Righteous judgement

Then all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came together as one and assembled before the Lord in Mizpah. The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of God’s people, four hundred thousand men armed with swords. (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.” So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night. During the night the men of Gibeah came after me and surrounded the house, intending to kill me. They raped my concubine, and she died. I took my concubine, cut her into pieces and sent one piece to each region of Israel’s inheritance, because they committed this lewd and outrageous act in Israel. Now, all you Israelites, speak up and tell me what you have decided to do.” All the men rose up together as one, saying, “None of us will go home. No, not one of us will return to his house. But now this is what we’ll do to Gibeah: We’ll go up against it in the order decided by casting lots. We’ll take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred from a thousand, and a thousand from ten thousand, to get provisions for the army. Then, when the army arrives at Gibeah in Benjamin, it can give them what they deserve for this outrageous act done in Israel.” So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city. (Judges 20:1-11 NIV)

The lady was raped. When the Israelites learnt of the story, they were furious. Their anger is righteous. Because they are angry against sin. God tells us to love men, hate sin. That is exactly what they have done. They hate sin. But you would ask, why are they killing them then? If they really love men. The answer is: at that time, God have not come down as Jesus to die as a sacrifice for all our sins. Because today Jesus is the lamb and no one needs to sacrifice anything to atone for their sin anymore, because Jesus paid the ultimate price for everything. This chapter really speaks of Israel's righteous anger and their ultimate victory in God. They brought judgement upon the Benjaminties because of their sin, and it is not limited to this rape incident.

Sin sin and more sin

In those days Israel had no king. Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.  But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months,  her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.  His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.    On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.”  So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.”  And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night.  On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.    Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.”  But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.    When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”    His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”  He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.”  So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin.  There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.    That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields.  When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”    He answered, “We are on our way
from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the  Lord .  No one has taken me in for the night.  We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”    “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.”  So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.    While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”    The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing.  Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”    But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his
concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and
at dawn they let her go.  At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.    When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold.  He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.    When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.  Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!” (Judges 19:1-30 NIV)

Levites are people who are appointed by God to be the spiritual leader. They are the ones who was responsible for maintaning the ark, the temple and they are the ones who are spiritually close to God and physically close to "Holy" things.


First of all, who is a concubine? Concubine is a lady who is "married" to a man but not married. Ie. she is enjoying most of the marriage benefits but it is not a marriage. It is usually because she cannot be married to the men because of her social status or other reasons.
Here we have it: a Levite who has a concubine and although she was unfaithful to him, he still went over to vist her father and asked her to return. The father of the woman was thankful for his return to get his daughter and kept asking to be his guest at his house. The number of days the woman's father asked the Levite to stay is surprising! One day after another, they ate and drank together. The father was showing his appreciation and thanks through this.
Later when all of them travelled to another city, an old man was kind enough to take them in as his guest. However, things became ugly when a group of men wanted sex from the Levite!?!? I feel disgusted by that thought. It is actually the prevalence of our sinful nature that caused this. It was caused by our sinful nature. This really shows that what is happening today, homosexuality and sexual immorality was as bad today as in the past. As Christians, we need to combat that immorality by living by the spirit, and living by God's words. It did not stop there, the man, who was a Levite did not stop and condemn this sin that is going to take place. Instead, he fed his concubine to them to please the group of men. This really shows the extent of sin in those days where there is no king. The man later cut up his concubine because she was not responding... She was raped and it is because of his poor judgement and unreliance on God. And he is a Levite. How did he expect her to feel? Like I said yesterday, we should be respectful and blessed because we have authority over us and they are keeping us in check!

Judgement?

He replied, “You took the gods I made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you ask, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ ”    The Danites answered, “Don’t argue with us, or some of the men may get angry and attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”  So the Danites went their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned around and went back home.    Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a people at peace and secure. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city.  There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob. The Danites rebuilt the city and settled there.  They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city used to be called Laish.  There the Danites set up for themselves the idol, and Jonathan son of Gershom, the son of Moses,  and his sons were priests for the tribe of Dan until the time of the captivity of the land.  They continued to use the idol Micah had made, all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. (Judges 18:24-31 NIV)

Micah had all the "holy" stuff taken forcefully form him and he could not do anything about it. In today's world if someone took something from us, we would complain to the authorities and they would take action. So if the situation happened today, the men would have been all arrested. It really tells us that we are blessed to have authority over us, to have the government over us. Because they deliver judgement. Interestingly, the yardstick of judgement is the law and the parts of the law is actually derived from the bible. The 10 commandments is one fine example. Authority over us is from God.

See here:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God
has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1, 2 NIV)

So we should obey authority because it is instituted by God. Authority comes from the government, school, church and homes. And we should obey them and make their work a joy:

Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. (Hebrews 13:17 NIV)

This passage really shows me that it is really a blessing from God to have authority over us. Because it leads us, corrects us and let's us mature. And when we are in trouble, they will always protect us.

And every authority is from God.
So we should obey!

HELLO!  It's me again(:
Apparently the bible did speak to me ! indirectly!
 especially after what happend this morning.

So heres how MATTHEW 9 was applied in my situation.

I was having qt on bus 147 today and matthew 9 was talking about faith! Just as I was reading through,something told me to memorise the bus plate number,felt something was gona happen so I DID! True enough when I alighted at buono vista and boarded the train,i realised my final project plans were missing! they were on the bus.At first i panicked since i was already super late for class.Thankfully I remembered the busplate 7327m .

After tht I did a mini prayer praying that my teacher wouldnt be mad or something because my addtional situation would cause me to be 2hrs late. All ended well,i got my proj file back and i reached class without getting ranted,in fact he even had a sigh of relive that i got it back!

 Faith,you never know when it'll come back to assist you.You just gotta keep believing,l and yes trust GOD because he never fails.

It's been a really interesting morning ,fruitful i'd say because i got to apply it in a situation.Thank you Father!

-Jake(:

Qt trouble..

So first time doing qt on the bus and posting it! Somehow i didn't get to 'feel' the verses of Matthew but I did learn something.

I think its because i'm using a phone,an electronic device.Pastor once said that we should bring the actualy hardcopy bible to service as it was the real deal! So i guess i'll start doing that tomorrow! what's additional weight compared to reading GOD'S word and living your other life in his kingdom! haha!

shall be back later after reading the real deal(:

Lord's commands

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” The Lord answered,  “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?    It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.    Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:35-48 NIV)

The Lord tells us to be ready for service and keep our lamps burning. The verse really tells us to prepare for the next coming of Christ. Keep the fire burning for Christ. When Christ comes, we must be ready to open the door for Him and welcome Him. However, He says, do not anticipate his return but be as prepared as you can. Even if He returns in the night, receive Him in the night! No one will know the date or day of the coming of Christ, but be ever prepared for His coming.

Prepare by building a strong relationship with Him! Read you bible, pray everyday... Talk to the Holy Spirit everyday ... Serve His kingdom and build His kingdom!

Then Peter continues to ask if this parable is for everyone or just for them!

Then The Lord says that if you are out as the head servant, you will be also assigned to be responsible for His possessions. And you would also lead other servants. And what you do with that power, whether you are going to abuse it or to use it for good is completely up to you and there are consequences to each.
God is actually talking about His kingdom, the leaders in His kingdom should do His work and expand His kingdom, while taking care of the other servants. If you are faithful, you would be rewarded in the second coming of Christ.
And The Lord said, if you are given more, more is expected.

Which is so true. If you are a knowledgable and wise person, God gave you the knowledge and wisdom for a purpose, for you to use it for good and to do more with it. If you are given wealth, you are to share with others and lift others from financial suffering. If you have anything that is a blessing from God, use then blessing for Good. Please, if you are given a blessing and do nothing with it, it would be taken away from you. But if u do more with it, more is given.

SFB 26 Jan 2013

Pastor talked bout my generation, my responsiblity.

He shared: 1 Tim 4:12

Don't let anyone look down on your you because you are young , but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

God chose and always choose young people for the following reasons:

1. Young people have great faith

2. Young people love taking risks

3. Young people are willing to defy the status quo

4. Young people have the great ability to empathize with them.

We have the ability to use these strengths to go through life.

