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Don’t Sacrifice Future Blessings For Temporal Fixes

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: God desires to bless us—he really does. But there is a path to blessing that we must follow. The path is against the grain of human reasoning and self-gratification, but it is the one and only path that God has chosen for his people to walk. Walk it, my friend! It always leads to untold blessing!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 8:2

After Israel’s defeat against Ai, the Lord said, “You will destroy Ai this time as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time, you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves.

God told Israel to completely destroy Jericho—an evil city that was a part of an exceedingly evil culture—which happened to stand directly in the way as Israel entered the Promised Land. It was the first city of conquest, and as such, it was the first fruits of sorts—the initial battle of their conquest of Canaan. The first fruits belong to God—in this case and every time. God says, “Give it to me, then I will give you the rest. This is how you will honor me and keep me first in your life.” Thus, with Jericho, the spoils of the battle were to be totally devoted to the Lord by annihilating this evil city and everything in it.

Yet one man, Achan, secretly, selfishly, and in willful disregard of what God had just commanded, took some plunder (Joshua 7:20-21), and, as a result, this individual’s disobedience led to a national disgrace settled upon Israel. The Israelites lost the next battle—one they should have easily won—and scores of warriors died. Because of the sin of one man, the whole nation suffered. Sound familiar? That is exactly what happened when Adam sinned,

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12)

When you read the story of Achan’s punishment—and the brutality of his entire family being executed for his sin—and you are both feeling sorry for them and miffed that God overreacted, keep in mind that thousands of Israelites were mourning the deaths of their warrior sons who had been killed in battle because of this one man’s selfish act. That will put the harsh consequences of disobedience placed upon Achan, along with his entire family, into a sobering but more understandable light.

The takeaway from this story, and it is a sad one, is that Achan could have had everything his heart desired had he just followed the Lord’s commands. As we see in this next battle, the soldiers were free to take the plunder.

When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. (Joshua 8:24-27)

Achan made the mistake we often make: Sacrificing a future of promised blessings that arrive only through trust and obedience for quick but temporal fixes that will end up destroying us. Call it what you will—delayed gratification, long-range planning, ruthless trust—waiting upon God in faith and obedience is the job of the Christian. And scripture is replete with promises for those who do:

No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. (Psalm 25:5)

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. (Psalm 37:4-5)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:33)

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

God desires to bless us—he really does! But there is a path to blessing that we must follow. The path is against the grain of human reasoning and self-gratification, but it is the one and only path that God has chosen for his people to walk.

Walk it, my friend! It always leads to untold blessing!

Choose You This Day: Here is a prayer I would invite you to join me in lifting to the Lord: “Dear Father, would I have been an Achan? Would I have given in to temptation and disobeyed you? Am I doing that now? Oh Lord, I don’t even want an answer to that—I just want you to purge me of any disobedience and faithlessness. I want to be pleasing to you. I don’t want to bring shame and injury upon my family or my church. I want to partake of the amazing blessings that come by trust and obedience. I want to be a part of the Joshua crowd, not the Achan clan. Lord, cleanse me and set my feet on solid ground. Lead me in the way everlasting. Establish my coming and my going so that I am completely devoted and pleasing to you!”

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Horrible Odds, Holy Opportunities

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Faith is putting our full confidence in the things we hope for; it means being certain of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1-2) That makes faith ruthless trust in the care and competence of our Heavenly Father, that at the end of the day, he does all things well. Faith is unshakeable hope that God loves us and will work everything out for our good and his glory. Faith is not looking at the unmovable mountain in our way, but it is looking to the Mountain Mover on our side. The acrostic F.A.I.T.H. is absolutely accurate: Forsaking All, I Trust Him. That is why God allows us to be in situations where the genuineness of our faith can be proven, and where his own genuine goodness can be experienced. Do you want to be a person of great faith? Then let go and let God!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 7:2-7

Gideon and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group, put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group, put all those who kneel and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths from the stream. The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”

We want the odds to be in our favor. To mix metaphors, when push comes to shove, we are certainly not opposed to the decks being stacked in our favor. That is just human nature—fallen human nature, that is. But that is not the way of God, which means that is not the way of faith.

