Sometime last year I read where only a tiny fraction of Christians had ever read through the entire Bible. That bothered me because I know it’s God’s personal letter to each of us. I’ve studied Scripture, and even taught from it, but was embarrassed to admit I’d only read my Bible from cover to cover one time.

So I stocked up on highlighters and began reading in chunks. I highlighted everything that grabbed my attention…a place I’d been, a funny name, a concept that took my breath away, or a sentence that made me cry and say, “Thank you, Jesus”.

I love words and playing with them to paint word pictures; and repeatedly mulled over one of God’s names, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Whenever he showed up, amazing things were about to happen.

The more I read, the more awed I was that that very same LORD has given me an open door invitation to spend time alone with him.

“I am the LORD, and I do not change…”

(Malachi 3:6)

And I love that about him, but the funny thing is…the more time I spend with him, the more he changes me.

 

“Intreat me not to leave thee,

or to return from following after thee:

for whither thou goest, I will go;

and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:

thy people shall be my people,

and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die,

and there will I be buried:

the LORD do so to me,

and more also,

if ought but death part thee and me”.

(Ruth 1:16-17)

 

And so promised Ruth, a young Moabite widow, born from a people established through incest—to Naomi, her widowed and bitterly disappointed-by-life mother-in-law.

With this poetic declaration, Ruth set herself apart from her own idol worshipping people, and moved into an amazing historical position…the direct lineage of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Ruth couldn’t have known the eternal significance of the choice she made on the road leading to Judah. But at the core of her promise were the words that would define the rest of her life:

…and thy God will be my God…

And the daily defining prayer of my heart:

 

You are my God,

and I will praise you;

you are my God,

and I will exalt you.

Psalm 118:28

 

 

 

(bold/italics mine)

 

In those days…

all the people

did whatever seemed right

in their own eyes.

       Judges 17:6

 

Not a great rule of thumb for folks born with a sin nature and in need of grace.

Now turn the page to chapter 19. Or not. I’d have been tempted to leave this entire sordid mess of sexual violence and dismemberment out. Or at least give it a NC-17 rating so the unsuspecting reader doesn’t just stumble into it. But this pitiful story of the unnamed man, woman, father, old man and virgin daughter is merely a sequence in the bigger story.

So after they’d done what seemed right in their own eyes…

 

Everyone who saw it said,

   “Such a horrible crime

       has not been committed

         in all the time since Israel left Egypt.

Think about it!

   What are we going to do?

       Who’s going to speak up”?

                  Judges 19:30

 

Indeed.

My God is crystal clear on sin. He doesn’t sugarcoat it or the eventual outcomes of a life lived without him. And I praise him for that because when the stakes are high, and the outcomes eternal, I want the complete, unvarnished, and straight up truth.

 

 

The LORD said to Gideon,

“You have too many warriors with you.

If I let all of you fight the Midianites,

the Israelites will boast to me

that they saved themselves

by their own strength.

Judges 7:2

 

And with that, God introduced Gideon to a new concept:

Less, with God, always equals more.

Then he reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 warriors to 300 soldiers and sent them to fight an army with soldiers clustered like a locust swarm and too many camels to count.

That night, using only blazing torches, horns and shouts, Gideon’s 300 soldiers simply stood in position around the enemy camp and the LORD caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords.

I stand in awe that the Spirit of this living LORD and Ancient of Days actually waited to be personally invited, by me, to dwell within me.

 

The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon in the book of Judges and very plainly said,…The. LORD. Is. With. You.

And Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about?”

Poor Gideon. He wanted to understand the “if’s” and “why’s” and “where’s” so badly that he didn’t understand the LORD was standing right in front of him saying…The. LORD. Is. With. You.

Poor me.

I do believe the LORD heard and understood both questions Gideon asked. I really do. But you wouldn’t know it from the LORD’s response.

Because then the LORD turned to Gideon and said, “Go with the strength you have … I am sending you!”

None of Gideon’s questions were even acknowledged. But the LORD’s supernaturally charged plan to totally reverse Gideon’s situation was ready to be implemented.

He just needed to listen and get up and go.

What else could I possibly need? The LORD is with me and I can go in the strength I already have because he is sending me.

‘Nuff said. Time to go.

(Judges 6:11-14)

(all italics/bold mine)