This sermon was very awesome! This sermon touched my heart. I am extremely impacted by Luke 12:48 NIV: But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. This verse is so true. I am blessed by God to have an inquisitive and active mind. Because of that and God’s Grace I got a scholarship! It just does not stop there, I went on to help my Lifegroup members for anything that I can answer: Computing, Math or Physics.  Because I am given much, I will give too! And I have been living like that for so long! It is great to know that I have been living in accordance to God’s word. I would continue to serve His people and people because ehe first gave and because He had blessed me with this blessing. And I will use this blessing to bless others. Even though I am tired from tutoring or helping, I will know that I am blessing someone; someone will walk away understanding better. I am also impacted by the preparation part! Pastor mentioned that He was not prepared when he took over as a pastor. Everyone is unprepared. No one is prepared. So, we just go forth and do it, and God would fill our weakness and make us strong. I praise the Lord for everything He has Done! :D

No law and order

The five men who earlier had explored the country of Laish told their companions, "Did you know there's an ephod, teraphim-idols, and a cast god-sculpture in these buildings? What do you think? Do you want to do something about it?"  So they turned off the road there, went to the house of the young Levite at Micah's place and asked how things had been with him. The six hundred Danites, all well-armed, stood guard at the entrance to the gate while the five scouts who had gone to explore the land went in and took the carved idol, the ephod, the teraphim-idols, and the god-sculpture. The priest was standing at the gate entrance with the six hundred armed men. When the five went into Micah's house and took the carved idol, the ephod, the teraphim-idols, and the sculpted god, the priest said to them, "What do you think you're doing?"  They said to him, "Hush! Don't make a sound. Come with us. Be our father and priest. Which is more important, that you be a priest to one man or that you become priest to a whole tribe and clan in Israel?"  The priest jumped at the chance. He took the ephod, the teraphim-idols, and the idol and fell in with the troops. (Judges 18:14-20 MSG)

This  illustrates the point that Israel did not have a king very well! These men went in and stole from Micah. They threatened to use force if Micah tried to oppose. Remember these men are the same men who asked the priest earlier:
They said, "Oh, good—inquire of God for us. Find out whether our mission will be a success." (Judges 18:5 MSG)

Note: why they cannot inquire themselves is because that time Holy Spirit was not in them( that was Old Testament, Jesus had not died yet!)

So, it is clear that they believe in God. And if they believe in God, why did they choose to sin? To steal from others?

Moses said:“You shall not steal. (Exodus 20:15 NIV)

It is clear, do not steal!
If you love God, you won't steal.

Moreover, what they are stealing are idols, gods and a bogus priest.

The behavior of the priest was expected. Although being a Levite, he did not make this decision with God's strength. He did not seek God. Moreover, he had given his word in the previous chapter that he would serve in Micah's house. It may be true that God really want him to serve the 600 men, but his decision was unbased.

Today, we are fortunate that Jesus died for us. Because of that we no longer have to carry the burden of sin but in Him we are renewed, in Him we are blameless.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17 NIV)

Jesus is the lamb and He is our saviour!
Praise The Lord!

Lawlessness without a king

In those days there was no king in Israel. But also in those days, the tribe of Dan was looking for a place to settle down. They hadn't yet occupied their plot among the tribes of Israel.  The Danites sent out five robust warriors from Zorah and Eshtaol to look over the land and see what was out there suitable for their families. They said, "Go and explore the land." They went into the hill country of Ephraim and got as far as the house of Micah. They camped there for the night. As they neared Micah's house, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They went over and said to him, "How on earth did you get here? What's going on? What are you doing here?"  He said, "One thing led to another: Micah hired me and I'm now his priest."  They said, "Oh, good—inquire of God for us. Find out whether our mission will be a success."  The priest said, "Go assured.  God 's looking out for you all the way."  The five men left and headed north to Laish. They saw that the people there were living in safety under the umbrella of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting. They had everything going for them. But the people lived a long way from the Sidonians to the west and had no treaty with the Arameans to the east. (Judges 18:1-7 MSG)

Kings are important people because they keep the law and order of The country. They are also annoiting by God, to lead the country into the correct path. To prevent people from falling into sin, to be the Godly example for all people in the country. Most importantly to be God's executor of justice.
A very good example would be Solomon, king Solomon. He was wise and he has the power of God in him.

So these chapters describe a time that Israel had no king and hence no law and order. As a result, sin was prevalent. People worship idols openly. Even Livites who are supposed to uphold law and order did not stick to the law and sinned. Micah and his priest are good examples of this lawlessness.

Micah's false religion

Meanwhile there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah and from a family of Judah. He was a Levite but was a stranger there. He left that town, Bethlehem in Judah, seeking his fortune. He got as far as the hill country of Ephraim and showed up at Micah's house.  Micah asked him, "So where are you from?" He said, "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I'm on the road, looking for a place to settle down."  Micah said, "Stay here with me. Be my father and priest. I'll pay you ten pieces of silver a year, whatever clothes you need, and your meals."  The Levite agreed and moved in with Micah. The young man fit right in and became one of the family. Micah appointed the young Levite as his priest. This all took place in Micah's home.  Micah said, "Now I know that  God  will make things go well for me— why, I've got a Levite for a priest!" (Judges 17:7-13 MSG)

Levites are supposed to be people who are Godly, wielding God's power doing God's commands. These people are to be closest to God, furthest away from sin! But Levites at that time were just like the rest; practicing idolatry, worshipping other Gods, sinning just like the rest...

