Knowing God - Judges 3:9

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Your Name is DELIVERER

Mighty Lord, wherever the great battlefront is today,

I trust you to be my victory.

Identify your personal points of struggle. Now trust him to be stronger than the enemies.

 

But when the Israelites cried out to the Lord,

the Lord raised up a deliverer for the Israelites ...

Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother.

Judges 3:9

 

Judges is one of my favorite books in the Bible to teach. I can summarize the whole book in five simple sentences:

1. When things were bad, the people cried out for help.
2. God sent them a deliverer.
3. Then things became good ... and the people forgot about God.
4. So God removed his hand of protection.
5. And then things became bad ... (go back to 1, and repeat process about forty times for forty generations).

From time to time, every one of us struggles in life. In fact, let's call it what it is: Life is an ongoing series of battlefronts.

 

So, heed the Bible's simple advice: Do steps one and two -- 1) cry out to God and 2) expect his help -- then repeat. Indeed, that's our prayer invitation for today: 1) Identify your personal points of struggle (and don't just make a mental checklist, talk to God about it!). 2) Then trust him to be stronger than your enemies.

 

(And while you're at it, just skip steps 3 and 4. So you have time to keep repeating 1 and 2.)

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's not the pizza man

(I don't deliver ... but God does)

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One if my favorite songs by Rich Mullins was "My Deliverer."  I know I don't cry out to God enough nor do I expect his help ... Why not? not enough trust. too much fear. 

"My Deliverer"

by Mitch Mcvicker & Rich Mullins

Joseph took his wife and child

And they went to Africa

To escape the rage of a deadly King

There along the banks of the Nile

Jesus listened to the song

That the captive children used to sing

They were singin'

My deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standin' by (x2)

Through a dry and thirsty land

Water from the Kenyon heights

Pours itself out of lake Sangra's broken heart

There in the Sahara winds

Jesus heard the whole world cry

For the healin' that would flow from His own scars

The world was singin'

My deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standin' by (x2)

He will never break His promise

He has written it upon the sky

My deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standin' by (x3)

I will never doubt His promise

Though I doubt my heart, I doubt my eyes

My deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standin' by (x3)

He will never break his promise

Though the stars should break faith with the sky

My deliverer is comin', my deliverer is standin' by (x7)