March 18

At first I wanted to write about honor because Deborah told Barak that because of his refusal to take the direction of the Lord, he would not have the honor of killing the opposing commander Sisera. Honor is a worthy subject, but deserves much more than I can write here. My question for all of us is this; where has the sense of honor gone and where is our desire to have it given to us because we have earned it? Not that we should desire a badge of honor from another, but how about our own sense of honorableness

The lesson that the Lord applied to my life is one of serving other gods – again! The Israelites served other gods and war came to the city gates, yet there were no warriors to fight! Why? Because when you serve other gods (anything besides God including material objects like a car or a purse), you become afraid. Turning your eyes off God leads to bondage, which always brings fear to your heart. Even those who are predators do what they do out of fear. The Lord is saying to me that one of the ways that I can tell if I have turned my eyes from Him is that I don’t fight when I am obligated to, or when I am being attacked and put in bondage. The enemy is sometimes subtle with bondage, trying to slip it in through the disguise of freedom, but if I am giving my all to my Lord and God, then I will see the enemy at my gate and take up my sword for battle.

Rereading this, I think I am on to something. People who are fearful are people who are in bondage. The bondage is a result of not trusting in God’s ability to do (whatever). We don’t trust when we turn to other gods (like our own strength) and forget the great ability and power of our God. It takes a steady “walk” with the Lord to be deeply convicted of His great love for you.