And Micah came across one Levite who came and was passing by. Micah then convinced him to stay in the house as a priest! So he did.

And to my surprise, Micah said: now I know that God will make things go well for me, because I have a priest. That is a wrong belief. That is just being religious. Having a priest while sinning is not pleasing God. Or worse having a priest who says nothing about idolatry is definitely not pleasing God. We can raise our hands in church, sing the loudest praises, pray the most audacious prayers...

But if our relationship in God is not improving, there is no difference. Out relationship with God is of utmost  importance. If we do not work on that, God would not be pleased with us.

Micah is practicing a false religion, his religion. One that worships idols, have a priest, lies/sins and do all of these in the name of God.

We need to examine ourselves... Are we practicing false religion?

Prayer.

Not bad, I'm slowly getting the hang of praying for people ! You see, often at times I feel the urge to want to pray for people who are in need of help but the thing is, I'm not really good at it and I used to think that the longer the prayer the better but I've learn't that it is not.The thing is I still have this this teeny weeny feeling of "Oh dear, I didn't do enough" even after knowing about that.

The Turnover (:

Recently a group of my lifegroup mates were called to help pray for a friend, each assigned a day to pray for her. I'm really glad to say that today, being the second time of me doing so, I really feel so much more comfortable praying for someone. God's presence really came and words slowly just started to fill my thoughts helping me express myself in prayer.I feel this is really a good platform to extend my spiritual growth and also helping me get up early for Tuesday classes since I've been late recently.

Can't wait for the next one !

Small steps but progress along the way.

MINI HOMEWORK !

So, I was tasked to find out more about this verse
1 Corinthians 2:9- However, as it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.

From my point of view it means that nobody will know what God has already prepared for the people who love him. These people who Love him are non other than Christians because it is only through accepting Christ that we are able to accept and Love God!These are the people who will be able to see what he prepared~!

Anyways after reading the life application bible, i found out that you & me will not be able to imagine what God has in store for us not just in this life but also in heaven and eternity and he will create a new heaven and earth.Until then, it is the holy spirit that will comfort and guide and Because we know that God has already prepared all these for us(eternal future), it gives us hope to press on each day knowing that he will never fail us for he is a God who provides and Loves us !



Praise God! - Jake(:

Micah's theft

There was a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Micah. He said to his mother, "Remember that 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you? I overheard you when you pronounced your curse. Well, I have the money; I stole it. But now I've brought it back to you." His mother said, " God  bless you, my son!"  As he returned the 1,100 silver pieces to his mother, she said, "I had totally consecrated this money to  God  for my son to make a statue, a cast god." Then she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a sculptor and he cast them into the form of a god.  This man, Micah, had a private chapel. He had made an ephod and some teraphim-idols and had ordained one of his sons to be his priest.  In those days there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing. (Judges 17:1-6 MSG)

1100 pieces of silver are worth a lot of money. In their time, 10 pieces of silver is the wage for a year! So Micah actually stole millions of dollars, in today's sense from his mother. In the bible, it is stated in one of the 10 commandments not to steal and Micah violated it. Micah did not have the intention to return the silver to his mother! It is clearly seen from his motivation to return the silver. His motivation to return the silver comes from the curse, not the commandments. Worse, when him mother knows about it, she had realized that she cursed her son, and on the return of the silver, she blessed him. It was wrong for her son to steal, even from his own family members. However, she is condoning by blessing him instead. She should not be doing that but educating her son in the law. However, she did not parent very well...

In the next verse, two very disturbing things happened. His mom promised God to "wholly consecrate" the silver. However, she only used 200 pieces of silver to devote to God. Worse, her idea of devoting to God was to create an idol.

It is really really clear:
“You shall have no other gods before   me.    “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the  Lord  your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:3-6 NIV)

She had an idol as her God and she made an idol. So her idea of dedication to God was to violate the commandments and she did not hold to her promise.

That is why the author said: there was no king in Israel, people is their own judge.
In the days of Moses, Moses was the judge... In the days of Joshua, Joshua was the judge... And today, there is no judge.

