Fact Check, 62

~ Expect Success ~

People Think  ~  “Born to win.”  

The Bible Says  ~  Because of mankind’s sin in the Garden of Eden we are all bent toward failure—“born to lose” would be a more realistic description. 

The Old Testament  ~  “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.  Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom” (Psalm 51:5-6).  

The New Testament  ~  “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  But you [believers] have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24).

The Significance  ~  (1) Accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior is the only solution to your sin nature.  He paid the price for our sin and speaking of Himself stated it this way:  “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:15-17).

(2) Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior allows you to enter into the Abundant Life.  Our Savior said this:  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

(3) Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior allows you to have deep inner joy and peace regardless of your present circumstances.  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:2-3).  “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

(4) Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior guarantees you an eternal future of unending joy with God in heaven.  Before returning to His Father Jesus assured us that His followers would spend eternity with Him.  "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Learn From Gideon, 26

~ A Few Good Men ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  “But the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.  Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, “This one shall go with you,” the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, “This one shall not go with you,” the same shall not go.’  So he brought the people down to the water.  And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.’  And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.  Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘By the 300 men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand.  Let all the other people go, every man to his place.’  So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands.  And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those 300 men.  Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley” (Judges 7:4-8).

Learn From Gideon  ~  God is downsizing once again.  He wants a few good men whom He can use! 

1. Gideon originally started with 32,000, but then the fearful were eliminated. Bringing his army to a mere 10,000 (Judges 7:3). 
2. Now Gideon is downsizing once again and we find the 10,000 further reduced to just 300 men—God eliminated those who were not constantly on guard.  But 300 of God’s choosing!  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). 
3. Even in today’s world we find military units selecting out a few good men for the most challenging tasks.  In the USA there are army Special Forces, Navy Seals, and so forth.
4. God wants to make it obvious when victory occurs it is His doing.  God is the only One who can give the victory.  “So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts’” (Zechariah 4:6).  It is not by the strength of men that God accomplishes His purpose but by the power of His Word and the Spirit of God.

Comment  ~  God’s strategy and approval process are clearly vastly different than man’s.  Gideon started with 32,000 men—God pared it down to just 300.  God let go over 99 percent of those Gideon had planned on using!  God didn’t need the fearful—those who didn’t trust Him.  Likewise those who would let down their guard for a drink of water would not be utilized.  (Have you ever watched an animal drink water?  Their eyes are always watching and their ears are listening carefully.)  God is about to take this band of 300 soldiers against a massive military enemy – “the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude” (Judges 7:12).

Challenge For Us  ~  Where do you fit in God’s current Christian army?  Are you part of the 69 percent who were fearful, the 30 percent who are not watchful, or the one percent which God can use for His glory?

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

10 Commandments Today, 14of14

~ Notice the Introversion of the Ten Commandments ~

The Introversion  ~  The Ten Commandments contain a beautiful symmetry: 

A.  Commands 1-2 – THOUGHT

     B.  Command 3 – WORD

          C.  Commands 4-5 – DEED

The first 5 commandments are built around the phrase “the Lord your God.”

The last 5 commandments are built around the word “you.”

          C.  Commands 6-7-8 – DEED

     B.  Command 9 – WORD

A.  Command 10 – THOUGHT

The Scripture  ~  In the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) the first five commands are built around the concept of “the Lord your God.”

Thought  ~  [1] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  You shall have no other gods before Me.  [2] You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Word  ~  [3] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Deed  ~  [4] Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.  [5] Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

The second five commands are built around the concept of “you.”

Deed  ~  [6] You shall not murder.  [7] You shall not commit adultery.  [8] You shall not steal.

Word  ~  [9] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Thought  ~  [10] You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.  

Additional Comment  ~  If you enjoyed this post you may also appreciate some previous ALN posts: “Bible Introversion” (April 15, 2017); and “Bible Hourglass” (April 22, 2017); and “Defend Your Faith” – The 10 Commandments of Apologetics (March 22, 2011).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .