Flipside Christian Church

 In this episode, we delve into Judges chapter 3 and explore the spiritual lessons that parallel our own lives today. We begin by examining how the Old Testament narratives often have deeper meanings that apply to our New Testament lives. Specifically, we focus on the experiences of God's people as they enter the Promised Land and the role of the judges—leaders appointed by God to guide and protect them in times of conflict.
We'll discuss the importance of understanding that our battles are not just physical but spiritual, echoing the teachings of Paul in Ephesians 6:12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." This episode emphasizes the need to recognize the spiritual warfare we face daily and the importance of learning to fight these battles spiritually.
As we navigate through the stories of Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, we draw connections to our own spiritual journeys, highlighting the necessity of personal growth through spiritual conflict. Just as the Israelites had to learn to fight to claim the promises of God, we too must learn to engage in spiritual warfare to enjoy the full blessings God has for us.
Join us as we uncover these powerful lessons from Judges and discover how to equip ourselves for the spiritual battles ahead. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or someone seeking to deepen your faith, this episode provides valuable insights on growing spiritually and preparing for the unseen battles in our lives.

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Flipside Christian Church
Madera Ranchos, CA

All right, judges chapter three.

Judges.

Chapter three. Next.

If you have a Bible
and brought one with you.

Go to judges chapter three.

It's on our app.

It'll be on the screens.

as we get into this chapter.

I want to remind us of this
theological principle,

this principle of interpreting
that oftentimes what we see

in the Old Testament in the physical world
has correlation to our lives.

New Testament
lives, our lives in the spiritual world.

And so we're going to look at the history

of God's people
going into the Promised Land.

And then we're going to draw
some conclusions

and understand this, for
it has to do with us spiritually

if and when and as we choose to follow

Jesus, and be obedient to God.

So, just keep that in mind
as we go through this.

The book of judges

is about

individuals who are leading God's people.

The Bible calls them judges.

Don't think of judges
in the judicial sense.

Think of it as a more often than not,

a military leading sense.

Moses had brought God's

people out of captivity in Egypt,

going across the desert right
before they entered the Promised Land.

Moses died on what we know as Mount Nebo.

I've been there as he's
looking down over the Promised Land.

He wasn't allowed to go in.

Joshua, his right hand
man, took over for him

and led the people into the Promised land.

300,000mi² of territory.

Huge.

At its height, they only inhabited

about 30,000mi²,

so they've never really taken possession
of everything God promised.

That's coming.

But Joshua leads them into the Promised
Land.

By faith, they receive the promise of God.

And then

as Joshua died,
God raised up these individual leaders.

No king yet, but individual leaders
to lead them in the small skirmishes

that still had to take place so
that they could enjoy the promise of God.

And so in chapter three, we start reading
some of these first leaders

that are leading God's people
in these little minor skirmishes

so that they can enjoy the full promise
of what they've received by faith.

Now they have some responsibility.

Again, keep in mind,
but we see in the physical world

in the book of judges
applies spiritually to us.

The gift of God, of salvation
comes by faith, and faith alone.

And once that is received by faith,

there is work and responsibility
on behalf of the believer.

and so we're going to see that
lived out in these lives.

The book of judges, chapter three
has three judges in it, or people we would

we would guess for judges
Othniel, Ehud and Sham Gar 31 verses long.

We're going to go through 30 of them.

I'm going to save one verse for next week.

Okay. On purpose.

Okay. Next week's a one verse message.

I promise I will go
as long as all the others.

But starting with these two,

let's look at what the Bible says.

Judges three verse one.

These are the nations
the Lord left to test all those Israelites

who had not experienced
any of the wars in Canaan.

He did this.

God did this only to teach warfare
to the descendants of the Israelites

who had not had previous
battle experience.

We have to understand something

that though we live in

the world of flesh and blood.

The impetus of our battle

that we face
every day is not flesh and blood.

There's a spiritual battle going on,

and we have to realize
that there is a spiritual battle.

It is real.

It exists, and it's happening right now.

Most of us are unaware of it because
we live in the world of flesh and blood.

But there is a very real world
going on behind the scenes,

and the first thing we have to realize

is that we are walking into
and living in a land

that requires battle,

requires war.

In Ephesians chapter six, verse two,

Paul, the writer of Ephesians, says
this for our struggle is not against flesh

and blood, but against rulers,

against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world,

and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realm.

She said. There is a battle.

We know as soon as we wake up,
you just feel like

it's somedays
you are more aware of it than others.

But you know, as
we go through this world, it's like, whoa!

And it's not contained to the one we see.

What the Bible tells us is that there's
a deeper, more real reality.

And our primary struggle
is not against flesh and blood,

but against rulers, authorities,
the powers of this dark world,

the spiritual forces of evil.

It's it just is.

The interesting thing is, Paul, at the end
of his life, he's been in ministry.

He says this

I have fought the good fight.

He won an Emmy. A guy,

he wasn't in the military.

And yet he says,
I have fought the good fight.

There's a battle going on.

So as I finish the race,
I've kept the faith.

So the apostle Paul puts it in
terms of a battle as well.

Whether you go to Old Testament,
New Testament, the fact is

we have to realize that there is a real
battle, a real war going on,

and it starts before you ever see it.

It's a spiritual battle.

And so because the the real battle
that, that we face is a spiritual battle,

we have to learn to fight spiritually.

We have to learn to fight spiritually.

Most don't learn this

and don't learn how to fight spiritually.

We go to self-help stuff.
We go to influencers.

We go to opinions.

We want to know what we have to do,

but we have to realize that

spiritual battles are not won physically.

They're won spiritually.

You and I are in a battle.

It's deeper than what we see,
and we're not going to win it

by self-help
books, influencers and opinions.

It has to be fought and it will be won.

Not physically, but spiritually.

One of the things I know from this

in like God left enemies in that land
because he knew the only way

for his people to grow up
was to fight their battles.

He knew the only way
they're going to be able to enjoy

the promises
I've given them is if they learn to fight.

Now their granddaddy
and grandmama had fought

and won, and their daddy
and mama have fought and won.

But they hadn't yet.

And so they had to have their own battles
that they had to fight.

You know what that means for you and me?

We need the battle.

You know what it means for your children.

They need their own battles,

and they have to learn
to fight their own battles.

Yeah, I say all the time the parents job

is to prepare their child for the road,
not to prepare the road

for their child.

And if our kids,
if you are a parent or a grandparent

and your kids are going to grow up
and enjoy the promises of God,

they have to learn to fight
their own battles

with their own faith.

You can't do it for them now.

You can train them.
The Bible says, train up a child

in the way they should go
when they're old.

They have to fight that battle.

They won't depart from that
because you've trained them.

But if you remember what I said last week,
more kids.

Kids learn more by what
there's caught than by what is taught.

So you'll
train your kids to fight spiritually.

If you.

You're going to have battles

and you need them.

You just got to learn to fight them
the right way.

You understand?

Hey, we're two verses in y'all, right?

Verse four, they were left.

His enemies were left to test
the Israelites, to see whether they would

obey the Lord's commands, which he had
given their forefathers through Moses.

God leaves the enemies.

They're

because they have to fight, and
he left them there to see if they would.

What?

Train hard?

No. The word starts with O
and ends with B.

Leave them there.

You got to fight.

But the way you win

is through obedience.

He left them

there to test them,
not to see if they could suck it up,

not to see if they would be good,
not to see how strong their backs were.

They left them there
to see if they would obey.

Because the
battles that were in our spiritual battles

and must be fought spiritually.

We have to realize that
victory is gained by obedience,

not might.

Not by learning new habits.

Not by practicing new behaviors,

by obedience.

Verses five and six.

