Main Verse: Judges 2

Homework: Read Isaiah 28, spend time in meditation and prayer, and allow Him to speak to your heart

Good morning!

In the Old Testament, the people were taught the fundamentals of honoring the Lord in the land they were going into. Moses taught the requirements and the people followed them. Despite all of the work they put into it, the amount of money they donated, and the animal sacrifices for sin, there was still something missing and I’ll call them, “Matters of the Heart” which is a soft skill – something that is not something we can learn in school. The reason the Lord agreed to go into the land with Moses, and later Joshua, was not that he prayed the right prayer, bowed plenty of times, and donated a burnt offering, it was because he knew the Lord and the Lord knew Moses just as He knew Joshua; the word “Knew” used in this sense is “fellowship” or “Communion” and this was the big difference between the two great leaders and the rest of the nation who were caught in the cycle of “Do this, do that, a little here, a little there” (Isaiah 28). The Angel’s message to the nation was one of conviction and condemnation something the Lord did not want to do but every good plan has an alternate one as well (Jeremiah 49:11).

Walking with the Lord is not a matter of religion nor what is required of us, it is a matter of having a relationship with the Lord which is built on trust and obedience. Being called the “Son of God” and/or Christian is absolutely meaningless if in our hearts we have not accepted him into our lives. Jesus did not flaunt his relationship with God to say, “How great am I” Rather, he walked in humility and obedience to His Father (Philippians 2:6-11). When Jesus asked the people, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He?” the Pharisees replied, “He is the son of David” which was the correct book answer (Isaiah 11:1-2, Zechariah 3:8, Zechariah 6:12, Revelations 5). My question for you today is, “Whose child are you or who do you belong to?”; Is it the Christian answer, the Bible answer, or the echo of your heart (1 John 3:13-22)? If your heart convicts you, you have work to do and I suggest you get to it.

I.H.S. MK

Father,

A relationship with you is not something that can be easily grasped because our hearts become deluded into thinking that we can walk in your grace without one time surrendering our hearts. To you. We have books, Bible Studies, Sermons, and the Bible that teach us about “Fellowship with You” but until we surrender our hearts and let go of the things that keep us from Him, all of that information is merely “Ones and Zeroes” in our mind. It is my earnest prayer today that if there is anything that is keeping me from walking in fellowship with you, you will expose it so that it can be healed, I can be restored, and that joy will ring from my life like a bell singing praise to you. I pray for those today who are caught in the Valley of Decision wanting to know you but not sure which way to go. Please help them to find encouragement in this and all of my writings. For your glory my Lord in all things may you be praised?

In Jesus Name