Samson's death

Judges 16:15-22 NIV
Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”  With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.    So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”    When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.  After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.  And his strength left him.    Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the  Lord  had left him.    Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.  But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson was betrayed by someone he dearly loved and trusted. All these really go to show that we need to find the correct Godly women for our wives! Else, they would get the better of us. It really shows that Delilah really did not love him but stayed with Him to take advantage of the situation.

If we chose wives like how Samson did, we all would perish like he did. He was caught by the enemy and was thrown into prison. That being said, we also need to take up the responsibility to protect our sisters in Christ. If they did not find Godly men, then their fate would not be very different from Samson.

Sermon 19 Jan

Young People, Rise!

 Matthew 28:19-20

 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

1 Timothy 4:12

12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

This sermon really impacted me big time! Its true that young people are the ones changing the world. Because when they were young and bold, they had crazy ideas and worked towards it and never looked back. Because of those crazy ideas, they have changed the world forever. It is really true that young people fail the most, they are also the ones who have the greatest successes. Rarely you would see a startup that because successful was started by old men. You would see that start-ups are set up by young people who had a dream to change the world. There are many examples, Google, Microsoft… Many of them started off with a dream to change the world. And they never looked back and their idea spread. Google started because 2 young men wanted to index the whole internet and their audacious dream brought them far today. Same for Bill gates who set out to change the playing field of operating systems. Young people have nothing, no money, no status… 

1 Corinthians 1:28-29

 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

They only have dreams and those dreams will carry them far. Because we have nothing to lose, so we have nothing to fear and we can go so powerfully in faith and look towards God! We are all young people here and I really pray that everyone will allow God to work through our lives to change the world forever. Because what pastor said is really true, the world is within our reach. If only every single Christian in the world reach out to another 10 people, we would have the world. I am absolutely excited for the future to come as it is definitely awesome with God and with the dreams He have put into us! AMEN!

Samson's victory

Judges 15:14-16 NIV

As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the  Lord  came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.  Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.    Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.”

Here, Samon judged everyone of the Philistines and killed them for the oppression that have given Israel.moreover, he also achieved justice by giving the Philistines what they deserve.

Note: this is the Old Testament, so God's judgement is quick and harsh. From the previous verses, we finally know that this is an incident the God wants to set up, because He wants to use Samson to judge the Philistines. This is clearly seen from:

(His parents did not know that this was from the  Lord , who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) (Judges 14:4 NIV)

As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the  Lord  came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands.  Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. (Judges 15:14, 15 NIV)

It is clear from judges 14:4 that this is an occasion that God wants to use Samson to confront and judge Israel. However, being said so, what Samson did was not Godly:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?  What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16 NIV)

Clearly, we should not get ourselves involved with non believers.
However, despite of our sin(like Samson's), God still can move mightily. Imagine a scenario in which Samson chose an Israelite wife instead, God would move even more powerfully.

It is also clear that during the whole occasion, the power of God was with Samson, because if he did not have It, he would not have killed so many men with just a donkey's jawbone, along with the breaking of the ropes.

Today, Jesus had died for us, so our sins is already paid for with Jesus's blood. But let's not take that for granted and continue to walk towards Him and away from sin.

Samson acts

Judges 15:1-6 NIV

Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in.    “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”    Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.”  So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails,  lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.    When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.

From here, it is clear that Samson did not give his wife away, but rather, the wife's dad gave her to his companion instead. However, the day's judgement is flawed, because Samson does not hate his wife. If he really did hate his wife, he would not have said "don't plow my heifer" to his companions. He would have said words of anger to his wife instead.

How many times that we made a judgement that was on no basis? We are not God and not all knowing. Because of that, our relationships and judgement are often plagued with issues arising from miscommunication. If Samson really did hate his wife with a passion, then what her dad did was right, because he had a duty to protect her. In this case, it may be just a case of the dad not liking Samson as he was isralite. Moreover, to give away her was really an insult to Samson.

Keep in mind that at that time, the Philistines are oppressing the Islralites...

The father did not stop just there. He went on to suggest him to take the wife's daughter instead.

So he acted by wreaking havoc because he was denied his wife.

Keep in mind that God was setting up a confrontation to allow the Philistines to be judged by Samson and Israel.

Then the Philistines acted by burning and killing his wife and his father in law along with their house.