The Israelites lived among the Canaanites,
Hittites, ammonites, parasites,

live bites,
Jebusites, termites, and cellulite. The.

They took their daughters in marriage
and gave their own daughters

to their sons, and served their gods.

So they've been given this land.

They've been told to subdue it.

They've entered the land by faith.

Now they have responsibility.
And all of a sudden

what we see is the people that should be
living in freedom

are living amongst the people
that they should have victory over.

I never think physically and spiritually.

More often than not, we who

should be living in the freedom
that God has given us in Christ,

end up living amongst the enemies

of that freedom. Sin.

And they are so like
the culture that they're in,

they're given their children to be married

to that culture.

The Bible says in Second Corinthians,
we're given this.

Do not be yoked together.

Some translations say unequally.

What right,

the Bible says, does the kingdom of light
in the kingdom of darkness have together?

What right do they have to be?

They don't.

Don't be unequally yoked.

A Christ follower and a non Christ

follower is a recipe for disaster.

I tell you, when people all the time
evangelistic dating doesn't work,

don't try it.

But but the culture that we're in

says love is love.

Don't worry about it.

I'm sorry. Treat you good. It's all fine.

They believe this.

I believe this one. Get along with.

Figure it out. No, you won't.

No, you won't.

Not. And stay obedient.

There are some people who are Jewish
who have not ever learned

to live with themselves
and in their relationship with Christ,

that they will give themselves
to anybody who

is willing to take them.

If you're not married yet,
be very careful.

Listen to my words.

Heed my instruction.

Accepting substitutes
in exchange for the sacred is sacrilege.

We have to understand this.

Accepting substitutes for

the sacred is sacrilege.

The sacred is is a is a Christ,
a man of Christ, following

a woman that creates a sacred bond
that God created called marriage.

And we accept substitutes one

for the other or unequally

a sacrilege.

So playing around with the enemies

that are going to conquer us.

And so, so our our the point of it

is this to be in the culture,
but not like the culture.

I'm not talking about being a hermit,
and I'm not talking about

being some weird person
that nobody wants to be around.

Let's talk about being in the culture,
but not like the cultures that make sense

and sound.

I'm saying yes.

I tell my football boys

this all the time in in,

I just had this
talk with them last Thursday.

So think about it.

Think about the difference
between I got this from, from John Gordon.

Think about the difference between
a carrot and egg and a coffee bean.

Think of a carrot.

You put a carrot in a in a
in a pot of boiling water for a long time.

What happens? That carrot.

Soft and mushy and worth nothing.

Right.

So take an egg.

Put it in that same pot of boiling water
for a long time.

What happens? That egg.

It doesn't just get hard.

It cracks.

It crumbles.

It's just worth nothing.

Stinks.

Take the coffee bean,
put it in hot water for a long time.

What happens to that water?

Becomes coffee,

I tell, I tell my football, boys.

It's all the time.

So listen, every day

you're going to be put in hot water

and you're going to have the choice to
become a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean.

Two of those, the

environment changes them into something
that's worthless.

Some limp wristed, little worse.

Nothing.

Or some nasty old crusty broken person.

Only one of them is going to change
its environment,

right?

Right, right.

I get coffee beans,
I put them in a little plastic bag,

and I give it to every one of my football
players and coaches

at the beginning of the season.

Remember, be a coffee bean.

That's what it means to be in the culture,

but not like it.

And I think one of the problems

with the church

and the quote unquote Christians

is that when we get in the hot
water of the culture,

we turn into carrots and eggs,

either so mushy and limp wristed
we're worth

nothing or so crusty and broken we stink.

Rather than being coffee beans,
that changes the cultures.

That makes sense.

You understand, I'm saying. Yeah.

And this was their problem.

They were in the culture
and just liking giving their kids away.

Yeah, go ahead and make a good living.
They're nice person.

Why not?

So look at living for seven and eight.

Then the Israelites did evil in Isaiah.

