رقم المشاركة : ( 1 )
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Who are the Amalekites? They are the enemies on the way between Egypt and the promised land. They are the enemies on the way between the land of cruel slavery and the land of freedom and rest. They are great enemies.. unmerciful.. they want to stop you from attaining the land of your rest which the Lord has prepared for you.. They are the enemies who attack you in your weakness and weariness because they want to destroy you completely.. They symbolize very difficult matters in your life. They symbolize evil spirits who want to keep you in bondage.. weak.. sad.. a failure.. depressed.. in need.. in debt.. wounded.. unfruitful… and you can add to the list.. The Lord said to Moses: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God” (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). This is what the word of the Lord says about the Amalekites.. When you start leaving the land of Egypt (i.e. slavery), Amalek will meet you on the way, and because of his cruelty and hugeness, and because of your weakness and weariness, he will frighten you, make you tremble, draw back and remain his captive, this is if he didn’t destroy you. Let us meditate on this very famous story from the book of numbers that most of us know, and see what the Holy Spirit will teach us: when approaching the borders of the promised land.. the land of rest, Moses sent the twelve spies to spy the land, one from each tribe.. ten of them had the following reaction: “ … We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying: The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight”. (Numbers 13:31-33). They saw the Amalekites.. without the Lord.. and here lies the danger. They saw the sons of Anak as giants, and they saw themselves like grasshoppers.. A vision with the naked eye.. a vision that excludes the Lord.. it excludes Him from the confrontation.. How difficult and dangerous are these situations.. But.. there were two different men among them, Caleb and Joshua who said: “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said: Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it… And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them” (Numbers 13:30, 14:7-9). Very interesting and meaningful comparisons: The ten spies: we can’t go up to the people they are stronger than us. Caleb and Joshua: Let us go up and take possession, for we are able to overcome it. The ten spies: a land that devours its inhabitants. Caleb and Joshua: the land is very very good. The ten spies: men of great stature; we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. Caleb and Joshua: do not fear the people of the land for they are our bread. Why did Caleb and Joshua say this? Were they stronger or taller than the Amalekites? Why were Caleb and Joshua different? Here lies the secret: "If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us… their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. The Lord is with us.. the lord will lead us into the land ". Yes, they saw the Amalekites.. but through the Lord.. so they considered their enemies as bread for them. While you don’t find any mention of the Lord in the ten spies’ words.. they saw the giants without the Lord so they were afraid and shaken.. and this is natural. David said: “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth”. (Psalms 124:2-8). David didn’t deny the importance and the power of the enemies, he knew that if the Lord was not with him his enemies would have swallowed him, and the water would have overwhelmed him, but he looked at these dangers through the Lord, he didn’t see it without the Lord, that’s why he won and overcame.. Did David face giants in his life? Not only a giant but the giant of the giants, his height was about 3 meters, a giant that terrified a king and a whole army: “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:11). A king and a nation that see the giant without the Lord.. and the ultimate result is fear and terror. But David said to Saul: “ Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover David said: The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine…”. (1 Samuel 17:36-37). The Lord is always with David in the confrontation.. He sees the giant, his stature, and his importance.. he sees how small he is in front of him.. But.. he also sees the Lord who saved him from the lion and the bear.. who made him kill them.. so he takes courage and overcomes.. King Saul clothed David with his armor and gave him his sword and shield.. but David couldn’t walk with this uniform and sword.. he knew that relying on these matters.. relying on human abilities can’t tear down the giants.. because if they did the king and his entire army wouldn’t be afraid of him.. he refused to face the giant without the Lord, relying on his own ability .. “ Then David said to the Philistine: You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts… This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you… Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands”. (1 Samuel 17:45-47). Through these words David wanted the king and the whole assembly to hear him.. that the Lord doesn’t save by