The thing is, we are created to glorify our Creator, to worship him, and fully enjoy him forever. Life is not about us, it is all about him, and how we can live to bring him maximum fame through our daily lives—in our everyday, walking around, eating, sleeping, talking, going about our business lives. Our job is to make God famous. And in doing that, we experience the deepest, longest-lasting satisfaction possible during the few decades we have been allotted in this one and only life.

But that means we must walk the way of faith. Faith is putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1-2) Faith is ruthless trust in the care and competence of our Heavenly Father. Faith is unshakeable hope that God loves us and will work everything out for our good and his glory. Faith is not looking at the immovable mountain in our way; it is looking to the Mountain Mover on our side. Faith is Forsaking All, I Trust Him.

That is why God allows us to be in situations where the genuineness of our faith can be proven. You see, it doesn’t take much faith if we don’t really need God to step in. If there is not the possibility, at least on the human, visible level, that we can crash and burn if God doesn’t show up, then we are most likely not stepping out far enough where we have reached the rare air of risky faith. If we can do it without God, most likely we will take the credit for our success.

Remember, however, we were created to glorify him in everything we do. Remember that our one assignment is to make God famous. Remember that he designed us to be most satisfied in him when he is most glorified in us. That is precisely why he allows the decks to be stacked against us. It is then that he can supply us with supernatural power and all kinds of divine aid to rout our toughest enemies, overcome our most overwhelming odds, and win our most stunning victories.

That is precisely why God told Gideon to pare his fighting force down from thousands to just 300—against a Midianite army that was far superior in numbers, experience, and fighting talent. In God’s own words, “If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.” God doesn’t share his glory—and that is a good thing. He allows us to share in his glory, but that comes only by deflecting all the glory that we might receive in our effort back to him. When we do that, his glory is reflected onto us in a way that we could never produce on our own.

Now, like me, you may not be totally comfortable with this whole business of the decked stack against you. But the record of scripture, the testimony of the faithful, and from my own experience, that is the way of faith. And frankly, I am glad it is. Get used to it!

So, if you’ve got horrible odds, not to worry: You are on the edge of a holy opportunity.

Choose You This Day: Are you up against some horrible odds? Good! Began to thank God for your situation. You are on the verge of something grand!

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Painful Lessons

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: We’ve been steeped in a cultural mindset of individualism to the point that we now simply cannot, or will not, consider the possibility of God’s response to community when life in that community goes sideways because of the sin of one. As believers, we need to give careful thought to how our individual behavior will affect those with whom we share life in our covenantal group—marriage, family, team, church, etc. The hard truth is, my private actions affect my public relationships.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 7:11-13

The Lord replied to Joshua, “Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.

Any schoolkid of previous generations knows the “unfairness” of the class being punished for the wrongdoing of one unidentified classmate whose crime has yet to be found out. “How unfair, Teacher, that we all have to miss recess because one person stole your apple!”

That is what is happening to the nation of Israel in this story from Joshua 7. They’re being punished—all of them—for one man’s sin. Of course, Israel was unique in that it was a theocracy, and we don’t live under that system today in our pluralistic democracy. So, what was applied to Israel may not be exactly applied in our nation—although I suspect there is still a divine principle at play. Yet each of us does live in a theocratic community if we belong to a family or a church. And in that sense, we need to give careful thought as to how our individual behavior might affect those who share life with us in the community of Christ.

Israel had just experienced the extreme thrill of defeating the great walled city of Jericho—an impenetrable fortress by ancient standards. But it collapsed like a house of cards before the Lord’s people. Then, just days later, in the next battle, Israel was unexpectedly stunned at the fierce resistance of the small band of fighters of a village called Ai. In a matter of hours, God’s people went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Ai was a relatively small and defenseless city of no account, yet they fought for their very existence against the Israelite army—and they punched them in the nose. Thirty-six of Israel’s fighting men were immediately killed in battle, and the rout was on. Israel was stunned and disheartened.

All because of the sin of one man—Achan!

No matter how many times we moderns read the ancient story of the Israelites, we run across stories like this, Achan’s sin, and are left shaking our heads in wonderment—and not in the positive sense of wonderment. This is not a warm, fuzzy, and inspiring story. And there are many like it with which we must contend as we journey through the Old Testament.

