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And the LIST goes on…And the NEED goes on…And the STRUGGLE goes on… Join us at “Finishing Well” to learn from God’s Best…and how they STEPPED UP in Faith…at the right time….for the right reason…with the right heart! So glad you’re with us! We’ll pick up where we left off last week in Hebrews 11. But let me just say, I wish I could’ve addressed had I the opportunity to change the blog before it went out last week. But with the assassination attempt last Saturday on former President Trump, let me ask you to keep praying for the heart of our nation. Pray for the voice of God’s People in our country, that we might “represent Him as holy” in our values & voices. You most likely know, Moses wasn’t permitted to go into to the Promised Land, but rather “VIEW IT FROM A DISTANCE”, because he “didn’t represent God as holy”. Moses begged to get to go in, but God said, no. If God drew a line for Moses after all he’d done in the name of the Lord, we should take to heart the exhortation to “represent God faithfully and accurately”. God’s call on the followers of His Son is for us to be UNIFIED in matters about Him. I don’t see that happening anytime soon as a nation, but may we as believers faithfully pray for our present & future leaders, whoever they might be. And let me unashamedly encourage you to check out Bob Russell’s Ministry which is bobrussell.org. No one gives Godly encouragement & commentary on things within our culture like Bob. You’ll be “well-fed and well-led” if you catch what God has puts on his heart to say weekly. And please let me gently encourage you, that while we use this MONDAY thru FRIDAY daily format a while longer, please don’t let this volume of devotional thought” unnecessarily intimidate you…take it ONE DAY AT A TIME! Bite size. Digest it daily. Just want you to pace yourselves! Thanks so much for coming to the “feeding of the Word of God” along with me and us attempting to let God encourage our hearts together. So once again…here we go… here we go….here we go! Here’s the only verse that we see in our next “list” of heroes…. Heb 11:32 “How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel & all the prophets.” A concise list. Next week, we’ll pick up with Samuel and the “nameless, but descriptive” grouping. Here we go for this week with the last few who came in “by name”….. MONDAY…..Gideon (Judges 6-8). I love this story. Gideon had to take a QUANTUM LEAP of FAITH to do what he was led to do. Take a moment & read thru those 3 chapters, & I’ll try to condense, though I have no record of condensing anything! As Indigo Montoya said in “Princess Bride”…..“let me EXPLAIN”…then realizing it’ll take too long. He said, ”No, let me SUM UP”! Here’s the “sum up” on Gideon….. An angel visits him with a greeting referring to him as a “mighty warrior”. Gideon does a “Robert DeNiro moment”, saying, “You talkin’ to me”? And the angel lets him know what God has in store for him, which will take a MONUMENTAL amount of Faith, as well as INCREMENTAL STEPS of trust and bravery as the strategy unfolds. But God gives great doses of ASSURANCE and AFFIRMATION along the way. The more God requires of Gideon, the more God affirms him. So, going into battle is often the theme in the Old Testament & that is what Gideon was called into at this point. But before battle here are some of the things he needs to do. First of all…..CLEAN UP THINGS AT HOME! Idol worship in Israel’s history was embarrassing. And Gideon had to remove his father’s “sexually explicit idol” in his home. It’s a simple principle. If you expect God to be with you in the “battles of life”, you’d better get the “sinful stuff” the heck out of your life first! Gideon had to “take out the garbage and the trash”. He was to REALIGN THE PURITY in his father’s household, before God was going to show up in power on behalf of the nation. So he did! And he builds an ALTAR TO THE LORD in place of his father’s idols. Meanwhile, the enemies of the Lord were allying, so time was of the essence. And in Judges 6:34, notice how the “Spirit of the Lord CLOTHES Gideon with POWER”. But as the battle Gideon is to lead gets closer, his NEED FOR ASSURANCE surfaces as well. He asks for the very familiar “FLEECE”. In other words, he says, God I need to know this is YOUR doing, not my imagination. And then to prove it’s not a fluke, could you do just the opposite this time? The first sign was make the fleece wet and the ground dry. And the second was Lord, make the fleece dry and the ground wet. God accommodates both requests. Second of all…..LET GOD “WHITTLE DOWN” YOUR TROOPS! Are you kidding me? Going up against a big army (Moabites), you’d think God would need a lot of help for a General like Gideon who started off SHAKING IN HIS BOOTS! But God calls him to “whittle down” the big 30k+ army by inviting anyone to GO HOME who wants to. Then he screens them for the way they drink water. Do they LAP like a DOG or DIVE IN HEAD FIRST?. The “head-first” crowd is dismissed. Now God’s army is down to 300, but with God, that’s enough. That’s the purpose of purging the army. So God can deliver by HIS strength, not the army’s. Think about the faith required of Gideon up to this point. Israel was a HUGE UNDERDOG in this fight! And that’s they way God likes its! At this point, God overdoes it in the assurance