A Cookie Cutter God

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Jephthah from the tribe of Manasseh in Transjordan
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 10:6-11:33 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

Every year before Christmas, my wife invites our grandchildren over to bake Christmas cookies. When she started this tradition, she used metal cookie cutters to form the dough into various Christmas images like a tree, a star or an angel. They would make a whole batch of cookies that all looked and tasted exactly the same.

 

However, life isn’t like that. It’s not a cookie cutter pattern. Life takes all kinds of unexpected twists and turns, ups and downs. Here’s a story for you that exemplifies this.

 

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all.         NLT

 

What happened next was predictable. The Lord burned with anger and gave Israel over to the Philistines and the Ammonites who oppressed them for eighteen years. Eventually, Israel repented and cried out to the Lord for help. But the Lord said no!

 

¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”       NLT

 

Finally, the Lord relented when Israel “put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord”. But when the Ammonites prepared for war by gathering their armies together in Gilead, none of the leaders of Gilead wanted to lead the fight against them. Enter Jephthah! But there was a problem!

 

Even though Jephthah was a mighty warrior, his mother was a prostitute. Plus, his father had other sons by his wife. Those half-brothers decided to force Jephthah out of the region of Gilead. Something about not wanting to share the inheritance. As a result, Jephthah was an outcast in a foreign land.

 

Despite this, the elders from Gilead approached Jephthah and asked him to lead their army. They knew his reputation as a mighty warrior. Following some negotiations, they promised with “the Lord as our witness”, that if Jephthah accepted their offer, they would make him the ruler over all the people of Gilead.

 

Being a mighty warrior, you might have expected Jephthah to immediately attack the Ammonite armies. Instead, he sent messengers to negotiate. However, when the king of Ammon rejected Jephthah’s message, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.

 

³² So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave him victory.  NLT

 

Jephthah’s life and faith was anything but a cookie cutter pattern. There were many unexpected twists and turns, ups and downs. But through it all, the Lord was at work.

 

Like Jephthah, the Lord is at work in your life and mine. But He is not a cookie cutter God. Not every person that has faith looks like a tree, a star or an angel. The Lord works in unexpected ways and in ways that we may never understand.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Mighty Warrior

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Gideon from the tribe of Manasseh
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 6 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

  

¹ The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.    NIV

 

Bam! Just like that! The cycle started again! Only this time, the Lord didn’t oppress Israel through an occupying nation, but instead through a nation of nomadic herdsmen that invaded the lush Jezreel Valley, the breadbasket of Israel. Like clockwork, when Israel was harvesting their crops, the Midianites would invade.

 

⁵ These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. ⁶ So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. NLT

 

Because the Midianites were so cruel, the Israelites hid in the “mountain clefts, caves and strongholds”, especially when they were harvesting crops. Such was the case for Gideon who was hiding in a winepress to harvest his wheat.

 

An angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to Gideon saying, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon was anything but a “mighty warrior”. He saw himself as a fearful farmer. A man whose clan was the weakest and whose family worshiped Baal. He even accused the Lord of abandoning Israel. Here’s what the Lord said.

 

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”            NLT

 

Gideon needed reassurance. Therefore, he asked the angel to show him a sign that it was the Lord who was speaking to him. It was a small step of faith, but Gideon was “going with the strength you have”.

 

Following this, the angel gave Gideon a challenge. He told Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. Because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, Gideon did it at night. Still, he took a huge risk. This step of faith brought him closer to being ready to fulfill the angel’s title of “mighty warrior”.

 

As the Midianites and their allies gathered in the Jezreel Valley, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. He called the Israelites to prepare to fight. But even then, before Gideon was willing to go to battle, he twice asked the Lord for a sign.

 

Gideon was no different than you or me. He was afraid to take risks; to step out in faith; to lose control. He saw himself as the world saw him, not as the Lord saw him. He let the culture around him shape his life. Despite this, when he was called and sent by the Lord, he obeyed.

 

¹⁶ The Lord said to Gideon, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”      NLT

 

The Lord doesn’t want a mighty warrior. He wants us to “go with the strength you have” and in the knowledge that the Lord will be with us.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

World Domination

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Deborah from the tribe of Ephraim
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 4-5 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

  

Risk is a board game where winning means world domination. It requires strategic alliances and risky cutthroat moves. The board is a political map of the world that is divided into 42 territories across six continents.

 

Each player starts out with the same number of playing pieces (their army) which they strategically place on the board. From there, you try to capture other territories from your opponents. The goal is to conquer and eliminate all the other players. But in order to win, you have to take risks!

