Catch up 5

Monday, 29 March 2010
Judges 13-15
18And the Angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?

God identifies Himself as the God of wonders. We can expect Him to act in accordance with His identity as we identify with Him!
wonderful

23But his [sensible] wife said to him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a cereal offering from our hands, nor have shown us all these things or now have announced such things as these.

C'mon, that is Holy Spirit logic!! Why would He give me all these promises and not expect me to see them fulfilled in my life?

6Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they were told, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he [the Timnite] has taken his [Samson's] wife and has given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.

She was intimidated and sinned, but the very thing she feared came upon her anyway.

19And God split open the hollow place that was at Lehi, and water came out of it. And when he drank, his spirit returned and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore [the spring of him who prayed], which is at Lehi to this day.

Call out for springs men of prayer!!
Posted by Jingle at 3/29/2010 11:05:00 PM 0 comments
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Luke 23
47Now the centurion, having seen what had taken place, [q]recognized God and thanked and praised Him, and said, Indeed, without question, this Man was upright (just and innocent)!

Salvation came to the thief and the centurion at the cross of Christ.
Posted by Jingle at 3/28/2010 09:55:00 PM 0 comments
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Judges 10-12
3 He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. [b] 5 When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon.

There's something about every son knowing he has his own donkey and his own town and being content with his own bit that makes everything stable and secure.
Posted by Jingle at 3/27/2010 11:52:00 PM 0 comments
Friday, 26 March 2010
Judges 7-9
10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.

I love God: " if you are afraid to go down, go down". As you step out, you get the confirmation; before that its all trust.

22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.”
23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “I would like to make a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his plunder.” For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
25 So they answered, “We will gladly give them.” And they spread out a garment, and each man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. 26 Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Gideon did well to give God the honour, but in making this ephod made himself a focus of devotion to God
Posted by Jingle at 3/26/2010 10:27:00 PM 0 comments
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Judges 1-6
1 Now these are the nations which the LORD left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan 2 (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it)

Challenges are there so we can learn to fight.
Posted by Jingle at 3/25/2010 11:49:00 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Joshua 21-24
11Be very watchful of yourselves, therefore, to love the Lord your God.

Genuinely, we need to observe what our heart runs after, and how we respond to blessing and trials. What is our spiritual temperature?
Posted by Jingle at 3/23/2010 09:15:00 PM 0 comments
Joshua 14-20
19Achsah answered, Give me a present. Since you have set me in the [dry] Negeb, give me also springs of water. And he gave her the [sloping field with] upper and lower springs.

Ask

1 ALLOTMENT WAS made for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan because he was a man of war.

Possess according to identity.

3Joshua asked the Israelites, How long will you be slack to go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?


Get on with it.
Posted by Jingle at 3/23/2010 09:08:00 AM 0 comments
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Joshua 9-13
12Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, be silent and stand still at Gibeon, and you, moon, in the Valley of Ajalon!

Joshua spoke to the Lord and then commanded the Universe. Proclamation proceeds from the Lord.

24When they brought out those kings to Joshua, [he] called for all the Israelites and told the commanders of the men of war who went with him, Come, put your feet on the necks of these kings. And they came and put their feet on the [kings'] necks.

What "kings" will have my foot on their necks?
Posted by Jingle at 3/21/2010 09:15:00 PM 0 comments
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Luke 22
8Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

Jesus prepared Peter and John to work together.

26But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.

The youngest.
Posted by Jingle at 3/20/2010 10:04:00 PM 0 comments
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Joshua 6-8
1 Now the LORD said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”

6 For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

I love how the Lord redeems Israel's reputation, so that it makes their initial retreat (when they were defeated at Ai, ch 7) seem like a deliberate strategy to fool the enemy. God makes our all failures His perfect success.
Posted by Jingle at 3/18/2010 09:45:00 AM 0 comments
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Joshua 2-5
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.

When following the Lord, what does it mean to give Him space? Surely it means waiting for direction in advance of our journey at the start of the day.
Posted by Jingle at 3/14/2010 09:56:00 PM 0 comments
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Joshua 1
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Courage comes with the command.
Posted by Jingle at 3/13/2010 11:03:00 PM 0 comments
Luke 21
3"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Can I prosper and yet still give like the widow? Can I live freely? Yes!
Posted by Jingle at 3/13/2010 12:11:00 AM 0 comments
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Deuteronomy 32-34
30 How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the LORD had surrendered them?

God has sold the nations into our hands for salvation! Let us serve them freely!

51 because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel.

Showing God is Holy means obeying His moment by moment instruction, not just the written commandments.
Posted by Jingle at 3/11/2010 11:34:00 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Deuteronomy 29-31
5 Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Increase begets increased capacity fo increase.

23 Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

Courage comes from keeping His company.
Posted by Jingle at 3/10/2010 10:49:00 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Luke 20
38He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.

By the promises we enter the divine nature: can we time travel?
Posted by Jingle at 3/09/2010 10:14:00 PM 0 comments
Deuteronomy 26-28
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, thealien , the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

Always give to the poor.

7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

There will be enemies until the end; but there will be many many victories.

9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

He will make us holy as we walk, not just as we wait.
Posted by Jingle at 3/09/2010 10:08:00 PM 0 comments