The Israelites did evil and

and Lord, they forgot the Lord
their God and serve the bills.

And Asher is the anger
the Lord burned against Israel,

so he sold them into the hands of Kushan
rich.

The same the king of Aram, to whom the
Israelites were subject for eight years.

And so they reject what God says.

You said, we're going to do our own thing,
and they're giving into the giving into

into bondage. For how long?

For eight years. Eight years.

Look at verse nine.

But when they cried out to the Lord,
he raised up for them a deliver us now.

Son of Caleb, Caleb's younger brother,
who saved them.

And so they're in they're in bondage.

They're in bond for, for, for eight years.

And after eight years they decide
to cry out and in essence, repent.

God. I'm sorry.

We'll we'll do it your way.

Just help.

Took him eight years.

Why so long?

Why so long?

I don't know,
why do you and I wait so long?

Right.

And the moment they turn back.

The moment they said. God.

I'm sorry.

God, son, I was. Wait.

And they raised up this guy off. Now.

Now off them.

We don't know exactly if he says the the
son of King has Caleb's younger brother.

We don't really know exactly who he was,
but we do know this.

That he was a relative of Caleb,
who was Caleb.

Caleb.

When Moses was preparing the people
to go into the Promised Land,

there were 12 tribes,
and he told each of the tribe

to get one guy there
representing him to go spy out the land.

So 12 of them went to spy it out.

The 12 came back and two of them said,
oh no, we got this is going to be good.

And the other ten were like, no,
we can't do it.

The two said, yeah, we can do it.

Were Joshua and Caleb okay?

So he was one of the
he was one of the two men of faith,

of strength, of trust, of obedience.

This is one of his young relatives,

the first judge,
the first one to deliver God's people.

He's this is him.

Here's what I know.

No one needs to stay in bondage.

That's one thing I know.

But the other thing I know
is this be spiritually great.

There are younger ones

who are following what they see in you.

This this guy O'Neill watched

his older relative, Caleb, fight.

Watched him be obedient,
watched him be faithful.

So then it was when it was O'Neill's
time to fight

and to be obedient and faithful.

All he did was, I know what I'll do.

I'll do what I saw Caleb do.

The instruction to you

and me is be spiritually great.

Because there are younger ones
who are watching

what we do.

Remember how kids learn more by

what is caught than by what is taught.

If you have young ones in your shadow,

the charge from God to you
is to be spiritually great,

because they will have
to fight their own battles.

And if they don't see you fighting
from your knees,

if they don't see you fighting faithfully,
if they don't see you fighting

by being obedient and submissive to God.

The thing I love about this

passage is no one has to stay in bondage
that long.

Yes, we will stay in bondage
as long as we choose to stay in bondage

for them was eight years
till they cried out,

and the moment they cried out, God said,
thank you.

Here's your deliverance.

Look at verse 11.

So the, well, let me go to ten.

The spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Those kneel.

So they became Israel's
judge and went to war and battle.

Fight.

The Lord gave him

the king of Aram into his hands
and oath who overpowered him.

Verse 11.

So the land had peace for 40 years,
until of Neil some of King has died.

How long were they in bondage?

Eight years. They cried out to God.

God delivered him
because he's got a mercy and grace.

And they had peace. For how many years?

For 40 years.

Here's what you got.

You gotta get this.

God's deliverance last longer
than the last.

Longer than the bondage.

God's deliverance
always last longer than bondage.

Why would they wait eight years?

I don't know
why do you and I wait so long?

Because the fact is
that when God delivers,

it lasts longer than the bondage.

So why wait?

Verse 12.

Once again,
there's why I said evil eyes of the Lord.

This is the cycle.

God, I'm a fall of you.

I'm a flirt around with sin.

I'm gonna get stuck in it.

I'm going to be remorseful about.

I'm a crafty. You're going to deliver,
and I'm going to love you and serve you.

And then I'm going to flirt with sin,
and I'm going to get used to it,

and it's going to have victory over me,
and then I'm going to feel bad about it.

