Unusual Means

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.” The story of Samson and Delilah is a powerful reminder that we must be driven by our principles rather than our passions. We would do well to get clear about what we value most—our non-negotiables in life—then allow our passions to fuel our principles.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 16:4-6

Some time later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely.”

What is it that drives you? What motivates you at the deepest core to do what you do? What are the driving convictions of your life? Figure that out, and you will have figured out you, that is, who you are, what you are, how you live, and where you are headed.

Unfortunately for Samson, one of Israel’s most famous but most flawed judges (the judges were more military deliverers than paragons of moral purity), it was passion that drove him more than principle. Especially his passion for women, which we also saw in Judges 14, and now again in this famous “love” story in Judges 16 as Samson takes up with a new wife, Delilah. As you read this account with the added benefit of historical hindsight, you wonder why in the world would Samson put up with Delilah’s traitorous antics even once, let alone four times. Why couldn’t he see what we so clearly see?

Easy answer: Samson was driven by passion more than principle. So are a lot of people—perhaps even you. Sometimes I am, too. Now, to be sure, God created us with the capacity to be passionate. Without it, we wouldn’t be human. Without it, we could never express righteous indignation. Without it, we could never experience compassion. Without it, we might be perfect, but let’s not forget that God rarely chose the perfect; he mostly chose the passionate to accomplish his purposes, imperfect people like King David and the Apostle Peter.

Yet while passion is a God-given capacity, it must be kept in its rightful place. Like any other capacity, it is never to be out of control; it is never to be the master of our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Only the Holy Spirit is to control what we think, how we feel, and what we do.

“For a God-honoring life, we must make principle the driver of our car and assign passion to push it!” ~Dr. Ray Noah

So what is the right purpose of our passion? Ralph Waldo Emerson offered this insightful thought: “passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.” He was saying that our passion is never to govern our lives; our principles are supposed to do that. Our passion is to fuel our principles. Passion will be what elevates what we believe at the deepest core to the level of driving conviction over the long haul of our lives.

I believe the main takeaway from Samson’s life is that we would be wise to think through and then codify what I would call our driving missional convictions. These would be our non-negotiable values, like living for the glory of God alone, ruthless trust in God’s sovereignty, obedience to God’s Word, submission to God’s will, wholehearted love for God—as well as our neighbor—and full-throttled commitment to the Missio Dei—the mission of God. I could go on and on, but for practical purposes, we would benefit most from settling on five to ten missional convictions, then allowing those convictions to drive everything in our lives at all times and in every way—our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

In fact, if you want to avoid the Delilah effect, that is, an approach to life that puts passion in the driver’s seat, then I would suggest that you spend some time thinking through your life convictions—like ASAP. Then discuss them with the people in your life whose help you will need to live them out. Finally, codify them and literally place them where you will see them early and often to remind you of what you want your life to be about.

Do that … then get passionate about them!

“ Rest in reason; move in passion. — KHALIL GIBRAN

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Allowing Canaan To Camp Out In Our Hearts

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: The Puritan preacher John Owen said, “be always at it while you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Whether it is flat-out disobedience or benign neglect, our disobedience always allows sin to grow. And where sin grows, sin festers, and spiritual anemia, spiritual sickness and spiritual death will ultimately result. This is a matter of kill or be killed! Go with kill!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 16:5-6,10

The boundary of their homeland began at Ataroth-addar in the east. From there it ran to Upper Beth-horon, then on to the Mediterranean Sea…. But the tribe of Ephraim did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, however, so the people of Gezer live as slaves among the people of Ephraim to this day.

The modern reader of Scripture cannot help but read the Old Testament through the eyes of twenty-first-century Western culture. For that reason, much of what we read seems harsh and unfair, if not brutal and primitive, and definitely at odds with our current values of acceptance and inclusiveness. Even in warfare, how we treat our enemy is much different from how it was in Old Testament days—and for that, I am sure our enemies are grateful (although I don’t think they would take the same approach with us).

Case in point: God told the Israelites to annihilate the Canaanites and purge them from the land as they went in to possess it. As the people of God moved in, by Divine command, the current residents had to go—every last one of them.

