The Sacrifices of God…

 

I can’t love these words enough. Our God does not desire sacrifice…He does not delight in burnt offering. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.—Psalm 51:17

How beautiful those words are to my heart. My all seeing, all knowing, all powerful God desires what cannot be imitated or faked. God knows our heart.  Our God desires truth in our inward parts. No one gets into heaven by guile. Beloved…The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.  These He WILL NOT despise.  

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.—Acts 15:8-9

"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.—1 Chronicles 28:9

Who does the LORD dwell with?  

For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

"I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.—Isaiah 57:15

On whom does He look? 

Thus says the LORD:

"Heaven is My throne,

And earth is My footstool.

Where is the house that you will build Me?

And where is the place of My rest?

For all those things My hand has made,

And all those things exist,"

Says the LORD.

"But on this one will I look:

On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,

And who trembles at My word.—Isaiah 66:1-2

The opportunity for salvation, the opportunity for forgiveness and restoration comes not when we are riding high on worldly success. It comes when we have reached the end of ourselves. It comes when we are laid low and are able to see our weaknesses and inability to do good. It is then that the truth of the saying “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” is proved. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners shall be converted to You.—Psalm 51:10-13

It is when we have a right view of the heinousness of sin, and a right view of the holiness of God, that we begin to have a right view of the hopelessness of self. It is when you are standing in the ruins of your self-will…when you feel miles away from God, that He is the nearest. That is when conversion occurs…when I have repented of my sin. That is when my joy is full.

Ending with a quote from Alan Redpath:

There is nobody to whom the Lord is nearer than the one who is so weak that he is saying, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped” (Ps. 73:2). I would that such helplessness might be the attitude of each of us, always, in the presence of our Lord, because conscious weakness is always a prerequisite for heavenly reinforcement. When I am weak, then, and then only, am I strong. The entry of self-confidence into a man’s experience means the departure of heavenly strength.

God doesn’t just want this when we first come to Him to be saved…He wants us to walk in this truth always. He wants us acutely aware of our own need for mercy. Why?  Because He desires to bless us. When we walk humbly before Him acknowledging our need, it is then…in our weakness…that His grace is poured out over our lives. 

Don’t Get Sidetracked…

 

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"

And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."

So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"

But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."

So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."—Luke 18:18-30

Beloved…Don’t be like the sorrowful, rich young ruler, who in turn made Jesus sorrowful because of his twisted priorities.  Whatever you have on this earth…whatever you might be holding on to in this world, put it aside. If you are unsaved, bring your weary and heavy laden self to Him. If you are saved, do the same thing. Surrender all of you into His loving care and watch Him bring beauty from the sorrows of your life….day by day…moment by moment. Read His promise to you here in Luke 18 again. 

So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

There are many hindrances that vie to keep us from the kingdom of heaven or impede our spiritual progress even after we belong to Him.  Worldly allurements prevented the escape of Lot’s wife. (Genesis 19:26) David’s attempt to use the equipment offered him by Saul delayed him.  (1 Samuel 17:39) Discouraged people opposed the building of the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah 4.  Unbelief hindered Christ’s work in Nazareth. (Matt 13:58) In this story worldly possessions kept back the rich young man from discipleship. Family ties prevent a man from following Christ (Luke 9:59). Hebrews 12:1 speak to us of weights and of the sin that so easily ensnares us that we are to lay aside so that we can run the race set before us with endurance.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,—Hebrews 12:1

 Verse 2 tells us how we are to do this:

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.—Hebrews 12:2

Beloved…look to the One who is bigger than anything that might keep us from His kingdom. Where our sin abounds His grace abounds much more. He has promised to complete the good work He started in us.  With Him all things are possible. He who brought us up from the miry clay and set our feet on a Rock…He is faithful. He will do it.  

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.—1 Peter 5:6-7

I waited patiently for the LORD;

And He inclined to me,

And heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,

Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock,

And established my steps.

