Bochim

A sad place to be when we suddenly realize what God has offered and then we just summarily rejected.  Understanding that God has just spoken words we never wanted to hear because of our foolishness we find ourselves in Bochim.  Why is it we find ourselves in Bochim more often than not?  To avoid Bochim we need to obey, just like we tell our children.  Read the text you will understand the meaning of Bochim.

Judges 2:1-5 AMP

NOW THE Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you; And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept. They named that place Bochim (weepers)...

Too Hot To Handle

Like the McDonalds cup of coffe, are the temptations, trials and stuff of this life too much?  Just too hot to handle?  There are times when it sure seems to be the case.  The pressure is too much, the guilt is overwhelming, the desire too luring and pain is unbearable.  However, just like the cup of coffee that comes with a warning, "Caution contents are Hot".  Scripture gives us the antidote for the things of life that are too hot to handle.  By the way even though the lady who spilt the hot coffee won the lawsuit against McDonald's....I.don't think that will work with God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 AMP
For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

What Is Normal

Is normal just a setting on the dryer?  Normal for humanity was what we were before the fall, untainted by sin in the perfect image of God.  Sin radically changed normal and that is why we must put the new man in the power of Christ. Thats a radical transfomation made possible by the sufficient, substitutionary work of Christ on the cross.  So hows your normal today?

Ephesians 4:23-24 AMP
And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

Hooks In Your Eye

Hooks anywhere would be painful.  Even a fishing hook just in the finger hurts. I was startled by this passage in Joshua when preaching through the book some time ago.  A very desceiptive reminder of the pain sin, especially disobedience, can bring to our life when gone unchecked.  The picture really paints a thousand words.

Joshua 23:11-13 AMP

Be very watchful of yourselves, therefore, to love the Lord your God. For if you turn back and adhere to the remnant of these nations left among you and make marriages with them, you marrying their women and they yours, Know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations from before you; but they shall be a snare and trap to you, and a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

What Stands Out In Our Life?

Is there anything that stands as a witness in our lives that says, "the Lord is God"?  The two and one half tribes of Israel that settled on the east side of Jordan, separated from the other ten and one half tribes wanted it to be clear. 

How concerned are we not only for those who know us but for coming generations to know that the Lord is our God?

Joshua 22:24-28, 34 AMP

No! But we did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no part in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, But to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we will perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, You have no portion in the Lord. So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you. The Reubenites and Gadites called the altar Ed [witness], saying, It shall be: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.

Nothing Withheld

A simple reminder...Gods promises are guarantees!  He is not a slot machine, put in your money, pull the handle and hope you have a winning combination with a big payout!  You can go boldly to God and cry out to Him and no good thing will He withhold.  We are not talking about just material blessings or gifts, spiritual blessings and gifts are far more valuable and also eternal. Note to self...He knows what is best for us and knows when He should give it or hold back for our good and His glory.

Joshua 21:45 AMP
There failed no part of any good thing which the Lord had promised to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

James 1:17 AMP
Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].

Yahweh

Jehovah- How much do you reverence His name.

A name of the Hebrew God, represented in Hebrew by the tetragrammaton ("four letters") יהוה (Yod Heh Vav Heh), transliterated into Roman script Y H W H. Because it was considered blasphemous to utter the name of God it was only written and never spoken. This resulted in the original pronunciation being lost. The name may have originally been derived from the old Semitic root הוה (hawah) meaning "to be" or "to become".

Revelation 1:8 AMP

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord God, He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty (the Ruler of all).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D732yG26RGI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

When Aliens Visited Earth

Major W. Ian Thomas posed the question...what if aliens came to planet earth because they discovered that the earthlings had been created in the image of God and they wanted to see what God was like?  What would they see, what would they discover if they came to our city or town, to our home or workplace?  What kind of image of God would they have if they watched our TV programming and news?  What would their perception of God be if they watched us or our families for a day?

Genesis 1:26-27 AMP

God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Don't Sweep Everything Under The Rug

In the politically correct Christianity that has swept through the modern day church anything goes and is even embraced.  Just like the Corinthians, we need to be aware that some things should never be brushed under the rug.  So are you saying we shun everyone and everything?  NO, read the text carefully!

1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 10-11 AMP

IT IS actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, impurity of a sort that is condemned and does not occur even among the heathen; for a man has [his own] father’s wife. And you are proud and arrogant! And you ought rather to mourn (bow in sorrow and in shame) until the person who has done this [shameful] thing is removed from your fellowship and your midst! Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether! But now I write to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] brother if he is known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater [whose soul is devoted to any object that usurps the place of God], or is a person with a foul tongue [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [No] you must not so much as eat with such a person.

Washed Clean

I walked outside this morning And saw all of spring in bloom.  The rain last night and washed everything clean.  There was a clean fresh smell in the air that's indescribable.  The air temperature was perfect, the Sun was beginning to rise.  If there were ever one of those almost picture perfect heavenly spring mornings it was this morning. 

I was once nasty, filthy and dirty covered by the junk of this world and sin; but then I was washed clean.  Perfect because of me, not hardly.  I was made perfect in the sight of God because of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 AMP
Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality, Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. And such some of you were [once]. But you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin), and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified [pronounced righteous, by trusting] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God.

Tested By Fire

How will our lives stand the test?  Go ahead step through the doors into the furnace and see what's   left....reward or loss.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 AMP
But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done. If the work which any person has built on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward. But if any person’s work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire.

DELIVERED

Ever wonder if it is possible to be delivered from the mess others have created or the mess we have created ourselves or the mayhem of the world the flesh and the devil?

I heard a testimony of a young lady last night with a past Heroine addiction(which is a death sentence with little hope of deliverance) that reminded me that against all odds, with God, it is possible.  We must do what we can do but God and only God can bring about divine, supernatural deliverance that seals the deal.

Psalm 59:1 AMP
DELIVER ME from my enemies, O my God; defend and protect me from those who rise up against me.

Psalm 107:6 AMP
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.

BIG BABY

When will we grow up?  All to often we conduct ourselves "spiritually" in such a childish manner. We are not really that cute as adult babies.  So glad God is patient with us!

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 AMP
HOWEVER, BRETHREN, I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men], but as to nonspiritual [men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates], as to mere infants [in the new life] in Christ [unable to talk yet!] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it], For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?

"You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet"

Although creation revels much of the majesty of our Great and Glorious God...."you ain't seen nothing yet" 
1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV
But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"—
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FlIchSJoOA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The Big Melt Down

Ever had one of melt downs?  Maybe for you emotionally, relationally or mentally.  Our circumstances often dictate those melt downs.  For the spies and the children of Israel their hearts melted (Joshua 14:8) when the report of GIANTS was given.  Don't melt down, follow God, He will enable you to defeat your personal giant(s), and "take the land".

King of the Mountain

Remember playing king of the mountain  as a child?  I loved knocking people down!  I loved that power and authority rush that came when I knocked down a formidable 30lb kindergarten opponent.  That was just yesterday when as pastor I challenged the 4&5 year olds after Sunday School.  Imagine playing king of mountain at 85.  That's exactly what Caleb did and he knocked those giants right off the monntain.  He as king of the mountain at 85.

Joshua 14:10-14 ESV
And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said." Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord , the God of Israel.