Now, while most Bible-believing Christians today accept that, we are certainly uncomfortable with both God’s command to displace the nations and his method for displacing them. When non-believing people question the harshness of the God of the Old Testament in light of such stories, we have no adequate answer, though there are reasonable explanations. We simply surrender territory on this issue of the sovereign God’s loving but just nature. My point here is not to defend God. For one thing, he can defend himself. And for another, if we truly understood the wickedness and brutality of the people who occupied Canaan in the days of the conquest—people who would make the worst terrorist group imaginable look like a Girl Scout pack—we would feel a little better about God’s commands.

Let’s set that aside for now. The point I want to make here is that when we fail to do what God commands, for whatever reason, we will suffer the logical consequences of that failure. Whether it is flat-out disobedience or benign neglect, our disobedience always allows sin to grow. And where sin grows, sin festers, and spiritual anemia, spiritual sickness, and spiritual death will result, sooner or later. God told the Israelites to drive out the Canaanites; they didn’t. They had their reasons: the Canaanites were harder to get rid of than we might imagine; most of them had been decimated anyway, so what would it hurt leaving the few that were left actually made good slaves for menial labor that no one else really wanted to do? So leaving them actually made better sense than driving them out. The Israelites had their reasons, and I suspect many of the reasons sounded good.

“When we justify anger, lust, pride, judgmental attitudes, and other sins that are easy to camouflage, we commit the sin of the Israelites. We have allowed Canaan to camp out in our hearts.” ~Dr. Ray Noah

But sin always has consequences, and the outcome of sin is never good! What was true for Israel is true for you and me today. We are not called to drive out a people from our neighborhood; that kind of literal biblical conquest is over. Yet there is another conquest God has assigned his people: to get rid of sin from their lives. The Apostle Peter spoke of being done with sin:

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

Theologically, we know that; we understand that sin must go. But like the Ephraimites, that is not always as easy as it sounds. For that, God gives the Holy Spirit to help us do away with sin in our lives, and he gives the grace of forgiveness when we fail. Moreover, he walks with us as we exert continuous effort to mortify our sinful nature. That is not the real problem here: it is when we make acceptable what God calls sin; it is when we allow the sin that will ultimately enslave us to hang around in our lives —that is the problem

When we justify anger, lust, pride, judgmental attitudes, and other sins that are easy to camouflage, we commit the sin of the Israelites: We have allowed Canaan to camp out in our hearts.

“When we justify anger, lust, pride, judgmental attitudes, and other sins that are easy to camouflage, we commit the sin of the Israelites. We have allowed Canaan to camp out in our hearts.” ~Dr. Ray Noah

The Bible should serve as a cautionary tale in this regard, for there is story after story of how allowing Canaan to camp out paved the way for Canaan to rise up and bite Israel on the backside. The end result of inattention to sin is always far greater than the pain of sin when it is in full bloom in our lives—and it will always grow into bloom if we neglect our call to decimate it.

Got sin? Deal with it! Even the little, leftover stuff. Be killing sin or it will be killing you

The good news is, God stands ready to assist those who get with it in getting rid of sin.

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Unusual Means

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: What is described in the Bible doesn’t diminish behavior that is sinful and flawed; it only explains it. It requires a little bit of wisdom to know the difference, but once you understand, then you will begin to see in matters great and small, God is in charge, and God is in control. Aren’t you thankful for that? You will also understand that your actions are either blessable or punishable. Stay ever aware of that!

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 15:13-15

The Philistines bound Samson with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

The first senior pastor I worked with out of college used to say, “There is a lot more to God that we don’t understand than we do understand.” He was right. Not that we shouldn’t pursue the knowledge of God—we should. There is no greater or more worthwhile effort than knowing God. And God graciously grants us wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, according to Proverbs 2:3-6 and James 1:5.

“If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding…. If you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.”

But keep in mind in your honorable pursuit that there will be things about God and the record we have in scripture of his dealings with man that do not always make sense—at least in our minds. In those cases, we just need to chalk it up to the fact that God was at work in ways that are much higher than ours. There is a large part of God that will remain in the realm of mystery, and even though we are curious about it, we need a Deity whom we don’t fully understand, and therefore cannot control. Paul states in this way in his eloquent doxology from Romans 11:33-36,

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”
For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

I would put Judges 15 in that category. In several instances, God uses a deeply flawed judge—which by the way, the judges of Israel were not so much moral leaders as they were national deliverers—to bring judgment upon the godless Philistines and relief to the suffering Israelites. As you read this chapter,

I would simply suggest you remember that the sovereign God can use anybody he chooses to bring out his larger purposes. God can use a deeply flawed prophet, preacher, or president for his glory—and he does early and often. In this case, he used a deeply flawed Samson to deliver his people.

