RTW April 5
Living Like We Don’t Have A King
Now in those days Israel had no king. And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place where they could settle, for they had not yet moved into the land assigned to them when the land was divided among the tribes of Israel.
Judges 18:1
My Takeaways
Something Old
No king causes spiritual confusion.
Something New
Dan’s people are still wondering around. Am I still wandering?
When we wander, we live like we don’t have a King…
- We get into all manner of mayhem.
- We miss the blessings of obedience.
- We seek counsel from the wrong people.
- We fight battles for places we shouldn’t go.
- We establish things that we shouldn’t have any part of.
Something to Do
If I go off-roading, make sure I’m with God.
I am so grateful that I have a King who wants nothing but the absolute best for me, who loves me more than anyone, who has my best interests at heart. What a miraculous gift. He has a great plan for my life, why would I want anything else?
I pray to never be in spiritual confusion again, because I know how awful and terrible that place is, being so lost. I am so aware of my desperate need for my King in all things and all situations. Knowing He is for me gives me such peace, comfort and hope.
I love you King Jesus!
Lift up your shout!
https://youtu.be/cIYPeWYx4qI
~Guard against doing what is right in my own eyes. I can be easily deceived. Seek God always and in everything. I praise Him that in Him and through His Word truth can be found.
~Remember that something dedicated to the Lord can become an idol.
Mary thank you for your comment. I wrote in my journal Jen, remember that something dedicated to Lord can become an idol. I felt God gently nudge me directly through your comment. Thank you dear friend. ❤️
WOW! What a reading filled with lessons!
Problem: No king = lack of leadership = chaos and confusion.
Solution: God is my King!
So many sins reported in today’s reading: idolatry, moral decline, fighting, prostitution, gossip, betrayal, adultery, murder, deception, lying, greed, disobedience to God. As I reflect on this list, I cannot judge, for I am guilty of so many. Sin is sin, no matter when where, how big or little or by whom. I am guilty, too.
I love Wendy’s solution: stay “King-focused!”
I confess. I repent. I pray for forgiveness. I vow to obey my King.
When I follow my King—Jesus—with my whole heart, He prevents spiritual confusion.
I have a question…does living in obedience “promise” blessings? Please do not misunderstand…I am not saying that one lives in obedience to get blessings, for that is the wrong intention. I am simply trying to remember if Scripture tells us that if our hearts are right with God and we remain in obedience, we can expect to be blessed.
Thanks,
SandyBB
Sandy, my pastor is doing a series right now on sin. I will share some of my notes here with you that I believe may help with your question.
Sin is a disregard and a distrust of God and his rule. Both of these things will cause us to deviate. Sin separates. Grace allows us to come just as we are (restores the separation.)
Forgiveness has already been done, we don’t need to ask forgiveness every time we come to him in confession and repentance. Confession is not listing your specific sins, but an agreement, a turning toward God and repenting of those ways of living. Forgiveness was a once and for all thing. Continuing to ask for forgiveness as if we can lose it is like asking Jesus to die over and over again on the cross. It’s the turning towards him that restores the relationship that is there waiting for us.
We have to start to think if things a little differently, let Jesus redefine some things for us. Restart, reboot, recalibrate, re-present ourselves to God. Think about sin a little bit differently. We look for a solution to a problem, come to church looking for a solution, we lose the beauty of the relationship.
We don’t need to find a way into his good graces, trying to get back on his side (this is wrong thinking).
We need to learn how to receive his love and grace, that we are free to receive. We aren’t good receivers, we are always trying to “do” something to make right with God.
What we do apart from God is create a system in which behavior rules every relationship.
Yahweh Shalom-peace.
Human flourishing-all the relationships are right again.
See what God has done for us rather than seeing sin as behavior. Sin is not all the things we do wrong, but the broken relationship with God due to the fall.
Don’t be afraid to come to Him, she came to him in response to his love, not looking for forgiveness. (The sinful woman who washed Jesus’s feet with her hair).
Love is the thing that governs our relationship.
Your faith has saved you. You came to me simply out of love and into a relationship where your sins are already forgiven (once and for all).
Not confessing a list of sins. Go-Shalom.
Go and live in this restored sense in which you’ve been given in which love governs the relationship.
Sin stands in between what God has for me in every single moment. If you are aware that what your doing is sin, then stop! If you aren’t, then ask God to show you the sin in your life, he will!
My relationship with him governs every single thing that I do. That is the power of how sin is broken.
If your relationship with God is intimate and if you walk with him daily, just being yourself, presenting yourself to him as you are, there will definitely be blessings. And obedience will come because of your deep love and reverence and fear of your Father.
Here is Part 1 and 2 of the series called
reDefined if you would like to watch the entire messages.
https://subspla.sh/yppnyms
https://subspla.sh/2j9ctdx
Hi Sandy,
Going off of Deuteronomy 28, it says we can expect God’s blessings if we obey.