He has put a new song in my mouth—

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear,

And will trust in the LORD.—Psalm 40:1-3

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them.—Psalm 34:4-7

In Him, we are overcomers. 

For His lovingkindness prevails over us [and we triumph and overcome through Him],

And the truth of the LORD endures forever.

Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah!)—Psalm 117 (Amplified)

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.—Revelation 12:10-11

Riding High on the Jawbone of an Ass…

 

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it. Then Samson said:

"With the jawbone of a donkey,

Heaps upon heaps,

With the jawbone of a donkey

I have slain a thousand men!"

And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.

Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the LORD and said, "You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?" So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. And he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.—Judges 15:14-20

Samson was riding high on the jawbone of an ass. But just look at what little it took for him to remember that he was a man and not a god. Samson began to thirst after his victory and it was in his physical need for water that the Lord reminded him of his weakness and total dependence on Him. Sigh…I think any one of us who has ever been ill can relate. 

My Bible reading this morning included Psalm 51 and Luke 18.  As I read them, I couldn’t help but think of what Samson could have accomplished had he lived in true surrender to the Spirit of God. Psalm 51 begins this way…King David is praying:

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.—Psalm 51:1-3

Luke 18 compares the self righteous prayer of a Pharisee to the broken cries of a repentant tax collector. The tax collector prays this way:

And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'—Luke 18:13

With these readings as a backdrop, it is not surprising then that as I read the story of Samson my mind became filled with “If only’s”. 

If only Samson had:

—Repented of his pride and “self-confidence” and asked God not just for water but for also for guidance and for protection from the weakness of his own flesh….

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Show me Your ways, O LORD;

Teach me Your paths.

Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day.—Psalm 25:1-5

do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.—Matthew 6:13

—Asked God to strengthen his inner man….

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,—Ephesians 3:16

—Realized that in his weakness he was strong…

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.—2 Corinthians 12:9-10

—Understood that safety is found in total dependence on the Lord. 

But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;

He is their strength in the time of trouble.

And the LORD shall help them and deliver them;

He shall deliver them from the wicked,

And save them,

Because they trust in Him.—Psalm 37:39-40

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust."……—Psalm 91:1-2

Beloved…with pride comes only strife and destruction.  Praying today that we would remember these lessons from Samson’s life. Oh Father!  May we revel in our weakness because it is in our weakness that You are strong.  For it is You who works in us both to will and to do for Your good pleasure. 

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,

Until these calamities have passed by.

I will cry out to God Most High,

To God who performs all things for me.—Psalm 57:1-2

Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the LORD,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.—Isaiah 40:28-1

Manoah and His Wife...

 

8 Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”

9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her.

10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”

11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?” And He said, “I am.”

12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”—Judges 13:8-12

Manoah is my new favorite character in Scripture!  

First off... Manoah had no doubt that what the Man of God said would come to pass.  Manoah believed God.  

Second, Manoah entreated the Lord.  Manoah was a “man of prayer”.  Manoah was teachable.  His desire was to clarify what his duties would be in regard to the child that would be born. I loved that. He was zealous to do what was right. Verse 9 tells us that God listened to the voice of Manoah. God always hears and answers our prayers that come from a humble heart that truly desires to follow and obey Him. 

Good and upright is the LORD;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

The humble He guides in justice,

And the humble He teaches His way.—Ps 25:8-9

Thirdly, Manoah also believed his wife and was not insulted when the Angel of God appeared to his wife a second time and not to him.  She ran to get him and he gladly and humbly followed her.  

Manoah’s faith does falter when he learns the true identity of their visitor. 

And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”—Judges 13:22

And here is where I see that although Manoah’s faith was strong, his wife’s was stronger.   That made me love them both!  She encourages him in a practical way and he listened to her voice. 

But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time.”

As a woman, my first and primary God-given ministry is to my husband.  Praying to be the kind of helpmeet to my husband that Manoah’s wife was to him.  She is not named in Scripture.  She is referred to and remembered as the wife of Manoah.  I liked that. It made think of being of one flesh with my own husband... being of one accord and of the same mind... serving our God together as one flesh.  

