-perspective-on-the-law-of-attraction/

The Greatest Storyteller.

God is the greatest storyteller ever—and the hero of his own story.  Consider the Birth of Israel.  Incredible stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Pharaoh, and Moses.  Then when the people finally reach the Promised Land, the first real battle is with Jericho.  Jericho was protected by a huge wall but Rahab said her people were scared—they’d heard how God dried up the Red Sea forty years earlier. 

Next Israel crossed the Jordan—and God dried that up too.  Now Jericho was shaking in its boots.  Then Jesus appeared:

“When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’

‘Neither,’ he replied. ‘I have now come as Commander of the Lord’s Armies.’ Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship” Joshua 5:13-14.

Jesus said to march around Jericho once a day for six days, blowing trumpets, but saying nothing.  For six days, Israel marched in silence. (Imagine how that stoked the fears of the pagan people of Jericho.) Then on the seventh day Israel marched around the city seven times.  On the seventh trip, the trumpet blasts changed, Joshua gave the order to shout, Israel shouted—and the walls of Jericho fell inward, allowing every soldier to march straight into the city.

Imagine the next morning’s headlines all over the Promised Land!  God used the miracles in Egypt, the Red Sea, the Jordan River, and now Jericho to proclaim his truth throughout the pagan lands.  As Rahab said, “the Lord Your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” Joshua 2:11.  Like Rahab, some would turn to Him. Most would refuse and would die without excuse.

God, thank you for telling such an amazing story of miracles, of good and evil, of courage and fear, of grace and forgiveness. Help us to love your STORY—and to better recognize your work in our own smaller stories.

ΑΩ

The Younger Generation, Joshua 2:10.

Everyone complains about the younger generation.  “Kids today,” people say, as if that is a complete sentence.  They’re on their phones too much. They watch TV too much. They play too much. They don’t take school seriously.  The complaints go on and on.  Guess who said the following:

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for elders and love to stand around talking rather than exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants in the home. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. The contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up good food at the table, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Who stated the above?

(a) George Washington

(b) Ronald Reagan

(c) Bill Clinton

(d) William Shakespeare

(e) Socrates.

It was Socrates, speaking 400 years before Christ.  The younger generation is always bad—just as the good old days are always good.

Yep, kids are outta’ control.  But what can be done? Whether manners, morals, reading, or religion—if you want kids to care about something, you must TEACH them to care about it.   After Israel moved into the Promised Land, a new generation “rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel” Joshua 2:10. 

WHAT?!  How does that happen?  Why do young people fall away?  Because parents fail to teach them to love the Lord.  Or more likely, parents TALK about loving the Lord, but their lives—their choices—teach a different message.  Still, it boggles my mind.  Adam and Eve walked with God—imperfectly, to be sure. But later generations fell away.  Noah walked with God, but today’s world is filled with godlessness.  Even Israel, delivered from Egypt through a succession of amazing miracles, fell away.  How could that happen?  Children make will make their own choices to be sure—and there is grace for parents who do their best.  But I’m afraid some just can’t be bothered.  Who has time for church commitments when there are club teams for kids and golf for mom and dad?

Nothing is more important than passing the gift of faith to the next generation.  Dear God, don’t let us fail at the most important part of parenting!

ΑΩ

How Can God Possibly Fix This?

Do you ever look at your problems and think there is no way to solve them—that even God is stuck this time? God does not look at your problems that way. He is a miracle-worker. Do not go around thinking He won’t work a miracle for you!

When Israel had enemies, God intervened. Sometimes the Israelite army had to fight and slay their enemies on the battlefield. But often God stepped in and delivered His people in amazing ways. In Numbers 26:10, Moses had to face a mutinous rebellion by the followers of Korah. God intervened:

“And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died, when the fire consumed 250 men.”

The earth opened up and swallowed them! Can you imagine?!

Later, in Joshua 10:11, five kings brought their armies to fight Israel. God miraculously intervened:

“And the Lord confounded them before Israel…. As they fled from Israel, the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Asekah, and the died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”

God threw hailstones? What? I bet He never misses either!

Later, in Joshua 24:12, God reminds Israel of the way they defeated the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. God miraculously intervened:

“I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you eat from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.”

I was attacked by dozens of bees while riding the lawn mower the other day. Let’s just say, it was not fun. But bees are nothing like hornets. IMAGINE! God sent HORNETS! He gave the earth a mouth and it swallowed people? He threw hailstones? Hornets! Let’s face it—your God is a miracle worker. Never doubt that. Never think that you are on your own. Prayer works. Seeking God works.

“The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name.” Exodus 15:3. Talk to Him about your problems right now. He will fight for you!

ΑΩ

Choose: It is Up to You.

We make choices every day. But religion is something most do not consider a choice. Billions of people in the world simply accept the religion of their parents, just as they take on the language, diet, and customs of their parents. But God requires us to make a choice.  You cannot drift into faith, like a boat without a rudder, floating wherever the current takes you. Christianity requires a choice.