 

In the opening verses of Judges 4, we see Israel's cycle repeating itself. Israel turned from the Lord; the Lord gave them over to Jabin, a Canaanite king who oppressed them for twenty years; Israel cried out to the Lord for help; the Lord sent a judge to deliver them.

 

Deborah was not only the Lord’s judge who led Israel, but also a prophet who settled the disputes of the people. One day, possibly after the people asked her what could be done about Sisera, she sent for Barak with this word from the Lord.

 

^6b “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. ⁷ I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”                    NIV

 

Even though the Lord promised to give Barak victory over Sisera, he wouldn’t do it unless Deborah came with him. He wouldn’t take the risk. Deborah complied with his demand, but prophesied that a woman would defeat Sisera, not Barak.

 

In the meantime, a spy informed Sisera of Barak’s plans to take his army to Mount Tabor. With this information, Sisera gathered his 900 iron chariots and all his warriors at the Kishon River. With the Jezreel Valley spreading out between the two armies, the stage was set for an epic battle.

 

Chariots were the tanks of the ancient world. So even though Barak had ten thousand fighting men, the Israelites were outmanned. Despite this, upon Deborah’s command, Barak and his army charged Sisera and his chariots, soundly defeating them. How did the Israelites overcome their superior weaponry?

 

God had provided a downpour that caused the Kishon River to overflow its banks making Sisera’s chariots useless in the mud. And when Sisera fled the battlefield and tried hiding in the tent of Jael, the wife of the spy, she killed him by hammering a tent peg through his temple.

 

We may not be in a fight against flesh and blood where we’re overpowered by their weaponry. But we do fight with an even more dangerous enemy. Paul described it as “mighty powers in this dark world”. And Peter gave this warning.

 

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.        NIV

 

Like the game of Risk, the battles we face in life also have great risks, but the rewards are much greater. It’s not for world domination, but for eternal life.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Regular Joe

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Ehud from the tribe of Benjamin
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 3:12-30 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

 

"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! 

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERMAN!!!

 

This was the introduction for every episode of the TV series “Adventures of Superman”. What made it more amazing was that Superman in real life was a mild mannered reporter who wore glasses. But, when Clark Kent heard about a crisis, he stepped into a telephone booth and emerged as Superman ready for action!

 

The story from this passage in Judges opens with Israel doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord gave Eglon, king of Moab, control over Israel. As a result, Israel was oppressed by Eglon for eighteen years.

 

Because of this, the Israelites cried out to God for help. So the Lord raised a rescuer by the name of Ehud, a left-handed man. In the meantime, the Israelites sent Ehud, along with others, to take their annual tribute to Eglon.

 

However, what the Israelites didn’t know was that Ehud had his own plans. He had made a double edged dagger which he strategically strapped to his right thigh hiding it under his clothes.

 

After delivering the tribute to Eglon and leaving, Ehud circled back without the others. He told Eglon that he had a secret message for him from God. Once all the servants were out of the room, Ehud quickly grabbed his dagger with his left hand and thrust it deep into the king’s belly killing him.

 

He then fled the city going to the hill country of Ephraim where Ehud sounded a call to arms for Israelites to follow him in fighting the Moabites. They killed ten thousand of their able-bodied warriors. Consequently, Moab was subject to Israel for eighty years.

 

Like Clark Kent, Ehud was just a “regular Joe”. In fact, in that culture being left handed was considered a weakness. Therefore, Eglon would not have expected an attack from his left hand. But God had raised up a deliverer by using Ehud’s weakness to show the Lord’s strength.

 

Paul wrote about this paradox of strength through weakness in his second letter to the Corinthian believers.

 

⁹ But God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.    ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.           NIV

 

When you think about it, what Ehud did was pretty remarkable. He acted decisively without anybody to back him up. He was motivated because God had raised him up as Israel’s deliverer. And even though being left handed was considered a liability, he turned it into an asset.

 

As you can see one person, even a “regular Joe”, can make a difference.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Y’all or You Guys?

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Othniel from the tribe of Judah
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 3:1-11 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

 

Do you have much of an accent? Do you say “y’all” or “you guys”?

 

When I was four years old, my Dad took a job in Boston. We moved there from Charleston, W.V. Can you imagine a more dramatic change in culture, values, geography and accent? There’s a story about my Dad when he drove us to Boston that highlights just how different their accent was.

 

We arrived at night and Dad was lost so he asked a Boston police officer for directions. After listening closely to very detailed directions, Dad thanked the officer, closed the car window, turned to the family and asked, “Did anybody understand anything that he said”.

