Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall bethorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’” So it was, when the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Then they called the name of that place Bochim; and they sacrificed there to the Lord.
So this morning the Lord gave me an opportunity to do a Bible study with a good friend while we were working out. He had just started the book of Judges and we went over it and this part really ministered to my heart.
Before God ever call us to obedience or confronts our sin, He reminds us of His great love and faithfulness to us. The only way to obey God is by walking in His love, and abiding in His covenant (promise) with us. Here we see the Lord speaking to the people of Israel and reminding them of His great love and faithfulness towards them. In the past month, God has had to remind me of His love and faithfulness several times. Why is that? Because my heart was not in the right place, other things were occupying the God shaped void in my heart. There were things that became idols in my life that changed my priorities on things. So even though I messed up in putting idols before him, He did not forsake me. God confronted me in love and it the stinging was unbearable, but there is never any good reason for our disobedience.
Being a Christian is definitely a growing process and a trying one for that matter. In the past couple of months of being alone and away from my family and friends. God has done an amazing amount of things in my life. Some seemingly bad, but now I see the goodness that has come out from them. There are many times that I wish that God would just give me the maturity that I need instantaneously, which I know he can with his sovereignty, but my maturity has come from a partnership with Him in my growing process. This is a very important thing that we seek, because our partnership with Him shows that our heart is where His heart is; that we are truly growing closer to him.
Since July 8th, I went to church and felt so convicted by God. There was a guest Pastor there and His message, being from the Lord, made me just open up and week and wail. God's word really struck me and it struck hard and there was a sense of revival in me after that, a fresh start, a peace, a sense of surrender and repentance from my heart. Joel 2:13 says, "So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness." I wept and wept, what can I say I am an overly emotional guy, but that's besides the point. But there, after that moment, I have seen a maturing process of the likes that I have never experienced. I am so surprised as to the way that I have acted after this and how I still worship God and count it joy that He has put me in this situation. It has opened up many doors to minister and I have been able to see the Lord bear fruit not only in me, but in those people that I have had the opportunity to minister to.
My partnership with God is growing stronger day by day and my faith is getting stronger and stronger. I am thankful to my God for showing these things to me and being able to share these things with you. I hope that many of you that read this get encouraged, that no matter how bad things may seem, God works all things together for good.
God bless you all,
Fonz
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