God, among other gods

“The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. When they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 5:2, 3

The god’s of this world can appear formidable. 

The "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett turned himself in to police on Thursday and was charged with making a false police report. Smollett said he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault last month. But Chicago police said he staged the act as a publicity stunt because he was unhappy with his "Empire" salary. Smollett made over a million dollars a year working on the Fox show.

It wasn’t enough...

Of course, we know, there are actors who make far more. Jussie seems to labor under the perception that he deserves as much as anybody else. That’s a false notion of truth that’s driven by pride. And, pride is a formidable god. When we bow before our own sense of importance and follow its bidding...ugly things can happen. Scripture says “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Proverb 16:18

How much do you suppose Mr. Smollett will earn in prison?

The list of gods is as far reaching as the number of people that can conjure them up. The city of Athens, in the time of Apostle Paul, had countless gods. In fact, they had a god without a name that would include any they may have forgotten.

• Money
• Power
• Sex
• Anger
• Revenge
• And...on and on!

Then, there is God...Yahweh.

In the presence of Yahweh all other gods bow in reverence. We can prop them up but, as we see in the case of Dagon, he will insist on falling on his face before Yahweh. What’s the difference?

In the case of all false gods, they have only the power that we are willing to invest in them. Jussie Smollett would not be where he is today if he had not faithfully been nourishing the god of pride that resides within him. 

In the case of Yahweh, all power and authority emanates from Him. Daniel 4:35 says “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?' That includes Dagon, or pride, or anger, or any other god we may name. They all fall before Yahweh. 

We don’t give Yahweh power (as we may give to other gods) but He gives us power. And that makes all the difference. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me in heaven and earth.” (Matthew 28:18). He also said in another instance, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19)

What god have you been feeding? Is it destroying you? Bring it before the God before whom every knee will bow...and every other god will fall.

Live boldly out there today...

Bring God to the Battle

“The woman with her said ‘do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.’ But she did not answer or pay attention. And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God was taken.” 1 Samuel 4:20-22

The Philistines were infidel masters of Israel. She chafed under their oppression so, “Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle.”

And...The Philistines marched out to meet Israel, the fighting spread, and Israel was badly beaten—about four thousand soldiers were left dead on the field. When the troops returned to camp, Israel’s elders said, “Why has God given us such a beating today by the Philistines? Let’s go to Shiloh and get the Ark of God’s Covenant. It will accompany us and save us from the grip of our enemies.” The army sent orders to Shiloh. They brought the Ark of the Covenant of God. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the Ark and everyone gave a huge cheer. 

The Philistines heard the shouting and wondered what on earth was going on: “What’s all this shouting among the Hebrews?” When they learned that the Ark of God had entered the Hebrew camp they panicked and exclaimed...Fight for your lives!”

And did they ever fight! It turned into a rout. They thrashed Israel so mercilessly that the Israelite soldiers ran for their lives, leaving behind an incredible thirty thousand dead. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Ark of God was taken and the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas—were killed.

Wickedness always fights desperately against God. He’s an existential threat.

So here’s the point; The Old Testament nation of Israel is a “type” of the Christian Church today. This means we can rightfully anticipate God will work with us in ways similar to how He worked with Israel. 

And...today we are in similar circumstances as was Israel. Evil is at a high water mark in Our beloved Church. Does it look like evil is on the run? Absolutely not. Wickedness doubled its effort to defeat righteousness and all the monuments to God have been torn down. 

1. I am the Lord your God
2. You shall have no other gods before me
3. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5. Honor your father and mother
6. You shall not kill/murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. 10.You shall not covet your neighbor's wife

The evidence of God in the Church is barely visible unless we go back and peek in the building where we keep Him. There, He is boldly proclaimed...in secret!

The Philistines have prevailed. They are our masters...just like in ancient Israel. They tell us to keep our faith private...keep God in a box...and we do. As though it were even possible. The Church is a living, breathing organism, not a building. Yet, we acquiesce and dutifully walk out of that box at noon on Sunday...leaving God there. Very little of God’s presence seeps out of that building and the nation of unbelievers is content with this. It emboldens them. The results are predictable. Do you see anything God commanded that remains intact? Add to this the fact that the authentic Gospel is no longer preached in many of our churches and we must truly cry, “the glory of God has departed!”