 

Moving to a new home in a new land and a new culture can be difficult. When Joshua brought the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan, there was a vast difference in the cultures, not the least of which was the gods they worshiped.

 

Because of this, the Lord had instructed the Israelites to drive the Canaanites, with their gods, out of the land. But instead of obeying God, the Hebrews chose to assimilate with the local culture through intermarriage and worshipping their gods.

 

As a result of the Israelite’s rebellion, they suffered devastating consequences.

 

⁸ Then the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-Naharaim. And the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim for eight years.   NLT

 

When the oppression was more than they could bear, the Israelites cried out to the Lord who responded by raising up a deliverer in Othniel.

 

¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he became Israel’s judge. He went to war against King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram, and the Lord gave Othniel victory over him. ¹¹ So there was peace in the land for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.                        NLT

 

It doesn’t matter if you say “y’all” or “you guys”. Having your accent affected by the culture you live in isn’t life changing. But having your values, beliefs and behavior affected is. Especially when it comes to who you worship.

 

Here’s what Paul had to say to the believers in Rome about trying to fit in.

 

² Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.    Romans 12    ERV

 

The Lord delivered the Israelites through Othniel. The result was forty years of peace in the land. The Lord sent Jesus to deliver you and me with the resulting peace lasting for an eternity.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Two-a-Days

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Introduction to Judges
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 2:6-23 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

 

In high school, two-a-days were a rite of passage for anybody who wanted to be on the football team. For two weeks in August, during the dog days of summer, we went out in the morning for practice, only to return in the afternoon for a second practice. It wasn’t unusual for a player to throw up.

 

Although there were many reasons for two-a-days, one was to find out who had what it takes. In a word, it was a test. If you could persevere through the mental, physical and emotional stress of two-a-days, then you could persevere through the season.

 

Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land of Canaan where each tribe claimed their inheritance of land. Having done that, they were to drive out the people who lived there along with their foreign gods. Everything worked fine, until Joshua died.

 

Then Israel went into a free fall. Instead of driving out the pagans with their foreign gods, they worshipped their gods. Because of this, the Lord no longer drove out any of the remaining nations. They were to be a test to see if Israel could persevere. They were Israel’s two-a-days.

 

²¹ I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. ²² I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.”            NLT

 

The only problem was that the Lord was no longer with Israel. The result was predictable. After suffering from the oppression of the other nations, Israel would cry out for the Lord’s help. So, the Lord would raise up a judge who saved them.

 

¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. ^19a But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways behaving worse than those who had lived before them.  NLT

 

It was a cycle that was repeated time and again. But through it all you can see the Lord’s faithfulness. Twelve times in fact with twelve different judges. Each one saving Israel from their oppressors. Each one saving Israel from their sinful ways.

 

In fact, over the millennia, the Lord never gave up on Israel. Even to the point of sending his one and only son who he loved to die for their sins. And he did this, not because we first loved him, but because he first loved us.

 

Life is still full of tests; it’s full of two-a-days. But they’re not on a pass/fail basis. Instead, it’s progress, not perfection.

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.                                              James 1         NIV

 

And through it all, the Lord is always faithful.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

The Big Picture

A series on Pauls’ prayers
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Ephesians 3:14-21 

[Paul was a controversial figure in the first century church. But it could also be argued that he was the most dynamic and influential apostle. In this series we’ll be looking at Paul’s prayers and what he has to say to us today.]

  

“You can’t see the forest for the trees”

 

This well-known saying is used when someone is so focused on the details of life that they’re unable to see the big picture. We’re particularly vulnerable to this when life is difficult and we’re facing struggles. We get so focused on our problems, that we can’t see the possibilities.

 

In the Ephesian church, there was a large number of Gentile believers. Because of this, Paul wanted to make sure that they understood that they had an equal standing in the church. In doing so, he didn’t get so involved in the details that he wasn’t able to see the big picture.

 

⁶ And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. ⁷ By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.                                                    NLT            Ephesians 3

 

These thoughts prompted Paul to “fall to my knees and pray to the Father”.

 

¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ^17a so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

17b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…    NIV

Through his prayer, the ultimate outcome that Paul was looking for was this.

 

¹⁹ So that you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.                NLT

 

But, there’s this thing called life that keeps getting in the way of experiencing the love and fullness of Christ. When we’re in the thick of things, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. The trees keep getting in the way of God’s love.

 

However, in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

 

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                NIV        Romans 8

 

In the context of Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians, the saying, “You can’t see the forest for the trees” is a metaphor. The forest is God’s love. It’s also the big picture.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com