Downfall of the Philistines

Judges 14:15-20 NIV

On the fourth  day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”    Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?”  She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.    Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.”    Then the Spirit of the  Lord  came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home.  And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.


So, Samson married a Philistine. However, he did not lived happily after... What happened was that his wife had betrayed him. His wife sided with her people instead of him. It is shown clearly that his wife did the wrong thing. Instead of telling her husband about the threats that her people are pressing on her, she cried to her and pestered him about the riddle. It shows that she did not fully trust her husband and the bible clearly states that when a woman and man come together in marriage, they are one flesh. They should be in a complete union. This really shows that if we yoke with non- believers, this is the likely outcome of that un-approved union. Like I mentioned before it is clearly stated in 2 Corinthians.(see above)

The term "plow my Hefier" is actually a phrase to signify to turn up my wife. It really means that. Hefier means young female cow.

This parable shows that when we choose wives (or husbands), we ought to look for Godly qualities. This is so that their belief system is the same as ours. And of course do not yoke with non-believers.

Even so, God still moved mightily in his life. God used him to judge the Philistines and his wife. His wife got what she deserved. While the men received loot previously owned by their brothers.

Power through Samson

Judges 14:5-11 NIV

Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him.  The Spirit of the  Lord  came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.  Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.    Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.  He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.    Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men.  When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.

Even though Samson had chose to sin.(the choice is ours whether to follow God or to sin), the spirit of God still came upon Samson, the spirit of God came upon Him despite of his sin not in spite of it. Moreover, he is a Nazirite.

Nazirite is a person who is chosen by God to be clean. He has to follow certain restrictions. He cannot drink wine, cannot eat anything unclean and cannot come into contact with carcasses. He went back to lion's carcass to retrieve honey, which is in violation with His vow to God to become a Nazirite. That is probably the reason why he did not tell His parents or anyone about taking honey from the carcass.

The lust that he had has now evolved into sin.
His thoughts has led him to act it out by marrying the non-Christian and it led to sin.
It is important to keep our thoughts right before God using the word of God. Because if we do not, it would eventually lead to sin. Like Samson.

God still came into Samson mightily even though He had sinned. Imagine what God could have done in Samson's life if Samson chose not to sin. God could have done so much more!

Signing off,
E.

Still God's Instrument...

Judges 13

2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”

3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?”

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)

Samson

A little of background... Samson was a guy who was chosen by God even before birth. An angel of God commanded the parents of Samson to take special precautions when raising Samson; by abstaining from wine and fermented drink and anything that is deemed to be unclean. In other words, Samson was a Nazirite.

In Judges 13:2-3
It is shown that Samson was lusting for other women. He wants to get a wife who is a "non-Christian". That is against the word of God. Clearly,

In 2 Cor 6:14, the Bible states that:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

In the aforementioned verse, its clear that the God does not want us to get involved(in a BGR sense) with non-Christians. And there is a good reason for that! If we are married with someone of a different belief system, can we be absolutely sure that we understand our spouse? Deep down inside we cannot, because the fundamental belief systems that we believe is different. If a Christian is married to a non-christian, how can the non-chirstian understand that Quiet Time is important, or why God should be the head of the house? Things like that adds up to fights and arguments and ultimately the relationship may fail. God is saving us from this pain, because He is the creator and He knows best.

The passage showed that Samson has set his mind about getting the Philistine lady, even though his parent had tried to convince him otherwise. Since, He did not heed the bible and God, He fell into sin by marrying a Philistine.

The Passage "His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel" would be explained soon!

STAY TUNED.

Praise the Lord!

Signing off,
E.

A Time For Everything

 Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

A Time for QT

The Background chosen on this blog is actually the a picture of the verse above.
This verse touched my heart because it is so true that there is a time for everything. A time to be sad a time to grief, a time to be happy a time to rejoice and praise. However in today's society, people tend use misuse time that was meant for another activity, For instance, people sleep so late, that time is meant for sleeping, so you sleep. When exams are coming, it is the time to study so you study.
When its time to do QT, you do QT because its a praise to Him. 
So do not exchange the time that He gave us to do QT for something else because that is like robbing Him of praise. i am convicted of this verse, I believe that when its an occasion to do this, i would do this. I would not use the time to do something else.
Besides the robbing part, this is also a very good practice too! We stop procrastination so much. When we say this time is for studying, we study. So we do it NOW. Do it TODAY because its the season to so so.

I really Hope that this blog will really contain all out QTs and praises to God!
All praises to Him!

Signing Off,
E.