But, what happens when we bring God to the battle? It’s possible the bad guys take Him. And that’s really our fear...isn’t it? Unbelievers haven’t abandoned God as much as they have taken Him and re-imagined Him. We have politicians who boldly invoke the name of God to support all their wickedness. God has become an environmentalist. God has become a Social Justice Warrior. God has become pro-choice. God has become a socialist. God has become pro-gun. Whatever...

We’re scandalized and declare “that’s not God!”

But...wait. I suggest when God engages, miracles happen. When we bring God to the battle we cannot judge the results by appearances. We judge the results by faith. At the risk of trivializing God I suggest He is a master SpecOps warrior. He has invaded the enemy and they don’t even recognize Him. He’s clandestine. He looks like you and me. Because, like it or not, He is you and me. He dwells in us. When we engage the enemy God is, de facto, there with us. It may not always look like God is winning but, trust me...when you look into the future...the battle has already been decided.

And...the real #me too movement is God

In the case of the Philistines it took seven months...they couldn’t wait to give God back. When that happened, God took care of some unfinished business with Israel. Then...He destroyed the power of the Philistines.

It may appear that the glory of God had departed but, be patient and...armor up! When we fight the enemy with reason, or politics, or history, or ethics we well be routed. When we bring God to the battle...everything changes, including the intensity.

Live boldly out there today...

None of Samuel’s words fell to the ground

“Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail. All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” 1 Samuel 3:19-21

Imagine if none of your words failed...everything you said was confirmed to be true or came to pass. Can you imagine the power? Then, again, I suspect very few of the words Samuel uttered were his own.

Which, of course, is why I don’t enjoy his reputation...

It’s much easier to “pop off” and say the first thing that comes to mind. And, we see it all the time; politicians, particularly, shoot their mouths off and find themselves “walking it back” with some embarrassment. We like to be known as “glib”, or “hip.” We seek the approval of man... often more than we seek the approval of God.

The result? “Oh, that’s just Lee talking...”

It’s not particularly bad, or ugly, as far as habits go but...it reveals we have forgotten...we are God’s mouth. We are here to speak God’s truth to a fallen world. It is God’s design to bring sinners to Himself. So, when we spew thoughts that spring to our mind, the words may not really be evil. Just...worthless. 

Unless, or course, our minds are saturated with the holy presence of God’s Spirit...

We know Samuel listened to God. And, he was taught to respond obediently; “speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” I believe we all want to be obedient servants for our Lord. The question remains: Are we willing to subordinate our own wisdom to God’s? I believe the more we listen to God, the more we realize there is only one possible answer to that question. And when we respond correctly, fewer of our words fall worthlessly to the ground. And...more of our (God’s) words cut directly to the heart of our listeners where God can use them to germinate faith. 

It’s been said we fail to use about 90% of our brains. What a waste of potential. I hope we don’t waste 90% of our words. That’s not detrimental to just ourselves. It robs every one of our listeners of the opportunity to experience God.

Live boldly out there today...

And the Lord called...”Samuel!”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.  Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:7-9

All of us know people who do not know the Lord. This account of the boy Samuel reminds us that doesn’t mean those people cannot hear God speak. They just don’t know who’s speaking to them.

That’s a problem...

If we don’t know the source of the voice in our spirit,  our human inclinations take over and we reject (or follow) that voice  without paying due diligence. The results can be devastating. We read accounts of violent incidents where the perpetrator was only following the “voice in their head.” 

This truth bears two important lessons for us as believers. 

• We don’t always have to be the voice of God. Our unbelieving friends can hear God...if they listen.
• We must always be prepared to point people to God when they come to us with questions.

Christians today have become so secularized that our default response is generally to point people to our favorite author or to the latest “self-help” psycho babble. Instead, we need to be so bathed in the presence of God’s Spirit that we naturally recognize the prompting of God when it occurs.

It took Eli three times to recognize God was speaking to Samuel. When he did, he didn’t presume to know what God was intending to say. So, he said “go back and lie down. If you hear that voice again...listen!” How many countless times have unbelieving relatives and friends come to us and we didn’t even recognize they were coming to God? They just didn’t know it and...neither did we. So...we tell them they’ll be fine...and promise to pray for them. 

We might, instead, say “go lie down. If you hear this voice (feel this prompting) again say...speak Lord, I’m listening.”

God is faithful He will speak. He may even tell that person to come back to you...or not. In any case, we must continue to pray for our friends who do not know God and trust they will listen when God speaks.

Live boldly out there today...