category. He lets Gideon OVERHEAR A CONVERSATION between fellow soldiers in the enemy Midianite camp. They acknowledge by interpreting a dream that GIDEON WILL WIN BIG over them the next day. So now Gideon is CONFIDENT in his faith in the Lord. And with the limited army of 300 soldiers with pitchers, torches, trumpets, and a big shout, they can defeat the enemy by the power of God. And they do. So let me ask you today….does it seem God is allowing your RESOURCES TO BE LIMITED? Do you have a sense of your strength in the area of health or wealth or that some relationships are fading? That happens a lot to folks “our age”. But God loves to empower us with His strength as He did with Gideon and then take away any unnecessary advantage we might have that would lead us to overconfident in ourselves! Remember Gideon was allowed 2 FLEECES and received more reassurance than he knew what to do with! The Lord is WITH us in all that we do for Him. And He probably is calling us into some type of battle where we need depend on HIM ALONE. I pray that you can see His presence nearby! Let His strength come from the WORD of God, the SPIRIT of God, or the PEOPLE of God….or maybe all 3 today in a mighty way! TUESDAY…..Barak (Judges 4) For some reason, the Bible mentions Gideon before Barak here, even though they appear in reverse order in Judges. Now Barak is an interesting leader, who has a RELUCTANCE to him. DEBORAH, who was a prophetess at that time and was actually “judging” Israel, had a moment she sent for Barak, during a time that her “judgment” was being sought out. She acts like an acting Queen, which seems to be much needed. At a glance, this is the historic structure in Israeli government. We’ve gone from Patriarchs,(Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac & Jacob), to Deliverers (Joseph and Moses), to a Military General (Joshua), and now to a group of Judges. Deborah is up to bat this inning and seems to be doing great. In her MAKING THE CALL to Barak to go to battle, his response seems unusual in that he doesn’t want to go without her. She said that God had sanctioned 10k troops for him from 2 tribes of Israel and had also promised He would draw out the enemy Sisera in battle and deliver him into Barak’s hand. Now I’m wondering why Barak wanted Deborah to go? And he makes it CONDITIONAL…. only if she goes too! Did he know she wanted to and was just being nice? Because she jumps at the chance! There is NO RELUCTANCE IN HER at all. And how did she know another “woman” was going to get credit for killing Sisera, which actually did happen? It’s an amazing story. And Barak is mentioned for his FAITH. Now Barak pursues Sisera even when all other are killed in battle. Sisera takes refuge at a lady’s tent, thinking he’s safely hidden, but this lady, JAEL, pulls out a hammer and nails a tent peg thru the temple of his head and she gets the credit like the winning pitcher does for the game in Major League Baseball! How cool is that! In the next chapter, Deborah celebrates with Barak by SINGING A SONG she wrote. Maybe they sang a duet? Notice in Judges 5:2, where it says, “Praise the Lord for avenging Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves.” Another version says, “when LEADERS TAKE THE LEAD”. Now I think that gives us a little more clue of how Barak is seen as such a person of FAITH, which this “HERO LIST” is all about. Could it be that he wasn’t reluctant in leading without Deborah, but rather, he had such great faith that he wanted HER TO SHARE in the victory as well? Especially since God had ordained it! It’s almost ironic that their song (attributed to Deborah) celebrates anything BUT reluctance! For Barak to be mentioned here in the context of faith, and not be the one getting credit for the “kill”, it seems that what ACCOMPANIED his faith, was an incredible spirit of HUMILITY! I learned so much from my friend Gene Appel at the church in Las Vegas…and I hope I can quote him properly…. ”IT’S AMAZING HOW MUCH CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED WHEN WE’RE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT WHO GETS THE CREDIT! I saw Gene model this time after time so well as he led with such great clarity, inviting us all on staff to do OUR PART and always making sure GOD ALONE was glorified. I believe I saw it most when he invited MIKE BREAUX, our good friend from Lexington, who preaches at Northside every couple of months, to come plant a church on the other side of town in Las Vegas. And during the year Mike was there, Gene had him preach half the time! Now that is humble & secure LEADERSHIP! Everybody gets to touch the ball and it doesn’t matter who on our team scores! Barak says I’ll do my part, you do yours & if a lady makes the HEADLINES, then that’s one more player in the Kingdom of God getting to serve! He KNEW God would deliver them. And God did! May we be His people “in our season of life”. May we CELEBRATE when others “score big” for the Family of God. May we be content with a rebound, an assist, or just coming in at the end of the game getting 3 fouls in 3 minutes (my personal record in that category). Love you guys! And may the Lord alone get the ultimate credit! WEDNESDAY…..Samson (Judges 13-16) Now you might just feel a little bit like I do, wondering why did Samson make this list? I mean with all due respect, so many weren’t