The Preacher's Diary

Dissecting Delilah

March 23, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Languishing

There is one female gender name that has entered into history with all the connotations of disdain and shame; a pretty-sounding name that no decent mother would call her loving daughter. The name is Delilah, which, according to some Bible dictionaries, means “languishing,” and by others is translated as “delicate” – the delicate one. It is next of kin to another kindred female name, Jezebel. Delilah’s story is told in the Bible book of Judges, chapter 16, in the episode that saw the strong Samson ignobly put out of service by that woman’s soft touches.

Bedroom Terrorism

March 22, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death (Judges 16:16).

All terrorists do not carry bombs and swords; some merely carry words. All terrorists do not blow up public planes and strike off ‘heathen’ heads; some merely blow up intangible souls and decapitate dreaded dreams. One gang bleeds the body and publicly prides itself in the goriness that we cringe at in Christian civility; the other slashes the soul in dark romantic rooms with Judas kisses. Because our ears hardly hear the cry of dying souls, because the soul bleeds a blood that mortal juries do not always see, we are prone to pamper the bloodless dangerousness of swordless terrorists while we fry those that dare to publish their bloodlines in promise of a perverted paradise. It is blind and complicit partiality, but some call it justice for the ‘weak.’

The Mystery of the Mantle and the Mountain

March 21, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.

Numbers 20:28.

UNTITLED GENERALS

March 21, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Preface

I was preparing to speak at a prayer retreat of prison evangelists this evening when the words came to me during the worship: “Untitled Generals.” I instantly had a glimpse of what was meant, and quickly took down the first notes. I share here with you the rest of the message as it subsequently and more fully dawned on me.

ENMITIES FROM THE GOD OF PEACE (Part 3 of 3)

March 21, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Troubles that Liberate

When the time came for Jacob to leave Laban and move on to the covenant-location of Bethel, God allowed a crisis between ‘Executive Director’ and ‘Manager’; between father-in-law and son-in-law (Genesis 31:2-3). It took that ‘quarrel’ between both parties for Jacob to move on to where Covenant was waiting for him. Imagine some ‘concerned’ priest or anyone trying to settle that quarrel!

ENMITIES FROM THE GOD OF PEACE (Part 2 of 3)

March 21, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

2. Manipulated Relationships

It seems clear from our primary text that emotions and relationships are manipulable by spirit forces, and they can be weaponized. So, sustaining smiles or avoiding wars may not altogether depend on the meticulous adherence to textbook rules on relationship and romance (Genesis 11:7-8). One can sow all the right relationship seeds and still reap enmity if there is a spirit-cause unknown or ignored.

ENMITIES FROM THE GOD OF PEACE (Part 1 of 3)

March 21, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

1. The Paradoxical God of Peace

It is traditional to think of God as the “God of love,” the “God of peace.” That is correct, for, according to 1 John 4:16, “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them” (NLT). In other words, according to that passage, love is God’s nature, and love is His ‘address.’ God is such a God of love and peace that He also urges His children to be like Him, to “Do all that you can to LIVE IN PEACE with everyone” (Romans 12:18, NLT).

The Path to the Promise

March 20, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

1. Keep your Focus

The path to the Promise sometimes leads through places that do not look like it. To lose sight of the Promise and focus on the passage is to distress the soul and be likely to miss the Promise. It happened to many on their way from Egypt. Their vexing present seeming a far cry from the promised future, they were bitter and chose to die. They did, and quickly so – before the Promise had been reached. Along the passage, they strove with Moses and demanded,

God is not Bound by Some Promises

March 20, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

That God has made you a promise does not always mean that He must perform it. Shocked? How you treat His promise determines what you get of it. To Moses, God said about certain of the Israelites all of whom had departed Egypt, headed in the same direction of the Promised Land, “Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers” (Deuteronomy 1:35). God had firmly sworn, but He was under no obligation to perform the promise to certain persons. Fulfilment of promise was based not only on the promise made but also on the nature of its reception; it was based not only on the integrity of the Promise Maker but also on the character of the receiver.

DUTY TO THE ANOINTED

March 21, 2022March 20, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

1. The Tête-à-Tête on Joshua

As Moses prepared to vacate the scene of leadership, God continued to guide him to groom Joshua his personal assistant. On one crucial occasion, God said something privately to him about Joshua, something which Moses was later to make public. God said of Joshua, “But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” (Deuteronomy 1:38). There are many things packed into that verse, but one of them strikes me: “encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit.”