When we read these stories—and admittedly, we don’t have the full backstory in every case—we are struck with a bad case of the fear of the Lord. There is no denying the anxiety we feel over his fierce holiness and the swift, sweeping judgment against human violation of that holiness, for if this happened because of one sin, we don’t stand a chance before God for our many sins.

Furthermore, the story in Joshua 7 is not just a one-off; there have been plenty. To name a few, we have witnessed the death of Nadab and Abihu for offering unholy fire on the altar (Leviticus 10), the execution of a blasphemer who cursed God’s name during a fight (Leviticus 24:10-23), the gruesome killing of a man who brought a Moabite woman into his tent to have sex with her—in broad daylight (Numbers 25), and now the stoning of a young man named Achan, along with his entire family, because he kept some of the expensive plunder from the battle of Jericho for himself.

Not that we would condone any of these sins—nobody who truly follows the Lord would justify any of these deliberate violations of God’s commands. Even still, the immediacy and severity of the punishment is hard to swallow for people like us who live at a time where consequences for actions seem to be decreasingly certain. So, we read stories like this, and if we do anything with them at all, we simply toss them into the “Painful Lessons” file.

One of those painful lessons here is the corporate-ness of sin. In our culture, we worship individualism. In fact, the early heroes who built our nation are praised for their rugged individualism. A large percentage of us are proud of that and have embraced that this is the superior way to live. While we nod our heads in agreement that the whole community is important, we tend to see the parts as more important than the whole; the many are servant to the one. You likely have your own story of whining that the whole class was punished for the actions of one student. To our Western mindset, that is the height of unfairness.

Yet while we embrace the idea of unity in the community, and the blessings that derive from it, why would we not accept the opposite? Why should we be surprised when the whole community suffers because an individual violated its values? If God favors corporate unity (Psalm 133:1-3), why would he lift his favor from the community when sin invades it through an individual member? But in God’s economy, it cuts both ways—the whole is blessed when the parts are right; the whole is cursed when the parts are wrong.

I suspect you are still not convinced. I don’t like it either. But we have been so steeped in a cultural mindset of individualism that we simply cannot, or will not, embrace God’s response to community when life in the community goes sideways. Of course, Israel was unique in that it was a theocracy, and we don’t live under that system today in our pluralistic democracy. So, what was applied to Israel may not be applied to the same degree in our nation—although I suspect there is still a divine principle at play.

Yet each of us does live in a theocratic community if we belong to a family, small group, ministry team, or church. And in that sense, we need to give careful thought as to how our individual behavior might affect those who share life with us in the community. And while we don’t suffer the same degree of punishment that Achan and his family suffered, we can—and should—learn the painful lesson of Achan: My private actions affect my public relationships.

I love painful lessons—said no one ever—but thank God for them!

Choose You This Day: Take a moment to prayerfully consider how your private attitudes, habits and actions affect your public relationships. Moreover, when the next temptation to sin comes your way (which will probably be in the next five minutes), ask yourself how giving in to it will affect your relationships at home, in the church, and in your relational world.

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What We See—What God Sees

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: When God is with a person, then even the weakest, most reluctant, and least qualified is a mighty man or woman of valor. It is not a person’s gifts, talents, skills, temperament, and popularity that tip the scales as to whether they will be successful or not, though these personal qualities are not unimportant/ It is God’s presence that determines the outcome of success in their life. If God is for us, who can be against us!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 6:11-14

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon replied, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us. Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hands of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?

When will we ever learn that God doesn’t see things the way we do when he chooses people for his service? No one would have looked at a barren married couple in their nineties as logical candidates to be the parents of many nations. God saw something in Abram and Sarai that we couldn’t see. No one would have looked at the stuttering fugitive, wanted for murder, now on the lam in the Sinai wilderness, as Israel’s deliverer. But God saw something in Moses that we couldn’t see. No one would have looked at a young, ruddy shepherd boy, the runt among his strapping brothers, and predicted that he would be a giant slayer, a mighty king, and a man after God’s own heart. But God saw something in David that we couldn’t see.

Long before we see potential in a person, God does.

