Our Bloody Gory Mess

Judges 18-20

What a bloody gory mess, a slow degrading of the Children of God into a people of unbelievable carnage.  One thing is true; God never hides us from ourselves.  He allows us to see ourselves as we all too often are.  There are so many unanswered questions here that it is hard to know what to address.  Let’s stick to the elephant in the room…violent bloody atrocities of humans against humans committed by those we have been introduced to as “The Children of God.”  How can this be?  Their title stands in abject opposition to the context.

Let’s look down another road.  Remember the Bloody Pond and Gettysburg, Emmitt Till, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and The Trail of Tears, Lee Harvey Oswald, O J Simpson and collateral damage, southern lynchings, the My Lai Massacre, Jim Jones and Waco; Kent State, Columbine, Watts riots, Jeffery Daumier, Dr. Kevorkian, James Byrd Jr. and Wounded Knee, Matthew Shepard, Chardon High School, the Unabomber, the Salem Witch trials and let’s not hide from 42 million abortions….

all this in a country we introduce as “one nation under God.”

It does us good to allow God, on occasion, to walk us down our own bloody, gory, mess.  “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  Romans 7:24-25a

Ice Cream and Sex

Judges 14-17

These chapters tell the familiar ancient story of Samson, strong man, womanizer and Israeli judge for 20 years. This is a tragic story of a great man belittled by his appetites.  Have you ever been belittled by your appetites, the desires of your flesh gaining control of your body?  Having a bite of ice cream and ending up with an empty carton in your hand and a half-gallon around your waist?  I guess that’s not belittled but “bebigged!!!”

One of the surest signs of maturity is being able to manage and rule over our appetites, to subjugate them to the dictates of God’s will, whether in ice cream or sex, our desires will always seek to rule over us.  Learn to put the spoon down and your britches up.

We The Jury Find You _____________

Judges 10-13

I’m not one who tolerates having a judge over me.  But it’s really not the judge so much as it is to live under their verdict.  Have you ever lived under a verdict…you’re not fast, you’re not pretty, you’re not rich, you’re not like us!

That’s why I love God so much.  Even though I always stand guilty under His standard, perfection, I do not have to live under His verdict.  The last thing I need in a trial of my life vs. perfection is a verdict.  What I need is a pardon. 

And that’s the number one reason I love God.  He offered it to me, His Pardon, Jesus the Christ.  

Guilty, but pardoned -- the only verdict we can “live” under.

A Great Truth

Judges 7-9

In every culture there are always two great seats of power that contend for the hearts of its citizenry, the Church and the Government.  Neither have a history of worthiness to the task.  Both have held sway throughout history, as the great pendulum swings first to one and then to the other.  Even today we see our own government seeking to take greater and greater control over us, its citizens. 

The great truth of all humans is that we are at our best when we take command of our own lives.   When we reject the power of both the Church and Government to rule over us.  When we declare that we are the church and the government and can no more be ruled by them than the windmill can rule the wind. 

But alas man, so evident in history and clearly in these three chapters, cannot even rule himself.  For one of the greatest truths in all human history is this:  The man who surrenders himself, his life and his will to God, Yahweh, is the man by which all great cultures are made. 

“…the Lord shall rule over you.”  8:23b

Truth is truth and forever remains independent of man’s belief.

Did I Make the Right Decision?

Judges 4-6

In these chapters we find the story of Gideon and the “laying out of the fleece” to discern God’s will.  We are often presented with problems and decisions with no clear, right, choice.  What should we do?

1.     Insure that none of the choices conflict with the Word of God.

2.     Ask, BELIEVING, God to direct your choice.

3.     Choose

4.     Don’t look back! (doubt)

I will admit that my wife and I, on rare occasions, have "laid out the fleece," but only on occasions when the choice had long lasting, irreversible, consequences for our whole family.  Read chapter 6 again.

In decision-making we cling to James 1:5-6.  We pray, believing, and then make a decision confidently believing that our choice is God’s will.  We don’t need a fleece, fax or email, just a believing heart and a determined will to act and not look back.  God will not let you down!!!

The Smell of Vanilla

Judges 1-3

Joshua dies, Israel fights their enemies and they all “forget the Lord.” 3:7.  That was quick!  As I mentioned yesterday, it only takes one generation to forget God and each turn to his own way.  Artists are normally not prone to forget God.  That’s our realm.  We find great meaning in the sunset, the line where the sky meets the ocean, the taste of honeysuckle and the smell of vanilla.  We marvel and cherish love, revel in the cosmic feel of touching; the color of moss makes us smile and kissing is a gift from the Highest Heaven.  Squirrels and butterflies catch our fancy; trail bends always hold great mysteries and we can’t help touching fur coats.  The fact that there are artists aruges against the theory of evolution.  While our ancestors were out hunting, we were rubbing smooth river stones and wishing on the first star we saw at night.  Artists would have been bred out eons ago in a “physical survival of the fittest struggle.”  Forget God?  How can we, when His proof is as close as the nearest rose or gentle curve of our wife’s neck.  Forget God? That’s laughable!!! 

Sacred Home

Joshua 22-24

In these chapters is found one of the greatest declarative statements of all time: “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  All things are established in the home around our tables, our hearths our sick beds and back porches.   The home is the most sacred space on earth and all nations and cultures are established and kept by the homes they nurture. 

As assuredly as all things are established by the home, so can all things be lost there.   All things are one generation away from being abandoned and forgotten.  Remember our home is the most sacred space we have.  As we bathe and cook, watch TV and rock the babies, tuck children in and kiss rosy cheeks, each moment is an opportunity to declare, “as for me and my house we will serve________________.”