Now, keep in mind as you read this passage, and others like it, that what is described in the Bible doesn’t excuse sinful and flawed behavior; it only explains it. It requires a little bit of wisdom to know the difference. So, once you understand that, then you will begin to see in matters great and small, God is in charge, and God is in control. Aren’t you thankful for that?

And if you understand that, then you will also understand that every action has consequences. Our behavior, significant and insignificant, is either bless-able or punishable. So, stay constantly alert to that!

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Asking For The Whole Enchilada

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: A.B. Simpson said, “Our God has boundless resources. His only limit is us. Our thinking and praying are too small.” So, in your praying, don’t just ask for the bare minimum, go for the whole enchilada, because if you don’t ask, he won’t give. And if you don’t ask bigly, don’t be surprised that you don’t receive bigly. Your Father wants you to see unlimited possibilities in him. He longs for you to ask, and ask daringly. And when you do, you honor him.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Joshua 15:18-19

As Caleb’s daughter, Acsah, got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?” She said, “Give me another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

In your praying, don’t just ask for the bare minimum; go for the whole enchilada. That is why I think this otherwise unimportant story was included in scripture. If anything, Acsah’s request of her father teaches us not to sell God short. God is a big God, and his resources are unlimited. As A.B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, said, “Our God has boundless resources. His only limit is us. Our thinking and praying are too small.”

Acsah was the daughter of Caleb. Caleb was one of two spies out of twelve who came back from scouting the Promised Land with a positive report. That story is told in Numbers 13, forty-five years prior to this moment in time. Caleb was of a different kind of spirit than the average guy. He was a possibility thinker. He didn’t see obstacles; he saw opportunities. He never saw giants in the way; he saw God as the way maker. His faith in God informed his asking and his acting.

When the ten other Israelite spies saw their enemies as giants and themselves as grasshoppers by comparison, Caleb (along with Joshua, the twelfth guy in this consortium of spies) saw only the God of Israel who was bigger than Israel’s biggest enemy—even bigger than that gigantic men of Anak (Numbers 13:28). In fact, four decades later in Joshua 14, Caleb, now an eighty-five-year-old, boldly asks Joshua to give him the mountains around Hebron for his inheritance. And in declaring that he could take the mountains, he specifically called out the giants of Anak, who were still in the land occupying the very mountain that now belonged to Caleb. I think Caleb was still spoiling for a fight with these Gigantor-types all these years later.

His daughter was cut from the same cloth as Caleb. Like her father, she was bold, she was brassy, and she didn’t see problems; she saw possibilities. When her father gave the inheritance—a rarity that a woman would be specifically named in the allotting of land in that time and culture—she decided that what he gave her was not enough. Not that she was ungrateful, she just knew the can-do spirit that her father possessed—and she leaned into it. She knew that he was motivated by faith; that his eye saw beyond what normal people saw, so she appealed to his character in asking for not only a piece of land, but for the nearby springs as well. After all, what good is land in the wilderness if it has no access to water? Acsah wasn’t just asking to gratify her selfish desires; she was asking for something essential for her family to succeed and expand.

And her father granted her request. (Joshua 15:19) My guess is that as she walked away from this encounter, old Caleb turned to his buddies and said, “That’s my girl!”

And your Father will grant your requests, too. But if you don’t ask, he won’t. And if you don’t ask bigly, don’t be surprised that you don’t receive bigly. Your Father is of a different Spirit—one that wants his children to see unlimited possibilities in him. He longs for his kids to ask and ask daringly. That is why he has encouraged them throughout his Word to ask for the desires of their heart. In one of the most stunning passages in scripture, the Son of God said,

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (John 15:7-8)

Now obviously, this isn’t a blank check for selfish asking. The key to what John 15:7-8 says is that we first must “abide in him and allow his words to abide in us.” The “abiding in his word” isn’t about Bible reading or scripture memorization, it is about intimately knowing the character of God—and letting that knowledge inform your asking.

This is the story of Caleb and Acsah. Both were of the tribe that asks for the whole enchilada. I hope you will join me in being a part of that tribe, too! Yeah, how about you and I form the Enchilada Tribe?

“ According to your faith it’ll be done. —JESUS CHRIST

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Flawed People & Really Bad Decisions

When God Speaks—Be Quick to Obey!