I'm a out to you, and you're going to live
it over and over and over.

So, so what they

did, they did evil and the Lord,
because they did this evil.

The Lord gave Eglon, King of Moab,
power over Israel,

getting the Amorites
and Amalekites to join him.

Eglon came and attacked Israel, and
they took possession of the city of palms.

That's Jericho.

And the Israelites were subject
to Eglon king himself for how many years?

18. How long was the first one?

How long is this one?

This is what happens.

Watch.

When we return to the Senate.

We've been delivered from the bondage
last longer than before.

When God says, okay, I'm
gonna get you out, you cried out to me.

You repent. You. I'm gonna get your.

And they're like, Thanks God.

I'm gonna go back like a dog to its vomit.

That bondage

last longer than it did the first time.

And though God is faithful because he's

got a mercy and grace to deliver us,
we go back to it.

It lasts longer.

And all of a sudden we see in ourselves
this pattern, this thing

is that victory over me
year after year after year after year.

And I'm getting deeper and deeper
and deeper.

Yeah.

And again,
verse 15, this I cried out to the Lord,

and he gave them a deliverer,
because that's what God does.

Ehud, a left

handed man, the son of Gary
the Bingham, might.

The Israelites sent Israelites
sent him with tribute to eg.

One king of Moab.

So they cry out to God.

They've been subject for 18 years,
or called to God, and God

gives them another deliver
another judge named Ehud.

And what's
what's the Bible? Tell us about Ehud

that it's those two things.

He's what left handed.

And he's from the tribe of Benjamin.

Here's here's here's
why this is important.

Look, God doesn't waste words.

God didn't say stuff
just to hear himself thought.

So. Everything here is for a purpose.

And I want you understand this.

Usually in this culture, being left
handed was bad.

How many of you are left handed?

Any of you okay in that culture?

Okay. You.

There's something wrong with you.

You're discredited.

Okay.

Now, my grandma, my dad tells me
my grandma was left handed.

And in school they would take a ruler
and whack her on the knuckles

every time she used her left hand, because
they had to train her to be normal,

right handed.

So? So the Bible tells us he's left handed
and it's for reason.

Now, the reason could be this.
Let me share this with you

from First Chronicles chapter 12,
verse two.

It's talking about these warriors
that went to fight with David.

They joined him, but they were armed
with bows and were able

to shoot arrows and to sling stones right
handed or left handed.

They're a kinsman of Saul
from the tribe of Benjamin.

So apparently Benjamin
had these dudes in it that were bad news.

They're like the Navy Seals of that time.

They were equally well, bow and arrow
and a sling with right and left hand.

They were. They were dudes.

And so it could be
that what we learn about this guy,

guy Ehud,
is that he's like Delta team stat.

He's like Seal team six status.

Like he is special ops guy.

Because in that culture,

the Warriors were right handed.

Because left handed was there's
something wrong with them in that culture.

And so to be a warrior, a right hand,
a warrior,

my sword is on my left thigh
and I draw it across my body.

And so when anybody would go to face
the king, their bodyguards,

the Secret Service
would pat down their left side,

because ain't nobody who's a warrior,
who's left handed.

So they would pat down the right side.

And this how he had got in

because he they pat this down,

then realize

perhaps that he's special forces.

So don't even check the side
that that's one possibility.

But here's what I think is going down.

When the Bible says he was left
handed, the Hebrew indicates

that he
was only able to use his left hand,

which means what's wrong with his right?

Deformed.

Injured.

Court cut off.

There's something wrong with his right
hand.

He's only able to use his left hand.

And because he's only able
to use his left hand,

he doesn't appear to be any threat.

So they don't even bother checking.

Here's what I know about you.

And here's what I know about me.

He had appeared to be a guy

who had deficiencies, who had weakness,
who everybody else cast aside

because he wasn't quite up to snuff.

