Love God More Than Anything

Judges 17: 11-13 - So the Levite agreed to live with him, and the young man became like one of his sons to him.  Then Micah installed the Levite, and the young man became his priest and lived in his house.  And Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest.”

Micah lived in a self-created …delusional world… built around his desire to have the Lord bless him…but…for all the wrong reasons. Sure …he repented of his earlier life of thievery from his mother…but he never repented of his love of money.  His own mother even supported his habit. He lived under the false assumption that being good could somehow bring you blessings from God…or save your soul.

Micah still lived under the New Testament Laws. Never one do we read that he prepared the correct sacrifices and atoned for the sin in his life. He doesn’t talk of reading the law...or trying to keep them.  He simply assumes God will bless him if he is good…never once understanding that the idols he had in his house broke the first and most important commandment according to Matthew 27:22…where the words of Jesus are recorded later in the Bible. 

Jesus came to fulfill the law God gave to Moses. God knew that goodness…that genetics….that money could not buy his love.  Salvation is available to all that call on his name to be saved…that believe on the son Jesus Christ who died to pay the full atonement for every sin. Apart from that blood…I am doomed to die for my sins.

I needed the reminder that I must never let the material driven world I live in control my heart.  It can take over quickly...even in one who claims to love God.  One of satan’s favorite things to do is entice us with things…and draw our hearts far enough from God that he can brainwash us into thinking that doing good things can lead us to salvation. Satan knows that if we follow the command to Love God more than anything else…our love of his son…our gratitude for the gift of salvation will drive us to allow the second most important commandment to rule our lives…prompting our love for others to turn us into a servant of God’s kingdom.

Father…thank you for the reminder that it was your blood that gives me the promise of life and salvation.  Forgive me for the times that I allow a love for things to draw me away from your purpose and will for my life.  Help me to keep my heart focused on you …so I can stay in your perfect will…and do the most possible to further your kingdom and show you love to others.  Amen.

Allow A Deep Repentance In Our Hearts

Judges 16:27-28 - Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform.  Then Samson prayed to the Lord,  “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 

Sampson’s failure to keep the secret of his strength to himself had cost him much. They had taken his eyesight in a horrific way…gauging out both eyes when he was first captured.  He was no longer free… forced to do heavy labor in heavy bronze shackles. The Philistine’s would have succeeded in keeping him captive much longer if they had not let themselves get so caught up in their success.  The party they had …praising the god they worshiped… rejoicing over his capture… gathered thousands of the people into the temple they used for worshiping dagan.

There was another element to their downfall that no one but Sampson knew. He knew his God was stronger than dagan.  His repentant attitude…allowed him to see the need to call out to him for one last surge of strength. The strength he had lost in shaving his head… began a new search in prayer. His self-seeking goals of pleasure and happiness became goals of holy zeal to give glory to the one God that controlled all things. I love the way Matthew Henry put it.  He said… “His afflictions brought him to deep repentance.  His physical weakness allowed God to renew his spirit.  Such is the heart of every true Christian… becoming more humble…watchful… circumspect… more simple in their dependence on God.

I am watching this basic principle of God work in my community as we begin to assess the deep losses of the wildfires that God allowed to ravage our Smokey Mountains last week.  The loss of material things…the loss of life…the visual devastation that one sees as they trek into the worst hit areas bring a empathy…a sense of deep humility to the true Christians heart. It put the most important things back in the proper order … causing us to cry out to God for comfort…for provision…for strength just as Sampson did.

It is my prayer that many who never knew the one true God…Emanuel….the Prince Of Peace…the Jesus who came to Earth as a baby to die on a cross for our sins…would learn of his power to save us from the certain death we deserve. It is also my prayer that God would use every tiny bit of sadness and destruction to his glory…especially in transforming the lukewarm Christians of my town into ones more dependent on him.