SUMMARY: “God uses flawed people to accomplish his work!” How many times have you heard that or seen examples of it in scripture? Samson is the poster-child of a flawed hero, an impulsive man who famously loved the ladies a little too much, which ultimately cost him his life. But the Bible’s explanation of flawed character is not an excuse for it, neither for Samson nor for you. Thank God that he uses cracked pots, but that does not mean we shouldn’t give diligent effort in partnering with him to transform the vessel.

God Speaks—I Obey // Focus: Judges 14:2/h3>

One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

All of us have made really bad choices in life at one time or another. If you haven’t, just wait a few hours; you will. And usually, the core culprit in bad decisions is impulsiveness. Who among us hasn’t surrendered to an impulse purchase? That is usually what is behind buyer’s remorse. What person has never spoken out in anger or foolishness before we thought about the consequences of our words? That is why most good parents teach their children to think twice before they speak. Is there any person on the planet who has never acted on a whim? I doubt it.

Samson is arguably the poster boy for impulsive choices—he liked the ladies and exercised neither a whole lot of good judgment nor self-control in the woman he chose to be with. In this case, it was a girl who became his wife. In chapter 16, it is a prostitute. Later in the same chapter, a woman named Delilah becomes his second wife. In the case of Delilah, the marriage looked good on the outside, but over time, it caused great pain for Samson and his family and ultimately cost this famous judge of Israel his life. In Judges 14, this unnamed girl captured his affections—a Philistine beauty whose character went no deeper than her flawless skin.

Samson’s choice of women has been the plot for several Hollywood movies over the years, but in the real story of this marriage, however, the romance part of it ends quickly, and the marriage not too long after that, when the girl’s father marries her off to the best man at Samson’s wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Samson—bad choice, bad marriage, bad outcome.

Now obviously, as you look at the whole of Samson’s story, God accomplished a great work through this impulsive man’s life. God redeemed his bad choices for a good outcome (at least for Israel; Samson died in the process). We are told in Judges 14:4 that when his parents questioned his choice of a wife, “His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.” It is true, as John Newton said, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

That is the big picture of the story of Samson’s life—God uses flawed people to accomplish his purposes. And the micro story here in Judges 14 is equally instructive. So let’s dissect Samson’s decision so that we might see how easily we fall into the same kind of impulsive living—and most importantly, learn from Samson that it is best to avoid impulsive choices. Here are three aspects of Samson’s poor decision-making:

First, visuals took precedence over values. The opening words of the text tell us that when Samson gazed upon this lovely woman, it was love (or lust) at first sight: “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye.” What we see can be deceptive; perhaps it is always deceptive. A good rule of thumb is “don’t believe everything you see.” Of course, I am not just speaking of what you can verify factually, but you must learn to see what is congruent with the values of your faith and avoid what is incongruent with your most deeply held values.

Second, desire outweighed wisdom. Samson’s “wanter” took the baton from his “see-er”, while any kind of thought process took a backseat to both. After he “saw” Timnah, he said to his dad, “I want to marry her.” I see; I want. There is no indication that Samson gave any consideration to what the consequences of marrying a Philistine girl might be. Delayed gratification was not in the picture here; self-control was not exercised. He saw her, he wanted her, therefore, he had to have her.

Third, action dominated reason. I saw her, I want her, now go get her for me: “But Samson told his father, ‘Get her for me! She looks good to me.’” (Judges 14:4) Unfortunately, Samson’s father Manoah didn’t put the brakes on his son’s wishes in the way a father should; we see no fatherly insistence that a reasonable process be followed. So Samson got what he wanted—he got Timnah, and with her, he got a boatload of trouble. The outcome of his flawed decision reminds me of what James talked about,

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14-15)

Again, God used Samson’s mistakes for his own glory. And he will use yours and mine, too. But wouldn’t you rather God use your good decisions for his glory and your good? I sure would. And maybe one of the reasons we have this compelling story of Samson and Timnah is to alert us to slow it down when we are in the middle of a strong desire to get what we think we want.

Think early; think often—that is why God gave us a brain and then commands us to think: “‘Come, let us reason together, says the Lord.’” (Isaiah 1:18) And if that weren’t enough, he placed the Holy Spirit within us to give us in-the-moment counsel!

Think, listen, then do—or not!

“ The unexamined life is not worth living. —SOCRATES

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