Joshua encouraged the children of Israel: “Be very diligent to love the Lord your God for your own well-being” Joshua 23:11.  How is it for their own well-being? Well, life is better when you love the one true God. Not only in heaven, but on earth.  You will suffer, but you will suffer either way. Suffering with a Savior to lean on is better than suffering alone.

Then Joshua speaks one of the most famous passages in the Bible:

“Fear the Lord and worship Him in sincerity and truth…. But if it does not please you to worship Yahweh, CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD” Joshua 24:15.

Have you made a choice? Young people often choose to wear different clothes than their parents, to study different subjects, to work in different fields, to live in different cities, to have different hobbies and pastimes. 

But what about FAITH? Have you PERSONALLY made a choice?  Jesus looks at you today and says: “CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF WHOM YOU WILL SERVE.” And while giving your life to Christ is a huge, one-time decision, we must also choose him every day.

What choice will you make today?  Tell Him.

And is your choice a secret or can people who know you see what choice you have made?

ΑΩ

Are You Drifting or Driving?

The river of time never stops flowing—and everyone is heading downstream.  But are you drifting or are you driving? 

Children drift.  They eat what their parents feed them.  They wear the clothes their parents provide.  They live in their parents’ houses.  Mom and Dad pick their schools, sports, and hobbies.  When children are small most choices are made for them. 

But as you grow, you begin choosing what you eat, what you wear, what you do for fun, where and with whom you spend your time.  You move into the driver’s seat.  Adults stop drifting and start driving.  When the river forks, adults must choose—do you pass the island on the right side or the left? 

Are you drifting or driving?  Have you thought about your eating habits?  Have you asked yourself what the consequences of your food choices will be in the future?  In other words, are you drifting along letting the river of your own past move you downstream, or are you driving the boat, choosing how you live?

Our lives are filled with choices, many of which we never question.  But maybe we should.  Are you making good choices for your physical health? Are you taking care of your teeth?  Are you handling money with wisdom and discipline? It helps to stop and take stock, to ask questions of yourself.  Don’t just drift.

And let’s be intentional about WORSHIP. 

“Choose you this day, whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15.

Adult life is filled with choices.  Don’t just drift along on the habits of the past: get into the driver’s seat and think about your options.  Make good choices.  Most importantly, turn from your idols and addictions and choose to serve the Lord.

ΑΩ

Singing at Funerals.

Dana Dawkins must have sung solos and led singing at a thousand funerals. I always remember a particularly sad funeral when she sang a song called “Trust His Heart.” I know she has performed that song at many funerals. Why? Because the message is so encouraging. Here’s the chorus:

“God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don’t understand
When don’t see His plan
When you can’t trace His hand
Trust His Heart
Trust His Heart”

Aren’t those great words? God is wise and good, and no matter what is happening, you can trust His heart. “When you can’t trace His hand, Trust His heart.” Previously I encouraged you to pray for wisdom—that God would show us what He is doing. We should ask Him what is going on in the world, and how to interpret the facts. But when we don’t know—when we can’t see His hand at work, we can still trust His heart. Trust His heart. He is wise and He is good. Do you trust Him? Can you surrender to Him all your recent disappointments? Can you trust Him with your future? Can you release your grip on it, and let Him have it and let Him do with your life whatever He wants? Trust His heart. He loves you. And He is a promise keeper.

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers.… The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:43-45.

Pray and give God everything. Talk to Him about all of it. Let go and trust His heart. He is good.

ΑΩ

Manslaughter.

When did you last use the word “accident” to excuse yourself from liability? Can you remember?  Were you accidentally tardy? Did you accidentally dent your car? Accidentally neglect an assignment? 

How often I screamed as a child: “BUT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!”  I knew accidents were not punished the way intentional acts were.  If you meant to do it, then you have done something evil and cold-blooded.  But if it was an accident, you are less guilty. You may have been careless or negligent, but you did not intend the bad result—it happened “on accident.”

One way we know the heart of God is merciful and compassionate concerns the distinction between murder and manslaughter.  God recognizes that accidents happen.  So he commands Israel to designate six “CITIES OF REFUGE” where a man can go when his accident has caused another man’s death.  Accidental deaths are rare, but God made elaborate plans to address them, even providing examples: if two men are cutting trees in a forest and an ax head comes loose and kills one man, the other can escape to the nearest city of refuge and defend himself there in a trial. Had there been no such city, a member of the victim’s family might otherwise chase down the “killer” and kill him for revenge.

“Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there.  Such cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood….” Joshua 20:1-3.

God did not have to make provision for accidents.  He could have said all killings are the same, regardless of intent.  But he is a God of both holy justice and great mercy.  God forbid we ever be responsible for an accidental death, but we have all been responsible for accidents, and God understands that accidents happen.  He does not hold you criminally responsible. Praise God for his mercy and compassion.

God, give us more insight to understand how your word applies even to our government and our legal system!

ΑΩ