Lord of Hosts

I'm so glad you are here! I hope during your visit you get a glimpse of God's heart for we become what we are gazing at. I want to be a blessing to you so I've made these Resources available to you and have the Missional blog tab for practical ideas of how to live on mission right where you are. 

Currently I am writing my way through Judges sharing glimpses of God's heart and character for a weekday devotional. To check out the entire series so far head on over the the Judges Devotional. And if you are a blogger, come on over on Friday's for a blog hop.  

"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 friend.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam." Judges 15:3-9

In college I lived with three of my close friends. I think we pretty much fit into the four personality types so it kept things interesting. It was a blessing always having someone to push me to be sporadic, lighten up and just have fun. But fun can be dangerous sometimes, at least with Janna around. Turns out sliding down stairs on a banana chair puts holes in the wall and practical jokes can get out of hand, really out of hand. What starts out as someone else putting an ice cream cone on a car and the owner thinking it was our house so they mustard our cars. We think they just started a practical joke (not knowing about the ice cream) so we stringed their house, put crumbs in their beds and cat food in the tub and filled it with water (who knew it would get really disgusting and smell really bad. Whoops) Well, retaliation continued until things were so far out of hand the cops were called. 

But Samson and the Philistines is a whole different level, destroying their livelihood of grain. Wow, Samson seems kind of like an impulsive jerk really. Can I say that about a dead guy who God used to shape history? Well, I guess He uses a lot of people, like Pharaoh, that doesn't mean we have to agree with them and think they are the greatest person to live. I am totally for defending the oppressed and doing what's right no matter the cost, but Samson seems to care only about his own pleasure and what he's feeling at the moment. It doesn't seem to me that he is defending his wife or the fact he was treated unjustly, he's just emotionally impulsive. Not that I can understand that at all.  ;)

Well, on another note, isn't it ironic that the very thing Samson's wife was trying to avoid, her family being killed, was the thing that actually ended up happening. Not only to her dad, but also to her. She tried to navigate her problem independantly without communicating with Samson or her family. When we are doing things by our own independant effort, the very thing we try to avoid we end up doing. Like a diet or fasting or any other thing we said we weren't going to do anymore. But of course, the law is there to show us we need Jesus, it's there to point us to the fact that we can't do what we want to do apart from the Spirit of Christ. When we try to live the Christian life independently, well, it's just bad news. We aren't created to live in isolation. We are created to be dependent on God and dependent on others, and it's a beautiful thing. So rather than pulling yourself up by your boot straps and trying harder next time, cling to Jesus and depend on the Holy Spirit and seek out other believers who will walk through it with you. 

So what's our glimpse of glory? That we will one day see Jesus reveal Himself as the Lord of Hosts. He wont stand for injustice any longer and will come with a sword to take possession of the earth as the Kinsman Redeemer. Want your mind blown about why the tribulation has to happen? Check this out. And when He comes, He comes in righteousness, coming to right the wrongs, free the captives, to redeem and restore what was lost at the garden of Eden.

"In Israel's greatest hour of need the LORD of Sabaoth will return & wage war  & rescue His covenant people Israel for all eternity (see Zech 13:8, 9). Believers today must remember that this is the same Name that all in covenant with Him can run to, crying out in their hour of need, when all hope seems to be lost & defeat appears inevitable. May we all learn to cry out to our Warrior, the LORD of hosts it is He, for the battle is His." 1 

Have you got a chance to hear about what's happening on Thursday and read Failure, Wisdom and the Glory of God yet? 


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A Holy Experience, Good Morning Girls, Women Living Well, My Daily Walk in His Grace,Internet Cafe Devotions, Reflections of His Grace