mentioned who really were awesome but left out! Like Nehemiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, Jeremiah, Elijah or Elisha? God picks who He picks to be mentioned. The prophets are referred to generally, though. Maybe it’s because more faith was needed on an INSPIRATIONAL LEVEL in the lives of those spoken of specifically? Regardless, here goes the story of Samson today. So guys, keep your eyes where they need to be, since that’s what got this guy in trouble time after time! His parents started out great. An encounter with an angel and a special calling on a son in their old age. Note to my “finishing well friends”….don’t worry….at our age in the New Testament era I believe we’re safe AND WON’T BE SURPRISED WITH THAT ANNOUNCEMENT!. God gives the description of a “Nazarite Vow” and Samson’s parents are delighted to serve God in this way! Please notice in Judges 13:8 how his parents wanted a ”RETURN VISIT” of the angel for the sole purpose of “MORE INSTRUCTION”. I love that! God, tell us more of how we’re SUPPOSED to do what HE has so dramatically CALLED US to do! I started something THE END OF APRIL, which was a little ambitious for someone like me. I saw the clock ticking towards my 70th birthday, so I committed to read the Bible with the accompanied commentary in 6 MONTHS. It’s the Chuck Swindoll Study Bible. He has good “helps”, but more from the heart of a PASTOR than a SCHOLAR. Chuck is both, but predominantly his insights in the margins are “PREACHABLE”. And in 9 days I’ll be half done. 10 pages a day. Like I said, complete with Scripture and “helps”. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to reading everyday…every morning…in my chair…with coffee…with Sue Linn by my side…and we read and reflect. Even though she’s doing a different study, it gives us opportunity to LEARN FROM EACH OTHER with what God is individually telling us. As you can tell, my “sermon every week” is pretty much talking to you all in this blog and is not related to what I’m reading devotionally. This is the only mention of it so far. But it is providing a deeper focus that I can “SOAK IN”, and not necessarily have to “POUR OUT”! Now what Samson’s parents are asking from the Lord is more “INFO TO REFLECT ON” concerning how to obey better! That’s what I’m getting from this reading on a daily basis. And although it feels like I’m “drinking from a firehose” at times, I look forward to the next “guzzle”! I just started Isaiah today and I can’t tell you what a difference there is in covering 10 pages a day! I seem to get more of the NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE. And in reading the NLT this time thru, it gives me a consistent exposure to that new “wording” if you will. All that to say, I get why Samson’s parents ASKED FOR HELP! Not only parentally, but simply in understanding what God wants us to know at ANY AGE OR STAGE of life. So what kind of faith did Samson need? First of all he needed BLINDERS! The Philistine women turned his head way too much. But after squandering the strength God miraculously gave him, towards the end of his life, he asked the Lord for a “vengeful favor”. Now I know that sounds odd and “out of place and character” for God. But remember, God’s purpose in raising up Samson was based on REMOVING THE gods OF THE PHILISTINES, such as Dagon, which was the festival going on when Samson prayed his last prayer. I guess that moment itself took an “INSPIRATIONAL FAITH” and perhaps that is why he was mentioned specifically in this heroic chapter. So, today, maybe God would remind of his original purpose in our lives. I think it’s quite different than that of Samson’s, but maybe our calling right now might be to “REMOVE” some things that are getting in the way of our hearts belonging fully to the Lord. I believe its safe to assess that our nation needs to return to the values that are born out of BIBLICAL TRUTH rather than POLITICAL rhetoric and agenda. Leaving it at that, what is God prompting your heart to “DISCARD”, just as Samson was called to remove the idol-influence of the Philistines and basically remove them as well? It will take a lot of faith. It always does! Praying you have a blessed day today. But it might be a day that we have some “PILLARS” we have to push down, just as Samson did. THURSDAY…..Jephthah (Judges 11-12) My heart breaks for this guy. What was he thinking? I’m sure the loss of his precious only child was the LAST thing on his mind as he vowed to honor God with whatever came out of his house first as he arrived back home from battle. Now we could take some time to dig deeper into the background of “vow-making” and what all that entailed, but please let’s just suffice it to say that he made a vow and the ESSENCE of his vow-making was to be a “promise keeper” as God is. In looking at his daughter’s response, I’m equally amazed. She knew when we make a promise to God, it’s a promise that HAS to be kept! Therein lies the mention of incredible FAITH. Jephthah BELIEVED God would bring him home in victory! And the “love language” of warriors is always SACRIFICE unto the Lord. Now I know none of us, in knowing this story or hearing and reading it today, would EVER in our wildest dreams, RISK something like this! But would we even go into battle? Do we have enough faith for that? And perhaps would we choose to be “LAVISHLY SACRIFICIAL” with