The Secret to Our Strength

After Samson told Delilah the secret to his strength, she conspired against him and had his hair cut off during his sleep. When he woke up, he went out as before to free himself from the Philistines who had bound him. The Bible says, “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” His strength was gone.

In our sleep, our own government has conspired to take away our strength. For the last 50 years or so, it has clipped away the morality which God, through his church, has established in our great nation. Samson’s strength was lost with each clip; one and then another until it was all gone. Likewise with us; take prayer out of schools (one clip), legalize abortion (another clip), push for the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle (another clip); and before you know it, we’re waking up and realizing our strength is gone.

Samson’s strength came back. It didn’t happen immediately when he realized the mistake he had made. He didn’t get to say “Sorry God” and then be as he was before. His strength returned at the incredibly slow rate of hair growth. Over time, the damage done, clip by clip, was reversed as his hair grew back.

Likewise our strength will not return, just because we wake up and say “Sorry God”. It will return as, clip by clip, we restore the morals that our government has cut.

Wrong’s Long Oppression of Right

“And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”

This is the one instance in Judges, where, the people have forgotten God . . . again; and “the Philistines have shattered and crushed them for eighteen years.” This time though, when they called for help, God said no.  “Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble.”

So he lets them simmer for eighteen years; until he reaches this point of not being able to bear their misery any longer. It’s interesting who he picks this time to help them. It says, “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior.” But, of all Gilead’s sons, Jephthah was the son of a prostitute.

Interesting to me that God picked the best man for the job. He was a mighty warrior. Israel needed a warrior to fight against the people who were oppressing them. Jephthah’s whole life had prepared him for this time.

We are at a time in our own country, when for far too long, wrong has oppressed what is right. Consider the most recent example. The idea of abortion becoming illegal is “out of touch” with most people. And one step further, if it becomes illegal – meaning it is against the law – only one person is saying the woman should be punished. People have forgotten what right even looks like.

God Sent an Evil Spirit

Judges 9:23 says, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem.” Gideon’s 70 sons from his many wives had become rulers. Abimelech, a son from a concubine, asked the citizens if they would prefer one ruler instead of 70. They agreed. Abimelech then killed the 70 innocent brothers.

Both the act of the killing, and the citizen’s willingness to go along with it, displeased God. So he sent this evil spirit between them so that they turned against each other. They ended up wiping each other out. The city and its people were destroyed by Abimelech, and Abimelech, in the process, got his head split open.

I wondered about us. Has God sent an evil spirit between our government and its citizens? Is he displeased that our government has authorized the killing of the innocent? That our citizens, by a lack of resistance, show a willingness to go along with it? Innocent babies are aborted. Innocent Christians are beheaded and burned alive.

The citizens could have stood and said, “No!” to Abimelech. But they had slipped far enough from God – far enough in their moral values – that when Abimelech came along, they were not sharp enough to catch the fault; and they went along.

Have our citizens slipped? Are we no longer moved to the point of standing and saying, “No!”? Has our salt lost its savor? Going along does not have a good ending.

 

 

 

Who Will Fight for Us

Who Will Fight for Us

I just so happened to start reading the book of Judges this morning. As it would turn out, the first verse is very appropriate for today as we will be voting on the candidate we feel is best for President. It begins quite simply:

“After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, ‘Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?’”

I’m sure many have asked the Lord who they should vote for. I know I have. But I decided to do it again this morning. I asked specifically as this verse suggests. I asked who would be the first to go up and fight for ‘US’. The one I had formerly felt best about had a proven record of fighting to get things done; but I had to ask myself this morning, ‘What proof do I have that he would fight for us in all cases?’

“Who will go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?” The Canaanites occupied the land that God had given to Israel. The Federal Government is occupying more and more land and getting more and more into our business. There is really only one tool which will ensure the fighting is properly focused – the Constitution.

