Judges 1-5

   We all encounter a season comparable to  Israel in Judges.  We all eventually wear down and instead of overcoming our problems we learn to live with them. How many problems do we choose to just live with? The range of these problems is numerous, but the solution is solely through God.  Just as Israel prospered and conquered in Gods way, we also can overcome and conquer our problems in God’s way. The truth is we do not do this with every moment of living our lives. We instead live with the problem and are persuaded the alliance with it will be beneficial.  Judges 2 verses 1-4 lay out the truth as the Lord reminds us of His unfailing love towards us, but the inevitable consequence of allying ourselves with any evil along the path of our life.  If you have Christ, you have a new nature, a new way that does not walk in the way of others.  This new life does not need allies as it is powered by the power of God and His Spirit and strengthened in His body the church.  Any other alliance will be a thorn in our side and the idols or gods will arise in our hearts as a snare(2:3).  Life is too short to be ensnared with alliances with evil. Evil thinking, lusts, self-centered ambitions, and envying are just a couple of examples of things we find ourselves in alliance with over and over.  once again we do evil in the sight of the Lord just as Israel in these alliances.  Praise God we have a righteous judge seated on the throne, an intercessor for our shortcomings, a savior paying the fee of our alliances on a cross.  No matter where we find that alliance, God is ready to send a righteous judge to deliver us.  What amazing grace this is, what amazing love this is to persist in our alliances against Him.  As each judge arises in our life to deliver we find a lasting rest, a peace that goes beyond any we could find elsewhere.

   I find it interesting to see the various rulers who ruled over Israel in their sin.  One was a powerful ruler of Mesopotamia, another a fat ruler over Moab, an occupation by the Philistines, and a collection of rulers allied with the Canaanites.  It isn’t necessarily a direct correlation , but I find we can relate to each ruler in our lives.  Mesopotamia being the power of Sin, Moab being our  lustful ambitions and greed, Phillistine being our tolerance of evil thinking, and Canaan and its allies being destructive relationships.  God deals with each of these in specific ways and with each victory has a rest for us!  We have the tools of warfare against the enemy and can overcome them every time with God’s provision and promise before us.  I find it is in the hands not trained for war, the generation that does not know God, those that simply lay helpless in wake of trouble that find defeat.  We are charged numerous times to be vigilant and as good soldiers ready for war, girding our horses.  We wait on God for victory, but it is always our steps of faith that lead the charge against our troubles.   Faith in Christ delivering us will overcome the strongest alliances in our life. We must not ally with the enemy for temporal provision or convenience, we must pursue and fight alongside God for lasting peace.  It will not always be the easy way, but it will always be a victorious way! filled with joy, with peace, with rest and freedom the way with Christ will prove to be the life we were meant to live.  We are more than conquerors with Christ, we are more than what we do, what we have done, or what we struggle against.  In a moment you can be a citizen of God’s kingdom promised eternal victory and life eternal by turning to Christ!  Be transformed to His way today turning to God in face of trouble.  You do not need to ally yourself with anything apart from Christ as He is the way towards victorious life.

Prayer:

Lord remove me from my evil alliances against you.  Overcome my sin with your armies, stab my lust and greed, systematically remove my tolerance of evil thinking with your provision of love.  Remove those that lead me towards destruction, preserve me Lord for my trouble is always before me and constantly negotiates alliance.  Give me faith to overcome my troubles and live a life fulfilling your purpose.  I thank You for Your everlasting mercy and the righteous judge Jesus Christ that delivers me from my trouble when I cry out.  Keep me in Your ways and draw me ever closer to You.  Restore the hope within my heart and strengthen me in Your loving kindness. Stabilize my heart with truth and lead me to love others as You love me.  I pray for those apart from you, display your grace to them Lord.  As Jael the kenite may they remove the trouble in their lives as they in faith follow you.  Thank You for your indwelling and constant work in my life I lift all these pleas before your throne of grace. May Your will be done, Amen