Father,

May I be, by Your Spirit, the kind of helpmeet to my husband that encourages his faith.  The kind who spends time sitting at the Lord’s feet.  The kind whom his heart can safely trust.  The kind, as it says in Hebrews 10, that holds fast the confession of my hope without wavering because He who promised is faithful. The kind that thoughtfully considers how she may encourage her husband to love and to do good deeds. 

A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath…

 

Now the men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us by not calling us when you went to fight with the Midianites?” And they reprimanded him sharply.  So he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?  “God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. And what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he said that.—Judges 8:1-3

These humble words of Gideon reminded me of Luke 22:24-27.  

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’  “But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  “For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

True greatness IS found in humility.   How much better it is for us and everyone around us, if we can put off offense and put on the gentleness and graciousness of humility as Gideon does here in Judges 8. With pride, the Proverbs tell us, comes nothing but contention.  Gideon’s response to the men of Ephraim did not seek to justify himself, but as it says in 1 Peter, he committed himself to Him who judges righteously.  Gideon was slow to anger and esteemed the men of Ephraim as better than himself.  His soft answer turned away their wrath.  Matthew Henry points out that Gideon was willing to diminish his own achievements, but not God’s in magnifying what the men of Ephraim did. 

“God has delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb.”

Oh, would that I would be able to put off offenses against me and put on humility as Gideon did here.   

A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city,

And contentions are like the bars of a castle.

A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;

From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit.—Proverbs 18:19-21

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;—Romans 12:10

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law....Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.—Romans 13:8;10

In Faith is Victory…Gideon Chapter 7

 

It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 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. 

Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” 

And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. —Judges 7:9-15

I love that last line...Gideon worshiped!  Judges 6,  7 and 8 tell the story of Gideon and his personal struggle of faith.  Gideon had much trouble believing God.  I, for one, am thankful for Gideon's story.   It encourages me to seek His grace when my own faith fails knowing that my God's compassions fail not.  God's responses to Gideon  show Him as merciful, gracious and forgiving. 

In faith is victory...and here (finally) at the end of chapter 7, we find Gideon. From man's perspective the battle looks impossible to win.  Earlier in the story God had trimmed Gideon's army of 32,000 men down to 300.  Three hundred men going up against 135,000.  Gideon and all of Israel would know as they went into battle and came out victorious that the victory was not theirs but God's. They would not come out with hearts lifted up thinking they had done something.  They would go in and out the same way...knowing they were weak and depending on the strength of their God.  

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When Gideon returns from his spying adventure into the enemy camp, he tells his men with confidence that the Lord would deliver the enemy into their hands.  Gideon sees the invisible and then by faith does the impossible...wins the battle with God's 300.  Gideon's plan was simple.  Each man was given a trumpet, an empty vessel to break, and a torch.  The men would encircle the enemies camp with their torches hidden inside their vessels.  At Gideon's signal the men would blow the trumpets, break their vessels which would reveal the lights and then shout, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!"  God would do the rest. 

What  spoke to my heart in this story was God's  kindness and grace especially in the face of weakness and lack of faith. It filled my heart with love and gratitude.  So often I can be like Gideon.  How comforting to know that our God knows our frames.  He knows that we are dust. 

Another was what happened to Gideon when he stopped doubting and truly believed in His heart that victory was in His God. He worshiped His God and He became a leader.  He and His men brought their empty vessels to battle where the light of God was seen only after these vessels were broken and rendered useless.  When we are weak...that is what God's uses to show Himself strong.  The following verse from Corinthians says it all...may each of us remember it when our faith is tested.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

God is our light and our salvation...whom shall we fear. He is the light of our life. ...of whom shall we be afraid.  When the enemy comes against us...when they encamp all around us and war rises, may we remember our God and may our entire weight of trust and confidence be in Him.