Ehud had made

a double edged sword about a cubit long,

which was strapped to his right
thigh under his clothing.

Okay.

He presented the tribute
to King Eglon, King of Moab, who was a.

Very emphasized, very fat man.

After Ian had presented
the tribute he sent on their way

those who had carried it.

But on reaching the stone
images at Gilgal, he made.

He himself went back to the king and said,
hey, King,

I have a secret message for you.

The king said to his attendants, leave us,
and they all left.

He had then approached him
while he was sitting alone

in the upper room of his palace, and said,
I have a message from God for you.

As the king rose from his see,
he had reached with his left hand

to his right thigh,

drew the sword from his right thigh,

and plunged it into the king's belly.

Even the handle sank in after the blade.

and his bowels discharged.

Ehud did not pull the sword out,
left it in

there, took the hair, pulled the hand out,

and the fat closed in over the sword.

Then Ehud went out to the porch,
shut the doors

of the upper room
behind him, and locked him.

Listen.

What appeared to be a deficit?

Any hedge life was an asset

in God's plan.

He could only use his left hand.

He appeared to have a deficit.

It doesn't work.

It's not good enough.

I'm broke in.

I have something in my past
that has deformed my present

and determine my future.

There's a deficit in my life.

If any of you ever felt that way,
God says your deficit in my plan

becomes my asset.

Do you understand?

All you have to do is say, God,

this is my brokenness and it's all yours.

And God says, thank you that I can use

my right.

God makes your deficit
an asset when you serve him.

Now when the Bible says that his bowels
discharged

again, God doesn't waste words.

What was shoved into fat eglon

the sword?

Think spiritually.

The sword in the Old Testament is a sword.

The sword in the New Testament
is the word of God.

The Word of God is shoved in and left in.

And what comes out?

King James Version says dirt.

English standard
verse says dumb understands fiercely.

The Word of God goes in and stays
in, and the dumb comes out.

The Word of God goes in the life

and stays there, and the dung comes out.

Didn't stand.

The Word of God goes in, the dung comes
out, the word goes in, the dung comes out.

The word goes in the dumb.

Is this making sense to you? Yes.

One of the reasons why we

are so focused on our junior high school,
and now we have journals

for the little kids do in their journaling
because it gets them in the word

every day.

And the more

they're in the word and journaling,
the more dung comes out of the life.

So makes sense.

What's the you know, how much dung people

look at every single day?

Now, thank God it's not as adults,
it's just kids.

Right?

And when we put that much dung
in our lives,

that dung isn't coming out

just because we put that down.

It's only when the word goes in

and stays in

that the dung comes out.

You follow so.

Just so you'll get it.

There it is in writing.

Now the dunk.

The sword has just gone in.

Will you let the dung come out?

I tell my football boys this too.

I said, listen.

If your screen time is more than your prep

time, don't complain about your game time.

It makes sense. Yes,

spiritual is the same for us.

If our screen time exceeds our prep time.

Don't complain about the fact

you're always be.

Kind of do one more thing.

Yeah.

So he had leaves.

And the king's attendants are waiting
and waiting and waiting.

And then when someone's
been in the bathroom too long,

that's what they think's going on.

He sent his private chamber,

I think. Man,
he been in there a long time.

I hope everything's okay.

And so they go
check on him, they find he's dead.

And then he says this, verse 28.

He tells the guys with them,
he knows there's a battle to fight.

He says, follow me.

For the Lord
has given Moab your enemy into your hands.

So they followed him down and taken
possession of the fords of the Jordan

that led to Moab. They followed.

They allowed
no one to cross over at that time.

Verse 29, they struck down about 10,000
Moabites, all vigorous and strong.

Not a man escaped,

he said, listen,

there's a battle to fight.

Follow me.

You know what that tells me?

It tells me this

leaders lead.

Leaders say follow me.

Leaders don't command you go and I'll sit.

Leader.

Say follow.

