Father's Day is a day that naturally evokes strong emotions in the heart of every man, woman and child. A father is meant to provide stability, identity and strength to the families of which God has entrusted them. Their loving direction is meant to provide definition to our lives as they charge us to live lives worthy of Jesus and His call. As we reflect on Judges today, we are reminded how our Heavenly Father charges us to be bold, to be diligent, to be wholehearted and to be expectant of grace in the land to which He has called us.
Be Bold
Judges 1:11-15 From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
You need to be bold and ask your Heavenly Father for a field in the land in which He has placed you.
What will give you confidence to do such a thing?
If the only time that you relate to your Heavenly Father is in public, for the whole world to see, it will keep your relationship with God and others at a very surface level. There will be no depth, intimacy or fortitude if you remain in this place. The reason why people lack the strength to do anything publicly is because they lack a private relationship with God and His purposes.
Private pursuit and consecration of our resources to God does not negate our public service. It fuels it.
“Intercession is truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer. No continent – no nation – no organization – no city – no office. There is no power on earth that can keep intercession out.”
- Richard Halverson
He served as the Chaplain of the United States Senate from February 2, 1981, until December 31, 1994. He was an associate of the National Prayer Breakfast movement starting in 1956. Halverson also was a member of the Board of World Vision, from 1956 to 1983, serving as chairman from 1966 to 1983.
THIS IS WHY WE DESIRE TO DEVELOP AN INTERCESSORY PRAYER TEAM FOR THE CHURCH.
Tips for developing relationship with your Father: (Cultivating Friendship with God)
Look: Set a time each day.
Listen: Hear your Father's heart: who he is, what's his story, what made him the person that he is today. Jesus also said that His sheep know His voice, meaning that He longs to speak to His people.
Lament: Pour out your heart to God, sharing your joys, pains, aspirations, hopes, disappointments and fears. He is a good Father who is patient, coming to both comfort and strengthen His children.
Psalm 142:1-5 With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
Learn: Include in your time, worship, the reading of the Word (Bible) and prayer. Sing to give God honor and prepare your heart.
Be Diligent
Judges 1:16-26 And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. Now the name of the city was formerly Luz. And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.
Your Father wants to do a complete work in you - one of restoration and healing, not partial freedom or a crippling cohabitation with destructive spirits or patterns in your life.
Judges 1:27-36 But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.
The Israelites had developed a pattern of cohabitation with the very nations that looked to enslave them. They "subjected" those nations to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely as the Lord commanded, so these nations eventually became a snare to them.
What sin habits or patterns have you made a peace treaty with, thinking that you have it "under control" instead of getting rid of the option of it completely?
Practically: i.e. - Some of you need to cut ties to old flirtations on Facebook or in the workplace.
Be Wholehearted
Judges 2:1-5 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’” When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
God wants complete, not partial, devotion and obedience.
Be Expectant of Grace
Romans 3:21-26 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Second City Church- Designer God Sermon Series 2015