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Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2010 11:14:14 +0000
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- -- Saturday, 7/3/10 -- DOING YOUR PART -- Judges 2:1-3 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/516a7bb0bac9a17c
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Topic: -- Saturday, 7/3/10 -- DOING YOUR PART -- Judges 2:1-3
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/516a7bb0bac9a17c
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From: "J.R. & Bonnie Ricks" <j-r-and-bonnie@dogwoodministries.org>
Date: Jul 02 06:38PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/msg/faaea02efaa2f273
Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of
Dogwood Ministries, Inc.
If you need prayer. contact our partners in ministry.
SJ Ministries - Ministry of Prayer <http://sjministries.co.uk/>
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All other requests, please see the end of the devotional
for Dogwood Ministries addresses
DOING YOUR PART -- Judges 2:1-3 NIV
The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you
up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your
forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall
not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down
their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now
therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be
thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
Back at Mount Sinai, God had made a covenant with Israel. He had given them
the Law and told them to follow it. He told them that as long as they held
up their end of the bargain, He would bless them with victory after victory.
God stood by His part of the bargain. Israel didn't.
Right here, at this point, the relationship between God and Israel changed.
He had told them to drive the Canaanites out of the land, but they had not
done it. Each of the tribes found excuse after excuse to disobey God's
command. So God finally ran out of patience with them. No longer would He
go before them in battle. No longer would He win the victories for them.
They were on their own. Of course, God didn't abandon them altogether. In
fact, He would keep His hand on that nation and would bless the whole world
through them in the person of Jesus Christ.
But He would also allow them to be defeated. He would allow them to be
oppressed. He would allow a large number of problems to befall them.
because they had not held up their end of the deal. They had refused to do
their part.
God's love is unconditional. but His promises are not. Each and every
promise He makes to us carries a condition with that promise. Too often, we
expect God to live up to His promises, but we are stubbornly unwilling to
meet the condition and hold up our end of the deal. We are too lazy or too
willful or too focused on the world or too.... well, you get the picture.
The truth is, none of us is capable of holding up our end of the deal to
perfection, and God takes that into account when He looks at our hearts.
But most of us don't even begin to try.
Let's look at just one promise. the one found in Psalm 37:4 (NIV), "Delight
yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." It's
easy to see what the promise is and what the condition is in this verse.
The condition: Delight yourself in the Lord
The promise: He will give you the desires of your heart
Pretty simple, right? But what, exactly, does "delight yourself in the
Lord" mean? It's more than just going to church every Sunday, throwing a
check into the collection plate and saying your prayers every night. It's
even more than following a long list of "Christian to-do's" - like visiting
the nursing home, volunteering at a homeless shelter, teaching a class, etc.
It's being totally, completely, 100% sold-out to Jesus. so deeply in love
with Him that if everything and everyone in your life suddenly disappeared
today, Jesus would be more than enough for you. That's just one of God's
many, many promises to those who love Him.
The next time you get on your knees and ask God to live up to one of His
promises in your life... take a look at yourself. How hard are you working
at doing your part?
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General correspondence or to subscribe to Take a Minute:
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Personal correspondence to Bonnie Ricks: bonnie@dogwoodministries.org
Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j-r@dogwoodministries.org
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