Such was the case with Gideon in Judges 6. When God found this man who would become one of the greatest judges in Israel’s history, he was hiding in fear in a winepress (Judges 6:11), blaming God for Israel’s subjugation at the hand of Midian when it was clearly Israel’s fault (Judges 6:13), and mired in the quicksand poor self-esteem, arguing with God as to why he was the wrong choice to deliver Israel (Judges 6:15).

Not a great job interview! Yet God saw past Gideon’s obvious weaknesses and addressed him, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” You see, when God is with you—and that is key—then even the weakest, most reluctant, least qualified, is a mighty man or woman of valor. It is not our gifts, talents, skills, temperament, or résumé of past success that tip the scales on whether we will be successful, though these personal qualities are not unimportant. It is God’s presence that determines the outcome of success in our lives. If God is for us, who can be against us!

When God calls us, our résumés change before we accomplish one single thing. We immediately achieve conqueror status—in advance. When God is with us, then we can simply go in the strength we have (Judges 6:14) and do what the Almighty has foreordained. To go in our strength is to simply put our gifts, talents, skills, and temperament on the line for God, then let God do the rest. We might see ourselves, or others, as Gideon saw himself: The least qualified in the least qualified family. God sees that too—more than we do. But God also sees something else. He sees that he will be with us, and he sees that he will go before us, and he sees that he has already accomplished what he has predetermined.

That is why God chose Abram and Sarai, Moses, David—and all the other heroes that occupy the Great Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11; none of which we would have chosen. But God chose them, and that sealed the deal; that guaranteed their success; that put them into the realm of mighty men and women of valor long before they or anyone saw them in that grand light.

Do you ever wonder how God views you? Wonder no longer! He sees not what you aren’t, but what you are: A person he has chosen and blessed with his presence to do great and impossible things for him. So go with what you’ve got. The Lord is with you!

Choose You This Day: The human philosophy believes in calling the qualified when looking for someone to fill a key leadership role or critical position in an organization. But as it has been said, “God qualifies the called.” The Bible is filled with examples of how the most unlikely become mighty instruments in the Lord’s hand. Knowledge, skill, and personality are not unimportant, but most important is what God sees in you or in another unlikely person in your world.

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We Have One Job and One Job Only: Make Jesus Famous

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Never in the history of Christianity have we had so many famous pastors—and those wanting to become famous—as we do now. But the biblically approved spiritual leader, the one with whom God is pleased, has one job and one job only: to make Jesus famous! And if Jesus wants to make the leader famous, well, that is Jesus’ business.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 6:27

So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

As media technologies continue to increase, so has the universal rise of celebrity preachers. Never in the history of Christianity have we had so many famous pastors—and those wanting to become famous—as we do now. If you’re a spiritual leader and you aren’t hawking all the books you have authored, beaming your mug to adoring congregants to a multi-site campus, tweeting to your six-figure social media followers, and getting quoted by the media on the issue du jour, you ain’t all that much.

Of course, technology now allows us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world in unprecedented ways—and that is a great thing. But inherent in this ability to communicate to the masses is the danger of showcasing ourselves rather than showcasing Jesus. The god of fame lurks; the seduction of celebrity has never been stronger in the Christian world than it is right now—and that’s not a great thing!

The true spiritual leader, the one with whom God is well pleased, has one job and one job only: to make Jesus famous! And if Jesus wants to make the leader famous, well, that is Jesus’ business. Unlike far too many of today’s Christian celebrities, Joshua was a leader whom God decided to make famous. Joshua 2:7 and 4:14 says,

The Lord told Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses.’ …That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses.

And, of course, our featured verse today says, “God was with Joshua. He became famous all over the land.” (The Message) How refreshing! In today’s culture of celebrity, where leaders do whatever they can to make themselves famous, here was a guy who didn’t have to. God did it for him. And there is no better PR firm than the Holy Trinity!

What makes a leader great and opens the door to his or her fame? Some would say charisma is the key. Others might say it’s a combination of skill, intellect, and the ability to inspire others to accomplish a compelling mission. Then there are those who would argue that not only are charisma and persuasion necessary, but it’s also a matter of being the right person in the right place and the right time.

