| February 28 | | | | | And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. | | | | Judges 7:16-19 | | | | We live in a world oppressed by Midianites, dominated by Midianites, controlled by Midianites. I’m not speaking of an external race of people, but of an internal struggle within people. The dominion of Satan, the control of self, and the oppression of sin is within the heart of every human being, for, like David, we are all born into sin (Psalm 51:5). We have all been tainted by sin; we have all succumbed to sin. But praise be to God, we can be liberated. We can be rescued. We can be free. God has called us into His glorious Gospel - the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, paid the price for all of our iniquity, rose from the dead, and wants to set up residence within our hearts, to free us, to liberate us, to lead us into life that is both abundant and eternal. That’s the Gospel.
And we who have come into this saving knowledge of Jesus are to trumpet this Gospel to all who are still dominated, controlled, and oppressed by the Midianites of sin, Satan, and self. We have the answer. The Light of the world, Jesus Christ, dwells within us. His light is inside of us - but it is also to be radiating from us. And there’s the rub.
You see, most of us understand that Jesus is the Light because most of us have walked in His light - and yet all too often His light remains inside, all bottled up. The Lord wants to release the light of Jesus which He has placed in you. He wants His light to shine out from you in order that others can be saved and freed and satisfied. How does this happen? Only by breaking - for just as the light of the torch was hidden within the earthen vessel until the pitcher was broken, so too, if our lives are going to be a blessing, there must first be a breaking. The light is in the earthen vessel. But the light cannot shine forth from the vessel until there is a breaking of the vessel.
Gang, you cannot be a blessing until you first go through breaking. Why? Because we live in a broken world. The baby in his playpen cries over a broken toy. The little boy is upset because of his broken bike. The junior higher is in agony over a broken arm. The high school sophomore is in pain because of a broken heart. The young wife is crying because of broken marriage vows. The businessman is in despair because of broken hopes. The middle-aged man is hurting because of broken health. Wherever you look, wherever you observe people, you see hurts. People are broken. People are in tough situations. And we who have the Light and Life of Jesus Christ can only touch them to the degree that we are able to relate to them. |
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