Almost a sermon idea

Judges 8:24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)
25And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey.
26And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. 
27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.

I read this this morning and my train of thought led to an almost-sermon idea. Kind of.
What just happened in those verses was just like when Aaron used the Israelites' earrings to make the golden calf.
Except they were out-right rebelling against God in idolatry. THIS was more subtle.
Gideon didn't make an out-right IDOL, he made an ephod, which was part of what the high priest wore in the holiest parts of the temple.
It was important.
It was kind of like a part of church.
It seemed like a good thing
It was NOT a BAD thing per say
But Israel went a whoring after it, and it was a SNARE to Gideons house!
But Israel went a whoring after it, and it was a SNARE to Gideons house!
This was a lot more subtle than the golden calf, (and the devil the is master of subtle) AND it was right after a huge victory (one of your most vulnerable times).
Warning...

Dont you think you could maybe build a sermon off that??
I just need a third point...

Well, the whole thing was initiated by some one GOD set up to lead Israel! What happened???
Gotta watch out....

blessed beyond measure

So.
Dont know how much of a nugget this will be for y'all, but I struck a major gold vein!
Let's start with my relationship status.
The world would call me single, which I am, but I am totally occupied right now.
And not with a Son of Adam (Narnia term for human guy).
I got a new... perspective. Kind of.

Lets back even a little further.

I was at my last senior camp this August. On the way back to my cabin from chapel one night, I saw the head director and his wife hugging outside.

And I suddenly realized that I wanted that. Not just a relationship, but THE relationship. The one guy God wanted me to be with. And hearing the testimony about how the director and his wife met and got married, it was clear that it was of God. That's what I wanted.

And I just talked to the Lord right there, walking in the dark to my cabin.

"Lord, I want that! I'm willing to wait for it, but I want someone to spend the rest of my life with!"

At least I thought I did.

Naw, I still do.

But I thought I was ready for it. I thought I had matured since I gave up on a pointless crush.

A couple of weeks later I got a friend request on facebook from a guy on the other side of the country.

He found me through a mutual friend who is like an adopted Uncle. And he wanted to get to know me.

I said no, because I'm not allowed to be friends with guys (on facebook). Well, my parents later told me he went through my "Uncle" to ask Dad for permission to get to know me.

It KINDA freaked me out. A little.

All that to say this: I thought I was totally ready for something like that, and then when it was staring me in the face, I was creeped out! Some guy I've never even met tracked me down on fb and from what he knows of me on my profile and word from my "Uncle" and decided he wants permission to get to know me.

I'm a little paranoid.

And I dont have brothers, so it takes me a while to get comfortable with any given guy....

(Just so ya know, turned out the guy's not a stalker; he's a pretty nice guy.)

All THIS was to show that I realised I'm not really ready for what I thought I wanted.

But I still kinda wish I had a special someone to be with...

I've known for a while that I should be consumed with the Lord, until He says the time is right for me.

I was reminded of it reading this post by Miss Raquel, and it pushed me to make a comittment.

I had already  made a committment to spend more time (like, a LOT more) in my Bible. Not just because of the whole relationship thing, there has been other stuff going on for a while now that has potential to be discouraging.

So for the last couple weeks I've have been making it a major priority to SEEK the LORD and completely focus on HIM.

Just Him.

Oh man, He has been filling my cup.

Sometime soon I will sit down and get all the stuff on here that doesn't specifically apply to stuff I've been working on that are just blessings.

Nuggets...

Because I quit thinking about all that so much, I've been strengthening my relationship with the Lord, and I'm starting to see what REALLY important, and just growing and learning things about God.

ANYWAY. Tonight at church SOMEthing the preacher said triggered a thought about something that the LORD had been doing for me, and I CANT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS. But it made me want to tell you what a blessing it was to see the Lord working in my life, looking back, just at the last couple MONTHS. I think he said something and I understood and related to it better than I would have if I hadn't been digging deeper and pursueing a deeper relationship with the Lord.

But I think the point was to encourage you to REALLY dig deeper and make a committment to dedicate some more time to strengthening your relationship with him, and not care so much about all those distractions that dont really matter.

But know that unless you make finding that extra time a TOP priority it wont happen.

Oh, and also, one more thing.

This afternoon I was working, listening to a song called "The Judgement".

I'll see if I can find a video later, but for now, here are some of the lyrics:

(starts slow and in a minor key)
All is still, heaven is silent
As the mighty Judge ascends the throne
The book of Life is opened
As countless souls begin to groan
From the throne comes a voice like thunder
"Depart, I know you not
For the names written in this book
Are the souls my blood has bought"

Faces turn as into that courtroom
Comes the very seed of sin
He who was the saints accuser
Must face the charges against him.
With the fury of all the ages
That Demon's voice began to cry
"It's not fair! I almost had you
On Golgatha's hill I watched you die"

Then Satan begins to tremble
As his fate to him is known
From the throne comes the verdict
"The lake of fire will be your home"

(switches to worshipping in major key)
And I see every knee is bowing
Every hand in honor is raised.
Every voice to him is lifted
"Thou art worthy, the Lamb be praised"

Angels standing at attention
As the redeemed begin to sing
Heavens court resounds the anthem
"You are our Saviour, Lord and King."

Heavens court resounds the anthem
"You are our Saviour, Lord and King."
Thou are art worthy, thou art worthy
The Lamb be praised!

I was listening to it by a college group a little faster and with out the drums, but I hope this at least gives you an idea of what it's like:

Songs dont usually get me emotional, and I've listened to this one a million times, but when it came to the part about Satan trembling and then the Redeemed singing to the Saviour, I started crying with joy, knowing that we are on the winning side, and  eventually, evil WILL be defeated, we wont have to deal with the flesh and all the garbage in the world, and I'll finally be in the presence of the one who SAVED me!!
I was excited.
And then singing in church had a great spirit, ( I have heard and sung THOSE songs a million times too, and if you actually think about what you're singing, it's a sermon in itself!) and the preacher said something that lined up with what I've been learning, and I just got a huge blessing out of the whole thing!
God is SO good!
Don't take him for granted.

accountability

I've been trying lately (but not very hard) to read on Proverb a day for a solid month.
(You may have noticed that Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month)
I haven't made it thus far.
There's always been something that happens to distract me and I forget for a day.
I'll be honest.
It's usually a passel of days, not just one.
I'm trying again this month.
Yesterday I decided to make a commitment.
I was thinking, see (I do this occasionally) that even if I DO make it this month and read a chapter everyday, there are probably going to be multiple days (maybe even a passel) when I just quick read a chapter so I can check it off my list, and I don't really dig into it, searching for what the Lord has for me.

So I added to my commitment:
I'm going to strive to dedicate one hour a day, preferably a consecutive hour, to reading my Bible, and while I'm at it, to work on my prayer life.
Yesterday was easy.
Today wasn't that hard either.
And I had plenty of stuff to write down.
But right now I have a very slow schedule, with not much at all going on.
And I need accountability to stick with it when my life isn't so slow and relaxing.
For when I actually have to get up early in order to have that consecutive hour.
Even if I didn't get the most sleep last night.

(I'm very fond of my sleep, you see)
So this is my record of commitment! Feel free to bug me and ask if I'm keeping up with it!!
Speaking of commitments...I need to post about my camp commitments!!