I wouldn’t argue with any of those ideas. But above all else, I would argue that what makes a leader a great and fame-worthy leader is simply God’s touch upon his or her life. Where God makes a man or woman great in the eyes of the people, there you have the makings of a leader who is one for the ages. Joshua was just such a leader.

In Joshua, you find true success! Not that he leveraged his considerable talents, sharp intellect, political capital, magnanimous personality, and a stellar resume of past achievements of leading the Israelites to victory, but it was that God made him great in the eyes of the people. Never did Joshua take any credit for himself in the victories and miracles that God performed. As Moses had been a humble leader, so, too, was Joshua. Like his predecessor, he was a true servant of God and of the Israelites. He served at God’s pleasure and recognized that his success came only by God’s power and grace. And it was God who made Joshua great before all Israel.

That’s the kind of leader I want to be. I want to be a great leader because of God’s touch on my life; because of the work that he does in, for, and through me. If there is anything that makes me worth following, may it be because of what God has done. What I do through my own gifts, personality, and personal determination will, at best, quickly fade. But what God does through me will last for all eternity, and best of all, bring all the glory to the God who has equipped me to lead.

What about you? Do you desire to be a leader—a person of influence in your home, school, business, or some other arena? You might feel unqualified and unworthy. Part of you may want to let someone else to lead; someone more qualified, smarter, holier, better than you. But it could be that God has placed in you the kinds of gifts, talents, brainpower, and favor that he wants to use in leading people to extend his Kingdom in this world.

If God is calling you to leadership, submit your life to him. Then, if he chooses, let God make you great in the eyes of those you would lead.

However, if you are already a leader who has the adoration of the masses, do whatever you can to deflect the glory back to the God who deserves the glory alone. Whatever glory you give to God through your life and ministry, the more bless-able you will be—right now and throughout all eternity.

Choose You This Day: When you evaluate the spiritual leader whom God has placed over your life, make sure this is the chief indicator of their greatness: Their consuming passion is to make Jesus famous. If it isn’t, seriously pray for that leader. If so, thank God for them and do everything you can to affirm their leadership.

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There Is No “Switzerland” in Spiritual Warfare

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: The realm of spiritual warfare where the Christian resides is no theological “Switzerland.” Moral issues demand that we take a stand as Kingdom ambassadors. We cannot keep our distance from this conflict; we cannot stay neutral in it. We must engage, even when the odds are overwhelming. To step forward in faith into the fray is to be on the right side of history — what we can rightly call “His story” — and time will prove it.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 5:15-18, 24-25

The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Why did you stay among the sheep pens to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields….Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.

In Judges 5, the prophetess Deborah composed a tune to commemorate the Israelites’ victory, led by General Barak, over the Canaanites and their leader, General Sisera. The memorable and brutal battle described in Judges 4 ended with the gruesome death of Sisera. Deborah used the occasion to memorialize the details of Israel’s victory in this song—a song she not only composed but also sang for all to hear.

The tune, however, was not just a celebration; it was a diatribe as well. Not only did she celebrate the brave hearts of several of Israel’s tribes, Issachar, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulun, along with the courageous lady named Jael, who assassinated Sisera, but she also castigates the indecision of other tribes, Reuben, Dan, and Asher. These latter tribes apparently sat out the conflict because it didn’t directly concern them.

Rueben was conflicted about joining the fight, apparently not so sure there would be a good outcome, given how badly Israel was outmanned and outgunned: “In Reuben there was much searching of heart.” (Judges 5:15-16). The others, the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulun, were either sitting in the safety of being far from the conflict or too busy with their own concerns to jump into the fray.

Despite the lack of participation from these four tribes, Israel conquered the Canaanites. It was an amazing victory for Israel when General Barak put the larger, better-equipped army led by General Sisera to flight. But when the time came for courage, for the reasons mentioned above, the four stayed home. In so doing, they earned the ire of this steely prophetess, Deborah. She interpreted their reluctance as disloyalty to the nation, which was tantamount to a lack of faith, disobedience, and disloyalty to God. So, she called them out publicly for seeing themselves as separate entities rather than as a part of the nation, a problem Moses had previously warned about, and a problem that became reality in future chapters throughout Judges.

