What Remains?

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters

Where have we compromised? What has God left in our lives to test us, to see if we will obey or not?

The Israelites compromised, failing to drive out the enemy in the land they were taking possession of. Instead, they chose to live among them.

Judges 1:28 “When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely. Judges 1:29, “And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.”

Judges 1:33 “Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitant of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land.” Where have we failed to obey God’s instructions, commands?

Judges 3:1, 4 “Now these are the nations that the LORD left, to test Israel by them… They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”

Deuteronomy 8:2 “And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

What has God left in our lives to test us, to see if we will obey or not?

We may have dealt with some of the “bigger” stuff but what have we chosen to live with rather than drive out? Are we willing to take up the cause and face those areas left in our lives that we have tucked away and ignored long enough that they have become comfortable with?

Can we rouse ourselves from sleep to do battle, with God’s grace and strength to drive out the enemy we have allowed to live in our midst?

 

Written by David Brown: David Brown is a husband, father, grandfather, Pastor with a Masters of Religious Studies and a Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Religions. Dave is the Associate Pastor of Pemberton’s First Baptist Church. He is the author of two devotional books, “From a Chair by the Window.” And “#PrayerWinsThe Day”.

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This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2