Tag Archives: Taking Action

Advent
December 11, 2018

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak. –Zephaniah 3:15-16

An interesting sequence of statements appears in the above scripture:

Judgment is taken away>>>>>>fear disaster no more>>>>>>do not let your hands grow weak

What is this chain of thought saying? I think we can all appreciate not being judged for something about which we could, perhaps should, be judged. Does that statement indicate forgiveness?

There is an app on my phone from one of the local TV stations that sends out emergency weather alerts. Living in tornado alley develops a healthy respect for the storms and I appreciate having a loud and persuasive warning if a tornado is approaching. I must confess, I did not like having it awaken me recently at 3:00 am on a Wednesday morning to tell me that a winter storm warning was issued beginning at 6:00 am Friday particularly when the winter storm did not materialize. Being overcautious can result in ignoring the danger we may face or overactive fear. Prudent warning about disaster leaves no time for fear, only for action.

That leads us to keep our hands strong. Being prepared in general for whatever eventuality might come along is wise. I do think we need to work at good physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. This scripture seems to say even though we are freed from judgment, disasters can still happen, and we have a responsibility to address them to the best of our abilities with the Lord’s help.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your forgiveness, for freeing us from fear, and for the ability to work together as your servants in making this a better world. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Deborah’s Descendants

DeborahLiving in the Spirit
November 11, 2014

Scripture Reading: Judges 4:1-7

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgement. She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, “Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.” ’ — Judges 4:4-7

As you may have guessed, I am a fan of Deborah’s. I named this website after her. For today, I want to share with you part of my reason for that taken from the page above titled, About Deborah’s Descendants:

 After a quick read of Judges 4 and 5 in the Bible, you may be wondering why I chose Deborah’s Descendants as the web address for this website. The story is very gory, barbaric actually.  Yet, I believe, as a part of the story of God, it has relevance for us today. For you see it describes a new approach to addressing the extreme oppression and cruelty the Israelites had been suffering at the hands of the Canaanites. First, someone who routinely dealt with justice was the one who saw the injustice: Deborah. Second, she clearly decided to instigate actions that would address the injustice. Finally, she was willing to invest herself in the re-establishment of justice for Israel.

 Often we read the Bible and try to apply the actions of the people from the time and place where a story originated rather than plumbing deeper and seeing the methods and motivations behind the action. It is in the methods and motivations that we find truths to apply in this time and place.

 Rosa Parks was Deborah’s descendant albeit she applied non-violent actions to address the oppression she experienced and saw. Martin Luther King Jr. was also Deborah’s descendant as were and are countless people who see injustice for what it is, make the decision to instigate action to address it, and invest themselves in making justice a reality.

 Are you, too, a descendant of Deborah?

Prayer: I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing. (Psalm 101:1). Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.