It's what Joshua told
the people before you.

As for me and my house,
we're going to serve the Lord.

I know what you're going to do.
You choose. You're going, sir.

But as for me and my house,

they're going to follow me,
and we're going to serve the Lord.

It's what

Caleb did is why open the could
then follow?

Because he led

leaders lead

leaders are the tip of the spear.

And so, husbands and fathers, pay
attention.

You are in the God ordained position
to lead

with humility and service and love
and gentleness and mercy and grace.

But you lead.

It's not.

Michael's job is not my job to lead
your kids.

It's your job.

Lead.

Take the word and put it in.

And take the word and put it in.

And take the word and put it in.

And take the word and put it in
so that all that junk

starts to flesh out of your life

and lead.

Very last verse
I'm going to cover today, verse 30.

That day Moab was made subject to Israel,
and then land had peace.

For how many years?

Don't miss it.

The first time

they walked away from God
and were in bondage, how long?

Eight years.

They cried, repented, and God
delivered him, and the peace lasted.

How long? 40 and then they got stupid,

just like we do.

And they went back.
And they're in bondage.

Not for eight years
this time. For how many? 18.

And then they cried out to God,

and God gave him peace and rest
and deliverance for how many years?

Oh, don't mess it.

It might be your 17th time

around that circle,
and that bondage has been a long time.

But God's truth and principles,
that's when we repent.

The deliverance last longer.

Some of you been in bondage
for eight years.

Your 40 years is coming.

Some of you been at 18 years.

You're 80 years is coming.

If you repent.

Deliverance always last
longer than bondage,

so repent sooner.

Deliverance is waiting.

Your stand.

What good news?

This is?

Repent sooner.

Deliverance is waiting.

Father, thank you for your word.

You're such a good God.

I thank you that your word

shows us truth
that liberates and delivers.

It's a word that's sharp,

like a two edged sword.

And I thank you that it is not.

Not to our shame, not to our destruction,
but to our liberation

and deliverance.

Some some of some of us here

have been in bondage for a long time.

And filled our lives with a lot of crap.

There is a way to deliverance.

And I want to invite you into it
right now.

In humility.

And submission

to God, I invite you
to have a conversation with him.

Say, God, I repent.

Not perfect.

I'm going to try to be.

One I'm going to turn the other way.

Towards you

and not away from you.

Tell him forgive me of my sin.

Thank you that you've done that already.

In Jesus.

I accept it.

And I am turning around.

Towards you and repentance.

Give me deliverance.

Father, we have put your word in.

Thank you that it accomplishes

what you set it out to do.

Let it thrust from us.

The dung and the dirt

in our lives, in our heart.

So that we can live

in the enjoyment of your promises.

Everything about your word

tells us you love us.

Help us to love you more.

In your name I pray.

Amen.

Listen, I don't know.

I know some of you. Know all of you,

but this right here is so fun

to read
and to understand what God's saying to us.

It's so good.

I want you to fall in love with him.

And I want you to fall in love
with his word.

Like.

Like kind of find wonder in it.

It's so good.

So here's what I'm going to I'm

going to ask that this week
you read judges three again

and let this stuff kind of keep
speaking to you.

And then finish with verse 31.

That's one verse we're going to go over.

It's about Shem gar

the barbarian.

It just sounds like an Arnold
Schwarzenegger character, you know, like

it just

he's an he's an interesting guy.

We don't know a lot about
him. We know some stuff.

and you're going to want to know about it.

You're going to want to.

I want to introduce you to him next week.

You're going to want to know this guy.

So read judges three
and just see what the Holy Spirit prompts.

And we'll talk about it next week.
Are we good?

Yes. Yeah.

Listen, here's the thing.

There's people in your life
whose lives will be radically transformed

with this truth.

And the only reason you're still breathing
and God put you in

their life is
so you could tell them and invite them.

To understand that.

So two jobs,

three judges three and invite some people.

They need this truth

just like we.