It goes on to say in this first chapter of Judges, after the Lord had showed them who he had chose to go up and fight, that the tribe asked another tribe to go with them. Together they fought and won many battles. It occurred to me, this person who goes up on our behalf, will not be going alone – as he has been to this point. He will ask some to go with him. And together I believe they will win many battles.

 

Resisting Harassment – Part 2

In 1774, England declared war against the town of Boston. They sealed off the city and harbor with the intent of starving the inhabitants into submission. In retaliation to the blockade, Bostonians boarded 3 of the British ships and dumped their cargo into the water – 342 chests of tea.

Parliament countered by extending the Canadian border to the Ohio River in what was called the Quebec Act. It resulted in the confiscation of tens of thousands of privately owned acres – some of which belonged to George Washington.

Two years away from the Declaration of Independence, this undoubtedly fueled the fire for it. Delegates met in Philadelphia and after 2 months of debating, urged the colonies to withhold taxes from the royal government.

Our own government is doing the same thing to us today – confiscating privately owned land through regulatory agencies. And I wonder . . . are our Delegates meeting and debating to determine a proper response?

Resisting Harassment – Part 1

In an attempt to overcome enormous debts incurred in the Seven Years’ War, in which Britain eventually won against the French, England’s Parliament all but smothered the colonies with taxes. One of those taxes was the Stamp Act of 1765. Americans protested by boycotting English imports. After a year long boycott which proved costly to the British, the Stamp Act was repealed without having collected a penny.

It’s enough to make me wonder . . . are we resisting enough? Our focus is on our government’s need to change . . . maybe WE need to change.

Harassed and Helpless

Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” This was a major problem in Jesus’ day. Those in authority were heaping more on the people than the people could bear. Their actions were burdening; and as a result of the harassing, the people felt helpless.

Though Deuteronomy 8:1 does say, “Be careful to follow every command that I am giving you today”, the problem was, those in authority kept adding commands. Thinking they were clarifying, they instead were making it so difficult, nobody could measure up.

Though it is true that the framer of this great nation of Israel wanted them to follow His commands, He also had mercy on them when they didn’t. The current leaders had missed that part. Jesus let them know it.

Our rulers today are doing the same thing to us. By focusing on a phrase or two in the Constitution, they squeeze out meanings that our framers clearly did not intend. They create more and more laws, more and more regulations; the result of which is this same burden. To the point of harassment, it is becoming more than we can bear.

Our government is out of line. They do more to protect a tadpole that will one day turn into a frog than they do to protect a fetus that will one day turn into a baby. The list could go on.

 

 

For Our Kids

Between the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775 and the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, there were differing opinions as to whether or not the nation should separate itself from the motherland.

It was during this in-between period that Thomas Paine penned Common Sense in an attempt to persuade the colonists to see the need of separation. I like one of the points he makes as a reminder of the reason they left the motherland to begin with.

“This new World hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty for EVERY PART of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.”

Though I am not the suggesting the means in these next points, I do believe the sentiment. “Let’s not leave the next generation to be cutting throats.” And, “Let us not leave the sword to our children, and shrinking back at a time, when, a little more, a little farther, would have rendered this continent the glory of the earth.”

Our own government has become a comparable tyrant. “In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life.”

 

We Are Parents of Teenagers

I have heard that some teenagers have parties while their parents are out of town. Their return, whether expected or not, brings the partying to an end.

Our government is like the partying teenager; unrestrained by the responsible adult. It’s time to return home. Raise your voice. Fly off the handle. Show a little outrage. DO SOMETHING to let our government know THEY ARE UNDER OUR ROOF.

Our Need of Being United

If one million people, equally spread over the United States, would at an agreed time let out a yell in unison, my guess is it would not be heard. But bring that million together and have them yell in unison . . . quite a different story.

Somehow, we who are yelling, have got to be united. We are all yelling as individuals, spread out equally all over the US . . . and our voices are not being heard.

It concerns me to think of waiting on our next election. My guess is while we focus on the campaigning, many bad things will take place right under our powerless noses. Is there not someone – some means – that we might be brought together now?