4/14 Reading - Thoughts & Comments

14-Apr Judges 7-8 Titus 3, Philem. 1 Psalms 66-70 Proverbs 14

Judges 6:1-6 (NIV) 1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Israel continues the cycle of poverty and disconnection from God as they did evil in the eyes of the Lord again and again. They are in a death spiral and a cycle of pain, poverty, and anguish. There is another life cycle that God wants us to live in as we live IN CHRIST. But anything outside of Christ is futility. While many people have said, "yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before." many are going to get a present day taste of what Israel went through as we come through perilous times and the end of man's reign on earth (the 6th day, a 6,000 year time period from Adam).

There is a manifestation of leaving God which comes upon a person, a family, a city, or a nation. It's called armed bands of lawless raiders, attack, and financial oppression. A person outside of Christ is powerless against these armed raiders, and that person will become impoverished to the point that they will want to live in mountains, caves, and strongholds that they BUILD THEMSELVES. Of course, this is not the answer. We are to live under the shadow of Almighty God, and in Psalm 91 protection that He builds for us. Yet man in his pride will build FOR HIMSELF a place to hide, exist, and try to escape the armed bands of raiders. He will do this but will fail. Nothing this man has will be hidden from the raiders, but they will strip the land clean just like the locusts of Pharaoh's day. At the end, this man will finally cry out to the Lord after his total impoverishment.

Any life outside of following Christ is a life of futility. Building a tower for ourselves, is what the Babylonians attempted. BAM! Nullified! Men build for themselves, and BAM! It's handed over to another. This is the horrible life of futility that comes with life outside of Christ. Anything built for yourself will fail. Anything built for Christ is impenetrable and cannot fail, because Christ is the builder. He is building His church and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it. He's birthing a manchild company and no dragon, devil, beast, or man can stop this company from Christ's agenda. He is building a divine plan in and through your life, and Hell cannot stop it - IF you build correctly, take careful though of how you are building, and build to the glory of God and for His dream fulfilled.

COMPASS GUIDE is simply an exercise in building the dream for God. It's a clear path out of the rat race and the life of futility. When you enter into FOLLOWING CHRIST with your life, will, intentions, goals, vision, and daily activities, you exit the life of futility, and enter the garden of God. Supernatural power surrounds you. The Holy Spirit co-labors together with you to accomplish THE DREAM. He opens doors and He shuts doors. He leads, guides, and directs you to green pastures for His own name's sake. He communicates to you as the KING of kings, and He considers you a king in training.

DO NOT forsake your 25 word core vision statement! It is the Constitution by which all life will flow, and which all goals will gravitate to. Read it daily. Believe it. Set goals to accompllsh it. Make it a reality on the earth. You are glorifying God by fulfilling His ultimate dream for your life.      

Tomorrow's Reading:
15-Apr Judges 9-10 Hebrews 1-2 Psalms 71-75 Proverbs 15