Father…thank you for the reminder that my power…my hope…my strength is in you.  Forgive me for the times that I have let the world detract me from your pure will for my life.  Allow the empathy I feel for the people of my town to cause a deep repentance in my heart.  Allow a humility in my heart that fuels anew the flame of service and generates a deep passion to draw closer to you than ever… so you can use me to do your perfect will. Amen.

God Has The Power To Regrow Our Faith

Judges 16:21-22 - Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.  But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson had let a woman entice him into a deep relationship.  It was so deep that he fell prey to her persistent questions about where his strength lay.  He was so overcome by his infatuation with her…he had no clue she was working for the enemy. He gave her the secret… she shaved his hair…and in no time the Philistines captured him. He became their servant…constantly grinding grain in heavy bronze shackles in the prison they held him in.

The phrase …began to grow again…caught in in my spirit as I read it….so I let myself stop mid chapter. It spoke strength to me in a time when my hometown is grieving heavily for the loss of so many things...most of all the 13 people God has allowed to pass to the other side of this earthly existence.

Leaders of our town our using phrases like “mountain strong’… to describe the same thing God did for Sampson.  Even though he lost his power…he still had the possibility of growing back the hair that gave him his strength. Sampson may have lost his resolve and fell to earthly temptations…but he did not lose the God that gave him his strength.

One other thought was planted as I read Matthew Henry’s commentary.  He said…”Oh that all who indulge in sin would see themselves surrounded and marked for ruin. The sounder they sleep the more secure they feel…and the greater the danger.”  The Bible clearly says in Romans 3:23 that all of us are sinners. Perhaps one reason God allowed Sampson to fall…and our town to go through such a devastating tragedy…is to keep him and us from being too complacent.

Father…thank you for the reminder that sin can lead to destruction…and only you have the power to regrow our faith after a fall or deep trial.  Forgive me for the times that I have allowed sin to remain in my life because I have let something here on Earth draw me away from you.  Help me to use this reminder to deepen my faith…to humble myself and pray…to listen closely to the servant tasks you need me to do for you to show your love to all who are hurting in this troubled world.  Amen. 

God Has The Power We Need To Renew Our Heaviest Spirits

Judges 15:19 - Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

God had used the grief and frustration of Sampson to fuel his desire to destroy the Philistines. He had used foxes…torches tied into their tails…to destroy some of their land…and the jawbone of a donkey to fight and kill 1000 more of the Philistine army. The experience was so exhausting that he cried out to God in exhaustion and thirst. God heard his cry and opened up a hollow and delivered the water he needed so that his spirit could revive and renew to continue God’s will for his life…hard as it must have been for him.

I needed the great reminder this morning as my mind tries to process a myriad of emotions from the devastating wildfires that destroyed much of my county…that God is the one who can sustain us and revive us when life beats us down. I was spared damage…but as the sun rises each day and rescue teams are able to get into the worst areas….new reports of damage…injuries… and death are brought to light. I am sure that many of us have cried out to God in the last few days…I know my personal prayer Monday night was simply for rain.

As the rain fell all day Wednesday…my spirit would fill with a new sense of comfort from the loss around me.  I was able to pray with many at our church food ministry…one who had lost her job because the business she worked at burned completely. I even used some of my time to heat up chili to serve to the National Guardsmen who have come to aid the many firefighters…police…and other emergency crews working around the clock. But it was the music from practicing our church’s living Christmas tree production scheduled for Sunday night and Monday night that lifted my spirts the most.

As I read this scripture last night ...it was clear that God was slowly answering the cries of all of us that are hurting from this tragedy. He is opening a hollow within each heart of this town that loves him….and pouring out his pure love to the ones that are hurting the most. He will revive every spirit that is downtrodden.  He will lift us up like eagles to rebuild…to care of others….to use the resources he has already planted in this area…deepening our relationships with each other and with him.

Thank you father for the reminder that you are our source of help and strength. Forgive me for the times that I have taken for granted you great care and kept your love all to myself.  Help me to listen closely to you so I will know exactly how to share your love with others as our town rebuilds.  Reveal to me all theways I can help others that are hurting so much.  Amen.