“6 Then the Lord raised up
judges to RESCUE the Israelites
from their attackers. 17 Yet Israel did
not listen to the judges but prostituted
themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path
of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands…. 20 So the Lord burned with
anger against Israel. He said, “Because
these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and
have ignored my commands, 21 I will no longer
drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. 22 I did this to test
Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors
did.” 23 That is why the Lord left those nations
in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.
3 These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those
Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan…. the Philistines (those
living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians,
and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to
Lebo-hamath. 4 These people were
left to test the Israelites—to
see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses. 5 So the people of Israel lived among
the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,6 and they intermarried with them.
Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in
marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods. 7 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s
sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served
the images of Baal and the Asherah poles. 8 Then the Lord burned with anger
against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of
Aram-naharaim.[a] And the Israelites served
Cushan-rishathaim for eight years. 9 BUT
when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord raised up a rescuer to save
them. His name was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother, Kenaz. 10 The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became
Israel’s judge. He went to war against King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram, and theLord gave
Othniel victory over him. 11 So
there was peace
in the land for forty years… 12 Once again the
Israelites did evil in the Lord’s
sight, and the Lord gave King Eglon of Moab
control over Israel because of their evil…. 14 And the Israelites served Eglon of Moab
for eighteen years. 15 BUT when the people of Israel cried
out to the Lord for help,
the Lord again
raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a
left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin.”
And this is the way that people
live even today! At times people go to
church one Sunday, and The Lord is excited to see us there, but then as soon as
we get out, some start to live like the world do, carelessly; living for self.
Then The Lord gets angry at us, and decides to teach us a lesson, for our own
good, so we grow and mature, but then we fail. And when the fail is unbearable
then we cry out to the Lord (who we disregarded before), and in HIS AGAPE love,
HE raises up a determined someone who comes and save us, right when we needed
the most.
My pastor says: “Not because you
go to McDonalds that will make you a burger”; funny but true! People come to church thinking that just the
walking into it, even sitting down and stay the service, it will make them
automatically “Christians”, and that’s WRONG thinking!!! It will not happen!
To become a Christian you HAVE to
make a commitment with The Lord. You HAVE
to confess you’re a sinner, that you need salvation, that JESUS was sent as a ransom
for our sins and died in the cross for those sins, then ACCEPT HIM as the Savior
& Master of your life. This
commitment, followed by discipleship and a daily living trying to be like The
Lord wants us to, is what makes a person, a Christian.
Without having that encounter
with God we will not become Christians, is impossible; you could dress like
one, smell like one, but who discerns what’s inside of you, KNOWS you aren’t one;
and at some point your true colors will come out, all because there hasn’t been
a real transformation inside of your heart. Your true master is NOT GOD! HE
cant be replace by any other god, because HE “ain’t”. Our God is an awesome GOD, and when HE
touches, THINGS, PEOPLE and even SITUATIONS change. In fact those that call themselves Christians
and aren’t the true thing, The Father who send me, HE calls them false
prophets! Look at this RED letters…
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a
bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.[1]”
So if at any given moment, you found one of these false
prophets, you immediately ask The Father and the Holy Spirit to get a hold of
the person; because someone like this stains our Christian testimony and others
will walk away from Christ due to their actions. And yes that judgment will be
between them and Christ, but we’ll be accountable if we don’t do something about
it, so we better pray for them; and if the Lord wants you to break their
bubble, HE WILL lead you in when and how to do it. Please DO NOT DARE to do it
at your own time, and without God’s direction; it could be detrimental to both
parts.
I pray you
understand that our CREATOR is NOT in the demolition business BUT in the
RESCUING BUSINESS. HE is a MERCIFUL GOD, that’s why when HIS
people failed, over and over and over again, HE sent for them a rescuer, and HE
WILL DO IT FOR US too! I pray we never take for granted HIS LOVE &
COMPASSION for us, but we choose to live for HIM daily! I pray if you made the mistake of calling
yourself Christian when you are not, this moves you to call upon the Father
right now, and renew your relationship with HIM; for you DO NOT have to wait
until Sunday to go to church; just do it now and Sunday when you get to church,
you come forth at the Alter call, and reconfirm your commitment with HIM. And I
pray this for the glory of God, in JESUS name, AMEN!!!
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