sword and spear.. but by relying on him.. there is no salvation from any giant that opposes your life.. or cuts your way between the land of slavery and the land of freedom.. through your own abilities, it is only through the Lord.. so don’t face Amalek without the Lord.. because you will be scared and surely fail, and you will return to the land of slavery like wished to do the people who were with Moses.. Amalek will always fight you as long as you live.. don’t ever forget that.. there is no promise from the Lord that we won’t face trials and wars.. but this is not what matters.. rather what matters is: Are you seeing Amalek without the Lord like the ten spies did, and like Saul and the entire army did? Or do you look at him through the Lord like Caleb, Joshua and David did? Trust that the Lord is by your side and he wants to erase the memory of Amalek from your life each time he opposes you: “Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua: Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed… So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven… The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation”. (Exodus 17:8-16). The word says that the war with Amalek will continue from generation to generation.. each generation has its own Amalekites.. But let us be careful to the accuracy of the inspiration: “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation”. The war with Amalek is the Lord’s.. not ever yours.. because if it is yours you will certainly be defeated. This is what David said when he faced Goliath: "The war is the lord’s and He will give you into our hands". Beloved: we live in a country full of Amalekites, whether it’s in politics, economy, corruption or pornography… add to this the wars we went through and the blood that was shed in them.. Daily wars and oppressions.. you feel the atmosphere is always heavy.. this is in general.. On a personal level how many Amalekites oppose your life or try to control it.. Each one of us has his own Amalekites: cruel bondages.. difficult sins.. worry, fear and anxiety.. failure.. sadness.. depression.. diseases.. debts.. lukewarmness in your relationship with the Lord.. no fruit in your ministry.. you try to rejoice but you cannot.. no enjoyment in your life.. you feel your life is meaningless.. demoralized.. etc… This is Amalek.. who as the word says cut your way between this land of slavery and the land of rest and freedom where the Lord wants to take you.. If you see these things as unmovable mountains, although you’ve tried several times in the past, then you’re looking at them without the Lord and you’re relying on your own abilities to get rid of them, which means that the Lord is out of the picture.. out of the confrontation.. The result will be a great failure for sure.. But after meditating on these words, the solution is to be like Caleb, Joshua and David.. this means to include again the Lord in the picture.. in the confrontation, don’t forget what you’ve read: the war is the lord’s, and Amalek’s war is with the lord, and He promised us to erase their memory from our life after each confrontation.. so take off Saul’s clothes and his sword and shield. Take out from your heart the fear and the complaints of the ten spies. Renew your mind with the word of the Lord which Caleb, Joshua and David declared, hold on to the Lord’s mercies, love and power, take refuge under his wings, and listen to him with me saying to you today: the battle is mine, stand up and look at my salvation. These are not mere theories that we can’t put into practice, this is the living word of God which is more effective than any double edged sword, and if you believed in the Holy Spirit’s help, no giant will succeed in cutting your way and hindering you from reaching the land of rest which the lord prepared for you.. Get rid of past failure experiences, give the Lord a new chance to make wonders with you. At last.. I feel that many of you are tired of the difficult situations they are facing, and of trying to get out of them without any result. They think that the solution for their difficult and complicated issues and the way out of them need something else, a new way that has no similar, a specific work to which they drew the frame in their minds, they are waiting for something to come and change all these circumstances.. Beloved: God’s word is stable, it doesn’t change through the years, it is not affected by the fashion, the evolution and the scientific progress.. because it is the living word of God which stands till the end of this world.. it is the only true and safe reference we can rely on.. If you give it authority over your life, ask the Holy Spirit to give it life and not be a letter that kills, if you trust it again, letting go of all the other illusions, and if you lay your net according to it like Peter did, you will live the wonderful life the Lord prepared for you paying its price with His precious blood.. to Him alone be all glory.. |
24 - 06 - 2012, 01:24 PM | رقم المشاركة : ( 2 ) | |||
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رد: They saw the giants without the Lord
Thank you
very beautiful |
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