something precious that we have? I remember years ago at Northside when we did a stewardship campaign for the auditorium, as we invited people to make their “pledge” in giving over the time period, we “spontaneously” (although 3-4 of us knew beforehand) invited people to give their SHOES that very night, to a ministry we’d learned of who made getting “good shoes” a possibility for unfortunate folks. So as we sang the song, “TAKE MY LIFE”, that night, we also invited people to “take off the shoes they were wearing and go home barefoot, sock-footed, or pantyhose-footed. It caused a bit of a stir, but most folks that night did it. I’ll never forget seeing a whole family bring up their shoes laying them on the stage in the Centrum as we sang. It brought a tear to a few eyes when the Dad placed the shoes of their little 2 year old boy on the stage. What a picture! One of our leaders who was aware of what we’d be asking brought his FAVORITE pair of shoes he’d kept as a teenager. He’s a “collector” of sorts, so that was a tough one for him. I was proud of him! One of the elders at the time, Danny Utz, had just bought a new pair of shoes that night on the way to church. And ironically, I had asked him to share his testimony that night since he and his wife, Doris had gone thru a house fire that year, and how God continued to “protect and provide”! Bless their hearts, they didn’t know they’d be GOING HOME BAREFOOT that night! So what could we simply and meaningfully sacrifice on the spot today? We don’t have to…..that’s the good part of all this. We GET to! Based on the fact that God has been SO good to you today….what could you “GIVE UP” in a simple way of show love, respect and honor? Now brace yourself. Remember that Jesus said, “it’s more of a blessing for us when we GIVE than when we RECEIVE!” So you’re gonna smile after you do this! You might even laugh. Your heart will feel the warmth of God! And so will another person….even if it’s anonymously done. May you be blessed in a very appropriate way today….because you choose to SPONTANEOUSLY honor…. by giving…. by sacrificing… simply because God has just been so good to you today. Doesn’t have to be BIG. Just maybe CLOSE to the HEART. FRIDAY…..David (1 & 2 Samuel / 1 Chronicles / Psalms) Now this one could take a while! In the book of Acts, Luke writes very briefly that “David served GOD’S PURPOSES IN HIS GENERATION.” That’s not a lot of press, but it says all that needs to be said. His deal was to do what God wanted done by him. And his time window was pretty simple….when he was alive! What kind of faith would it take to face Goliath? It took a faith that had been ALREADY DEVELOPED. David said in 1 Samuel 17, he’d seen God deliver him from a lion and a bear. He had such faith that he had NO QUESTION of God’s capability! It also took a faith that had ZERO TOLERANCE. Yep, that’s right! Get that cursing out of here, Goliath! Ain’t nobody got time for that! If you’re gonna bring the Lord into this now, and DISRESPECT HIM so boldly, then it’s “On like Donkey Kong”! You see, this wasn’t David “wanting a shot at the Championship.” He wasn’t hoping for the title! He simply couldn’t STAND BY and watch God be mocked. And I think it was because he knows God Himself doesn’t tolerate that! So David’s faith ADEQUATELY REFLECTED the heart of God. David was defending His purity. So he was fearless, faithful, and bold. Let me at him! But not in Saul’s armor! David was “leading the league” in stats with a slingshot. We all have to go defend the INTEGRITY of our God with the EQUIPMENT that WE have. With weapons WE are used to. Ones we have some form of PROFICIENCY in. And my faithful “Finishing Well” friends…YOUR proficiency is needed. In your LOCAL church. BEYOND the local church. And in any MISSION opportunity you feel led to! Your WISDOM is needed. Your COMPASSION is needed. Your MATURITY is needed. Your PRESENCE is needed so another person can feel seen, cared about, and valued by God. We might not have to kill any giants. But we do have to “GO IN THE NAME OF THE LORD”. David went on from being a “SHEPHERD” to becoming a “WARRIOR” that day. It wasn’t long until he went from that, to being a “MUSICAL WORSHIP person” for Saul. And before long, he became a KING….he was a shepherd OF the people….FOR the people….but not BY the people. That’s where he took a detour from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, with all due respect. It was BY God, Himself, that David was selected. And so have WE been selected, just as David was to “serve God’s purposes in HIS generation”. Ephesians 2 says, “We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ.” David (and all these other heroes) went in FAITH. His belief was in a BIG God. BIGGER than any giant. BIGGER than any army. BIGGER than any problem he would ever face. May our faith be in the God who can do IMAGINABLY MORE (Eph 3:20) than we can ask or imagine! He is bigger than we will ever know until we get to heaven! And the size our HEROIC EFFORTS of all these saints who have gone before us, was in DIRECT PROPORTION to the size of FAITH each of them had. May we leave a great faith behind for those who have eyes to see & ears to hear what God is capable of doing thru them as well! Love you guys. Live with a huge heroic faith this week! george
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