 

So, what does this story have to do with you? Simply this: there is always conflict in the believer’s life. At times, the conflict is in the unseen realm, while at other times it spills over into the real world in your personal, family, social, professional, and church life. In the raging battle, there is always a right and wrong side, a side that represents good and one that represents evil. And wherever conflict invades your world, there are always three positions you can take—one right, two wrong.

The two wrong sides are like what we see immortalized in Deborah’s song. One side, represented by Reuben, is to stay neutral in the fray when the choice is clear. The Rueben mentality is conflicted, not sure what to do, worried about the cost, wanting to play it safe, but not feeling so good about sitting it out. But safe it is not, it is wrong, for in the fight of faith, there is no neutral spiritual Switzerland. Moral issues demand that we take a stand.

The second wrong side takes a definite stance to sit it out. The sit-it-out crowd is too busy, too far removed (they don’t have a dog in this fight, or so they think), and to jump into the fray would take too much effort for too little reward. But in the fight of faith, where the choice is clear, staying off the field will only get you into history books for the wrong reason. Spiritual infamy is not what you want when you are needed in the conquest.

There is only one right side, and that is to step forward in faith to fight for right. When sin threatens, encroaches, or seeks to enslave, even when it seems the odds are against you or against those who need your help, Deborah’s eternal call is to jump into the fray. Her words to Barak are the Word of the Lord to you:

This is the day the Lord has given your enemy into your hands—for the Lord is marching ahead of you. (Judges 4:14)

Where is the battle of faith calling you to take a stand today? If there is an identifiable conflict, jump into the fray. God is already there, and you are not only guaranteed a win but also an eternal song to commemorate your conquest.

Choose You This Day: Picture your greatest challenge. Once you have that in view, picture God already there waiting for you. Now get out there; go take a victory lap in a victory that God has won for you.

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The One Thing You Will Never Regret

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Whenever you step forward in faith, God will do the rest: rivers will part, dry land will appear, walls will fall, enemies will flee, the sun will stand still, and the Land of Promise will become your Land of Possession. You will never regret putting your trust in the Lord.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 5:1

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

Contrast this story with the one we read in Numbers 13-14 about the 12 spies returning from surveying Canaan. Ten of those spies came back from reconnoitering the Promised Land and gave a very pessimistic report to Moses and the Israelites. And when God’s people heard it, they lost heart and became paralyzed with fear.

But the ten spies said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the people of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.” The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: “Why didn’t we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don’t we just head back to Egypt? And right now!” Soon they were all saying it to one another: “Let’s pick a new leader; let’s head back to Egypt.” (Numbers 13:31-14:4, MSG)

What a lost opportunity! If only they had remained faithful to God and confident in his call, the same story that the Israelites experienced in Joshua 5 would have become theirs. That same race of giants, the Nephilim, that made the Israelites feel like grasshoppers, were now the ones who were feeling small, as we read in our current story:

Their hearts sank; the courage drained out of them just thinking about the people of Israel. (Joshua 5:1, MSG)

Joshua 5 could have occurred forty years earlier, and the people Moses led out of Egypt would have entered their Promised Land. Instead, they forfeited the promises of God for death in the wilderness because of fear and disobedience. Untold numbers of people died over four decades, with the most disheartening words in the library of human language on their lips: “If only.” What might have been had they just trusted the God who had led them?

 

Fortunately, the next generation learned a very difficult but important lesson at their parents’ expense. They witnessed the unbelief of their fathers and mothers and the harsh consequences of shrinking back in fear, and determined that, while there might be other sins, unbelief would not be one of theirs. They stepped forward in faith, and behold, God did the rest: rivers parted, dry land appeared, walls fell, enemies fled, the sun stood still, and the Land of Promise became the Land of Possession.

No one has ever regretted trusting God. Obedience to the call of the Lord has never left a person disappointed. God has never abandoned anyone who followed his command. Not a single person who stepped out to put God’s promises to the test has ever died whispering, “What might have been if I had just NOT trusted God so much.” As the prophet said in Jeremiah 17:7-8,

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Trust God completely, and you will live a satisfying life of no regrets!

Choose You This Day: Trust God! Whatever is before you today, walk into it with confidence. If you are obeying God, he is not only with you, but also before you.